It's All About the Food Plots

I am a believer in food plots. I hunt on 44 acres and mainly just the border is woods. We have about 12 acres in CRP, a small .5 acre pond, and a 3 acre lake. Deer mainly use our property to pass through onto other properties. In years past we would see a fair amount of deer, but I think 12 was the most that I saw in one day. On November 1st 2008 I arrowed a 145" 11-pointer with a Rage Broadhead that was cruising for does on the edge of our CRP. We never had any trail cam pictures of him so I think he was just passing through. Late season in 2008 I was lucky to see one deer per outing. I knew this past year would be different. I planted 2 acres of soybeans on May 30 and planted some turnips in between some of the rows. Over the summer I spotted a fair amount of deer hitting the beans and eating the leaves, but nothing really big.

Once the leaves started turning the deer left the field for other foods. I couldn't wait for late season because I knew that they would be back. A majority of the time that I went out late season I would see 20 or more deer. They were piling in from every direction. I took a 135" 10-pointer on December 28th in the snow. I was positioned along the edge of the woods as they would head to the field. He came by and gave me a 15 yard shot. My brother-in-law took a small buck on the field as well. One night he went out he saw about 40 deer. What a huge difference ? It is hard to control deer movement with so many standing crops in our area. Once those crops are taken out and the snow starts falling, deer would rather feed in standing crops than dig through the snow. I learned a lot and can't wait to plant my food plots again next year.

This year I am going to try and provide forage for them all year round. Last year was mainly good in the late season, but I want them to come to my property all year long. Not only do they get used to your property, it also allows the bucks to get the nutrients they need to grow larger racks. I plan on planting a number of Mossy Oak Biologic blends and documenting their growth and the deer response to them. We have more CRP ground that we aren't getting paid for that I plan on putting into food plots. Another plus is shed hunting after the snow melts. I had never found a shed before and I've already found two this year in that same beanfield. We will keep you posted on what else we find.