Guest SCRich Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Just bought 27.5 acres in SC to build a home and the land is former leased hunting land. The property is DENSE pine trees, can't walk most of it due to the trees let alone get an ATV in there. Where you can walk most of the land is covered in 3-4ft thicket brush so it's difficult at best. There is a small area cleared about 30x40yards that has a tree stand in one corner, apparently an old food plot. ANY LAND can be made to work, we have all seen it but it's a matter of cost. Most of this land is rolling, with some cliff's and steep slopes. The rolling land is WAY in the back so it will require a large trail to be cut for a truck/dozer to come in and reshape the land to something somewhat flat most probably requiring some dirt to also be brought in. Based on this what is the minimum acreage you would suggest for a food plot initially. Most of the cost I am sure weill be the initial road/trail and as years go by I guess I can clear more land expanding the plot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born2Hunt Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? As a rule of thumb I believe it is 3 percent of your property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? A chainsaw isn't all that expensive. Sounds like the first order of business would be to thin the dense pines. This will release the trees left to grow healthier. There might even be a market for what you cut so you can recoup some or all your costs. Let some sun light in, cut the brush out so you can get some good natural undergrowth growing, then you will be better able to see what you need for supplementary food plots. Get in contact with your local Extension Agent and talk it over with him. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Welcome to the forums. Did most of my clearing on our land before I got my tractor with the loader. Amazing what you can do with a swing blade and a chain saw. Consider other cover in the area before taking on claering much of your own land though as cover is a key element. When you get to thte point of creating your food plots, figure out whether you want a feeding plot or a hunting plot. I like my feeding plots to be a minimum of an acre. Hunting plots are generally smaller and are usually mini plots ranging from 1/8th of an acre on up to about a 1/4 of an acre. I tend to make my hunting plots in long narrow strips along where I expect the deer to pass through in my range for archery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming in! Nope chain saws are not expensive, I have a few but the ammount of trees I have is VAST. I worked on some of the photographs yesterday but I got called out to work twice, just woke up. I am going to try to upload a web page to my ISP today with what I have so other can get a better idea. I want to keep the cleared areas away of course from the road and the home/yard for obvious reasons and that is what is making the clearing difficult. There are no trails to these areas and some active and dry creek beds blocking access, not to mention some 30-40ft drops and steep hills. I can carry a chain saw and a "brush eater" in there by hand but no way to clear it or move it around. Some areas are so dense that you can see many trees that have died or been hit by lighting are almost standing vertical, they have fallen over but are held up by neighboring trees. The dozer plan is just so I can get to the creek with an ATV and build a small bridge over the creek, continue with a dozer on the other side till' we get to the general area of the clearing. Once that is done I can do a lot by hand, I am alone the wife is pregnant and our son is only 6. I hope to walk more of it next weekend, my concern for a dozer is that I really do not think there is any area much larger than 1/4 acre that is somewhat flat. Some slope for food or hunting plot is fine but most all of it is angled. We will probably need to make a flat spot. I have contacted DNR and enrolled in their program. They will be scheduling up a bioligist to come out and give me some suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Here are some photos of the land. http://web.infoave.net/~k4gps/ The first photo is the property line, go figure nice, flat, easy to get to even by truck but too close to the other landowner. So photos 26,28,31 are not viable for hunting. Seems that my HTML code is a bit messed up, I'll plug away at that later today but 1/2 of the photos are working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born2Hunt Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? To me that is not thick, that is perfect. Here in N.N.Y. some of the spots we hunt you can not see 10 yds. In my opinion you have the perfect land to start working with. A chainsaw will be your best friend. Thin the trees and let the forest floor get some sunlight and you will have explosive growth of natural browse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? I am posting a few more photos now. Once the upload is complete I'll post the web page. It MAY be slow depending on how many people are viewing it since it's on a server sitting here underneath my desk. The URL I sent earlier is just not working right, I like to have control anyway on my own server. Your a 100% correct, that is not thick at all BUT those are the areas I have been able to get to not far away from the road. I'll get some more photos this week back in the area of where it would be safe to shoot and far enough away from homes/road where it would be nice and quiet for some food/bedding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? If you are working with the dnr, they can refer you to a reputable logging operation and maby do some selective cutting first, then you can utilize the log landing/loading sites for food plots, plus the logging trails and roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? That is a really good idea. I have thought about selling some of the timber but did not really think much of it. 2 clearing companies that showed up did at one time do pulp wood work and he stated that most of the trees are at least 6-10 years from a good harvest and that most loggers today are not very interested in small harvests. Maybe I should ask around some more, even if I get no cash back if most of the work is done for me I'll be ahead. Here are some better photos of the land... http://k4gps.net/gallery/ranch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Remember you didn't buy the land to become a forester. However talking to several loggers may give you some insight as to what you have for potential. Ask them if you were to allow selective harvest now with the intent of harvesting again 5-7 years from now. how much more would the yield be? Don't try to get everything done in the first season. You are going to live there for quite a while. Put together a plan with realistic goals and work toward that. Each year or season you will see a difference and eventually you will have your land the way you want it. To address your original question. I don't think you can set a given amount or percentage of your land to develop food plots in. It depends on what surrounds you. Do you have farms, forest, barren land or what around you? To be effective you have to offer deer something better than what they can get nearby. Like walking past a burger joint to get to a fine restaurant. If there isn't any other good food sources nearby you might want to plant more acreage to keep your plots from being devoured too soon. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anderson3 Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? I agree with Lynn. Regardless of the size of your acreage, if there are a lot of deer (I assume there are since you are in SC) they are likely to over run small plots and chew them down to the dirt. You may want to shoot for a couple acres or even more, depending what your expectations are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Looks like there is some awesome potential there to me. Good luck with it. Post pics here of your progress as you go along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidd Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? I would also recommend a good read "Grow'em right"-a guide to creating habitat and food plots. It is written by neil and craig dougherty. It gives alot of good ideas and these guys will answer some of your questions nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 17, 2007 Report Share Posted March 17, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Saturday at about 2pm I dropped 40lbs of corn on the plot and a small trail of 10lbs from the creek to the plot along a obvious path that they are taking from the creek. I dropped by Thursday morning on my way to a job and it looked like someone took and swept up EVERY SINGLE PIECE from the entire plot. I had no time to treck back to the creek but chances are that is gone too. Does that sound normal for this time of year ? I am wondering if it was a swarm of coons and rabbits or I am really lucky? I guess I won't need to guess much more. I made a trip to Sportsman's Warehouse (I hate driving North to Concord) and I hope to have an answer in a few days. I may be lighter in the wallet but I hope to be posting pics soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted March 17, 2007 Report Share Posted March 17, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Rich, Another gauge you should use is the exclusion cage. If you see growth within the cage is really high and the growth outside is mowed down you will know there is a need for a larger plot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Well looks like I got somewhat lucky. I set the camera up at 19:55 and at 21:55 I got my first photos. http://www.k4gps.org/gallery/album05 I also got some bad news since I was meeting the health department and septic guy there. The only place they perked for my septic was up by the food plot!! They do not think it will perk anywhere else at this time but they are going to look again once I clear land. They dug ditches in many other areas but the perk was not good enough. And the perk is about 350+ft from the home site, the work the state is requiring it will be $18K or more to complete! Not only will it screw up my obviously "working" plot it's going to cost me an arm and a leg! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Instant irrigation! How could you get so lucky? Personally I would meet with the building inspector alone. Seems like someone may be in cahoots here! Get the area spotted for septic etc. then go from there. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ultralite31 Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? around 50% of your property is what i would recommend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Well lot's has gone on since in the past few weeks since I have posted. DNR came in, forrester came in and the loggers were done today. 3 acres clean cut, the balance was 40% thinned and I got a lot of large trails cut out by CASE 325 trucks, the tires were higher than my 2500 diesel truck! Now I got a mess! The remaining rubbish is in the tons but I got a good price for what they did, I'll probably end up spending the profit and then some on what I need to clean up but those will be tools for life. So I posted on the 4th wondering about plot sizes, on the 31st I have about 3 plots cleared out needing prep and the wife is telling me I got to go buy a 4WD tractor so I can start cleaning up. She want's the burns done before we move in and there is a LOT to burn and/or chop up for firewood but mostly kindling/chips. That's another thing, never had a chipper got to learn bout' those so I buy the right size, not too small not too large. I see it starting now.... Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? You can do a lot with mid sized utility tractors with a loader. Have pushed up a lot of trees and managed brush piles with my kubota. Kubota occasionally still runs some 0% financing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? [ QUOTE ] You can do a lot with mid sized utility tractors with a loader. Have pushed up a lot of trees and managed brush piles with my kubota. Kubota occasionally still runs some 0% financing too. [/ QUOTE ] Don't tell me that William, I am so tempted to sell my Kubota and step up to a larger tractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] You can do a lot with mid sized utility tractors with a loader. Have pushed up a lot of trees and managed brush piles with my kubota. Kubota occasionally still runs some 0% financing too. [/ QUOTE ] Don't tell me that William, I am so tempted to sell my Kubota and step up to a larger tractor. [/ QUOTE ] What part do you not want to hear Chris? The 0 % apr or what the tractor will do? Think I told you the year before last I got a little mailer and was really tempted to get the little tractor. As it turned out, things happened with the craftsman, and timing on the promo was just right, and I shopped around a little. You know what kind of deal I got at the end of the summer on the bx. Dont know if kubota will do the 0 % apr at the end of this summer or not, but they have the past couple years. Might be worth checking their site to see about promos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Re: What is minimum for a food plot? Right now I believe they have 0% I know JD does so I am sure Kubota will not be outdone. I was looking at the L3400 or 4400. My thing holding me back is storage, no one lives there and we are just now digging for the basement today. I got to add a storage container which I am guessing is about $1500 delivered and then worry at night that someone is breaking into it since we are out in the country and no one lives close by. I may still do it but I am leaning to waiting till' August when we move in. The bad part is that is 4 months lost worth of work and I know money will be tight once we move in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SCRich Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Well like I said the loggers are out, I took a week vacation along with my son and did a lot of research. Since the last post my vacation was spent SPENDING like no tomorow but that is what I get for waiting "till I need it". Got a trailer along with a King Quad 450 so I can get around. While "getting around" and cleaning up I realized this will be at least a year job alone and I got another one on the way due September 4th. So...off to the Kubota dealer and after 2 visits I ordered a L3400 with a root grapple, read hyd for the future back hoe, a rake and a box blade along with a loader. I am killing some time here, got to call the trucking company at 13:00 to get the container delivered. Locals wanted $2200 for an old container, this guy had great containers but only for rent, fresh paint, welded lock boxes $650 for 6-7 whatever reasonable months I need it for. I probably do not want a container there for good so I went ahead and rented it. Tractor should be in by Friday ready for delivery and the grapple should be in another week later. So now... 30hp tractor hard as a rock compacted clay what should I think of buying to break it all up and get it ready to plant ? Got the rake and box blade, should I get a plow, disker, or tiller ? The ground is so hard that I twisted my ankle Friday. I took a shovel over there to take 3 different samples and send to the AG office. The original food plot was the staging area for the loggers and when I went to shove the shovel in it was so hard that I twisted my ankle, the shovel did not go in but twisted when I hit it with my foot! The loggers did not do it all, it had been like that before but they did not help it at all. Here is a shot of what WAS the food plot. Looks like it's torn up dirt but don't let that fool you, the tire tracks are as hard as a rock! http://www.k4gps.org/gallery/logging/IMGA0343?full=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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