Making a wildlife Food Plot

[kmcconaughey]

Kendell, Bobby, there's lots of acres of corn around here as well. The deer seem to prefer to eat clover and/or alfalfa during the summer and into early fall. They do love corn though, especially if you pour shelled corn it into a pile... It is legal to bait in some parts of Wisconsin, it's legal in my area. It's illegal mainly in the southern portion of the state where they've detected CWD. I've never hunted over bait, not worth the trouble. In the past we used to place corn out at the cabin in the yard just to see what's out there but I think it makes the deer go nocturnal, too easy for them to wait for night and go in for easy pickings. I have hunted over food plots, so far not successfully... This food plot is mainly for my daughter to hunt over during the Wisconsin Youth deer hunt and for me to bow hunt over and around. My daughter almost got a nice 8 point while hunting it last year.

 

[mlamar]

Speaking of deer. An elder lady here in NE Ohio recently killed one with a shovel for getting in her flowers. She said she feared for her life (it was only a week or so old, not sure what it was doing up by the house at that age). A local councilman in defending her said the deer was nothing more than a giant rodent. I'd like to see the rat trap he would use for it. She is in some hot water over it.

 

[aschumacher]

Ya, I bet she will hear a whole bunch of noise about killing Bambi. A few years ago a man in the area got his butt in a wringer for killing a rat with a shovel. The animal control officer who filled charges looked like a complete jerk after it hit national television.

 

[kide]

Bobby and Kraig:
Piles of harvested/shelled corn????? The deer never let the farmers get to that stage around here - they start with the young sweet corn stage and leave a little for the farmers in the fall..

 

[kmcconaughey]

Kendell, reread what I wrote:

"They do love corn though, especially if you pour shelled corn it into a pile..."

I was not saying they only eat it if it's shelled and in a pile, I was just stating that they really like the ease of eating it when it's placed as such.

 

[kide]

Seriously, not sure how bad it is where you are, but it's really bad here, between the road kills and the damage done to the crops. Guy I hang around with is getting a "block permit" from the DNR right now, he's gonna be eating lots of high speed beef.....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Kendell, I think the WDNR has been a bit free with tags the past few years, I didn't see a deer while hunting up north last year and not many showed up on the trail cameras that I had placed. There are plenty of deer around home, lots of car kills during the rut but not too many, at least that I've observed along the road during the rest of the year.

This year the WDNR discontinued their stupid, IMO, Earn A Buck program where you had to shoot and tag an antlerless deer to earn a tag for an antlered deer. (This was not a state wide program, it was not in effect around my house or up north at the hunting property but it was in effect 7 miles south at the farm.) I didn't bow hunt at all last year because when I had the cameras set up at the farm from July through November I had literally hundreds of photos of bucks but only 3, yep THREE photos of does. I wasn't about to set on a stand and watch the bucks walk by and not be able to shoot (at) them. Well maybe it was 4 photos, I forget exactly.

 

[bbowman]

Kraig;

Like you,I have harvested very few deer over food plots,and none over shelled corn. I do put a little corn out during the off season just to keep 'em in the neighborhood!
I bowhunt in oak bottoms or ridgelines, then will gun hunt during the rut near scrapelines and travel routes.
Our combined season is about 75 days,with a two per day limit! DCNR just enacted a buck "tag" system,limiting us to three bucks a year. Our buck-to-doe ratio is way out of balance;most people used to shoot every spike they saw without ever taking a doe. Now we are trying to play catch up with all the other states management programs.
So if you guys ever want some "high speed beef", come visit the Cotton State!

 

[kmcconaughey]

We have been getting regular rain fall ever since I planted the food plot, and the clover is growing nicely!

I put up a rain gauge a week ago and when I stopped by last night it had exactly one inch in it from some rain that went through over the weekend. Here's some photos from one of the trail cameras. No photos on two of the cameras, dead battery in one and some kind of error condition in the other??? Oh well, I cleared the error and hopefully that one will behave and I put up some other cameras and brought in two for recharging.

Bobby, check out the beard on this guy!

 

[wshytle]

Kraig - Why don't you just put up a timed feeder or are they illegal out yonder. That way you could just give the deer/turkey a feeding of about 6 seconds every morning and put them on a schedule to arrive soon after you get set up and ready. I have also used plain ole mineral or salt blocks. I'm amazed at what they bring in. And when it's gone the deer still paw the ground from the melt. I noticed how rich the ground looks where you cleared for the plot. I bet it'd grow tomatoes as big as basketballs.

Mike L. - It sounds like the fawn that old lady killed was put there by her mother. At 1 week of age they aren't browsing yet so she probably just stumbled across while gardening. They instinctively lie very still and have little or no scent. We have coyotes now and I think they help control a little of the deer population. Around here anyone can get a year around permit that claims even slight damage.
Wayne

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, automatic feeders are illegal in Wisconsin. Also feeding deer in any fashion (except food plots) is illegal in some portions of Wisconsin. Feeding deer is legal in my area but is very restricted. After the hunting season opens I can place out a mineral block or up to 2 gallons of food in one place. Not worth the hassle. The soil here is quite good. The area where the food plot is located has been fallow for decades. It's a sandy/clay/loam soil.

 

[bbowman]

Kraig;

Nice gobbler! I made a deer food plot on a piece of property I was leasing(mostly for turkey hunting) and before the first rain the stupid turkeys ate all the seed! No worries though;got my revenge in the spring! LOL! Looks like you are going to have another good plot this year!
Bobby B.

 

[kmcconaughey]

A recent trail camera photo. I have more photos of this guy and some others but they are night photos and are grainy and the deer are a ways away from the camera. This is such a nice photo I had to post it.

BTW, the tree (a good sized spruce) that the camera is mounted onto has a hang-on deer stand in it AND the Wisconsin bow season opens this Saturday, September 12th. Also, note the time of day on the photo.

 

[aaytay]

 

[kmcconaughey]

OK, one more of this guy, he's in the middle of the other two deer in this photo. The food plot is growing, however it is growing much slower then I was expecting. Oh well, the deer are still visiting it. The deer have changed their travel pattern from last year due mostly, I believe, to me fixing the fence at the back of the farm. I cut out a big Box Elder that had fallen across the fence. The deer appear to be crossing about 100 yards or so farther to the north now, right in line with the trail that the deer in my last post is on.

 

[kmcconaughey]

More detail.

 

[rpalmer]

Kraig McConaughey,
Gee. I'd like to start a pool on how much sleep you get Friday night.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Richard, I'll most likely sleep like a baby. I don't have the bow license yet and I had not planned on bow hunting until October. Though that plan could change in a hurry now that I got a real good look at that deer... I might move my personal bow hunting opener to September 19th.

 

[rpalmer]

Kraig McConaughey,
They are all in excellent condition. The big boy you have your eye on has, I'm sure, passed on his genes a few times.
It's cleache but if you snooze, you lose. He's coming and going. Dumb luck could put him in anothers sights. Sleep well.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Turkeys.