First time Food Plot project

[CT230 Fan]

This is the first year that I am attempting to put in a food plot for deer hunting. I have selected an area that is a little over 1/4th of an acre, and am planning on putting in Evolved harvest Mega Plot seed, and maybe a couple strips of Whitetail Institutes Tall Tine Tubers. I have cleared and brush hogged the area down. Things that I have read say I should spray now with Roundup or equivelant, before I till it up. Do you think that is necessary? Or could I till, wait a week or so for the growth to start, then come in and spray to kill everything. I know I need to wait a week or so after I till to spray no matter what, I just am not sure about the first spraying if I am tilling the ground.
It is recommended to use a cultipacker after I till. I don't have access to one of these, nor do I have a lawn roller. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can prepare the seed bed? Would pulling a piece of telephone pole behind the tractor work, or piece of chain link fence?
My soil is at about a 6-6.5 Ph, so I'm not going to lime or fertilize it this year due to time restraints, and the fact that I am getting a late start. I plan on starting from scratch next year and going through all the proper steps, but this year is a bit of a trial run.
Here are a couple pics of the area I have selected.

 

[Western]

If you disc it and the re-disc it, I don't see why you nee to use roundup. Since deer are forbe grazers, most weeds are palatable anyway. I would put the $$ towards at least some fertilizer, like a 17-17-17 at planting time. That seed mixture has few legumes in it will will give you a slight bit of Nitrogen as they grow.

What I have used for a drag is usually quite simple, I have used a cyclone gate, right now I have been using 6 old tires wired together and it works great, but my soil is somewhat sandy. A wire drag works better in cloddish soil.

I don't like seeds that differ much in size, that complicates the planting depth, most food plots fail because the planting depth is to much or to little. I think the stuff your going to use needs 1/4" or less.

 

[CT230 Fan]

If you disc it and the re-disc it, I don't see why you nee to use roundup. Since deer are forbe grazers, most weeds are palatable anyway. I would put the $$ towards at least some fertilizer, like a 17-17-17 at planting time. That seed mixture has few legumes in it will will give you a slight bit of Nitrogen as they grow.

What I have used for a drag is usually quite simple, I have used a cyclone gate, right now I have been using 6 old tires wired together and it works great, but my soil is somewhat sandy. A wire drag works better in cloddish soil.

I don't like seeds that differ much in size, that complicates the planting depth, most food plots fail because the planting depth is to much or to little. I think the stuff your going to use needs 1/4" or less.

I think you are right about the seed depth, I think 1/4". I wonder if I can't just let nature do the work for me, and spread the seed before a rain storm.

 

[Western]

You will be disappointed with the results I think. Disc it one way, then cross disc it. wait a week or a week after a rain, then do it again. You probably don't want to plant that until late Mid- late Sept, at least here in Texas. may be the 1st of Sept. for you.

If it where me, I'd go out and disc it like above now. The as Sept 1st approaches watch the weather, if you have rain coming, I would go out disc again the same way to get the seed bed ready, broadcast your seed. Drag it with something that wont dig, but will lightly cover the seed and smooth it out. A heavy gauge fence panel works great chained to your draw bar, might need a few weights on it, but don't over do it.

You may want to add a bag Oats to that seed too, it is cheap and will give you a good cover crop for the small stuff and will give you more bulk.

 

[Oldstuff]

CT230- I see you are also from MO, I have a place in north east MO and have been doing food plots since 2004. I do not claim to be an expert but have learned a lot from experience and from a very helpful neighbor who is an ag major and soils expert by trade. DO put down some lime to get your Ph up to 7.0. Normally spraying with Roundup is fine but from the pictures you have already mowed- Roundup works by absorbtion so it is too late for the spray to be very effective. Since your ground has not been turned you need to either/both disk and till. I would fert and lime and then till if I had my way. Then plant seed and drag with a section of chail link fence or equivelent. A cultipacker would be the final way to cover the seed but the chain link fencing works great. On my last plot I did just as noted above but also pulled a 4 foot wide lawn roller over the seed with an ATV. For every food plot I have seen weeds are always a problem. I still spray for undesireable grasses and a broadleaf killer speciffically for clover but always have smart weed and ragweed anyway. So, you first line of defence for weeds is to mow about 4 times a summer to keep them from seeding out. Set brush cutter at about 8 inches and cutt down anything taller, you will also be just clipping the tips of the clover if that is what you plant.

 

[CT230 Fan]

Ok, got some work done this weekend. I decided to take my box blade and scrape off all the cut grass from when I brush hogged. by lowering the scariffs down, it also helped bring up a lot of the root mass. I also took a Ph reading w. my ph meter. Looks like I am within tolerance for the seed I am planting.

 

[CT230 Fan]

I let the ground dry out the rest of the day, then came back on Sunday and tilled the entire plot.

 

[CT230 Fan]

We took lunch, then came back, did some tree work, then got back to the tilling. Tilled it for the second time, and here is the food plot after the second tilling.

 

[bullbreaker]

Looking great so far !
By the type of stand you have in the tree,am I correct to say you plan on trying w/bow first ?
Also about a year ago I sold my"hobby farm"(35 acres) I had near Alton,Mo bout 19 miles east of Hwy63 close to the Arkansas/Mammoth Springs line.

Boone

 

[CT230 Fan]

Looking great so far !
By the type of stand you have in the tree,am I correct to say you plan on trying w/bow first ?
Also about a year ago I sold my"hobby farm"(35 acres) I had near Alton,Mo bout 19 miles east of Hwy63 close to the Arkansas/Mammoth Springs line.

Boone

That stand is called "Skywalker." It's about 23 feet to the platform. It's one of my primary bow hunting stands, but I will rifle and muzzleload out of it too.

I'm located about an hour north of Kansas City. My farm is 40 acres, w. about 20 in open fields, and the other 20 in timber. Unfortunataly, the property had been over grazed in the past, so my timber is less than desirable. Full of Hedge and Locust, and not a lot else. I do have a pretty large creek that runs diagonally across the property.