August 2011 Food Plot Update

A Favorite Picture

Raccoon Bait

Welcome to the August Food Plot Journal. The summer heat was hotter in July and we got cooler weather and some rain in August. The clover plots picked up some grass but there is a lot of clover still in our plots.

We didn't get to do a lot in our plots, but we did get one new brasica plot planted in the hayfield. Meanwhile, most of our plots could use a good mowing.

Oldhouse Food Plot

The Durana in the oldhouse plot is still doing real good. The Slay that we sprayed in July knocked back the grass-like weed and we haven't mowed the plot since July 15. There are a couple of grass-like weed patches that we could mow if we get a chance. The clover is low growing and looks good.

The Durana clover in the old garden plot looks great. We mowed the plot with a lawn tractor on September 4 and the plot is green and has a lot of clover in it. We see deer in this plot each time we visit.

The Monster Mix in this plot seems to have lost out to weeds and grass, but it hasn't grown to the point that it needs mowed again yet. A camera near a feeder also catches deer feeding in the plot as well. Maybe this plot is in better shape than I think it is. It will be interesting to see what deer do around this plot during deer season this year.

Whippoorwill Food Plot

The Monster Mix and Durana in this plot is still doing well. I haven't mowed this plot since June 9 and it should be mowed as soon as I get a chance. This plot is close to the hayfield-plot so maybe this has taken the pressure off. This time last year I never would have thought that it would still have this much clover.

Hayfield Food Plot

The Durana in Area One is doing okay, but it definitely needs mowed. The Slay did the job on the grass-like weed which is a big lesson for me. Hopefully I can mow it soon.

The Imperial Whitetail Clover in Area 2 is doing real good.

The Honey Hole is just about gone. After planting on July 2 the deer moved in and have eaten most of the brassicas. If I would have had more time this weekend I would have disked it up and planted another round of brassicas for the fall.

The Durana in Area Three just needs mowed. There is still a lot of clover here it just needs uncovered.

The Durana in Area Four has a good bit of grass and some weeds, but the deer visit it regularly. I hope to get to mow this plot later this month.

The Monster Mix in Area Five is the most visited part of the hayfield plot. The deer head for the clover and chicory in this plot each evening. The Arrest took care of the grass and mowing knocked the weeds back.

I guess we now have an Area Six. We plowed and disked another area that is a little bigger than a quarter acre. We plowed on August 9, disked on August 11 and then on September 2 we disked, dragged, applied 80 pound of lime, 50 pound of fertilizer and sowed half in Imperial Whitetail Winter Greens and half in Evolved Harvest Shot Plot. Rain arrived right after it was planted so this plot should jump up quick.

Right Of Way Food Plot

The Durana in the Right Of Way plot is doing okay. This little plot is right by the hayfield plot and I'm not sure it is getting visited much by deer.

In August we added one more small plot that will likely get connected to the rest of the hayfield plots at some point. The rain right after we planted it should give us a nice crop of brassicas here.

Most of the plots need mowed, but I'm not going to worry too much if they don't all get mowed. I've found in the past that clover plots that gain a little grass in the late summer and fall still jump back in the spring quite well.

We now have quite a bit of clover on our property. The deer don't have any excuse to go elsewhere. With no apple crop this year our plots could continue to draw deer well into the fall.

We get thousands of pictures each month with our digital trail cameras but we narrow down each set of pictures to our favorite six or seven and these are usually buck pictures. As you can imagine there are always several more that are very good but don't make the cut.

Below is one of our favorite pictures from August. The raccoons are always tough on our feeders in the summer but they back off in the fall. I've always wondered if the bucks ran them off. You can take a look at our favorite deer pictures from September 4 here.

As you know we've always had a lot of trouble with raccoons at our feeders. The past couple of years we've been putting out a live trap to catch them and we've found the perfect bait, curiosity. Initially we used cat food, tuna and various vegetables and we wouldn't set the trap if we didn't have bait for it. Finally one week we just set the trap even though there wasn't any bait in it and we caught a raccoon. Since then we've stopped putting any bait in the traps. We've caught a half dozen raccoons this summer with curiosity and we left it baited in this manner when we left last weekend. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if we show up the next time and have another curious raccoon.

I'm thinking about selling curiosity bait. If you would like to buy some just send me an e-mail and we can work something out.