How Many Food Plot Acres Do You Need? | Dream Farm w/ Bill Winke

[@brianrobinson7972]

Thanks, you are getting me all fired up for next season !!

[@bill-winke]

I am starting to think about it too. Thanks for the support and for the comment.

[@rfcorreiaiv]

Thank you for putting this all into perspective

[@bill-winke]

Thanks for the support and the comment Ralph. Have a great day.

[@Jay-hu1pc]

Your down to earth and your videos just make sense. Thanks bill for producing these videos and really like the habitat improvements.

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Jay. I appreciate it. I enjoy the habitat work as much as the hunting now.

[@ericbowhunter]

Very good advice Bill.

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Eric. Much appreciated. Have a great day.

[@jimreed3904]

Thanks for getting off the fence in indicating the 5-10% rule in food plot area... a lot of consultants simply say "it depends" which I have no problem with but your info at least gives us a start point... Great content again.. keep them coming..

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Jim. I appreciate it. Hope you have a great day.

[@mitchellgenz1373]

Great video Bill, appreciate all the advice.

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Mitchell. I appreciate it.

[@madisonraber6051]

Been waiting for someone to answer this question!!👌👌

[@bill-winke]

I hope it was clear enough. Lots of variables. If you have a specific case I can possibly answer it in more detail for your situation.

[@butleroutdoors2188]

Big woods environment is always a challenge. My entire property is wooded, and I have been able to convert about 2% into food plots, by creating several smaller plots. Seed selection gets super crucial in situations like these, choosing browse tolerant varieties is a must.

[@bill-winke]

Agreed. That is the toughest for planting food plots and pretty much the toughest for hunting strategy too. I do think the thing that helps both those challenges is small interior plots that you build in the woods. Those are the most productive places to hunt, for sure, in that kind of country - morning or evening. Good luck.

[@butleroutdoors2188]

@@bill-winke I have had great success with those small “poor man” plots. I keep the center +/-60% of my property as a sanctuary with the food plots towards the outside perimeter. It makes for low impact hunting, and solid daylight movement.

[@mikegobble7412]

If land is available 15 thousand seeds per acre of corn no tilled planted left standing will also provide thermal cover. The more planted the better.

[@bill-winke]

Corn is just very expensive to plant because of the nitrogen cost. If you don't fertilize it correctly you can get nothing and to do it well is very pricey. When corn was $1.90 per bushel back in the mid 90s, the inputs were also cheap and it wasn't too bad planting lots of it for food plots. Now, you have to watch every acre. Good input. Have a great day.

[@TravisLillyOutdoors]

Great video as always. I think an important point is that your food plots can draw in deer from a great distance even in big ag country. Modern farm equipment is so efficient at harvesting crops these days that there is often little left for the deer after harvest. I have a 3/4 acre food plot that will draw in unknown deer throughout the late season even though I am surrounded by 1,000's of acres of crop ground. Thanks again for the great content!

[@bill-winke]

Very good point. I am shocked by how quickly deer can eat all the waste grain in a field harvested by modern equipment. It can be as little as a week.

[@Jimboner08]

We have the exact issue on our 3k acre farm in upstate NY. I started leaving 5 acres of corn and I end up with half the towns deer sheds every year.

[@TravisLillyOutdoors]

@@Jimboner08 The biggest draw we see is when a tree limb or some other issue doesn't allow the farmer to run the combine in a certain spot. That is where ALL of the deer will be.

[@robertfmccarthy2360]

Good info

[@bill-winke]

Thanks Robert. I appreciate the support and the comment.

[@kurtpearson2793]

First- also thanks for the great videos 👍!

[@bill-winke]

You are welcome, Kurt. Thanks for watching.

[@davidfleer5307]

I agree with having food available in late winter. I don’t remember for sure about 5-8 years ago when we had ice with very cold February I got a lot of pictures of deer, coyotes, and foxes digging up my tubular’s

[@bill-winke]

Yes. Late winter is a primary stress period. Believe it or not, things don't improve just because the snow melts. The true relief doesn't come until it starts greening up.

[@ryanweaver3615]

On a 1 acre foodplot how many deer will it support.? I’m Guessing it’s different from up north than down here in the Deep South where the plots grow all through the winter.

[@bill-winke]

I always figured roughly 7 deer per acre, but like you say, it can be different in different areas and different depending on what you plant. Something I should try to pin down with an off-season episode. Good luck.

[@williamaltman3860]

If you’re in a heavily wooded environment with little to no open ground you have to put more focus into tsi and creating natural browse and forage. This is our reality in the northeast. Rocky and heavily wooded land makes tillable acreage limited but with good tsi you can be creating up to thousands of pounds per acre of forage in the woods on ground previously providing little to no food.

[@bill-winke]

Yes. Very good point. Thanks for pointing that out. I do think it is priority number one to create excellent browse in any area, not just the big woods. I need to do a video on why that is so important: more forage, more security, hunts bigger since deer can't see you as far and -in my experience- thick cover can carry a higher density of mature bucks.

[@williamaltman3860]

@@bill-winke ya it’s beneficial everywhere for sure but especially important and massively overlooked in densely wooded areas. People think all woods are created equal when some stands provide nearly nothing.

[@artbrennhofer8283]

Hi Bill, I have 40 acres with 1.5 acres of food plots in 4 different plots. There is agricultural all around me but I don't see any food plots to feed the deer once the crops are harvested. I have roughly 8-10 deer around me on a daily basis and have had as many as 20 at one time, unfortunately my food plots are under 2 feet of snow with a few layers of ice mixed in so they aren't able to get to the food. I plan to add another quarter to half an acre this year. With my land being mostly low land, holds water into the late spring early summer, I am about tapped out on being able to get more food plots. Hopefully that will be enough with the natural browse around the rest of the land. I don't plant any summer food only for the fall and winter, usually brassicas, because the deer seem to have enough to eat with all the ag land around. In the summer I am lucky to have 5 deer on my land in the summer, but as fall comes I start to get more on camera, usually young bucks first then some does. Thanks for the video

[@bill-winke]

Art, that does sound like a good plan given your property and opportunities. The low land is not a big deal in the summer when it likely mostly dried out, so the brassicas are a natural choice. I would consider burning the timber and doing TSI to stimulate even more browse and make the property hunt even bigger. If the deer can't see you coming and going, they will move naturally longer and the farm will stay productive longer into each season. Good luck.

[@travissmith-wz5nc]

Good advice. In my area seems like when ag browns down they move in and eat everything. 6 acres on 40 acres really not enough

[@bill-winke]

Yes, that is when the plots get hammered. Winter is even worse in my area. In the summer the deer are spread out but when the fall comes and the food options start to diminish, it can be tough to keep up with them. Especially if you are pulling from a long ways. Good luck.

[@alexpinnow6509]

Great video Bill, it sounds like too much food is never really a concern (to a point). My plots are never bare but I am still looking to add in a larger plot to increase attraction in the late season thru shed drop to hopefully increase some opportunities

[@bill-winke]

Food is king, for sure. I used to have food left over in the spring in grain but that was back when I was planting 20 acres on a 125 acre property. It is really tough to plant too much corn or beans, in most cases.

[@alexpinnow6509]

@@bill-winke very true, appreciate the insight from your past experience! Hope to really get a leg up in the late season!

[@RushOutdoors]

Great info Bill do you feel the numbers are the same with small parcels 70 acers or less?

[@alexpinnow6509]

I think in smaller parcels it depends more on what neighbors do. I have ag fields that are either in alfalfa or double cropped to winter wheat so that is hundreds of acres of available food. My sub 2 acres of plots is never empty but they sure get hammered because of habitat work that I've done to promote the use

[@bill-winke]

I think your percentage should go way up with small properties. Depending on the neighborhood, but you could easily plant 20% or more on a small property and still run out.

[@RushOutdoors]

@@bill-winke That is what I have noticed also on my place here in SW Wisconsin. Thanks Bill.

[@ajkelley20]

Great video. I have 300 acres in Arkansas. Is it better to have the foodplots high in the hilltops or low between the hills?

[@bill-winke]

I Iike both, but you have to go with where they will grow the best. If it is usually dry there in the summer the bottoms will definitely be better. However, it can often be more productive to hunt the tops (if you can get it to grow) because those plots are closer to the bedding areas and usually have a more consistent wind that doesn't swirl. That's why I like both: bottoms because they generally produce better and tops because they offer better hunting when they do grow.

[@ajkelley20]

@@bill-winke Thanks for the reply.

[@briditt2812]

How's the cedars project going? Did you put a dent in it? Can't wait to see the new habitat there in a few years. Thanks again for all the info.

[@bill-winke]

I got busy making trips for the consulting business. I did get another good day cutting, but my time has been limited, unfortunately. I will hit it hard in April when I am there planting. I don't have any trips planned for April so I should be able to get a lot of work done at the farm. Have a great day.

[@stevedenoyer5956]

So when your property gets covered in snow January though march, how would one know if it was the lack of food that the deer left? They tend to not want to dig for their food in my area. So if the deer leave, then maybe my woody browse is lacking too? Kind of my thoughts that woody browse is a big part of their diet so you need both.

[@bill-winke]

Steve, you definitely need both. When your timber has lots of browse, that is when your deer will be their healthiest. I like planting grains (corn and beans) for the majority of my winter food because the deer don't have to dig into the snow for it. I agree though, when the snow gets crusty the deer have to exert a lot of calories just to get through it to the ground.

[@shaewright2123]

So I’m in PA and good land in good areas here is somehow going around 4K an acre. Found what seems to be some decent pieces in Kentucky and good sizes of land for half that or less and can’t believe it😅

[@bill-winke]

Time to start buying there. Good luck.

[@shaewright2123]

@@bill-winke hoping to later this year early next year! 26 and been paying down school loans as much as possible save the max amount possible for down payment.