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Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? #5257615 08/17/14 01:01 PM
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Im helping a buddy manage his property in gillispie county, in exchange to be able to hunt on the property. Im wondering if ts at all possible to grow any sort of plot be it maize, clover or even radishes. the soil seems like a dusty sand and its really rocky, im trying to pull the deer out of the cedar and oak with more than just corn. any ideas are greatly appreciated.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5257622 08/17/14 01:15 PM
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Sounds like the north part of the county, although the rocks are everywhere. I'm no farmer. I just know early fall rain is real iffy. Someone on here will have some advice. The county extension agent might even be able to help.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5257651 08/17/14 01:42 PM
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I planted food plots in northern Kendall County. Soil was mixed land with some rocks to a lot of rocks. Rocks are hard on equipment but the soil was fertile and grew good fall plots. I planted a mix of some or all of the following: oat, austrian winter peas, madrid clover, ladak alfalfa and purple top turnips in mine. I would drill or disc in the larger seeds and then put the alfalfa or clover on top and lightly drag over it. The clover or alfalafa will grow best from late Feb up until the heat of summer. If you get good rains those 2 will be in the plot still in late August.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5257705 08/17/14 02:33 PM
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thanks for the input! ive planted clover before but never in soil like this. so hopefully ill be able to make things happen before i start chopping down trees.

Last edited by BossHawg2012; 08/17/14 02:33 PM.

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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5257735 08/17/14 03:01 PM
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When you get to cutting down trees there are ways to optimize that so get some advice first. It wouldn't hurt to sit down and write up a complete plan now and start working on it in phases.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5257822 08/17/14 03:51 PM
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If it doesn't rain you are wasting your time. Went to Harper yesterday and it was really dry there. About the only green I saw between Bandera and Harper was around Camp Verde.

Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5258386 08/17/14 10:27 PM
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rainfall is the key for poor soil, you might check with some of the native grass's ect and go that route.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5258425 08/17/14 10:46 PM
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Soil isn't poor there. Its actually pretty good.

And yes you can grow food plots there all day. Fall food plot has nothing to do with rain today, unless your deep plowing for soil moisture,

Oats and a chicory work great.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5258552 08/17/14 11:54 PM
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never seen oats germinate with out moisture, planted 1500 acres of wheat & oats every fall.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BOBO the Clown] #5258567 08/18/14 12:05 AM
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Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Soil isn't poor there. Its actually pretty good.

And yes you can grow food plots there all day. Fall food plot has nothing to do with rain today, unless your deep plowing for soil moisture,

Oats and a chicory work great.
If you think something will grow here now without any rain you are not thinking right. I have been working on some fence. Dug some post holes close to 3' deep. Ground is powder dry that deep. even the mesquites are looking sick around here. A lot of the trees are loosing leaves already. And you think oats will grow without rain? HA

Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5258716 08/18/14 01:26 AM
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Don,

Iv've farmed my whole life on a few section

Fall food plots aren't about grain production they are about attacting. What the weather is like this past summer has little to do with what you plant in the next 30-40 days.

I guess I'm not thinking right since we about to plant 110 acres in oats down there in the next 30 days...i guess we haven't been thinking right the last 10 years down there, but yet we hunt over green oats every year...crazy stuff right?


Last edited by BOBO the Clown; 08/18/14 01:52 AM.

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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5258724 08/18/14 01:31 AM
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Fall food plots are about timing of the rains. Sept is the wettest month of the year on the long term average. In 6 yrs of planting fall food plots in Kendall County I never had one failure when planting in Sept. I always got enough rain to get it up and growing. In '95 I did not get the follow up rains to keep those plots going past Jan. I only had one failure on a spring food plot and that was the spring of '96.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: colt45-90] #5258728 08/18/14 01:32 AM
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Originally Posted By: colt45
never seen oats germinate with out moisture, planted 1500 acres of wheat & oats every fall.


Then you know its about what you get after planting not before. Before just makes it easier or harder to plow depending on soil type and how to much or to little moisture


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: stxranchman] #5258737 08/18/14 01:35 AM
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Yelp up


Originally Posted By: stxranchman
Fall food plots are about timing of the rains. Sept is the wettest month of the year on the long term average. In 6 yrs of planting fall food plots in Kendall County I never had one failure when planting in Sept. I always got enough rain to get it up and growing. In '95 I did not get the follow up rains to keep those plots going past Jan. I only had one failure on a spring food plot and that was the spring of '96.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5258887 08/18/14 02:46 AM
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I have planted fall food plots the last 3 years and got squat. Before that I always got the oats to grow. Times around here are not what they used to be. I did not want to waste a lot of money on seed this spring so I just planted some milo. We got enough rain for it to come up and that was it. The deer hit it and pulled it all out by the roots. I was not kidding about it being so dry here that the leaves on trees are turning drown and falling off. A while back I dozed down over 4' in a draw and it was powder dry at the bottom. I am working on redoing some fence and you have to use a scoop to get the dirt out because it is so loose and dry. And when you stick you hand down in the bottom of the hole it is hot because there is no moisture to cool it off. This ain't the metromess here bobo, we don't get rain every few days.

Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5259078 08/18/14 11:01 AM
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Like some others, I've been doing this for a long time in Montague County where it is also dry. Soil moisture and fertility are absolutely imperative. Planting and hoping for rain doesn't work. If you plant and get a 1 inch rain followed by no rain, the seeds germinate and then die.

Take a soil sample and send it to TAMU. They will tell you whether you need to lime and/or fertilize. Often, new ground is already fertile and adding nutrients will cause the plants to burn up. Been there, done that a long time ago. And, these days, fertilizer is damned expensive.

I prefer to wait until I have 6 to 8 inches of moisture in the soil. That doesn't happen every year in Montague County. I like to disk the soil in advance and then pray for rain. Then sling seeds(assuming rain comes) and lightly disk to cover it. Then hope more rain comes.

Due to the cost, I go with wheat instead of oats or rye. I've tried them all and find that the deer have no preference. I also like to over seed with turnips but only on freshly disked soil. The deer love them and will get them all. I no longer mess with peas or other mixes. Large leafed plants need a lot of moisture that I seldom get.

If I get a lot of moisture in the fall, the wild rye and other native plants/forbs come up and the deer ignore the cereal grains along with corn. A wet summer also results in a huge acorn drop that the deer also prefer. Then, it looks like a gold mine under my corn feeders.

Like all farming, it's a crap shoot.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: don k] #5259149 08/18/14 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted By: don k
I have planted fall food plots the last 3 years and got squat. Before that Ileays got the oats to grow. Times around here are not what they sed to be. I did not want to waste a lot of money on seed this spring so I just planted some milo. We got enough rain for it to come up and that was it. The deer hit it and pulled it all out by the roots. I was not kidding about it being so dry here that the leaves on trees are turning drown and falling off. A while back I dozed down over 4' in a draw and it was powder dry at the bottom. I am working on redoing some fence and you have to use a scoop to get the dirt out because it is so loose and dry. And when you stick you hand down in the bottom of the hole it is hot because there is no moisture to cool it off. This ain't the metromess here bobo, we don't get rain every few days.


Don, i hunt Brady, Mason and Fredericksburg. I was at all three places this weekend. Filled 9k lb of corn and started making preperations to start plowing. I'm very aware how dry it is and how dry its been for the past 15years. Again that means nothing. Matters more what you get after the seed is planted

my personal ranch is in the driest part of the state, i had a total of 8.25" last year and still turned in dry land crops. l


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BOBO the Clown] #5259178 08/18/14 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Originally Posted By: don k
I have planted fall food plots the last 3 years and got squat. Before that Ileays got the oats to grow. Times around here are not what they sed to be. I did not want to waste a lot of money on seed this spring so I just planted some milo. We got enough rain for it to come up and that was it. The deer hit it and pulled it all out by the roots. I was not kidding about it being so dry here that the leaves on trees are turning drown and falling off. A while back I dozed down over 4' in a draw and it was powder dry at the bottom. I am working on redoing some fence and you have to use a scoop to get the dirt out because it is so loose and dry. And when you stick you hand down in the bottom of the hole it is hot because there is no moisture to cool it off. This ain't the metromess here bobo, we don't get rain every few days.


Don, i hunt Brady, Mason and Fredericksburg. I was at all three places this weekend. Filled 9k lb of corn and started making preperations to start plowing. I'm very aware how dry it is and how dry its been for the past 15years. Again that means nothing. Matters more what you get after the seed is planted.
You get SQUAT if it doesn't rain. I could give a rats rear end what anyone else does. I gave my opinion on food plots in this area. Maybe when, if ever the weather patterns change my attitude will change.

Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: don k] #5259191 08/18/14 01:31 PM
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Originally Posted By: don k
Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Originally Posted By: don k
I have planted fall food plots the last 3 years and got squat. Before that Ileays got the oats to grow. Times around hereare not what they sed to be. I did not want to waste a lot of money on seed this spring so I just planted some milo. We got enough rain for it to come up and that was it. The deer hit it and pulled it all out by the roots. I was not kidding about it being so dry here that the leaves on trees are turning drown and falling off. A while back I dozed down over 4' in a draw and it was powder dry at the bottom. I am working on redoing some fence and you have to use a scoop to get the dirt out because it is so loose and dry. And when you stick you hand down in the bottom of the hole it is hot because there is no moisture to cool it off. This ain't the metromess here bobo, we don't get rain every few days.


Don, i hunt Brady, Mason and Fredericksburg. I was at all three places this weekend. Filled 9k lb of corn and started making preperations to start plowing. I'm very aware how dry it is and how dry its been for the past 15years. Again that means nothing. Matters more what you get after the seed is planted.
You get SQUAT if it doesn't rain. I could give a rats rear end what anyone else does. I gave my opinion on food plots in this area. Maybe when, if ever the weather patterns change my attitude will change.


Lol, the likely hood of not getting fall moisture is very slim. For the last time only rain that really matters is the rain after you plant. Can you predict future rain in sept, Oct, Nov? You can't.


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5259240 08/18/14 01:59 PM
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im going to be getting a soil sample. looks like i may be able to do milo even in a climate like that it needs rain but not like other grains. but in the meantime popcorn


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5259256 08/18/14 02:09 PM
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I wouldn't plant Milo as a fall plot. There are better plants with higher utilization % available, such as oat, winter wheat, tropical, etc.

Milo is a great spring cover crop when planting legumes that are susceptible to damage from early grazing, but you also have water competition.

Originally Posted By: BossHawg2012
im going to be getting a soil sample. looks like i may be able to do milo even in a climate like that it needs rain
but not like other grains. but in the meantime popcorn


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5259424 08/18/14 03:48 PM
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I never had much luck with milo (we called it maize) ... I tried various blends of seeds for fall food plots, plowed the area and waited until I saw a "wet" cool front coming in late Sept. early-mid Oct. pitch seeds on top of the disk'd soil and drag to slightly cover seeds. If you get rain and then another rain in a week or two, they will come in pretty good.

I have tried oats, milo, clover, turnip, field peas, chickory (sp?), pumpkin ... oats, clover, turnip and field peas were a hit, the rest not so much (although the deer will hit the pumpkin blooms hard while they are blooming). One year I couldn't find any field peas but I went by HEB and bought a couple bags of blackeyed peas and tossed out, they came in great and the deer loved them.

water is key though!!!


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BOBO the Clown] #5259463 08/18/14 04:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Originally Posted By: don k
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Originally Posted By: don k
I have planted fall food plots the last 3 years and got squat. Before that Ileays got the oats to grow. Times around hereare not what they sed to be. I did not want to waste a lot of money on seed this spring so I just planted some milo. We got enough rain for it to come up and that was it. The deer hit it and pulled it all out by the roots. I was not kidding about it being so dry here that the leaves on trees are turning drown and falling off. A while back I dozed down over 4' in a draw and it was powder dry at the bottom. I am working on redoing some fence and you have to use a scoop to get the dirt out because it is so loose and dry. And when you stick you hand down in the bottom of the hole it is hot because there is no moisture to cool it off. This ain't the metromess here bobo, we don't get rain every few days.


Don, i hunt Brady, Mason and Fredericksburg. I was at all three places this weekend. Filled 9k lb of corn and started making preperations to start plowing. I'm very aware how dry it is and how dry its been for the past 15years. Again that means nothing. Matters more what you get after the seed is planted.
You get SQUAT if it doesn't rain. I could give a rats rear end what anyone else does. I gave my opinion on food plots in this area. Maybe when, if ever the weather patterns change my attitude will change.


Lol, the likely hood of not getting fall moisture is very slim. For the last time only rain that really matters is the rain after you plant. Can you predict future rain in sept, Oct, Nov? You can't.
And neither can you even though you think you can.

Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5259480 08/18/14 04:27 PM
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No I cant, but I sure wouldn't advise against planting fall food plots based off past summer histories. If that's the case then no body in state should of planted winter wheat since 2008


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Re: Texas Hill Country: is a food plot possible? [Re: BossHawg2012] #5261061 08/19/14 12:25 PM
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Alright bobo I may plant some oats. We have gotten a little over 2" since last night and it is still raining. Most rain at one time in a long time. Happy days are here again.

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