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.
Most hunters’ lives get very busy with school starting back, new jobs, family gatherings, sports, and vacations during August and September. They may miss the window for planting their green fields, or they may not own or lease property at that time to plant a green field. What can these hunters do to attract, feed and hold deer, if they don’t have a 1/4-acre to 5 acres to plant green fields to hunt during bow season?
Hot Spot and Hot Spot Plus:
If you live in the Deep South like I do, in Mississippi, you still can plant a small green field at the first of September and get enough growth to attract deer by opening day of bow season. Now if you miss that deadline, Mossy Oak BioLogic has a couple of products for people who don’t have access to a tractor or a very large opening to plant a green field. However, they may have a small clearing back in the woods where they can plant a small hunting green field, often called a “hidey-hole.”
The two products we recommend for that type of hunter are Hot Spot and Hot Spot Plus. Five pounds will plant about 1/8-acre. I also recommend if you’re planting 1/8-acre that you use 50 pounds of fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 13-13-13, too. Fertilizer is very important, especially if you want to get plants out of the ground quickly. The seeds in this mixture are designed to be top-sown. Hot Spot Plus has the same seeds as Hot Spot does, but BioLogic also includes with it a package of water-soluble fertilizer that you can spray on the Hot Spot plants after they come out of the ground. BioLogic makes a product too called M.E.E.N. Green, a water-soluble fertilizer that makes Hot Spot grow better and tends to produce a heavier crop.
Blind Spot:
BioLogic offers a product called Blind Spot for hunters to use to plant as a visual barrier, so deer can’t see them as they go into and come out of their deer stands. This product is especially helpful if someone spooks a buck either going to or coming away from a stand site, which will cause a green field to be not as productive as it can be.
Just as important as slipping into your stand site without the deer seeing you is having the ability to slip out after dark without the deer spotting you. BioLogic originally designed Blind Spot for landowners and hunting-club lessees who have productive green fields, but perhaps they’re planted by a county road, allowing people to see the deer out in that green field, and making that field more susceptible to poachers. Blind Spot uses forage sorghum seeds to create this blend. If you plant Blind Spot during the summer months, by the time deer or bow season arrives, the Blind Spot will be 8 - 12 feet tall. You do have to plant the Blind Spot every year, but it’s one of the best ways we know of for the hunter to get to his hunting site and the deer not have an opportunity to see him.
One of the most effective ways to use Blind Spot is if you’re walking into the woods on a logging road and have your blinds set up 20-30 yards off the logging road. You can plant Blind Spot in two rows with about 4-6 feet between them. Then you can go from the logging road you’ve come in on and walk between the two rows of Blind Spot to reach your tree stand or your blind and not be seen.
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.
