Not yet JP.

Very seldom do I get bucks that summer here. This is Doe country spring/ Summer.
Bucks start filtering in in about mid Sept.

Still mind blown at how the oats germed and grew in only 3 days!! Been planting them for 15 years and never seen this before.


Spike. What are you trying to plant?

Next week I will be planting sainfoin and alfalfa mixed together in a hay field not for a food plot. I'm hoping for a wet Sept. and Oct. with a good snow cover.

Too early here in the deep South to plant fall plots. Usually late Sept or early Oct is best here. Need the daytime high temps to get down in the low 80s or 70s....and hopefully still have adequate soil moisture.

SW. Every thing here is a gamble (weather wise). Some years we can get a hard freeze in early Sept, some years mid Oct.

Been planting foodplots for quite a few years. I try to narrow down dates that (usually) work.
Ma Nature sometimes disrupts those dates.

Made Every mistake in the book doing so but I'm starting to realize it's better to be a bit late then early for most things.
Moisture is the KEY factor.

After this big rain we had 3 days ago and now heat, I can dang near hear stuff growing.

Thats just the skeeters coming to life

That’s some fast growing Oats for sure! Are oats eaten as a green food source or do the deer wait for them to seed out later in the season?

Just finished ours all off as well. Planted 8 acres of smaller interior plots. As you stated they just exploded this year. Our Monday,Tuesday, plots are up great already. Clover got sprayed and mowed with the few days of dry weather we had. Thursday we got an inch of rain in slow fashion and then warm muggy weather. We have some really good antler growth this year with the early green up and all the rain we got.

JP, deer like oats short. I will keep this small plot mowed.
Bear Tracker. What did you plant?

We do different mixes and some is dictated by the location of the plot. Wetter areas we have gone to mostly perennial clovers. We love BFO Buck Forage Oats, so some are straight oats. I like what we have been doing for years and now the experts are calling the Dairymans Plot, LOL. Four blend clover, chicory, and oats. Green up in the spring for antler growth. I love clover, the deer will hit it year round for us. We have steered away from brassicas as we used to go heavy on them. We have never had much success with deer use even after freeze up. We do plant some plots with radishes and sugar beets mixed in with BFO top dress. This was to be our year to lime heavy but it has been way to wet. So next year we will buy 22 ton for small plots, and truck spread the larger ones. We have some nice antlers growing this year should be fun to chase them around.

Careful with that MD…JJ might loose his teeth.

I will add that while we have bucks on our property, our focus is always the does. We manage and cater to the does. They will bring the boys, but we also offer enough cover,eater, food, to keep some bucks around also.

It’s amazing what happens when you get rain, lol. Our browntop millet sat in the ground for almost a month after planting with NO rain. We thought the fields were done, but when we got rain it went wild. I think we ended up about an inch or two a week after that and it produced a good stand. We’ve already sprayed and mowed it. Got one very small section burned and already have 150+ dove on it. Our season starts in less than 3 weeks and we’ll burn a field a day this week until it’s all burned. Opening day should be a good shoot.

I'm still jealous of that thick, black dirt.

You probably didn't even have to add any fertilizer.

Most of my plots are like planting on a river sandbar....pure sand, maybe just a little sandy loam.

Dang… you remember that pork butt that was smoked and you didn’t get an invite…

Just sayin!!

Hope y’all get a great dove hunt in. They have been loaded in my plots since I crimped the buckwheat and millet over to spray. Doubt I’ll have any numbers left for the opener though.

Black dirt SW?..., yeah, it's " decent" lol.
Just got done pre drilling 2 holes for rub posts I'll put in later (early oct). I always use Aspen trees. Gotta drive about 1/2 hour to get to an area that grows them and bring them here but it's SO worth it.
That white bark in a buck magnet. Got them each about 125 yards from the back window in different lanes so I can watch.
Watch 25± bucks a year working them over. Piles of fun.

Gonna spend today putting new straps on ladderstands (about 10), making sure bolts are tight (no squeks) and just annual general inspection.
Beartracker. Brassicas work great here as long as they get good nitrogen and rain. Radish for early bow season, dwarf rape for mid season and PPT for later season. I don't plant them for the tubers though, just the leaves.
Really no need for lime here. Our soils are about 6.5/7.5 ph.

WannaBe, bout a month ago, I tried an experiment on a plot I put in for a friend. I broadcasted an 8# bug of store bought birdseed(mostly millet). It's sat in bone dry soil until we got that 3" rain last week.
I checked it yesterday and it's coming up. Will deer eat it? I don't know? Will see.
Good luck on the Doves. They are alot of fun to shoot at








Oh heck, I think I'll put one 25 yards out the back window also.

Looks Great

Done. 27 yards.