Introduction
Depending on where your property is located, you may still have time to plant your fall food plots. But here in Michigan or the northern part of the county, we’re past the traditional planting time. Planting dates will vary from year to year but for our properties in mid-Michigan we typically try to plant right before the first rain in August. This gives around 60 days of growth before the average first frost date.
But what if you missed that traditional planting time? Are you completely out of luck and no longer able to plant food plots for the upcoming season? Far from it!
While we still want to shoot for that early August planting, there are plenty of reasons why we might have missed it. Maybe you recently bought a new property and just got access. Or maybe you found a new area on property that would be perfect for a new food plot. Or let’s face it, life is busy and sometimes our habitat projects take a back seat to other priorities. Regardless of the reason why your plots didn’t get planted, you still have time to put in a decent food plot before the hunting season.
Step 1 - Pick a Location for Your Food Plot
We’re not going to dive into everything that goes into picking a perfect food plot location here, we will cover that in detail down the road. For this plot we really just need to ensure the plot is getting enough sunlight. Remember this is a last-minute plot, if we didn’t have time to plant, we probably don’t have time to cut down trees at this point. Open fields that are overgrown or openings within the timber make great candidates for these last-minute food plots.
Step 2 - Kill the Weeds
Because the area we’re planting into hasn’t been prepped at all, it’s likely going to overgrown with weeds. Before we plant, we will need to address that. If left unchecked the weeds will choke out most everything we want to plant. To kill the weeds, we will Spray the entire plot with glyphosate. I use 2 quarts per acre but if you’re unsure or want to confirm, follow the label for the recommended rate. When spraying just use glyphosate, do not apply 2-4D as 2-4D has a residual effect and will remain in the soil for a few weeks. We don’t have a few weeks; this is a last-minute food plot!
Step 3 - Seed into the Sprayed Weeds
As soon as the chemical is dry the weeds are essentially dead and will no longer compete with our food plot. This doesn’t take long, most years by the time I drop off the sprayer and pick up the seed spreader the weeds have absorbed the glyphosate. Seed the desired mix into the now dying vegetation just as you would if you were seeding into a cover crop of buckwheat. As the weeds die, they will fall over covering the seeds acting as a mulch layer, protecting them from birds and early browse pressure.
If you can drive over the weeds with a drag to shake any seeds caught up in the weeds onto the ground. Driving over the weeds will also smash a few of them down, helping protect your seeds.
Step 4 - Rain
If you can, try to time your planting right before a storm. We’re already planting later than we want to so what’s a couple more days? Your success rate will always be higher the closer you can time your planting to a good rain. Seed your plot then immediately get your car washed. Nothing brings on a storm like a newly washed vehicle.
Step 5 - Rye
Depending on when you seeded your last-minute plot, you may have already incorporated rye into the stand. But if not, putting down rye will ensure your food plot is performing for a majority of the season. Rye will grow practically anywhere and continues to grow throughout most of the hunting season. While not as attractive as Oats or Winter Wheat, Rye will germinate in temperatures as low as 34 degrees and actively grow down to 38 degrees, making it a perfect last minute seed choice!!
Success Story
Last year I was asked to put in a food plot for a landowner in late August. He had just closed on the property and wanted a food plot installed for the upcoming hunting season. We followed the playbook above, accomplishing everything within a couple hours. The plot was seeded on August 24th giving the landowner just over a month of growth before the bow opener. The weeds died back while the annual clovers and cereal rye grew in. In less than a month he had a green carpet underneath the brown stems of the previous vegetation. It wasn’t the prettiest plot, but it performed well, and the landowner was able to watch deer feed in this location throughout the entire hunting season.
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