Food Plots
The rain was finally on the way and it was time to get the Pennington seed in the ground ahead of Hurricane Isaac. We’re in west-central Illinois with The Firminator this week planting food plots at TMA Prostaff member Ross Fogle’s farm. He’s planting a plethora of Pennington products in large food plots, secluded food plots, and logging roads. Ross is planting his fall plots in a way that puts him a step ahead come spring time. He’s mixing Pennington’s Deer Greens as a cover crop that will feed his deer this fall and winter, but also allow the Durana clover to establish itself this fall while the grazing pressure is on the other plants. Come next spring when the annual plants die off, his food plots will be left with a green mat of well established Durana clover that will continue to feed his deer from the spring months on through to next season. Planting your food plots this way allows you to save time since you’re only working your plots once, but providing food for many months to come.
He is also using Durana in logging roads and creek banks to eliminate soil erosion on hilly ground. This clover is lower growing and thicker than regular ladino clovers. It produces nearly twice as many stolons which leads to more forage that better withstands grazing pressure and poor weather. It will also last longer than typical perennial clovers. Durana has been tested to last at least three times longer. Instead of planting a perennial food plot every 3-5 years, Durana will last much longer if cared for properly.
With the use of The Firminator, he was able to plant small secluded plots in remote areas where large equipment couldn’t maneuver. These areas will be dynamite for deer hunting come rut! The Firminator was able to aggressively work the soil on the first pass and level it off on the second pass creating a firm seed bed that already had adequate moisture and shortly after received more rainfall. Come this fall, Ross will have a mix of annual and perennial food plots that will hopefully lead to a buck on the ground.
