May 2007 Food Plot Update

Digital Trail Cameras - Picture Quality

Hidden Clover Plots

Welcome to the May 2007 Food Plot Journal. We planted two plots in April and we successfully planted three more plots in May to finish the plots that we had planned on planting this spring. After a wet start to spring it has dried up and the plots are not thriving, but I'm hoping that the rain over the Memorial Day weekend will help bring them along.

We also purchased a new set of three point hitch disks. Well OK, they aren't new but they are new to us. If we compare them to what our pull behind disks looked like when we first got them and especially what they look like now we can almost call these disks brand new.

Since we have a new set of disks you know that we're thinking about breaking more ground and planting. We have to try them out. Where we'll plant and when we'll get the time I'm not sure but I'd like to see how they perform. I'll probably also need to learn a few things about using them and now is the time to do it. I have some seed left over that would make a nice test plot.

Oldhouse Food Plot

The Chicory Plus in this plot hasn't sprung up like we would have liked but May has seen below average rain for our area so it's hard to fault the seed at this point. By May 28 the highest plant was probably three inches high and the plot was not filling out with plants.

On May 28th I mowed the small patch of Imperial Whitetail Clover that we had sowed in the lower portion of this plot. The clover is thin as well and it looked like grasses would soon take over if I didn't try to knock them back.

I mowed this plot twice in May. After the first mowing the clover came on pretty strong in some areas of the plot and I would say that the plot is about 50 percent clover. It rained the night after the second mowing so I think the clover will come back pretty strong.

In only its second year since being planted I would have liked for this plot to have done better but with the small amount of care I've put into it and heavy use by the deer it's doing OK.

I'll have to start thinking about when I want to replant this plot. I suppose this fall is a possibility but next spring seems more likely.

The old garden hasn't made any surprising growth this spring and is sparse at best. On the other hand deer are still spending time eating here. After I mowed it on the 12th clover has taken over where some of the weeds were trying to get established.

Since we have a new set of disks this plot is a possible candidate for at least a partial disk trial. We could easily disk up the areas of this plot that have the least clover and plant something for the summer. We'll see how much time we get and how the clover progresses.

Middle Clearing Food Plot

At this point the Monster Mix in this plot is outperforming the Chicory Plus in the oldhouse plot, but I'm not sure how much this tells us since this plot generally seems to hold more moisture. This could surely be helping it out.

Some of the Monster Mix is five inches high or so and looks to be starting to thicken up some.

We've been posting cameras at this plot and have captured some deer eating in the plot but not to a great extent thus far.

Whippoorwill Food Plot

We were able to lightly disk this plot on April 24th, again on May 1st and then disk again and apply 25 pound of fertilizer and 100 pound of lime on May 5th. On May 11th we disked and planted some Bucks and Bosses and Durana clover.

I did have a problem with the two different sizes of seed in the Bucks and Bosses. If I set the opening for the small seeds the big seeds clogged it up and when I set the opening for the large seeds the seed rate was too high and I ran out of seed. That is why there is some Durana in this plot.

This is real nice dirt so it will be interesting to see how well this plot does this year. The little purple flower weed has taken it over the last couple of year so we'll see how it goes this year.

I'll be posting a camera in this plot soon to watch the activity.

Hayfield Food Plot

We disked on April 24th, May 1st and applied 500 pound of lime and disked on May 5th along with 200 pound of fertilizer. On May 11th we disked again and then planted the western half in Imperial Alfa-Rack Plus and the eastern half in Durana clover.

I've read and heard good things about Durana clover so we'll see how it does for us and I'm hoping the Alfa-Rack does well in this hilltop location.

There hasn't been much rain since we planted so both seeds have been off to a slow start. I put a camera up at the Alfa-Rack so we'll see when it starts getting visitors.

Right Of Way Food Plot

We disked, limed and fertilized the right of way plot on the same schedule as the whippoorwill plot. We also planted Bucks and Bosses on May 11th. As of May 28 there was some growth and it looked like the vetch or trefoil may have jumped up a few inches already. It will be interesting to see how this seed combination works in these two small plots.

After a wet and slow start we were finally able to get all of our plots planted. We thought our planting was over for the spring and all we had to do was pray for rain but then we ran into a new set of disks. This may force us to disk up some more ground. There is an old potato patch that we were looking at that could be another small plot but we'd have to do a little chainsaw work to get to it. We have some seed, we'll just have to see how much time we have.

Since we enjoy testing digital trail cameras I thought that we would detail some of what we have learned by taking a look at a different subject each month.

The first column in our chart is picture quality and this is the grade that sets some of the cameras apart from the rest. We have learned that it is not only the megapixel rating that contributes to picture quality but the electronics behind the camera. The trail cameras that use a real digital camera take pictures that are superior to those that do not. To be even more specific the best models have a Sony camera in them. Although the gap has closed somewhat over the past two years there is still a definite and distinct gap between them.

One thing I would like to point out here is that there is not a price difference between the models with a Sony digital camera in them and some of the high megapixel models that do not use a real digital camera. It is possible to pay the same price for a lesser quality trail camera.

If picture quality is at all important to you then make sure you look for the models that have a real digital camera and if you are going to pay for a better trail camera make sure it has a real digital camera in it.

I know we're all different but I happen to really like the better picture quality.

You can take a look at our digital trail camera reviews here.

Sometimes I wonder if we "deer managers" have it all figured out or if we are just fooling ourselves. What made me start to think about this was simply looking at the lawns both at home and at our hunting property.

When we arrived back home on Monday our lawn hadn't been mowed for a week. One thing that both Ryan and I noticed was that almost 50 percent of our front lawn was white clover! Wow, we hadn't even planted this clover and here it was beating out all of the grass which I had seeded about six year ago.

Meanwhile down at our hunting property, when you walk from the garden food plot back to the house you can't help but notice the clover in the lawn. It's thicker and more prominent than the clover in the food plot.

How is it that the clover beats the grass in the yard but the grass beats the clover in my "clover plots"? Maybe, just maybe, I should try planting grass in my clover plots so I could have a good strong clover crop. We've never limed or fertilized the lawn at our hunting property and my lawn at home has had little attention over the past six years other than some weed and feed a couple of years ago. My wife has tried to kill the clover and it is still beating the grass.

I don't think I'll shy away from mowing our clover plots since constant mowing in the lawn sure doesn't seem to hurt it.

Now I think I have it all figured out, or do I?