Guided Hunts
Now a Tecomate Dealer!!
I provide expert deer and turkey food plot installation, and land management services geared towards hunting and improving the wildlife on your property in the central Wisconsin area.
I grew up in the forestry and nursery business, and have been an avid hunter ever since I can remember. I graduated from
The goal for a food plot program should be to provide year-round nutrition. There are many planting options, but a good rule of thumb is to plant 60% of your food plot acreage in cool-season perennials (clover mixes), 20% in cool-season annuals (brassicas), and 20% in warm-season annuals (corn, soybeans, etc.). You can alter these percentages as necessary based on your location. For example, Southern managers generally plant a little heavier percentage of warm-season annuals. If you run short on summer food, plant additional warm-season annuals. If you need more winter forage, plant more brassicas and/or corn.
Regardless of plant type, you should distribute food plots across the landscape. Plots typically range from ¼ to 5 acres, and long irregularly shaped plots maximize the amount of edge habitat. If you have cool-season plots larger than 5 acres, divide them into multiple plots and select plant species to maximize seasonal use by deer. Warm-season plots tend to be larger as it is common for deer to destroy small corn, soybean or cowpea plots before they become established. Agricultural fields, abandoned fields, log landings and logging roads can all be productive food plot sites. You may even choose to “carve” food plots into forested areas. Such work can be expensive and labor intensive, but exact location and design can be specified to have the plot double as a strategic hunting location. This can be especially important when trying to harvest mature bucks. Once you’ve chosen your sites, prepared and amended the soil, selected seed varieties and planted the plots, what do you do next? You PRAY for rain! You can do everything right and your plots can fail if they don’t receive adequate moisture. This reiterates the importance of focusing on natural vegetation management and using food plots to supplement – not replace - that habitat work.
Adams, Kip. "QDMA Articles: Habitat Management." Quality Deer Management Association. Feb. 2008. 20 June 2008 <http://www.qdma.org/articles/details.asp?id=140>.
I charge $35 an hour to install a food plot (not including materials and travel.) Or I can charge by the job. I can work around your budget to meet and exceed your expectations.
Give me a call for your free estimate.
715-498-3696
Quality habitat is important for bucks and does in all age classes. Does need nutritious forage to raise healthy fawns, bucks need it for large bodies and antlers, and both sexes require adequate cover to escape predation. Given the average deer eats 2,000 pounds of vegetation annually, it’s easy to see a tremendous amount of forage is necessary to support even a low-density deer herd. Larger herds and herds managed to maximize body and antler growth and reproductive capacity require even more high-quality foods.
