Food plot failure

M

Maniacbrittany

New member
New to the forum. I own a small chunk of heaven South of Huron, SD and can’t get a food plot to survive. 95% or more of the seeds are eaten by pheasants and striped gophers before they come up. One plot is 4 acres in a square and the others are more linear along some new tree strips and cover another 4 acres. I planted Milo, corn, another corn row and soybeans. With a 4 row planter. My closest neighbor had to replant his 15 acre corn field across the road. Any ideas about seed choices or timing that might help? I used Avipel which is supposed to deter pheasants from eating the seeds but no help.
 
Maniacbrittany said:
New to the forum. I own a small chunk of heaven South of Huron, SD and can’t get a food plot to survive. 95% or more of the seeds are eaten by pheasants and striped gophers before they come up. One plot is 4 acres in a square and the others are more linear along some new tree strips and cover another 4 acres. I planted Milo, corn, another corn row and soybeans. With a 4 row planter. My closest neighbor had to replant his 15 acre corn field across the road. Any ideas about seed choices or timing that might help? I used Avipel which is supposed to deter pheasants from eating the seeds but no help.
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Apparently I should have figured out where I was before posting, is there anyway to move this post to habitat forum?
 
I just replanted about 4 acres of the 6 I planted this spring. I just assumed it was striped gophers, but I now believe it is the pheasants. I started planting all grain sorghum, they seemed to leave that alone a bit more, but this spring they hammered it. I did notice the plots that surround my switch grass were just about completely cleaned-out, way worst than the others. It did set the planter about a half inch deeper this last time. I have an ridiculous amount of carry-over birds this year and they are usually in the switchgrass. It must be the easiest food available. Maybe with the hens sitting more right now and then the hatch, they will be eating less trying to hatch and raise the chicks. Good luck.
 
remy3424 said:
I just replanted about 4 acres of the 6 I planted this spring. I just assumed it was striped gophers, but I now believe it is the pheasants. I started planting all grain sorghum, they seemed to leave that alone a bit more, but this spring they hammered it. I did notice the plots that surround my switch grass were just about completely cleaned-out, way worst than the others. It did set the planter about a half inch deeper this last time. I have an ridiculous amount of carry-over birds this year and they are usually in the switchgrass. It must be the easiest food available. Maybe with the hens sitting more right now and then the hatch, they will be eating less trying to hatch and raise the chicks. Good luck.
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Another hunting buddy of mine lost 80% on 2 of his 3 food plots about 15 miles from mine.
 
Might try using German Millet and drilling it over the row crop planter. It would put more seed out there and with the smaller seed, it would be harder to find.
 
My buddies replanted 8 acres of corn that was 2 " before the birds and deer wiped it out.
They replanted with corn that has a powder treatment that discourages the birds from consuming it.
 
How does a pheasant find seed that is 2" deep? I have always blamed striped gophers as I figured they could smell it. We have had some problems in years past. The holes were always perfectly circular over the seed and the holes were evenly spaced like the planter would have planted them.
 
Tigger said:
How does a pheasant find seed that is 2" deep? I have always blamed striped gophers as I figured they could smell it. We have had some problems in years past. The holes were always perfectly circular over the seed and the holes were evenly spaced like the planter would have planted them.
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Same culprits here. I read, maybe here, that pheasants could "smell" the seed. As it germinates the starches change to sugars and they "dial-in" on that. True??? I don't know, but I do know that they can sense it some how. If pheasants also have a keen sense of smell, that is one more way they know a predator is near (dog, man, coyote). After chasing them for almost 5 decades nothing they do surprises me now.
The way they are getting after the plots now, makes me think that they are struggling finding other food. With other habitat disappearing, they are more and more concentrated on what bits are remaining around here.
 
remy3424 said:
I just replanted about 4 acres of the 6 I planted this spring. I just assumed it was striped gophers, but I now believe it is the pheasants. I started planting all grain sorghum, they seemed to leave that alone a bit more, but this spring they hammered it. I did notice the plots that surround my switch grass were just about completely cleaned-out, way worst than the others. It did set the planter about a half inch deeper this last time. I have an ridiculous amount of carry-over birds this year and they are usually in the switchgrass. It must be the easiest food available. Maybe with the hens sitting more right now and then the hatch, they will be eating less trying to hatch and raise the chicks. Good luck.
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That's a great problem to have - feel free to send some of them over here to Eastern Iowa!
 
Yes, better than most any other problem that surfaces. They just dug up the seed again...they will be starving this winter if we get any snow cover.
 
No. Our ground is pretty high and doesn't pull water from far at all...less than a mile on all our farms. The Little Sioux river isn't too far away and it is a huge mess. The West Fork of the Little Sioux is the local river to where I live and its basin doesn't stretch north far enough to have caught the large rains, so it is well within its banks. We are looking great, more rain so far this, than the last 2 years combined. Crops look great and the nesting/hatch conditions should be decent....it was 98° yesterday....that is less lethal than 60° and rain.
 
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My plot got hit pretty good by various birds this year, not much can be done about that. This year I put effort intp killing every ground squirrel that showed up around it. No messing around with he 22 or .17, I used 12 gauge and trap loads, one shot per customer. Took a few weeks and I was into a double digit body count before word apparently got around. Haven't seen one for two weeks and the plot is coming along nicely...
 
Labs said:
My plot got hit pretty good by various birds this year, not much can be done about that. This year I put effort intp killing every ground squirrel that showed up around it. No messing around with he 22 or .17, I used 12 gauge and trap loads, one shot per customer. Took a few weeks and I was into a double digit body count before word apparently got around. Haven't seen one for two weeks and the plot is coming along nicely...
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I knew a farmer that did the same thing with the sparrows that were crapping all over his equipment. He said he tried a bb gun and they laughed at him, a pellet gun only got a handful before they learned to keep moving, now he uses a 12ga with 1 1/8 #9s and gets 5-6 a shot usually. It's absolutely hilarious to watch him unload into a flock of those things leaving the machine shed and just see feathers and carnage. The barn cats love it.
 
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