Establishing a new wildlife food plot

Ed plows a new food plot of chufa for turkeys and other wildlife.
Ed plows a new food plot of chufa for turkeys and other wildlife.
DAN GEDDINGS / SPECIAL TO THE SUMTER ITEM
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It would take a lot of work, but I thought it could be done. I was looking at a powerline right of way that cuts through the woods on our local hunting club. There was a patch of shoulder-high sweet gum saplings down the center of the easement, with thick grass and scattered brush down each side. This would be the site of a new food plot.

The powerline cuts through the edge of the big swamp here. The section that I was looking at is on the adjacent high ground. It is oriented roughly east/west and gets plenty of sun. Big timber and the boggy swampland borders the south side, and a new clear-cut borders the north.

The timber operation had just ended, and the turkey season was over now, so my weekends and free time would allow me the opportunity to work on this site. The long, winding road from the highway to the powerline, near the back of the property, was in poor condition but passable.

The first thing that I did was to step off the site to figure the acreage. I determined that the plantable area was roughly 400 feet long and 60 feet wide. That's a little more than half an acre. A good size for a food plot. Smaller plots are often overgrazed, and larger plots can be too much work. I can speak from experience here, as I've been doing food plots for more than 25 years.

Next, I needed to remove all the saplings, brush and grass. I sprayed the saplings with a strong mix of herbicide. The trick is to coat the plants with enough spray to the point that it is dripping off the leaves. Some of the saplings were head high and would be more difficult to kill. I came back later and sprayed some that had survived the first treatment.

After the saplings had died back, I was going to borrow a tractor to bush hog the site but got a call from Ed one day. He asked me to unlock the gate for someone who needed to do some bush hogging on the property for another club member. I did and met Melisa. She agreed to bush hog the powerline for me while she was there. I sprayed the grassy areas a few days after Melisa bush hogged the plot.

A few weeks later, Ed and I spent a day plowing and cleaning up some of the existing food plots on the club, then went to the powerline to plow the new plot. I don't think the ground had ever been plowed, and it took several passes with a heavy disk to break up the terra firma. This is new ground, and chufa will grow best on a site like this. We can try a different crop after a couple of years. The chufa will provide a good food source for turkeys through the winter and early spring. Other critters will also dig up and eat the chufa nuts.

To plant the chufa, I carried a five-gallon bucket along about a third full of the nut-like tubers. More nuts in the bucket would be too heavy to handle comfortably. I walked at a brisk pace and hand sowed the nuts across my front in a sweeping motion. It took multiple buckets of the nuts to cover the entire plot. I started on one side and worked my way down and across the plot. Ed started covering the nuts lightly with the disk behind me.

A hydraulic hose developed a leak on the disk, but we managed to get the plot finished. We had to unhook the disk and leave it at the plot for a while.

I made myself wait about two weeks before I went back to look at the plot. It had rained a couple of times, and I was pretty sure the chufa would be up. I was not disappointed. The powerline plot was green with the grass-like sedge of chufa plants. There were some spotty areas, but overall I think it will make a good stand.

A week later my son Clayton and I went back and hand spread lime and fertilizer on the plot. We pulled a few small weeds, but there were not many. Many deer tracks were punched into the soft earth. There were no turkey tracks in the sandy soil, but that's OK. I know they will come.

Early last Sunday morning I drove in to the plot to take a look. I was very pleased. The plants are thriving, growing in bunches, and will produce many nuts. I turned to walk back to the truck, then looked back. Turkeys were in the powerline. Two hens and a large group of half-grown poults. I smiled and headed on to the truck and home.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.