Im thinking about putting in some small green plots for the fall. Have any of you ever done any of the "NO PLOW" plots? I do not expect them to do as well as a seed bed that has been plowed....but was wondering how well they actually do take.,

JD

Wondering the same thing, I bought some too, but have not planted it yet. I plan on just throwing it out and runing through it a few times with the four wheeler to pack it in. Would like to hear from someone that has actually used it before too.

They work as long as they contact the bare soil. The main ingredient in these things are ryegrass in most mixes. You could go and buy Gulf Annual or Tetraploid Ryegrass and mix in some turnips and it would be close to the same thing. I have seen deer eat it both ways.

IMO, it is a waste of money. As BucknHook stated, you can buy individual seed at your local feed store for less and get about the same results.
I'd at least take a garden rake and loosen the topsoil a little.
I also wonder how much benifit you will actually get with such a small "foodplot". If your trying to just get a deer to stop for a shot, throw some corn out. Probably going to be about as labor intensive as what you are describing.
Not trying to be critical, just wondering what is the point?

Unless you do a good job of scratching the soil, expect poor results. If the owner or local farmer has a tractor available, talk to them about doing it right. I plant wheat/oats every year and haven't checked on prices yet. I don't think I'm going to be happy. I wasn't last year. I expect the no plow stuff may be a sucker deal.

depending on where you are at it may work but probably not. If you have good soil it will already be so thick with growth the new stuff wont grow, and if you have bad soil it wont do much anyway. I tried winter rye which if it gets wet will grow anywhere.... I spread it all over bare ground and I dont think any of it sprouted last year. I think you would have better luck dragging one of those metal rake drag thingymagiggers??? to bust up the ground just alittle. but like someone else said check around and you can have it done for a little money. I talked to a guy that said it would probably be a few hundred dollars to do a 3-7 acres plot. he hasnt looked at it yet nor has he done it but I should find out after september 1st. we are supposed to meet after dove season to figure it out.

JD and Ray-I am new to the food plot, but have researched it for a year now and just planted my 1st. plot. Our farm has a very low PH level so what I have found is Chicory is good for that as well as drought areas. I planted it two weeks ago and it has already come up!! We did use a tractor but that area (1/2 acre) has never in 100 years been worked so we did not know what to expect. We are very pleased that it came up. If I were you, I would use Chicory. If anyone else has other ideas, listen to them.

I heard somewhere that marijuana is a good food plot, but cant remember where. I tried it myself, but cant remember how it worked out.

I STILL have chicory growing in one of our plots.. but to be honest, I have yet to find that the deer are hitting it hard. We planted it last season for the first time. Any time we try something new we section it off from the rest of the plot so that we can monitor how well the deer feed on it. Didn't work that well for us as a food source but it grew well..

Chickory sold by itself is pretty expensive, about $7 a pound. you are better off just planting turnips.

Take an old box spring mattress without the cover and drag it behind a 4 wheeler or truck to loosen up the soil. You can buy discs that attach to your receiver if you got the $.
Cool season food plot plant materials that work well in various parts of the Cross Timbers are wheat, rye, oats, white clover, arrowleaf clover, and sweet clovers. Warm season food plot plant materials include joint vetch, cowpeas, alyce clover, white clover, and sorghum (shorter grain varieties with compact seed heads).

Check out this web site for more information on food plots
http://www.noble.org/Ag/Wildlife/DeerFoods/HabitatReq2.html Noble Foundation

Capt_James is 100% correct. These are your best choices. In my opinion, it may be too early to put the seed down with this hot weather and no rain. I was told by an old timer to wait until after Sept. 15th depending on the weather pattern. Worst case scenario, you put down the seed, it rains once, the first sprouts come up, then if it doesn't rain again for 3 or 4 weeks, your sprouts burn up and your efforts were wasted. That being said, we are throwing down seed the 3rd week of August and the last week of September - Go Figure!