Big bucks in food plots Q

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gutone4me
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby gutone4me » Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:17 am

Brassicas and clover have worked best for me 1/2 acre or less. I believe the key is where and not what. I mix in a mock scrape and game on.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:53 am

Nice layout Dan. That would make for some killer hunting.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Mike » Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:38 am

gutone4me wrote:Brassicas and clover have worked best for me 1/2 acre or less. I believe the key is where and not what. I mix in a mock scrape and game on.


Can you give me more details by answering the q's at the start of the thread? Thanks

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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Mike » Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:39 am

DEERSLAYER wrote:Nice layout Dan. That would make for some killer hunting.

Do u know what time of year kurt killed that buck?

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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:18 pm

Mike wrote:
DEERSLAYER wrote:Nice layout Dan. That would make for some killer hunting.

Do u know what time of year kurt killed that buck?

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October 9th.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby gutone4me » Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:09 pm

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:
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby kurt » Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:12 pm

when i killed that buck that deerslayer mention it was also a perfect moon phase for hunting at night(overhead - i usually buy jeff murray's guide). also i didn't use a trail cam just left it alone can't have any scent that way. but i shot that deer close to 4pm 3 plus hours before close. so i have no idea how often he was using it or if that was his normal time. he was a 3.5 year old by my guess (148 4/8 ) but his body just didn't seem older to me . my whole idea for using the food plot was this. lack of tree's or cover to get close enough to the bed but was hoping a foodplot would encourage him to go the way i wanted . hardly any trees in marsh but i figure i could get 5- 6 feet in between bed and food plot but their where alot of trails that didnt go past that so blocked the ones i didn't want him to use as best i could. and cleared the trail i wanted him on. i was in their late july/earlyaug. when i planted and just left it alone . i tried to do it one weekend but it took 2. it all worked out in an odd way i never made it to the cut off tree... and proably will never shoot a buck walking in. the foodplot is in thick red willows that had a natural little opening for me to clear out with some box elders. its basicly a cornfield, few trees , dog wood, and marsh with a few high spots that have a tree or two. i would guess food plot to bed at 125ish yards i was trying to cut it to maybe 70- 80 yards.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:30 pm

Some good info there kurt. Especially about no camera and no returning to the plot. Not even to see if it grew or not. I don't think most people would have done that.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby gutone4me » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:57 pm

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:



EDIT *** I also run trail cameras on all my plots/mock scrapes and beleive they had a huge role in me kiling all 3 of these bucks. The Sept 17 I could have killed any night the first week of season but had to wait for the right wind. The Oct 21 I told my wife there was an 80% chance I would shoot him that morning based on trail camera observations and the Nov 4 I had numerous pictures of him in all my plots just finally was in the right spot at the right time. I checked those cameras every 7-10 days riding a 4-wheeler or driving a truck into check them in the mid-day or pulling the card when I would hunt those spots.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Mike » Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:45 am

kurt wrote:when i killed that buck that deerslayer mention it was also a perfect moon phase for hunting at night(overhead - i usually buy jeff murray's guide). also i didn't use a trail cam just left it alone can't have any scent that way. but i shot that deer close to 4pm 3 plus hours before close. so i have no idea how often he was using it or if that was his normal time. he was a 3.5 year old by my guess (148 4/8 ) but his body just didn't seem older to me . my whole idea for using the food plot was this. lack of tree's or cover to get close enough to the bed but was hoping a foodplot would encourage him to go the way i wanted . hardly any trees in marsh but i figure i could get 5- 6 feet in between bed and food plot but their where alot of trails that didnt go past that so blocked the ones i didn't want him to use as best i could. and cleared the trail i wanted him on. i was in their late july/earlyaug. when i planted and just left it alone . i tried to do it one weekend but it took 2. it all worked out in an odd way i never made it to the cut off tree... and proably will never shoot a buck walking in. the foodplot is in thick red willows that had a natural little opening for me to clear out with some box elders. its basicly a cornfield, few trees , dog wood, and marsh with a few high spots that have a tree or two. i would guess food plot to bed at 125ish yards i was trying to cut it to maybe 70- 80 yards.



Thanks kurt. How far is the next nearest feeding area from the plot? How big was your plot?
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Mike » Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:47 am

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?
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby kurt » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:48 am

i would say less than a half mile to a green field. and a hardwoods wasn't too far away with acorns maybe a few hundred yards. my plot was less than a quarter acre. proably 15yards square.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby Bigb » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:23 am

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.
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Re: Big bucks in food plots Q

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:57 am

kurt wrote:i would say less than a half mile to a green field. and a hardwoods wasn't too far away with acorns maybe a few hundred yards. my plot was less than a quarter acre. proably 15yards square.

That comes out to a little under 1/21 acre.
You cannot invade mainland America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.
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