Food Plot Work

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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Staff member
This summer Thomas and I are putting in more food plots than ever. Probably around 20 acres. That's a lot of work for a 40 hp tractor and a 17 year old and soon to be 50 year old. Especially since we have to move equipment from my workshop to several locations. Logistics is a nightmare getting the tractor, bush hog, disc harrow, spray rig, seed spreader, and cultipacker at each site but we will manage. I'm at the office but Thomas is out discing a 4 acre food plot today. He sent me the below picture a few minutes ago and said it is HOT on the tractor and he'll be dead at baseball workouts. He will look back years from now with pride knowing he could work long and hard while creating food for ducks and hunting.

ThomasDiscing.jpg

 
He should have brought along his cutie duck hunting companion we saw pics of last season. That typically makes any work not so bad I seem to recall.

Mark W
 
Wait when you say food for ducks im not following you.

Your saying yall plant food plots to duck hunt over.
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That is exactly what I am saying. We plant the areas of fields that are usually too wet when the farmers put in their crops as well as some land set aside in the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). We broadcast Browntop and Japanese Millet and Wildlife Game Feed (WGF) Sorghum. It is perfectly legal to hunt over as long as the food is left standing on it's own. In other words you can't bush hog it before flooding.
 
Tod, he did have his iPhone with Spotify but I doubt he could ever hear it over the tractor.

Mark, she may end up hunting with us this coming season when she's home on break from her first semester of college. She is playing tennis for her college and is on academic scholarship. She's not his girlfriend but is certainly a good influence.
 
Eric,
Thomas will look back at these days with fondness. As far as music goes you need a pretty stout radio with a volume knob the goes past 10 on a tractor. They are easier to hear 20 feet from the tractor than sitting on it. Back in the '50's my grandfather was one of the first to put a radio on a tractor. He had them on his M's. WGN radio from Chicago came out to do a remote from one of his fields it was such a novelty.
Tom
 
That's great. Our landowner planted 60 acres of corn this year in some of the smaller hayfields. :O
 
Thats awesome wish could do that over here. If I tryed that they would throw the book at me pick it up beat me with it dig a hole and throw me in it then build a jail on top of me.

Louisiana the gar hole of duck hunting.
 
Why? Does LA have a state reg. that says you cant hunt waterfowl in standing ag crops???
 
To my best knowledge yes sir it is against the rules here in louisiana to hunt waterfowl over any planted crop that has not been cut and or harvested then plowed under prior to opening day.

My understanding is there can not be any seed head on stalk of any kind of planted crop in a feild and that includes dry feild are flooded.

Thats the best of my knowledge for louisana regs I will do some reserch and see if they have change our regs since last I checked.
 
I am just simply jealous of that fine looking bottomland dirt!
Ain't nothing like that here in the Ozarks...... not even in the bottoms!
Looks good Erik. I'm sure the hard work will pay off.
 
To my best knowledge yes sir it is against the rules here in louisiana to hunt waterfowl over any planted crop that has not been cut and or harvested then plowed under prior to opening day.

My understanding is there can not be any seed head on stalk of any kind of planted crop in a feild and that includes dry feild are flooded.

Thats the best of my knowledge for louisana regs I will do some reserch and see if they have change our regs since last I checked.
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I've never heard of such extreme restrictions. That goes well beyond Federal law. I guess Louisiana wants to eliminate food sources that aren't completely natural. No wonder Missouri and Arkansas keep most of the mallards while you guys shoot gadwall.
 
Tod, he did have his iPhone with Spotify but I doubt he could ever hear it over the tractor.

Mark, she may end up hunting with us this coming season when she's home on break from her first semester of college. She is playing tennis for her college and is on academic scholarship. She's not his girlfriend but is certainly a good influence.
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"Not his girlfriend". If I had $1.00 for every time I heard that....... and used it myself back in the day"

Great influence for sure.

Hope Thomas had a good tryout yesterday.

Mark W
 
To my best knowledge yes sir it is against the rules here in louisiana to hunt waterfowl over any planted crop that has not been cut and or harvested then plowed under prior to opening day.

My understanding is there can not be any seed head on stalk of any kind of planted crop in a feild and that includes dry feild are flooded.



This is not true.
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Well I just talked to a game warden out of the Minden office here in louisiana and I stand corrected about not being able to hunt over a standing crop weather in a dry are flooded area.

I was told its legal as long as the area has not been disked, chooped,mowed are disturbed by any machinery and are livestock that would cause it to have seed spread and made easyer for the birds to eat it. I was told that hunters entering, leaving, seting decoys, retriving downed birds is not counted in this.

So looks like I need to get the ole fourwheeler and plow out and get me some millet and biologic rice planted.
 
Sorry sir didnt mean to take your thread off topic.

Reason I belived it was illegal was when I was 19 me and three freinds were ticketed for hunting a baited feild, there was some rice still standing next to the levee, So I always assumed it was illegal to hunt over standing crops.

Now that I talked with a warden and also read up I find its legal.

Would you have any tips about what to plant, will be planting some very small holes that drys during summer and then floods back during duck season. I was thinking millet or biologic rice.
 
You need to match the planting to the site- can you control water (keep it out or flood if needed)? When will it dry out? Does it stay dry or reflood frequently? What equipment can you use to plant?
 
Japanese and browntop millet is among the easiest to plant. I'm assuming you will broadcast seed and not drill. That being the case you need to have good seed to soil contact. That can be achieved by herbicide application, discing, broadcasting, and rolling the seed into the dirt with a roller or cultipacker or lightly discing as to not bury the seed more than about 1/4". It can be a lot of work but rewarding too. An ATV should work good for small scale plots, say less than an acre. Once you go bigger a tractor is better suited. The link below has some good info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG87oElqXWE
 
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