Big bucks in food plots Q

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MN Slick
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby MN Slick » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:11 am

We've had good success with 3.5 and older bucks using small plots during daylight in Northern Missouri. We have a 1/4 to 1/2 acre plot on the North end of our farm in a bottom that has cover to the south and west. The plot is used heavily as a staging area before they head across the creek to our 25 acres of tillable. They started scraping on the plot in August and never stopped. Our area has very little pressure during bow season which is obviously important. Here are a couple key observations in our situation. Infared cameras with red glow are no bueno on plots and scrapes. Without question deer are leery of them and avoid them. We switched to Reconyx last year and had the same bucks using the plots from summer through December and my bro ultimately killed a 140 off the plot that we had many daylight pics of throughout the fall on November 4th. If you want to put a camera on the plot it's imperative for it to have a black flash in my opinion. Observation number 2 is how effective Jeff Murray's Moon Guide is, at least it was last year which is the first year I've really compared daylight pics of mature deer to his prime days. Essentially almost all daylight pics of mature deer taken on the plot were within a day or 2 of prime days.


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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby dan » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:15 am

Observation number 2 is how effective Jeff Murray's Moon Guide is, at least it was last year which is the first year I've really compared daylight pics of mature deer to his prime days. Essentially almost all daylight pics of mature deer taken on the plot were within a day or 2 of prime days.

Thats the same observation I had looking thru Andraes Iowa and Illinois pictures...
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby gutone4me » Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:33 am

Mike wrote:
gutone4me wrote:
Mike wrote:If you have seen or killed a big buck in a food plot/crop field:
What kind of plot was it?
How big was the plot and what shape?
What time of year was it?
What kind of terrain were you in?

Add any other details you think are important.



Brassicas or clover have both worked for me
1/2 acre or less and round
Sept 17 2009 Oct 21 2010 Nov 4 2011 there are more but those are the last 3
SW WI near LaCrosse so hilly I would say
Secluded !! I had a great property it was the last place on a dead end road it was 106 acres with a mixture of CRP and woods. I would not hunt mornings until after Oct 20 as it was very difficult to get in without bumping deer. Mock scrapes are another thing I added to the plots. I used VS1 Border crossings deer herd in a stick on the licking branches and my own #1 in the scrape. 2 of the bucks came to plots that had mineral sites in them also. The does hit those daily year round so they come cruising by on the prowl.

Sorry for my lazy answer earlier :mrgreen:


No prob thanks for the details...got a couple more q's. Is this a hilltop plot? How far away are the next biggest feeding areas? Is this plot in route to a larger feeding area?



My favorite is a ridgetop far from any ag fields (couple miles) Just the route they run on that ridge it was by far my favorite spot. The 20 minute walk uphill sucked but it was so worth it. Had to walk away from that land with the move to KY. It was really hard to do considering I had shot 7 P&Y in 7 years on that 106 acres.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Mike » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:06 pm

MN Slick wrote:We've had good success with 3.5 and older bucks using small plots during daylight in Northern Missouri. We have a 1/4 to 1/2 acre plot on the North end of our farm in a bottom that has cover to the south and west. The plot is used heavily as a staging area before they head across the creek to our 25 acres of tillable. They started scraping on the plot in August and never stopped. Our area has very little pressure during bow season which is obviously important. Here are a couple key observations in our situation. Infared cameras with red glow are no bueno on plots and scrapes. Without question deer are leery of them and avoid them. We switched to Reconyx last year and had the same bucks using the plots from summer through December and my bro ultimately killed a 140 off the plot that we had many daylight pics of throughout the fall on November 4th. If you want to put a camera on the plot it's imperative for it to have a black flash in my opinion. Observation number 2 is how effective Jeff Murray's Moon Guide is, at least it was last year which is the first year I've really compared daylight pics of mature deer to his prime days. Essentially almost all daylight pics of mature deer taken on the plot were within a day or 2 of prime days.



Agreed on the moon guide as well...is the plot big enough to cover the whole thing with a bow or is it a little bigger than can be covered with a bow hunting the edge? Sounds like a sweet spot.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Mike » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:12 pm

Bigb wrote:We have 4 food plots out currently, all in clover and all are a 1/2 or less. We have one in very secluded area 300 or so yards from any ag field at all. It's the biggest one (1/2 acre) and we keep a camera on this plot all year long and is probably the camera that we get the most buck pics, especially summer and early season. The problem is its at the bottom of a valley and tough to hunt due to swirling winds. Of the the other 3 we really only hunt 2 and the smallest of them is where I always see the most bucks, especially in the rut. Unfortunately I haven't connected on a buck at these plots yet but I had the biggest buck i've seen on this land at 8 yards but a hot doe was more on his mind. All of our plots are close to bedding and I think the deer use them more as a transitioning area before they hit the corn and beans we have growing as well. I think since we do have corn and beans all around us that these smaller plots are the ticket because they hit them before they move out to the larger ag fields. Of course, I've only been hunting this land for two years now but I think after this last year i'm figuring these deer out more and more.

I agree that I think it all depends on where you hunt on how large and the positioning of yout food plots. In my area, a lot of people hunt field edges so the more mature deer wait until after dark to hit the ag fields so they look to transition in these smaller food plots checking for does before they move out to the more open fields after dark.



No doubt whats around you has an impact on how much draw your plot has. I do think bottom of the valleys are preferred in hill country, which is tough for wind. For your biggest plot you mentioned can you cover the whole plot with bow?
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:37 pm

I was bowhunting a clover plot about an acre in size four years ago and missed a big bodied 140 inch 8 pointer at 40 yards. Shouldnt have taken the shot to be honest. It was too far for me. This was on Sept 18th in the evening. He was with a smaller 10 pointer I passed up.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby MN Slick » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:20 am

Mike, our plot is L shaped so not all of it can be covered by bow. Our stand is set up where it necks down so if anything feeds through the plot it will be in bow range. During the rut most of the bucks just cruise a portion of it so they sometimes drive by without offering a shot.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:46 am

MN Slick brings up a good point. If you are going to have a larger plot it should be L shaped, S shaped, V shaped, etc or sectioned off into multiple mini plots with screening cover. You do not want a buck to be able to cruise by during the rut and be able to just glance into a plot for does without having to expose himself. Not only can this keep you from getting a shot, but you may not even know he was ever there. It also means he spends less time on your property and more time on someone elses property where he may get shot. This is where thick screening cover such as Egyptian wheat (annual) or Switch grass (Perennial) works well. Lots of plants can be used for screening cover including food producing shrubs (like hazel nuts).
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby dan » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:55 am

I have noticed that the "cruisers" don't seem to look for a visual. They scent check the doe trails that come and go to a plot... There is usually a parallel trail 50 to 100 yards from the plot that crosses the doe trails heading to the plot / field.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:31 am

dan wrote:I have noticed that the "cruisers" don't seem to look for a visual. They scent check the doe trails that come and go to a plot... There is usually a parallel trail 50 to 100 yards from the plot that crosses the doe trails heading to the plot / field.

I have noticed both. It's usually the younger bucks (3.5 or younger) that seem expose themselves to check a plot when they don't have the right wind to scent check. Hunting back off the plot is definitely the way to go (by far), but I figure if your going to set up a food plot you might as well set it up as best you can to cover as many possibilities as you can. Even if it doesn't happen a lot. I have also noticed pressure makes a huge difference in how often this happens or even if it happens at all. It doesn't seem to work on 4.5+ bucks (from my experience), but occasionally on 3.5's. The only time I see 4.5+ bucks doing something like this is on one of those big exclusive properties some of the hunting celebrities go to.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:57 am

bumping this thread, as there is a lot of great info in it for small food plots...

I'm going to be making my first food plot this year, a small 1/4 acre plot, I'm really looking forward to the whole process of preparing, planting, and hopefully shooting a big buck out of it.... My cousin shot a very nice buck last year out of a 1/4 acre plot. The buck came in opening night of bow season, worked out perfect. I can only hope it works like it did for him. ;)
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Bucky » Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:35 am

After a decade of "food plotting" I wouldn't expect to shoot a mature buck off food... it happens rarely (usually they are a bunch of work too)

The best odds I have observed are right out of the gate... but even then you have to keep pressure to min before you strike
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby iowa whitetail » Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:43 am

If you have good managed land and plant good sized plots, and the right food after 5 years you will be killing mature bucks regularly late season in my experience. All the factors go into play for it to be sucsessful. Also location is huge as well.

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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby iowa whitetail » Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:44 am

If you have good managed land and plant good sized plots, and the right food after 5 years you will be killing mature bucks regularly late season in my experience. All the factors go into play for it to be sucsessful. Also location is huge as well. Not sure y it double posted lol

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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Bucky » Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:50 am

Iowa - you gotta remember that Iowa pressure does not exist anywhere near Wisco/MI/East... rarely do deer (bucks) feed in my food plots (daylight) post gun season until after Jan 1. Rifle season starts Nov 20th and runs until mid Dec... 9 days rifle, followed by 9 days muzzleloader, followed by 4 days rifle does only. The deer go under a rock in the heavily hunted poritions of WI. It takes until after Xmas or extreme weather before they start to feed in daylight.

Being able to muzzleload hunt into Jan as late as 7,8,9,10 is HUGE advantage to kill em late season in Iowa. I know I could pull it off in WI that late.... and you guys have a LOT less hunters
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