Have you checked your food plots lately? Are they not producing like they should or have the deer eaten them down to a nub? Maybe you didn’t have time to put in a spring plot. Now’s the time to think about fall plots, specifically hunting plots.
This weekend we fired up the old Farmall 350 and hooked an antique duck foot chisel plow to it. We then attempted to work some ground for a small hunting plot near our well for immediate irrigation. After the ground was broken the Yamaha Grizzly was put into the rotation to drag the dirt and cover the seed. I’ll be on the road most of the fall, but my son will be able to hunt the plot with guidance from mom or Uncle Mike.
We planted Hunter’s Specialties Vita-Rack Winter Forage (www.hunterspec.com), which includes a variety of nutrition including rape, clover and turnips. Our plot site sits adjacent to a creek bed so the soil is dark and moist. This, combined with some gentle irrigation and a sprinkling of fertilizer should manifest into a super hunting plot. To create more attention we added a water source so thirsty deer could fill up while at the drive through. It’s up to Cole now to water the plot and keep the water hole full.
Although we could hang a treestand nearby, a nearby dilapidated barn will provide the perfect location for a ground blind, especially for archery shots. Believe it or not it’s starting to brown up in Wyoming so I’m confident that if Cole keeps up his end of the deal the deer will show up.
The project reminds me of Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams.” “If you build it they will come.” I’m betting they’ll show up when deer season arrives.
I’ll run the Yamaha, but you’re no Kevin Costner.