provided by John Phillips
Bobby Cole is vice president of Mossy Oak BioLogic and GameKeepers. He’s a hunter and can tell you everything you need to know about Mossy Oak BioLogic plantings and how to better manage your lands for wildlife.
If you wait until the week before deer season to try on your Mossy Oak pants that you wore last year, and discover that instead of being a waist size of 34 inches. You now need a waist size of 38 inches, so you may have a difficult time finding pants you can wear during hunting season.
The same philosophy is true if you wait until Labor Day to purchase seed, fertilizer, Blind Spot and Hot Spot Plus green field plantings. You’ll be in the same position as a bowhunter is when he breaks the string to his bow the day before deer season starts. If you’re planting the same green-field plantings for early bow season that you hope to hunt over through the end of gun deer season, you need to already have your seed and fertilizer bought and soil tests done (in the South, by the first week or two of September). In Minnesota and Wisconsin, hunters and landowners will probably plant their fall green fields in the middle of July. So, in the North, you need to start in June to make sure you have the seed blends and the right products around the middle or end of June.
Most hunters don’t realize that the seeds and fertilizer they’re planning to put in the ground for deer and turkey food are the least-expensive components of their entire deer season. You have to lease land, rent or buy a tractor or get farming instruments for an ATV and also pay for your food, lodging and gas going back and forth to the field. These costs will far outweigh the cost of the seed you want to plant to make sure you have plenty of food for the deer you want to harvest. So, don’t skimp, and buy cheap seeds, thinking you’ll then have a really good green field. Quality seeds that will produce the maximum amount of tonnage for deer only will cost a few dollars more than the cheap seeds that may or may not meet your expectations for a lush green field. We’ve seen from the many GameKeeper members that planting ahead, getting the seed, fertilizer and lime and having your ground plowed or disced early, usually produces better results than if you wait until the last minute. Then you may forget one of the elements that can take your green field from being marginally successful to outstandingly successful. The other advantage to having all your stuff together is when you see a rain front coming, you can get your seed in the ground. That rain will ensure that your seeds geminate, and that you have that plush green field you’ve hoped you’ll have.
Green Patch Plus and DEER-Radish:
If you only can have one green-field planting to hunt over from the beginning of bow/deer season until the end of gun/deer season, I recommend BioLogic’s Green Patch Plus to produce forage for deer during the entire deer season. For every acre I plant with Green Patch Plus, I’ll add 2 pounds of BioLogic DEER-Radish. These two plantings aren’t very expensive. Just as importantly, this mixture will continue to feed your deer through January and February when you’re back at the house watching the Super Bowl or getting your shotgun cleaned up in preparation for turkey season.
To learn more about improving your land for wildlife, planting green fields and knowing when to plant what where, go to www.plantbiologic.com, and/or call 662-495-9292. To order “GameKeepers Magazine,” go to GameKeepers Club, and you can join us as a GameKeeper and get our magazine.
