What food plot crops will grow well when planted in the thinned row of pines in Mississippi?
Filed under: Food Plots
I live in south Mississippi, and I’m new to hunting. I’ve been given permission to hunt on my in-laws property and I would like to begin to manage the habitat. On the property I hunt there is a stand of plantation pines that have recently been thinned a year ago. What can we plant in the newly opened rows during the hot summer heat? Or, should we just wait until the coolness of fall and plant clover?
Stephen,
Planting and hunting in thinned pines is one of my favorite techniques! Pine rows that run north and south receive less sunlight and tend to hold more soil moisture compared to rows that run east and west. I’ve had great success with Eagle Seed forage soybeans, clover, the Broadside blend, etc. I really like hunting plots planted in thinned pines as the remaining pines tend to funnel the wind and keep it from swirling. Deer are very comfortable feeding in plots planted in the thinned row of pines as they are never more than a step or two from cover. Deer appear to be much calmer in these environments.
I typically plant forage soybeans in a row where the pines have been thinned, skip two rows for cover, and then plant another row with beans. I overseed the beans with Broadside about 45 to 60 days before the average first frost during the fall.
For more information, checkout the GrowingDeer episode at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grant-Woods/260242857400
Enjoy creation,
grant
January 10, 2016
