First deer plot in central PA

Chuck_Lind · May 19, 2005

Plowed, disc'd and planted my first deer plots yesterday in central Pennsylvania. There's two, a one-acre plot and a 1/2 acre plot, both about 1/2 mile from each other.

I used a combination of rye grass, white clover and alfalfa; then planted oats on it and disc'd it in with a 12 foot disc harrow.

This is the first time I've experimented with deer plots; the reason being I want the deer to eat where I WANT THEM TO EAT...not my crops.

Has anyone had any success with the seed combination?

Bowhunter · May 19, 2005

Your seed combination is a good one for deer, but I do have one concern. Clover seed, being as small as it is, is best planted no more than 1/4" deep. Generally for planting clover it is recommended to till the soil, cultipack or drag it, broadcast the clover seed, then cultipack or drag again. I'm afraid that disking after seeding it may have buried the seed too deep. Now for the rye, alfalfa, and oats, the planting method you used should work very well.

Another thing about clover is that planting success is usually higher in the fall. Dry summers tend to kill out the clover before it gets a chance to get started. We'll cross our fingers for plenty of rain for you this summer. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Good luck with your plots. I really enjoy mine.

Chuck_Lind · May 19, 2005

Thank you for the information. I should have mentioned that I used a pto-driven broadcast spreader and set the disc to a very slight angle while keeping it high enough in the soil as to not deeply bury the seed. I had success last year with using the disc set very high, which merely "covered" the seed.

Now...let's pray for rain.

TNhobbyfarmer · May 19, 2005

I used a combination of rye grass, white clover and alfalfa; then planted oats on it and disc'd it in with a 12 foot disc harrow. 

Sounds like a good combination except maybe for the alfalfa. Alfafa can be very fussy to grow and it is like clover, can't be planted very deep. I recommend the use of a cultipacker. Disk the ground, cultipack, sow the seed and cultipack again. That works very well with small seeds like clover and alfalfa as well as larger grains like wheat or oats.

I question your timing with respect as to when you have planted. Most legumes and small grains like you have planted are much better suited for fall planting. You are quite a bit further north than me so I could be wrong here.

One more thing. I think soil tests are invaluable for food plots. Some people take the attitude that it is only a deer food plot so why be so particular. I think deer use plots more readily when they have the proper fertilization. I truly believe that deer prefer crops with higher levels of nutrients and will seek out plots that have the proper levels of fertilizer.

dknarnd · May 23, 2005

I am in North Eastern PA and in the planning stages of food plots. The last two years we have spread a little over 1 ton of lime per acre on our fields, except last year we spread just over 2 ton per acre on one batch of fields. Just received my soil test back and the fields that received the extra lime are at 5.3 pH and the other fields are at 5.1 pH. My desired pH is 6.5 so the recommendation is another 5000 lb or more per acre. On top of that I need 1000 lbs per acre of 5-10-15 fertilizer. You can get soil tests done at Penn State for $9 so I highly recommend it.

Now all I need to do is get all the equipment together to do this.