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The tradition continues in 2005 |
| October 2nd , 2004 | June 15, 2005 |
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Before we go into our 2005 results, let's evaluate our Long Term History of the Bowsite.com Food Plot
| Year | Overall Result | Commentary |
| 1998 | Good | New planting of Imperial Whitetail, did fairly well despite heavy grazing in summer and fall. No noticeable weed or grass intrusion. |
| 1999 | Excellent | Unbelievable second year results. The plot was as good as it could ever get. Deer really browsed it down in fall but held up well. |
| 2000 | Fair-Poor | Weed and grass growth took over plot. Imperial Clover all but gone. |
| 2001 | Poor | Had to plow under, installed Imperial whitetail again, but the weeds and grass took over quickly. Had to plow under in late summer and installed buck forage oats. Had marginal success with growth. |
| 2002 | No Plot | We decided to spend the entire spring/summer spraying roundup and killing existing vegetation. We planted peas in the fall but the deer over-browsed and killed it. |
| 2003 | Poor | We planted Imperial No-Plow. The Rape came up in abundance, but the deer never touched it during archery season. Our plot was a failure despite a successful growth of rape. |
| 2004 | Good | So far, plot is looking good. Heavy spring rains in the NE along with a new planting are showing positive results. Still some bare spots to overall progress is good. |
Our first check up of 2005 shows great results, no bare spots, very few weeds, and thick - lush growth. We couldn't be happier..
Due to scheduling conflicts and other priorities, the food plot was not visited in April and May as in previous years. We had a good start on the infant planting from last season so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Absolutely nothing was done to the plot between 2004 and June of 2005, not even fertilizing. Needless to say, our first visit was a relief.
June 15 - Spring Checkup
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Last year we installed this small plot. It was entirely made of Imperial Whitetail Clover. The growth was good last year, and excellent this year. |
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I cut the clover down to 10" with a high setting on my brush hog. |
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This view gives some scale to the growth of the Imperial plot. It is very lush everywhere. I decided that fertilization was unnecessary. |
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Here is the big plot from last year. This plot was planted with Tecomate Seed Company's Monster Mix which is a combination of several types of clovers plus Chicory. There were very little weeds, however one particular plant within the mix had grown tall and stalky. Like the small plot, I mowed this to 10" as well. |
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Here's the same plot after mowing was complete. |
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As you can see from the photo, the plot was very healthy with lots of clover and chicory thriving. |
On a scale of 1-10 I'd give the plot a 10. This was on par to our 2nd year plot in 1999 - our best ever.
