Ontario (SW) deer food plots

M

MattMoser

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Location
Southern Ontario
Guys,

I am looking at planting my first food plots, anyone have any experiences with SW Ontario that they care to share?

If not, I may post my progress along the way. I live close enough to Toronto to see the CN tower on a clear day and have lots of deer in the area, I am thinking of a late season attractant as I don't want to try to compete with the corn and soy fields around my farm.

I am thinking of planning sugar beets and purple top turnips.

thanks in advance
 
I'm from North Bay Area, no farmers crops to compete with. My plots are sugar beets(round up ready) turnips, a variety of clovers, chicory, kale, pumpkins, soy beans and sweet corn. For sugar beets you need a large acreage, I grew 2 acres and they were GONE before July 1st. And they were planted thick. Turnips and kale make it to first frost. Clovers are good any time but if you cut them early Sept they are lush in early Oct. Chicory is my go to crop, it lasts several years, will grow anywhere, they eat it year round. It's a biennial, second year by late Aug will be 3' tall with a beautiful blue flower, by then it is getting tough, so cut it before Sept. and bingo you have spread seeds for next year, and by Oct 1st it is lush again and they will choose it above anything I have ever grown. Listen to the Nutter who suggested a soil test.....if you need lime you WON'T get a good crop, it's like going to a banquet with your jaw wired shut. Respectfully Jim Mansell
 
Thanks for the replies guys!
I have been swamped and have not had time at night to surf.
I have planted 1.5 acres of purple top turnips and 1.5 acres of sugar beets, the purple tops are taking off nicely and the sugar beets are a bit slower but that is to be expected.
I did do a soil sample and I have a ph of 6 which I think is good for both crops
I will try to attach a photo of the purple tops, where do you guys get your seeds? I bought mine from the US and they were expensive and a pain in the arse to get them into Canada, Custom idiots think everything is a national security threat and have no idea of the laws.....
Sorry a bit of a rant as I have had my issues with those idiots in the past....
I’d like a good place to buy them in Canada; Roundup Ready would be the best way to go!
Thanks
 
The deer will eat the Brassica's tops off in early fall but on a high percentage in southern Ontario and even as south as Toronto we do not get enough cold weather to freeze the bulbs and they do not get used until well after the bow season is over. In the past I have found clovers being some of the best. Sweet yellow, Crimson mixed with others tend to work best for me, but you need to keep it cut as the new growth seems to be what they want...
 
Adrian J Hare said:
The deer will eat the Brassica's tops off in early fall but on a high percentage in southern Ontario and even as south as Toronto we do not get enough cold weather to freeze the bulbs and they do not get used until well after the bow season is over. In the past I have found clovers being some of the best. Sweet yellow, Crimson mixed with others tend to work best for me, but you need to keep it cut as the new growth seems to be what they want...
Click to expand...

Interesting.

thanks
 
pumpgunner said:
I've been looking for a set of discs to drag around behind my atv. What do you guys use to turn up the soil each year?
Click to expand...


Plow and disk for me - but I'm limited on where I can bring it for plotting. I've seen the princess auto disks in action and they do a pretty good job. Catch them on sale and you're all set. I've also watched videos of the groundhog max and it looks pretty handy for small plots.
 
I have clover on all my trails, and every available opening, I keep these clipped, for tenderness, but because of this clover doesn't work well in my plots.Also the township and many old abandoned farms have various clovers, so I leave them out of my plots. I just clipped my chicory yesterday, it was 30+ inches, and most of the bloom was dried up. It will be very popular with the deer Sept to Dec. Jim.
 
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