By By Mike Giles / outdoors writer
Oct. 4, 2002
After a long hot summer, the big game hunting season is almost here. The opening day of bow season for deer on October 1 signals the beginning of what is traditionally a long and bountiful season. Mississippi is blessed with an abundance of woodlands just teeming with wildlife. The magnificent Whitetail deer is perhaps the most sought after animal in our state. Certainly it has become our most popular hunting sport.
With a successful first dove season behind us, many hunters are thinking of bow hunting and many others are beginning to think about deer hunting with guns, which is by far the most popular form of deer hunting in our state. A lot of wives and mothers probably dread it, but deer season lasts approximately four months in our state, in some form or other.
Most of the outdoorsmen in our area hunt in areas that are made up of mostly pine plantations and cutover areas. This leaves the deer with little or nothing to eat once the cold kills off the natural vegetation. In past years, before most of the virgin hardwood forests disappeared, the deer relied on mast crops to get them through the hard winters. Today that is simply not the case in most areas.
Modern hunters must provide the deer with supplemental crops to help them survive the harsh winters. To most folks this means hard work. Nothing ever comes easy in the outdoors and most clubs or hunters will have to put in a lot of elbow grease before the hunting even begins. In addition to reworking old tree stands and checking them for safety, everyone must pitch in and begin preparing food plots or green fields.
Traditionally a lot of hunters in Mississippi have planted a combination of rye grass, wheat, oats and clover. Some folks plant them separately, while others plant them in combination. But before the planting begins the fields must be bushhogged and the ground broken up. After tilling the soil to a fine consistency, you are ready to plant.
Lately many seed companies have come up with their own mixture of seeds for planting. Mossy Oak headquartered in West Point makes one of the hot products on the market today. In fact they now have several different varieties of game mixes to fit almost anyone's needs. Late last season while hunting in Alabama I observed just how much deer like some of the new ingredients offered by Mossy Oak. Over a three-day span I observed more than 10 bucks feeding in plots.
Kale and Rape are leafy plants that offer the deer a little different type of salad and the deer are crazy about them. Of course they are combined with some of the old standard seed combos. Although most of these companies probably have good products, the jury is still out on many of them. Local seed supply stores even have their own combo mixed up by the seed companies as well. Many times the pre-mixes are cheaper and perform well.
While some area hunters are planting various new mixtures of seeds, others stick with the tried and true plantings that have yielded good results in the past. Most likely different soils or areas of the state are more suited to one variety of seeds than others. This is where a variety of seeds mixed together may have the advantage over just using one type.
I know some people that swear by rye grass only, while others prefer wheat and still others prefer oats. Perhaps just as important as the type or mixture of seeds is the fertilization process. If the soil is not prepared with just the right amount of fertilize and lime, then the planting will be for naught. The green fields may grow tall and look good, but if they don't have the mineral and nutrients to make the grass tender and "sweet," the deer won't bother them.
Probably the best thing for every landowner or club to do would be to take a soil sample and have it tested to find out what the soil needs. Suffice it to say that most food plots in our area probably don't have enough lime if it hasn't been put out in the recent past. Most county extension offices can give you the name of someone that will take your soil sample and either test it or send it off for testing.
At this point it is anybody's guess which products are superior for planting in our area. Most of the time we only learn from trial and error. If anybody has had good results with some of the new mixtures, we would love to hear from them. In the meantime, get those soil samples and head to woods to begin preparation for planting and hunting. Once that succulent venison is on the table, it will all have been worth it.
Contact Mike Giles at mgiles17@msn.com.