Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Quality Deer Management Food plot design

Looking for some feedback. I'm putting in a new food plot in the middle of my old field and going with a turkey foot type shape. It's roughly 3 acres and 185 yds from the center to the end of each lane. Since it’s an old field, I can easily change up the shape next year if I end up not liking how this one hunts. Feels a little busy to me, but I need the acreage, so this is what I came up with. Let me know what you don't like about it and what you would do differently. Box blind will be right off the point to the west.

Are you expecting the deer to come out of the creek bottom??.....Where do they tend to travel and enter the big field etc??

They can come from anywhere as they do sometimes bed in the old field, but primarily they come from NE and the W. Setting the stand up for S and SE winds

Kinda hard to make a call on it without seeing the bigger picture and you’re potential entry and exit routes to your stand…..I think I would want to have a few different setups around the field for different winds with single lanes or maybe L shapes that cut across their main travel routes…..I think I’d want a lane right up against that woodline on the east assuming you could access it from the far north or south and then a sizeable plot in the dead center of the field maybe…..Just thinking out loud……Again though its hard to say without knowing more

You’re limiting the wind directions you’re can hunt along with sun blare. In a perfect world, use a three toe pattern with the middle toe facing around 315 to 330 degrees then put the other two fingers in after the shooting house is put up. Go to the end of proposed fingers and mow towards the house so you have a good line of sight. Don’t cut up to the house, leave a hundred foot buffer if possible so nothing spooks when you’re coming or going.

I said the directions of travel exactly opposite, long week! Stand is facing east and deer are primarily coming from the east and SW. I can access cleanly from the N and W. This is just a S and E wind stand. I can't really hunt it with a North wind unless its a strong NE and then I could probably get away with it.

I'm mainly interested in thoughts on the shape of the plot.

This is solid advice. I like the shape and will be making a similarly shaped plot as soon as I can get some timber work done on my place. I have thought about strategically placing some single long lanes like CNC is saying, which may be a better option to hunt multiple winds. However, I like John's approach too, because you can set it up to see them crossing the entire old field. Like you said, with it being an old field, you can experiment, see what works best, and then manipulate it how you want. Sounds like a fun project!

What I was really trying to get at is that I would want my lanes cut in to take advantage of where the deer are already traveling and coming out of the woods on either side.....rather than just cutting a shape into the field.....Also with a field that big there’s the opportunity to draw them to the center of it with a food plot and catch them crossing a lane before they ever get to the plot…..That’s a good mouse trap for killing bucks

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. I will hunt it this year and see what I think. I have to figure a design out in the next year or so as I'm planning to plant some trees in between the spokes down the road. Once I do that, it will be harder to manipulate.

I need to keep this plot in the 3-acre range to support the density in the area. Trying to keep it simple and put the old field plots all in one spot and only have buy one shooting house, if possible. That location is the best area to keep from blowing out my other plots based on various winds, etc.

In old fields like this, I don’t like to bring my fields all the way to the edge of the stand location. I like to be able to get in and out of a stand without them seeing me. Personally, I would start the field at least 50 yards(preferably farther) from my stand location. If you’re gonna keep that same pattern, be sure to have them wide enough to be able to spot them and still get a shot. I’ve had better luck with circle or rectangular/square plots than fingers. Either way, keep us posted on your experiences with it.

How wide do you typically like your lanes to be?

I would just plant the whole field. Make a 4-5 acre food plot planted in different stuff. The bigger the better

Mississippi state did a study and this isn’t the truth…once you go over 5 acres the amount of mature bucks seen in daytime decreased. The sweet spot was like 3-5 acres though so right what you were saying

I’ve seen studies that show 30 yards wide is ideal.

I’m planning to do the same as you in a 3 acre turkey foot clover field. If I were you, yes agree with the others starting the field away. I’d take the north south lanes off as a north/northwest wind would screw you. Have the V shaped going east with the middle finger in the middle. Have the stand 30-50 yards off to the west and have brush in between. An idea that I’m going to do is plant Chickasaw plum trees as a screen yet helpful for deer and turkeys and elevate the shooting house

I feel like edges never grow as well. I think the ideal food plot is a 2-4 acre rectangle. I’ve never had great luck getting long thin plots to grow well due to shade and pine needles/leaves.

Thanks. As currently setup, the lane are a little over 20 yds wide. The current stand is a ladder stand at the edge of timber to the west, 30 yrds or so before plot starts with 6 ft dog fennel in between. I'll eventually put a shooting house about 20 yds off the plot and plant shrubs for screening.

I would let the southern lane grow up as I wouldn't want deer coming through there due to wind.