I am committed now

Just ordered some seed from whitetail institute.

Will plant 1/2 acre each of extreme and edge, 1 acre of double cross. Trying some different blends to see what the deer prefer but also trying out the perrenial blends to start.

Will overseed with 40#/acre of whitetail institutes oats to give the perennials a little extra time to establish before getin hammered. Going to put everything in a little heavy due to lots of deer in the area.

Will post some pics during season to see how each plot does.

will follow

Yep. We want those pictures. When are you putting the seed in?

OK, so I will create a thread this weekend chronicling the plots and keep it updated through the season.
I have already mowed the plots really low about a week ago, will go out this weekend and spray with some gly to kill off any new growth, will go back out two weeks later and till using a small tractor and rotary tiller, and then seed about 2 weeks later. I am also going to do some simple soil testing to check pH, and will drop some fertilizer at the time of seeding. Will lime if needed when I till. So this will all be done over the course of the next 4 weeks, and hopefully some decent rain after seeding.

Hey Buckeye, how about adding a small scale no-till experiment to the effort. After you kill everything off, leave a six-foot wide strip untilled on each plot. Just throw the seed and fertilizer into the dead vegetation. If you can drag something across that section, or roll around on it with an ATV, that would be great (but not absolutely necessary). It would be extremely interesting to see the difference in germination and growth between the tilled and untilled sections.

Bayouguy, I would be happy to do a no till throw method in a different area close to one of the main plots. Whitetail institute has two products specific for small no till plots. I should be able to get in and spray and then run a drag harrow over it good to get the dirt worked up a little and then just throw the seed and see how it goes. I can add that to the project too, since the main plots are perennial plots I would rather get then filled up good and make then pretty as possible. As the winter goes on, I may even try some frost seeding for some clover on the lanes to and from the plots. This may take the form of several threads on the texasbowhunter forum by unclefish and elgato over there, two very good food plot threads.

That Whitetail Institute stuff is mighty expensive for what it is. I looked at the tag on one of the WI throw and grow products and it was actually 25% rye grass. What a rip off. Plus I would never put rye grass in a plot even if the seed was free.

A better test for a till/no-till comparison would be to use the same seed and fertilizer mix you apply to the tilled area.

Bayouguy, I was looking at their product secret spot. I called about the ingredients in their blend and here's what they said:
4.5% rape (some species), 4.5% rape (another species), 4.5% gulf rye, 4.5% whitetail oats, 4.5% DH3 rye, 4.33% clover (some species), 4.33% clover (another species), 3.67% clover (yet another species), 4% wheat, 0.67% chicory, 0.67% clover (and still another species), and the rest is lime for ph balancing and seed coatings etc...

not too bad with only 9% total rye but a whole lot of other seeds too.

Tell you what I will do, I will get another bag of extreme which Is supposed to be their easiest growing perennial and a bag of secret spot which is supposed to be "clean to dirt and throw". I will chronicle those two and see which one does better, and that way we can see if the extreme does as well right next to the extreme plot I am putting in, and the secret spot will be a true independent test of one of their "throw and go" products.

$30+ for a 8 lb. bag of Secret Spot that contains about than three pounds of actual seed intended for 9,000 sq. ft. (100 ft. x 90 ft.)? And 27% of that three pounds of seed is rye grass which is something I would never allow to get started on a food plot. RIP OFF. For about ten-bucks you can plant that 9,000 sq. ft. with a heavy rate of wheat and ladino clover and have a perfectly good "secret spot".

OK, I will contact the local seed company and see if they do small amounts of seed like that. problem is they typically don't sell small quantities and only sell big bags, so a 50# bag of wheat and a 10# bag of clover will be a lot more expensive than a 30 dollar bag of seed....will double check and let you know what I do when it is planted.

That's a shame. The feed stores in my area sell a half dozen varieties of clover by the pound. It runs anywhere from $4 to $6 a pound, depending on variety. I can buy a 50# bag of wheat seed and a few pounds of clover for the price of a small bag of WI Secret Spot.

Like I said, let me check. I am sure they will be able to help out.

I would toss in some field or winter peas ... heck, one year my feed store was out of pea seed, but they told me to just go to HEB and buy a bag of black eye peas (like you cook) and toss them out ... worked great

Got up to the property to spray the plots today. I always spray heavy and more concentrated than normal somit will be interesting to see how well the sprayer worked and how good a kill I get from the sprayer. I bought a 31 gallon pull behind sprayer and pulled it behind my truck. In the future it will be pulled behind a UTV but I don't have one yet since my barn is not complete. I digress.....

Sprayed three plots I mowed down really well 2 weeks ago. I also sprayed two areas I didn't now to use as my throw and go test plots. I will go back in 2 weeks and till the plots, and just drag a spike harrow over the throw plots to remove the dead vegetation and act as a person with only a UTV. I will take before and after pics next time as I will likely be alone and can take my time.

I found a good seed blend to use in the throw plots. It has wheat, oats, two clovers, some turnips and some peas. No rye. It will be interesting to see how well I can get those down to dirt and then see what comes up in them.