just wanted to see what some of you serious hunters planted for deer and get some ideas on what works best for you? thanks cat
food plots
- Thread starter catfish
- Start date
Catfish, there are as many answers as hunters. I am by nature a frugal (read cheep) person and see no reason to turn free meat into expensive meat. I should say also I'm a meat hunter, not an antler addict. When my garden in done I till it up and plant crimson clover. It's cheep and is a great cover legume for your garden. The deer eat it like candy. I wait until it’s about calf high and turn the electric fence off, push the wire down to the ground and let them in to graze. This has another advantage. It gets the deer used to roaming around the garden unhampered. Then in the spring when I pull the wire back up and turn it on they get into it and are afraid of it again for a while. I find if you just leave it up all the time they figure out how to get in.
I work in a feed and seed store and we sell a bunch of expensive clover blends, minerals and corn for deer. People spend tons of money but it simply can't be that much better than crimson clover IMHO. I also need to add that crimson clover is an annual (needs planting every year) a lot of people that buy the other clovers (which are perennials) are trying to establish more permanent plots. This is easier said than done. A successful clover plot takes a fair amount of maintenance and upkeep.
Sorry about being so long winded. Hope I said something that helps.
Richard
Rereading this post, it fits in the gardening section (if there was one) better than hunting!!
I work in a feed and seed store and we sell a bunch of expensive clover blends, minerals and corn for deer. People spend tons of money but it simply can't be that much better than crimson clover IMHO. I also need to add that crimson clover is an annual (needs planting every year) a lot of people that buy the other clovers (which are perennials) are trying to establish more permanent plots. This is easier said than done. A successful clover plot takes a fair amount of maintenance and upkeep.
Sorry about being so long winded. Hope I said something that helps.
Richard
Rereading this post, it fits in the gardening section (if there was one) better than hunting!!
thanks richard . i only have a small plot i plant something in so i don,t have alot invested in it. i kill one or two out of it a year.i think ill get some of the clover and try that. i have planted that mix stuff you can get but havent had alot of luck with it. :shock: yea i aint a trophy hunter either i kill for the food. if i get a nice buck its an added plus.
if i get a nice buck its an added plus. Get a few (4-6) apples that have started going soft. Toss them nonchalantly on the ground and step on them. The breeze will do the rest.
Get 2-3 apples that are still good; eat those yourself whilst waiting for the deer to come to your $2 bait.
Get 2-3 apples that are still good; eat those yourself whilst waiting for the deer to come to your $2 bait.
Jack,
You can also take a bag of cornmeal to the stand with you and throw several handfulls as high in the air as you can. If there is any breeze the smell of corn will travel downwind quite a ways.
Bob
You can also take a bag of cornmeal to the stand with you and throw several handfulls as high in the air as you can. If there is any breeze the smell of corn will travel downwind quite a ways.
Bob
Cornmeal is a a new one on me for deer, Bob, thanks. Shell corn or ear corn, yes, but meal is new.
Jack
I know the apple deal works up north,we tried it down here and they wouldnt touch them. I think they dont know what they are ,no apple trees down here :shock:
Tried some apple scented corn to same results. When I hunted in Ill it worked like a charm,they ate the heck out of the apples we put out
Bob
Had a guy I knew that was hunting public land and it was illegible to bait. he would put corn ground super fine in a sock, dust everything down around his stand :lol:
It worked
Ron
I know the apple deal works up north,we tried it down here and they wouldnt touch them. I think they dont know what they are ,no apple trees down here :shock:
Tried some apple scented corn to same results. When I hunted in Ill it worked like a charm,they ate the heck out of the apples we put out
Bob
Had a guy I knew that was hunting public land and it was illegible to bait. he would put corn ground super fine in a sock, dust everything down around his stand :lol:
It worked
Ron
I'd hunted deer only in Michigan and California. Never baited or scented in CA. You're right, though, it has to be a food from the area. No Mexican or Italian foods for great Lakes deer, I guess. :wink:
Down here it is corn as the main attraction or millet. Both are planted in food lots and then knocked down when mature. A person could say harvested if asked by Law Enforcement. :roll:
The time for that is October so it attracts the Doves for an early season Dove Hunt. Deer and Turkey at a later date is just the icing on the cake.
The time for that is October so it attracts the Doves for an early season Dove Hunt. Deer and Turkey at a later date is just the icing on the cake.
In the Great Lakes area, I've noticed that if you put out shelled corn or sunflower seeds, you attract both everything in the woods that eats them, AND everything that eats the seed eaters. I expect that once you zero in on the several popular foods of the area, hunting gets a bit easier.
The other side of that coin are results of a test done for the Michigan Outdoors Show many years ago. Guys ate large beef steaks, and urinated on the ground. Nearby in separate spots they also poured doe scent (urine is estrus, I think), and some ammonia. Every deer that came in went to the "steak urine" site first! Maybe baiting is easier - and more enjoyable - than we think?
The other side of that coin are results of a test done for the Michigan Outdoors Show many years ago. Guys ate large beef steaks, and urinated on the ground. Nearby in separate spots they also poured doe scent (urine is estrus, I think), and some ammonia. Every deer that came in went to the "steak urine" site first! Maybe baiting is easier - and more enjoyable - than we think?