The guys and I probably didn’t need to wait until the first of April to start planting our spring food plots. This year it was warm enough in late January for seeds to start hitting the ground. To be on the safe side we waited until any chance of a late winter freeze had passed. Once that threat was gone watching the radar became as popular as the ESPN iPhone app. I was tuning into the weather everyday in hopes that a front filled with rain would move in off the Gulf. We all kept watching the radar, and watching the radar, and watching the radar…..NOTHING. In fact we didn’t get a single drop of rain in the entire month of March. The 31 consecutive dry days had me and the guys in my hunting group feeling a bit of anxiety. We had been waiting to plant these plots since the New Year.
You see, we signed on to this lease at an odd time, first of January to be exact. PJ happened to score this piece of property through an old realtor buddy that he always has in his back pocket. It’s a small tract, perfect for our small group. It is close to the home, which we all love. The wildlife on the other hand…..is present, but hardly plentiful. The property has potential. It actually butts right up to a really large tract that has tons of prime habitats and our scouting trips confirm that the deer and turkeys just seem to pass through our section. On the plus side, our land has a permanent water source, but its missing one thing, “FOOD”! So the idea of food plots began.
Trail cameras were deployed, feeders were filled and we started taking inventory of the animals that were using our section of woods as a cut through. We watched their habits and mapped out three food plot locations based on water sources and potential bedding areas. Next we brought in the heavy equipment. We sprayed and tilled the areas that we desired to plant. Soil samples were pulled to determine nutrient availability and soil pH. The samples concluded that our current pH was a 4.0 and nutrient levels were poor, not much likes growing in these conditions. To correct the low pH we applied two tons of lime/acre in order to hopefully raise the pH two points (around 6.0) and we decided to use a complete fertilizer that contained a micro nutrient package during planting. All of this prep worked was completed back in mid-February. This is why we were all antsy. It’s a lot of work prepping the plots and it’s a huge victory when you compete the planting.
So to get back to watching the weather…… We all decided that April 7th was the day we would begin slinging seeds. There was no rain in the three day forecast but waiting any longer was going to drive us all crazy. Everyone showed up to the lease, and we all had the specific tasks of spreading, fertilizing, dragging or rolling. For the plots we chose to use a local seed company’s blend of seed. Hancock’s Spring & Summer Food Plot Seed Blend. This blend was developed for use in the south, especially Florida. We seeded at a rate of 50lbs/acre and the 10-10-10 fertilizer went down at 200lbs/acre. The seeds and fertilizer went down as planned and it was a huge accomplishment getting all the plots finished on our new tract. The pictures of deer standing in lush green fields can’t escape my head. Now all we can really do is pray for rain!
If you have any questions about food plot preparation, soil issues or plant fertility we’d be happy to help. Shoot an email to….Adam@TeamSouthernDraw.com. We’ll keep you posted on the progress of the plots and hopefully the deer and turkeys move in real soon.
Adam, SD Pro Staff
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Southern Draw Field Journal 