In Pursuit of Pope & Young (PYP) - Sowing My Seed

Part 6

Ben Brettingen

They say better late than never. It’s time to add a last minute food plot in a backwoods area! (Actually planting, not the other thing, get your mind out of the gutter!)

I hunt a small piece of property right along the Minnesota River which is often loaded with deer. I haven’t spent a lot of time in the area, but we have always seen deer-and it is filthy with sign this year.

Heck, even driving down the field road, I spotted 6 does milling around in a fallow field. The fact that a lot of the agricultural land in the area didn’t get planted due to the late spring even gets me fired up more! Usually the deer have a smorgasbord of crops in the area to dine on but not this year!

This is why I am so jacked! My plan is to put a couple small 1/4 acre food plots on the edge of an overgrown CRP field and the woods. The deer will bed in the area, and work their way down the edge of the woods.

It’s going to be a lot of work and a lot of clearing, but I’ve enlisted some help. A big ole’ John Deere with a brush mower, grapple bucket, and field cultivator. Mix that with a couple chainsaws and some sweat and there should be a deer magnet in no time.

Now my thoughts as to planting. I am not entirely sure on what to put in the ground, and I’ve got some deciding to do. I am looking for something that will produce into October, and will be able to withstand heavy utilization.

The soil is a sandy-loam with good drainage, and I will probably have to throw down a little lime to settle out the pH a little.

I hear planting flowers in the yard works. Photo by Ron Amundson

My initial thoughts were to go with either Buck Forage Oats or maybe try a BioLogic product such as Last Bite or Full draw? If any of you out there have had success with one thing or another, I’d love to hear it!

My plan is to spend this Sunday bush wacking through all of the rough, and then hopefully within a few days of getting back from my NoDak trip over labor day, have it seeded.

This gives me over a month of growth before the average frost date of the area October 11-20 sets in. The good thing about some of these blends is they can withstand a light frost and gives me a little more growing time.

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