How to make a large plot better?

Just got this new property a year ago, so this year is the first year for us to hunt it and manage it. Have done a bunch of work all year, plots are looking great, deer numbers seem really good, lots of bucks of all sizes/age, good sightings while hunting especially over the last couple of weeks, trigger has only been pulled twice, one was a accident button buck and the other was a 7 point that was too young by a guest. The whole property we are hunting is about 440 acres.

We have this one plot that is much bigger than the others, total size is around 5 acres and have around 3 acres of that planted. I thought for sure this was going to be a really good spot, but it has turned out to be the spot where there are the fewest sightings while hunting. Getting some night pictures at the feeder, but doesn't seem as consistent as the others, not as many doe groups visiting. You can visibly tell the plot has not been eaten down like many of our other plots. Soil tests were done and limed/fertilized accordingly, planted with same mix of oats/clover/brassicas as all other fields. You can see the box stand in the top center portion of the area and entry is at the very top/northern part of the stand...north is basically the way the view is looking.

What can be done to improve this area? I was thinking maybe we should let a big chunk of it grow back up naturally, just try and keep sweet gums out of it, make the planted area smaller and move the stand accordingly. My theory is it has something to do with the proximity to the pond on the property, that if that was a big chunk of woods south of it, it would be much more productive. Hard to tell from the pic, but the creek feeding the pond gets very close to the plot edge at some point, it looks like it would be a good pinch point, but I don't think it's being used like that b/c there are easier places to cross that creek/swampy area. Interested to hear what others have to say.

If you cant see your corn pile from there, youre not putting out enough

Seriously though, id plant the whole 5acres in ironclay peas and see if you can get them coming every day during the summer. Then when the peas play out, should be about acorn drop time, replant in whatever mix you want to. That and keep the corn there for them. I think year round feed is the key.

Have you ever thought about putting/planting some screening around it to make deer more secure?

I'd let it grow into a sage field and bush hog it once a year and put a feeder by the woods....but then again I don't like green fields ☺

Let a chunk grow thick in natural veg and plant a different blend than the other plots. Like a chickory heavy blend. I think they know that get the same food from other more secure feeling plots so they aren't using that one. Give em something they can't get anywhere else. Soybeans. Chickory, etc.

I have seen deer go from no sightings in a wide open field for years to letting it grow up on rotating cutting basis and seeing way more deer in it.

if it was mine. id go for like a turkey foot shaped shooting lane design. Plant the lanes and let the between parts grow up and rotate each yr which area I cut. Say far left gets cut this yr. middle next yr, and far right 3rd yr. That would keep out unwanted trees from getting too big but lets the other stuff create a screening.

Plant 4 rows of tropical corn or egyptian wheat in a + patter across the plot. Cut an angled path across each arm for access. This way when the deer look into the plot, they only see a 1-2 acre opening instead of what looks like a huge open place. It should encourage more daytime use. You'll have to have your stand (stands preferably) either high enough to see all 4 or better yet, put it at the center of the + and cut a small walking path to it from 2 different directions.

Being able to enter and (more importantly, IMHO) exit a stand without spooking deer off the plot is WILDLY underappreciated. It's an aggravation, and can be more difficult to access, etc but is worth the trouble.

Maybe plant strips of different stuff. My all time favorite is Buck Forage Oats, the deer just seemed to eat them better, then would be Coker oats. I havn't had any luck with brassicas.

I was thinking Like Robert. Egyptian wheat or Alamo Switchgrass

I’d consider cutting the section closest to the creek/swamp in half. Let the part closet go the water grow about waist high (mowing once a year or every other year)

We have field that’s about 3 Acres in the same shape as yours. We hardly ever saw deer in it during daylight. So, we allowed strips of dog fennel to grown up in it and planted between it. The field was basically three sections. The sightings went up and also helped ingress and egress to the stand. This year someone else made the decision to cut he strips. Now sightings are down again this year.

Go to wildlife group website. It shows a diagram of a 5 acre food plot with all kind of fruit tree's,acorn tree's, and honeysuckle planted around the edge with a 1 acre plot in the middle. All the tree's are grafted so they put out within 2-3 years. If you don't want to do that then I would plant 15 rows of corn around it and plant the middle with RR soybeans( forage type). In fall, over seed with a mix of cereal grains,clover, and brassica's.

Thanks guys for all of the recommendations, seems like it's a lot of the same thought processes I was having.

Best thing to do to improve deer sightings is to put me on the upper West side of the pond about 30 minutes prior to sunrise. As I shoot woodies for the next 10-15 minutes as they filter into that hole, it should push deer into the field.

We have a 8 acre and 9 acre field. We lime and plant soybeans, brown top millet and other things in the summer. In the fall, we plant a wheat/oat/clover mix. Field contains only a strip or two of cover and the deer seem to have no fear about being in the wide open. With this being your first year, you can't be sure what occurred in that field in previous years. The folks that hunted it before you may have shot at everything that came into the open. Make that a buck only field for several years, keep it planted and the deer will begin using it.

Also consider bedding area. Where is the nearest bedding area(s)? Someone else mentioned travel, do you have to travel by bedding areas to get there?

Biggest issue is you have another food plot 80 yards across the creek. Decrease food plot size in this area overall and the deer will become more competitive over the available food, thus coming out earlier and being forced to use it during daytime. You may have too much food available and they are just using the plots at night and laying up during the day. At the very least the plots need be planted in completely different things to encourage equal usage of both. Or allow one of them to grow completely into sage/bedding area and plant every other or every two years.

As mentioned, I think reducing the planted size will help. We planted a 4 acre plot last season, this year we only planted about 1 acre of it 20yds off the tree line and in an odd shape, then mowed a 10ft wide strip kind of diagonal away from the stand location. Leaving 15+yds of grown up natural regen on the edges especially in front of the stand and it’s been a steady draw for deer this year. I think they feel safer and are using the heck out of it.

That's the best candidate for a clear cut I have ever seen. All those pines need to go. Looks like it is wide open under them. You need more cover plain and simple in my opinion.

Yea I had to do a double take on that photo after I gave my suggestion because there is ZERO thickness in there. No sage, no briars, nowhere for the deer to lay around and feel secure. A coyote or predator could be on them with the quickness and silently in that kinda wide open woods and they hate that. Need some trashy areas where predators can't just run free without making a crap ton of noise.

Plant all of it a summer plot and put a protein feeder in it. Once they're used to coming it wont make a difference how its cut or planted.

My first thought is to move the stand from the North side if the field.

There is only maybe 15 scattered pines total in the whole thing and a few other trash trees, not sure how you "clear cut" something like that or how it would help with cover. I think letting parts of it grow up thicker would help with cover for sure as others have stated.

Question - is this land owned by you or leased? That really will determine what options are available to you when it comes to making changes.

I was talking about the surrounding woods hallb

And get it back in some cover. Plant better food and dont blast away. Itll get better.

Those two food plots around it ain’t helping the situation none

There are 2 types of food plots that I really like.
1. Long narrow strips
2. Big ones, 2 acres or more

I would say plant the whole thing, and limit the pressure. We have some of the best luck in our largest plots. And on a COLD clear day you will absolutely lose count of how many deer will be feeding.

The areas adjacent to this plot, we own some of it you see and don't own some of it you see, but have rights to hunt it and we plant it, etc. We do own the whole plot. The property lines are weird right there, basically we share the pond with one other landowner and the property line runs right up the middle of it. We have a guy we know locally that owns a timber management company and he will be helping us make decisions on cutting, thinning, etc. I would love a big ol' cutover too, but I think there is another section of the property that's 40 acres that is a better suited to it and has an immediate need. So really was looking at more of things we can do within the plot, plantings, letting it grow up natural or I like Blumsden's idea too but not sure if that is in the budget, may start it and do something like that over time.

I think we'll probably start by letting a good portion of it grow up and just plant the middle section and move the stand.

Hallb, have you met Kenny King down there?l

On the areas you own, the pines look mature enough to cut. Designate a few 5-10 acre areas of pines to clear cut and replant in Long Leaf. Thin the remainder of the pines and then put on a burn rotation. That will create a mixture of habitat that provides food and cover different from the hardwood drains and fields. I have seen first hand how younger long leaf stands and thinned burned pines benefit all wildlife.

If you are fortunate enough to have a 5 acre plot, plant it. Keep something for deer to eat in it all year, give them a reason to be there, its that simple

Keep in mind that the prevailing winter wind is from the northwest to north so the access and stand should be from the southeast to south. With property like that I would have multiple access points and stands to accommodate any wind. Nice place tho good luck.

The way it is now only access is from the north and with trying to keep shot distances reasonable, etc it just made sense to put it where it is now. Honestly though we’ve had probably just as many days where we could hunt this stand as any other one and it is nice to have a stand on those days. I do think it could have two stands.

Well that was kinda our theory too but didn’t seem to do the trick, maybe I’m being impatient.

Hall that is a good looking piece of land. I would have thought with that pond next to the big field the deer would wear it out. Interesting.

Don't over hunt it.

Definitely haven’t done that

Do you only hunt it on a South wind?

That is what I was thinking too. Try that for a year or at least save it for really late in the season.

yes, or some version of S/SW/SE, etc - never hunted on a N, NE. Like I said, there has actually been a number of days with that wind here this year, so it is nice to have a place to go. That being said, it could have multiple stands.

This in the Chancellor community?

No sir, up around Troy.

Deer
Especially old bucks love waist high grass

Not sure, but if you enter from the north that stand will never be much count in winter. If you can enter from east or west and put the stand in the woods for camouflage you could be better off. If the deer don't bed on the east side much enter from that side and put the stand on the east side. Cut a stretch to the hut like a pie shape. Cut all the large trees down and plant year round food crops.

Agree. Plant every available yard of dirt there with stuff deer like to eat.

Id plant different rows. Iron clay peas and round up ready corn. the corn will give them cover to go to and from the peas and when winter comes around they will be back in the corn. Can bush hog it over also. the position of the stand might also be spooking the deer. this past year I went around a few of our houses that have windows on all 4 sides and covered a few so that you can't see someones head sticking out like a sore thumb while they are in the stand. Also covered the openings with camo burlap fabric to limit seeing movement in the stands. Stand being in the north. North west winds are the prevailing winds. moving the stand to the south could help with keeping hunters scent from blowing across the plot.