I own 40 acres just south of Concan. In the last 10 years we've done some clearing, set up a few corn feeders, and a couple of blinds. We haven't put much effort into it beyond that, but we've taken a handful of Whitetail and a few Axis over the years. Recently, I've seen some Aoudad on the cameras as well some big cats.

I'm not a hardcore hunter, mostly due to time & distance, but would like to focus on it a little more. Two friends of mine have recently gotten the hunting bug and are willing to help on my property in exchange for free hunting. For me, being out there and not taking a single shot is better than any day at work. I enjoy off season target shooting as much as time spent in the blinds.

The land is rough & rocky and there are 2 dry creeks running through that hold some water after a big rain. I'm currently working on a water catchment system with an elevated 300gal IBC tote that gravity feeds a small (maybe 100 gal) stone tank provided by mother earth. I intend to have at least 2 more of these setup across the land by this time next year, probably with man-made tanks.

I have cleared two areas for food plots, but they aren't very big. One is about 1/4 acre, and the other is maybe 30'x40'. Until further cedar clearing is done, these will be what we have to work with. Both of these intended spots are decent level ground without rock. I'm not sure about soil type/pH levels etc. Total noob for "farming".

I'm not sure what to plant there, or if anything will even grow. Hogs aren't too bad out there, but if they become an issue I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

For now, I'd like to put something down to give the deer that bed in this valley a reason not to wander. I have a tractor with bucket, shredder, disc, and harrow, but I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to planting a food plot. Any advice is appreciated.

The hill country is tough for food plots. The only food plot I ever saw with some success was a neighbor with deep loam soils along a creek who planted either oats or winter wheat. I cannot remember which. I tried plots around rocksprings for years with nothing to show for it and eventually gave up. Not trying to be a downer here but your time and money may be better served in a free choice protein feeder/water stations/feed pens. One thing we started doing instead of food plots was fertilizing the native brush species that deer utilize. It made a difference.

Thanks for the reply. This area is very much like Rock Springs. This is exactly why I'm asking for assistance. I don't want to put a lot of wasted effort and energy into something that has a low probability of success.

what was stated is likely very on point with what I was thinking ... but if you have a little free time and a tractor/plow, it's not overly costly to give it a try.

I've put in food plots that were pretty skimpy without much effort. merely run over the area a few times to break up the soil. take a 3-5 gallon bucket full of feed oats (cheaper with lower germination but will work) and walk thru the area tossing oats every step to get pretty good coverage. once done, drive back over the area with the plow barely touching the soil to hopefully get a light coverage over the oat seed. Then pray for rain!!! I have done this dozens of times but I usually will wait until a few days before a pretty good wet front is forecast to come thru the area.

for the area you described, 2-3 bags of feed oats should be good.

Thanks, this is pretty much what I'm wanting to attempt to do. Minimal investment to see if anything happens at all. If it does work ok, cool. If not, no big deal.

My friend has been on a few hunts with his uncle at a ranch in Rock Springs that has some success with clover. I might try various seeds to see what works.

As said above. try oats. If they don't grow, nothing will. Actually, one bag of oats would work. 3/4 bag on the 1/4 acre. the rest on the other.
Just don't get in a hurry. Heat, lack of rain, Army worms will destroy your plot. If you don't bow hunt, then no earlier than first week of October.
The second week would even be better. Oats will be up 7-10 days after a rain.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot!

If you do give it a try, consider mixing in a bag of rye grass with the oats. Rye will grow in the bed of a truck. When the grass does sprout the deer will find it quick and hammer it quick so do not expect a tall thick patch of forage but the deer will keep coming to browse. If you get it to work post some pics.

Great idea!

Tracking this as well...great info

I would also throw a couple bags of fertilizer on top of the oats. Being virgin soil, will have some good nutrients, but the fertilizer will still help.

Yes, I forgot to say that. I would put 100lbs of 13-13-13 per acre. You can lay it down with the seeds or wait until they sprout and use as a top dressing just before a rain.

How deep is the soil in your plots? How far down can you dig with a shovel?
If just thin soil with no irrigation and in a relatively 'dry' area and you'll be mostly just fighting a loosing battle.
Oats can't handle dry/drought in thin soil - but rye will take off anywhere it doesn't get to hot and dry too long - mix some of both for best chances.
If soil is deep enough, you can add amendments (peat-moss, manure, fertilizer, etc) to improve moisture retention and growability.

Well, I spent Labor Day weekend out there mowing and clearing, filling feeders, setting up cameras, some target practice, etc.

I've decided the main area I originally intended on setting up as a food plot is no good, due to the rocky terrain. I made the decision to set a protein feeder there along with a water guzzler.

There are two other areas where I feel the soil is better suited for attempting to plant something. These will be small areas, but they both have better soil than the other spot. They also have decent shade to help keep some of the heat out.

I realized this because the last time I mowed was in March and everything was dead and brown and hadn't been mowed for over a year. This time with the recent rains, everything is lush and green and you can really tell where the natural grass and ground coverings thrive.

I will be heading out there soon to throw down some Oats & Rye with 13-13-13 and maybe this will pan out. If not, oh well, haha!

I don’t want to be a pessimist but I wouldn’t put too much effort into such a small food plot. Depending on deer population a 30x40 area could be wiped out in a day. If I didn’t have several acres to play with I would be focusing on supplemental feed, corn, protein, etc. Without more area I am not thinking you will be able to grow enough to make a difference.

I used to do 2 areas when I had cows. Tried several cereal grains and wheat seemed to work the best for drawing deer. I haven’t done one for 10 years due to hogs.

Yeah, I'm not going to put a lot of effort into the plots. Really just to see what happens with it. I've learned a lot from this forum and doing research on the subject, but I also don't expect much from this experiment.



Hogs aren't terrible out there, but they do exist, so I'm setting up hog panels around the feeders and may do the same around the plots if something actually grows.

Update:

3 weeks ago I spread 3 different types of bagged seed in 3 different areas of the property, all with 13-13-13 fertilizer.

In one area I used Throw & Gro (ryegrass, clover, brassica), in another area I used Mega Plot (wheat, oats, turnips, clover), and Plot Spike (oats).

I didn't do anything special since the soil is so hard and has a lot of rock. I just used the tractor bucket and basically just scraped the top layer of soil off, then spread the seed by hand over the area.

It was dry that weekend. We got some rain for a day a week later, then last week got another 2" in a day.

I got back out there late last week to top off feeders and get my cameras set up.

The hogs tore the ground to shreds. It looks like a tilled field everywhere that I spread seed. There are still some very minor sprouts popping up, and I did see deer tracks so it looks like they got into some of it.

As evident with my new cameras, the hogs are rampant at the feeders and seem to chase the deer away around 11pm each night. Then the racoons and opossums show up for the scraps in the early morning.

I never realized how many hogs were out there as I had never seen any. I took 3 big ones down from about 60 yards on Saturday night. 15 minutes later the rest of the herd was back at the feeder like nothing happened.

I've decided that rather than trying to kill all the hogs and fight a losing battle, I'm going to build pens around the feeders, and make them large enough for some small food plots inside, again, totally experimental.

Cameras from this last weekend show some decent Whitetail bucks in the morning, and some does and fawns at night, a few Axis bucks, a herd of hogs, two Aoudad, 3 raccoons, 2 oppossums, and an armadillo.