need help on food plots

[Hunting Man]

Lucky for me no other property owners are doing food plots. The deer in north central PA need all the help they can get. There is not much farming anymore and old groth timber doesn't allow undergrowth to get started. I can't imagine hunting where every property has multiple food plots. If that were the case I'd have to do some serious thinking as to what I would do with my property. Plant something different, plant for bedding/refuse? Hmmm????

[muleskinner]

I read a good article on them last night. It said only 5% of your property should be in food plots. Too many might make it hard to pattern the deer. Around me the power company took back all the land they use to lease to farmers and planted thousands of acres of pine trees. I need something to get them out of the pines.

[BruceBruce1959]

Good Luck trying to pull them Deer out of them Pines, You can bet that after feeding throughout the night
with full bellies them Pines are mighty comfortable for those deer.
That's a tough situation for you because, we all know how locked in deer can get with those Pines and
I really don't know of any way to lure them out, the Best advice I could offer would be to pray hard for a
Doe in heat to lead them out during the day when she needs to feed.
Good Luck
As far as food plots, I kinda agree with critter gitter where he mentions water sources.
If all the surrounding lots have plots, how's yours going to make a difference??

[Hunting Man]

One thing we haven't discussed is are you hunting over your food plots? We do not hunt the food plots as they are for nutrition. Hunting over the food plots might be close to baiting ( I know the legal description, this is an ethics question). We tend to hunt bucks which aren't going to be caught in the food plots during daylight hours anyway, even during the rut. I hunt nearly 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from the food plots utalizing natural funnels and known buck travel routes. So maybe I differ in why I plant crops vs others who are trying to lure deer into shooting range. Thought I was seeing a pattern on some of the responces on food crops and the reasons for planting them. We also have a thick stand of hemlocks that borders mountain laural patches which we don't hunt to allow a safety zone for the deer.

[muleskinner]

Originally Posted by Hunting Man

One thing we haven't discussed is are you hunting over your food plots? We do not hunt the food plots as they are for nutrition. Hunting over the food plots might be close to baiting ( I know the legal description, this is an ethics question). We tend to hunt bucks which aren't going to be caught in the food plots during daylight hours anyway, even during the rut. I hunt nearly 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from the food plots utalizing natural funnels and known buck travel routes. So maybe I differ in why I plant crops vs others who are trying to lure deer into shooting range. Thought I was seeing a pattern on some of the responces on food crops and the reasons for planting them. We also have a thick stand of hemlocks that borders mountain laural patches which we don't hunt to allow a safety zone for the deer.

Good advice here. I guess I never thought of it this way. Your reply will definately help me decide on the location of the food plot. And now plan on planting a refuge plot that I will not disturb.

[Hunting Man]

If you can plant nutrition and safety zones the deer will come. I hunt in PA where there are a lot of hunters but very few food plots. The deer know how to get from food to safety very well. There are new products now that create food and safety. These tend to grow high enough for the deer to crawl under, but have to be re-planted each year. I try to catch the rutting bucks traveling in known routes ie. rub/scrape lines around these areas looking for does who tend to stay close to both bedding/food areas. No real secret here but it works.

[drybpr]

These new Moultrie sprayers are pretty sweet for maintaining your plots. I hear they have just started using the sureflo pumps on them too . Definately a time saver!

[diydeerfoodplots]

I just saw you posted this thread a long time ago. Did you manage to get something planted yet? Let me know, maybe I can help. I have some good fall planting combo's I have used. You are in Zone 5 right? Love Plots: and yes I agree, anything overdone is poor and doesn't give you any advantage if everyone is doing it, that is unless of coarse they are doing it badly:)
But they do have their place if done well.
Dr. J

[Hunting Man]

Based on my recent surgery I could not plant this year. Currently the plots are being killed and buckwheat is going to be planted for this fall. I could use any help on good plant mixes for North Central PA. I've tried just about everything. brassica's do well but only last 1 year. Need something to last several years???

I just order a sample pack from Whitetailinstitute.com. That might be a place to start.