Darron

This was my first year planting a brassica plot and the deer are hitting it pretty good, even before our first frost. The tops are being eaten off. I'm in SE Ohio with very little ag fields, so this may be a factor as well. They are hitting my rye, triticale, wheat, oat, awp and red clover the hardest.

rye, oat, wheat, triticale, peas and red clover planted aug 15 Feed Oats Planted on Aug 15 on a shaded gasline plot

Like you, I see a more birds in the fall than in the spring on my farm. I simply find where they use and set up. I don't bother with busting the flock because I don't want to run them off my property. Last year the day before Thanksgiving I called in a flock of 40 birds within 20 yards.

Well..........I looked at the extended forecast and they are talking about rain all next week. I start back to work on the 25th, so I only have a few dry days to plant my last two plots. I went down yesterday and broadcasted 100 pds of 30-10-3 on my brassica plot, which is doing exrememly well. I have put down 100pds of 12-12-12 and 100pds of 30-10-3. Hopefully that will give it a nice boost here a month before season. After that I planted my oat, rye, wheat, triticale, pea and red clover........ The plot was tilled about a month ago and I sprayed it twice. I had a few weeds but nothing major. I used my drag harrow with the teeth down to tear up the ground 1-2" deep. After making a pass or two, I broadcasted my seed blend. After broadcasting I flipped the drag over and used the smooth side to cover the seed. After I covered, I broadcasted 7pds of red clover seed on top of the smooth soil. Hopefully the rain next week will give me good germination. I know I am about 7-10 days early, but I had to. I didn't fertilize knowing I was getting it in a little early. The amount of deer sign in their bare plots was unbelievable, so I can only imagine once the food starts growing. Our bow opener is Sept 26, so I am right around a month and a few days out.

This will be my first year really hunting over and/or around food plots. I have heard that hunters should only hunt around food plots in the afternoon so they do not bump deer in the morning while they are feeding in them? Is this true or are there exceptions?

I'll be down the week of Aug 15 to plant my other two plots. While I am down there I'm going to put another 75-100 pds of fertilizer on it to give it another jump before season rolls in.

I tried to not overseed the plot. I used approx 3.5-4pds of seed and after looking at it, it's still kind of thick. The plot is somewhere in the 1/2-3/4 acre range. It's probably 65-70 yards long and 50-60 yards wide in most spots. I read where an acre is somewhere around 73yds x 73 yds, if that's the case, I'm in the 1/2-3/4 acre range. We've had a lot of rain in SE Ohio in the past two weeks. Hopefully we get a little break and the heat comes back so things will take back off again.

Brassica Blend of PTT, Appin Forage and DER planted on July 10. Broadcasted 75pds of 12-2-3 fertilizer today. Cereal Grain plot will be planted Mid-Late August with oats, rye, wheat, field peas and triticale. This is on a new property I just purchased last month that adjoins my other property. The field was 8' high in weeds. We bushhogged, sprayed twice, tilled and I just sprayed again today. Also put 500pds of lime on the plot to sweeten things up a little.

I had a bushel of rye left over which is 56lbs. I was going to do a rye plot but nobody around me has rye and shipping from welters would be more than the seed itself. I have some cabelas points and was shopping on there and decided to mix my bushel of rye with 22.5lb of biologics outfitters blend which is a mix of triticale, oats, wheat, and awp with a few brassicas in there (1pd). I'll mix them together and have a rye, wheat, oats, triticale, awp and a few brassicas. The plot is .8 acres and I called a biologic rep and he told me mixing one bag of the Outfitters Blend with the rye would be fine. I'll have approx 78pds of a mix for almost an acre. It's a new plot on a new property I just bought. I broadcasted 500pds of pelletized lime last month to try and sweeten it up a little. I'm going to plant them next month, sometime around August 15-20th. The brassicas won't get much growth, which is fine. What do ya think?

so far we have been getting good rains about twice a week and we are scheduled for more rain early next week.

In your opinion, what is the best ground blind for under $200 (deer hunting)? I have a couple spots on and around my plots that would be great areas for a ground blind. I was hoping to buy 2-3 by the end of the month and sit them out a month before season so the deer get use to them. Any suggestions? I didn't want to spend a lot on a blind since I will be leaving it out

I went down to my property today to check on the plot and the small brassica seedlings are beginning to pop through the dirt. I was worried I dragged them too deep, but I didn't. I had a couple spots of thick grasses that my tiller didn't do a very good job on so I nuked them and threw some seed down after the grasses died. I checked today and I have germination, so broadcasting brassicas onto dead weeds will work. My buddy across the street planted his brassicas on July 9 and his plot looked about the same as mine. Can't wait to see how much growth I get come September. Now I just have to plant my oat and rye patch in August and I am done for the year. I all ready tilled those plots, just waiting for new weed growth to spray plots around end of July and plant sometime around mid-August.

I'm from Dayton Ohio and hunt in Greene County where I have permission for a couple farms and my own 115 acre farm in Vinton County.

My farm is located in hill country so my area mybe different from yours. Just about anything we plant draws deer because we have no ag fields. Nearest ag field one is 8-10 miles away. After saying that, I have three foodplots on my property and I typcally plant annuals to draw deer during hunting season. My plots are small (less than acre), therefore I need something that will tolerate high grazing pressure. I do a lot of reading on qdma forums and from my experience on that site, alot of people plant fall rye and brassica mixes for late season draw during hunting season. Rye and brassicas are very inexpensive and easy to grow. Just on seed alone this year I spent $19 on a brassica mix, $40 on rye seed and $16 on oats. That's only $75. I try to spend less than $100 a yr on seed and I still have good plots. I typcically do not fertilize, only lime since I can buy a lot of lime for little money (Plus fertilizer is wasted if the PH isn't high). All together with lime and seed I probably spend between 200-250 on seed and lime. Call me cheap, but it's just deer food. They say without fertilizer one will lose 20% growth on average. That's not that huge of a deal. It's not it's a cash crop. If I can find it on sale I will buy it, but for the most part I can buy 5 bags of pelletized lime for 1 bag of fertilizer.

I was going to do that, but the next rain insn't until Saturday, so I was worried the turkeys and other birds would come in and eat my seed out, which is why I drug it with the flat side of the drag. I am hoping the seed is ok. I'll go down sometime next week and look at it. If I don't see any germination I'll rebroadcast. I found this info on line. http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/DesktopModules/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=1819 Says you can plant brassicas up to 1/2" deep with no effect on them. I think I am fine.

The harrow I have has two sides. One side has "teeth" and the other side is simply like going over it with a heavy fence. Everybody talked about coverage, which is what I did. I think it will be fine. It's not like I covered it with 3-4" of dirt. Plus the ground was somewhat hard anyway, so I don't think they got that much coverage. I believe they said to cover brassica seed around 1/4" from my reading.

I do not have a cultipacker to firm the soil so the answer is no. I use my buddies tiller and as you can see, after it turns the soil the back of the tiller helps to level it. After I plant, I run over it with a drag harrow, but with the teeth up so it's not burrying them too deep. I have yet to have a problem with plant not growing due to loose soil. As far as the early planting...........we'll see. Farmers are doing it around here for their livestock for winter grazing. Here's what a local farmer e-mailed me: "We are baling straw now (7/5). The wheat is a little early this year, but turnips could be planted anytime between now and the next 10-14 days.)" "Rye grows pretty fast. I'd lean more towards the first week (August), but I think it should work out for you. I've seen farmers near here that are broadcasting rye seed by airplane over corn fields in early August. By corn harvest the rye is 2-3 inches high and will be 6" by frost. It make excellent winter forage for beef cows."

I went down yesterday to work on my plots again. The first pic is my brassica plot this year. I know many of you wait until the last of this month to plant brassicas. I talked to a local farmer in Central Ohio (which isn't far from me) and he said farmers are planting turnips as soon as they straw wheat which is right now. He said I could plant my brassicas anywhere between July 4-July 20 and have plenty of forage for winter. This is what they do to maximize forage for their livestock. If it's good enough for cows, it's probably good enough for deer, so I went ahead and planted my brassicas yesterday in this plot (1st plot pic) since I was down on business. Hopefully he didn't tell me wrong. The brassica plot I tilled in early JuneWaited until July 2 and sprayedPlanted July 7 (broadcasted seed approx 5 pounds and dragged with fence to cover seed)The next forecasted rain isn't until Saturday, so I don't look for much germination until then which will actually be like a July 10/11 planting. The last pic is of my new plot on my new property. The area was probably 5-6' tall in weeds. I sprayed twice and tilled. Actually both plots are on the east and west side of a sanctuary/bedding area approx 300yrd apart. I have some left over brassica seed so I plant on putting that in as well as winter rye around the first two weeks of August.My last plot (not pictured) I will have in oats on the other end of the property. Due to the canopy (it's a gasline) after about mid-Oct the plot gets smothered in leaves. I typically only hunt that plot the first 3-4 weeks of bow season and then it is done when leaves start dropping. I put in my oat plot a little earlier since I know I won't be hunting over it but just a few weeks.

http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/oh.html 9/19 as an average I talked to a central ohio farmer last night and he told me farmers start planting turnips/brassicas in central Ohio as soon as the wheat is being baled which is right now. He said they will begin spreading cereal grains such as rye as early as Aug 1.

If I planted then, the brassicas would have less than a month to grow before first frost. Screw it, I'll try it and see how it goes. The next forecasted rain is Friday, so the seed shouldn't germinate until then. It will be like a mid-july planting and then I'll plant my cereal grains the first 2 weeks of August and be done before I start back to work.

Called several food plot companies and all said to plant 60 days from first frost. In the Athens area of OHio, average frost is 9/19, 60 days from that is 7/19?????????????

I plan on putting in a brassica mix this month. From all my readings, everyone says to plant around the last week of July. I am going to be down around my farm for business on Tuesday July 7 and thought about going ahead and planting then since I will be down there and the plot is all ready tilled and sprayed. Do you feel this is too early? I am planting a mix of Purple top turnips, dwarf essex rape and appin forage turnips. There's no rain next week, so the seed probably wouldn't germinate for another couple days, which would end up being like a mid-July planting. Would this be ok? Average frost date for my area is 9/19, 60 days before would be 7/19.

I try and manage my 115 acres in SE Ohio. I have 3 foodplots on the place that total just under 3 acres. I try and pull as many deer off my neighbors onto my property. 1 out of the 3 neighbors that border me practice management. The other two shoot whatever moves. It makes it tough, but I have trail cam pics of several bucks well over 140". I do what makes me feel good and don't worry about everyone else.

I was told brassica plantings in late August/early Sept would not allow enough time for growing. This is why they recommended late July/early August. I am planting purple top, dwarf essex and appin forage turnips. Most say 60-90 days for maturity.

I teach in West Carrollton City Schools just outside of Dayton. I teach 7th grade PE, 8th grade health, 8th grade wellness (glorified weight lifting class), preschool PE and kindergarten PE all in one day:eek: This will be my third year. Athough not the easiest assignment (I go from one extreme to another), I am happy to have a job. The teaching market these days is very difficult. I had 115 applicants for my job. Just was at the right place at the right time. I was reading on qdma forums and many people recommended planting brassicas in late July/early August so they have time to mature by hunting season. Am I messing up planting brassicas in late July?