WEBVTT - Ep. 650: Foundations - The Blessing and  Curse That Is a Kill Plot

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide

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<v Speaker 1>to the fundamentals better dear hunting, present it by First Light,

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<v Speaker 1>creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind.

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<v Speaker 1>First Light, Go farther, stay Longer, and now your host

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<v Speaker 1>Tony Peterson.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, everyone, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast,

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<v Speaker 2>which is brought to you but First Light. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 2>Tony Peterson, and this episode is all about the realities

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<v Speaker 2>of planting a kill plot from clost whitetail owners. Most

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<v Speaker 2>of you listeners probably know the feeling of being young

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<v Speaker 2>and driving a beat up truck or a car, and

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<v Speaker 2>maybe pulling into a gas station to fuel up, and

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<v Speaker 2>then having someone pull in next to you with a

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<v Speaker 2>brand new ride. You look at your rusted out, hand

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<v Speaker 2>me down truck and think, man, it'd be nice to

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<v Speaker 2>have that, because you're not thinking about the payments or

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<v Speaker 2>the maintenance or anything other than just owning it. That

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<v Speaker 2>feeling of jealousy. That's kind of how I felt when

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<v Speaker 2>I started seeing hunting shows where they were hunting over

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<v Speaker 2>food plots. The idea putting in a little field of

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<v Speaker 2>greenery just for the deer. I was crazy and It

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<v Speaker 2>made me super jealous, because, after all, it really looked

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<v Speaker 2>like the answer to a lot of my deer hunting problems.

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<v Speaker 2>Probably does to you too, if you've never planned one.

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<v Speaker 2>The truth is, food plots aren't really a magic bullet.

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<v Speaker 2>They are worth it if you have the ground and

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<v Speaker 2>the means. That's what this episode is all about, And honestly,

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<v Speaker 2>it's really mostly about planning tiny kill plots, not four

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<v Speaker 2>acre beautifully groom destination plots. So even if you will

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<v Speaker 2>never have a two hundred thousand dollars John Deer should

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<v Speaker 2>probably listen up. Anyway. Have you ever watched somebody tie

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<v Speaker 2>a fly? It looks so easy. See them pick up

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<v Speaker 2>a hook, often a ridiculously small hook, but it doesn't

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<v Speaker 2>have to be Now, place the hook in a vice

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<v Speaker 2>so that the hookshank is horizontal, scattered around that vice.

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<v Speaker 2>If they are like me or I don't know, probably

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<v Speaker 2>organized around the vice like surgeon's tools. If you're like Mark,

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<v Speaker 2>you'll see all kinds of interesting tools and bags of

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<v Speaker 2>feathers and thread and tiny scissors, all kinds of highly

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<v Speaker 2>specific things that should help you create something that looks

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<v Speaker 2>like a bug or a minnow or a helgramite or

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<v Speaker 2>something that would probably be found on the menu of

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<v Speaker 2>a trout's favorite restaurant. Now, the first step, it's usually

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<v Speaker 2>just to wind some thread on the hookshank. Maybe that's

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<v Speaker 2>black thread or green or brown thread. Maybe it's a

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<v Speaker 2>full rap all the way down the shank of the hook,

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<v Speaker 2>or a partil wrap just near the islet with slow

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<v Speaker 2>rotations of the tool. You know, that holds the thread

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<v Speaker 2>in place and allows the fly tire to keep things

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<v Speaker 2>nice and tight. You know, it looks pretty simple so far,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. Then they might pinch off some fuzzyal and

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<v Speaker 2>work it onto the thread. This dubbing then gets wrapped

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<v Speaker 2>around the shank to produce what would essentially be like

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<v Speaker 2>the insect's body. After that, the fun begins. Maybe it

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<v Speaker 2>involves carefully measuring out a pinch of elk or deer hair,

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<v Speaker 2>the kind of hair that is naturally buoyant because it's

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<v Speaker 2>hollow and also happens to allow a dry fly to float.

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<v Speaker 2>This hair, it'll get held along the dubbing and wrapped

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<v Speaker 2>over and over with a thread. Once that's finished, that

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<v Speaker 2>little patch of hair is secured on top of the dubbing,

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<v Speaker 2>the miniature scissors come out. You do your best great

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<v Speaker 2>clips impression and snip the hair off evenly. Now the

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<v Speaker 2>fly has a body, you know, a main body, and

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<v Speaker 2>what looks like some kind of wings, probably if you

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<v Speaker 2>have an iq of one and are looking up through

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<v Speaker 2>the water column of a fast moving stream at it. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>Then after that comes the hackle, you know, the dried skin,

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<v Speaker 2>complete with the feathers of a wildly colored chicken or

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<v Speaker 2>maybe a rooster pheasant in the hundreds and hundreds of

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<v Speaker 2>feathers on any small patch of that. You'll pluck out

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<v Speaker 2>a perfectly sized option for just this size of fly

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<v Speaker 2>and rub away some of the feathers, those fuzzy little

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<v Speaker 2>feathers at the stem of the individual feather, and then

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<v Speaker 2>hold it to the body of the fly near the head.

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<v Speaker 2>A few thread wraps later, and you can grab another

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<v Speaker 2>specialized tool that looks kind of like, I don't know,

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<v Speaker 2>like a tiny pair of tongs you'd create if you

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<v Speaker 2>were a veterinarian and had to help like a hamster

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<v Speaker 2>sized critter give birth like a particularly difficult berth, by

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<v Speaker 2>getting a hold of the youngster during the process and

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<v Speaker 2>yanking it out. I know that's a weird visual, but

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<v Speaker 2>bear with me. Here with that baby hamster pulling tool.

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<v Speaker 2>You'd spin that feather around the fly and watch as

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<v Speaker 2>it separates wrap by wrap to make it look like

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<v Speaker 2>it has been hit with a heavy dose of static electricity.

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<v Speaker 2>If the deer hair kind of looks like folded wings,

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<v Speaker 2>this hackle, when done right, must look like the outstretch twings,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe the legs a little bit too of a small

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<v Speaker 2>flying insect. A few more wraps with a thread, and

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<v Speaker 2>maybe a tiny doll up of glue, and then a

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<v Speaker 2>few specialized knots to keep the whole thing from unwinding,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's done. You have a cats fly, easy peasy

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<v Speaker 2>lemon squeeze. You think, since, well, it looks so easy

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<v Speaker 2>from the casual observer's perspective, but in reality, it takes

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of practice and going through a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>really shitty flies to get to that point. You know

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<v Speaker 2>what else is a hell of a lot harder to

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<v Speaker 2>do than it looks. Golf, probably, but also creating a

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<v Speaker 2>decent kill plot that will actually grow and produce something

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<v Speaker 2>the deer will consistently eat. You know how I know

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<v Speaker 2>this because I was not put on earth to grow stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think anyone in my family was. To be honest,

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<v Speaker 2>we can barely keep the heartiest of plants alive and

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<v Speaker 2>have been known to kill a few cacti in my day,

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<v Speaker 2>which brings up the Dimitri Martin joke about being less

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<v Speaker 2>nurturing than a desert. Well, that's what we are. But

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<v Speaker 2>I have messed around with food plots quite a bit,

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<v Speaker 2>and I know a few things about making kill plots,

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<v Speaker 2>mostly from the things I've done wrong. It has been

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<v Speaker 2>a slow process, but I have managed to get some

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<v Speaker 2>clover to grow and some moats. My little girls have

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<v Speaker 2>managed to shoot a few deer in these plots, which

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<v Speaker 2>is pretty satisfying. The process really is pretty simple, like

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<v Speaker 2>tying flies, but there's a lot of nuance to it.

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<v Speaker 2>And the best thing you can do before clearing ground

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<v Speaker 2>and starting the process, as long as you have a

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<v Speaker 2>place to do it, is to ask yourself if you

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<v Speaker 2>really need a kill plot. If you hunt around tons

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<v Speaker 2>of agfields in Iowa or Illinois or somewhere, it might

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<v Speaker 2>be a hell of a lot of squeeze for very

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<v Speaker 2>little practical juice. That's not to say it isn't worth

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<v Speaker 2>it still, because there's more to planning and maintaining a

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<v Speaker 2>food plot than just killing deer in it, but it's

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<v Speaker 2>worth thinking about now. If you're in the northern Wisconsin woods,

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<v Speaker 2>or maybe the mountains of Pennsylvania or some other region

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<v Speaker 2>that is heavy on timber but light on destination food sources,

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<v Speaker 2>a kill plot might be one hell of a good idea.

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<v Speaker 2>Giving the deer something they don't have easy access to

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<v Speaker 2>is kind of a no brainer, like putting a pond

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<v Speaker 2>in where water sources are scarce, or hinge cutting the

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<v Speaker 2>crap out of some trees in an area where food

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<v Speaker 2>is plentiful but betting cover is rare. The thing is,

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<v Speaker 2>no matter where you might want to put a food

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<v Speaker 2>plot in, you'll want to get your soil tested.

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<v Speaker 1>First.

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<v Speaker 2>I thought this was stupid, and I told a good

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<v Speaker 2>buddy of mine just that when we bought a small

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<v Speaker 2>property together in twenty thirteen. The soil, I said, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>it looks as black as the soil in southeastern Minnesota

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<v Speaker 2>where the crop yields are real high, and so I

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<v Speaker 2>figured we didn't need to test it. My buddy, who

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<v Speaker 2>can fix anything and that makes me really jealous, said

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<v Speaker 2>you can't tell anything by looking at soil. He was right,

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<v Speaker 2>of course. It's kind of like a different friend of

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<v Speaker 2>mine telling me very recently that the Golden Retriever puppy

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<v Speaker 2>he ordered has a dad that looks like a dog

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<v Speaker 2>he owned twenty years ago, and since that dog was

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<v Speaker 2>a good pheasant hunter, some crazy esthetic transcendent properties will

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<v Speaker 2>come into play and the new puppies should be a

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<v Speaker 2>rooster flushing machine. That's not really how it works, unfortunately. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>get your soil tested. Follow the instructions so you do

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<v Speaker 2>it right. You want to know the pH a your soil.

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<v Speaker 2>You know what the soil consists of for organic matter.

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<v Speaker 2>You want to know what the fertilizer recommendations are from

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<v Speaker 2>the pros. This is like the instruction booklet sort of

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<v Speaker 2>for how to build a little deer buffet. Starts with

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<v Speaker 2>the soil. Y'all also want to eyeball your plot just

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<v Speaker 2>to see how much sunlight it'll get. Sun is real

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<v Speaker 2>important to plants since it delivers tiny little packets of

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<v Speaker 2>energy called photons. Plants need these. And while you might

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<v Speaker 2>think about putting a kill plot in on a logging

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<v Speaker 2>road in the timber and then just using some kind

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<v Speaker 2>of shady seed mix, that's a tough one in my experience.

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<v Speaker 2>Without a decent amount of sunlight throughout the first months

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<v Speaker 2>of the growing season, just going to be in trouble

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<v Speaker 2>quite a bit. I mean, I find myself cutting down

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<v Speaker 2>shrubs and trees around my kill plots every spring in

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<v Speaker 2>the interest of keeping the sunlight in and the shade out.

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<v Speaker 2>I also find myself fighting weeds a lot, and you

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<v Speaker 2>will too if you march into the woods and start

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<v Speaker 2>clearing out an eighth of an acre to plant some

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<v Speaker 2>clover or something. The soil just about anywhere, but especially

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<v Speaker 2>in the woods is going to be ripe with seeds

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<v Speaker 2>of all kinds. It's just waiting for the canopy to

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<v Speaker 2>open up and so it can sprout all kinds of

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<v Speaker 2>undesirable grasses and weeds and other plants. This is a

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<v Speaker 2>lesson just about every food plot first time or learns.

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<v Speaker 2>How you deal with this is up to you. I

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<v Speaker 2>once wrote an article for Outdoor News about spraying a

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<v Speaker 2>small food plot with roundup to kill it off, and

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<v Speaker 2>you'd have sworn. I advocated drowning Labrador Retriever puppies just

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<v Speaker 2>for fun, while simultaneously kicking toddlers in the face with

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<v Speaker 2>steel toed boots, also for fun. I guess the people

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<v Speaker 2>who got super mad at me conveniently ignored the widespread

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<v Speaker 2>use of the herbicide and many others by people working

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<v Speaker 2>thousands of acres of land and producing the food that

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<v Speaker 2>the world eats. Kind Of like how anti hunters focus

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<v Speaker 2>on us being just horrible people because of what we

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<v Speaker 2>do to animals, but not really focusing on the general

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<v Speaker 2>public and their appetite for m pigs and cows and

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<v Speaker 2>chickens and stuff. And you know the factory farming that

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<v Speaker 2>goes along with feeding a population of billions and all

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<v Speaker 2>the bad stuff there. Any huski, maybe you have to

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<v Speaker 2>clear out and till up your spot and then spray

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<v Speaker 2>it or burn it or do something cast a curse

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<v Speaker 2>on it. I don't know, Harry Potter. That shit the weeds,

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<v Speaker 2>they're going to be an issue every year. This is

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<v Speaker 2>especially true if you're making an elbow grease food plot

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<v Speaker 2>and don't have any real equipment besides what amounts to

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<v Speaker 2>sweat equity and manual labors. First timers opt for a

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<v Speaker 2>seed blend to start with as well, figuring that if

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know, we like a variety in our diet,

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<v Speaker 2>why not the deer? Also? Why not give all kinds

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<v Speaker 2>of edible plants the chance to grow instead of one

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<v Speaker 2>type that might be susceptible to drought or too much

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<v Speaker 2>rain or whatever. Listen. Results vary, of course, but my

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<v Speaker 2>experience in this realm is that my seed blend plots

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<v Speaker 2>become an awful lot like weed blend plots. That's a

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<v Speaker 2>dad joke for you guys. I find it's easier to

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<v Speaker 2>pick something that should grow in my world and should

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<v Speaker 2>be appealing to deer almost the entire season. That rules

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<v Speaker 2>out the blends, but also some of the stuff like

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<v Speaker 2>brassicas and other food plot plants that might be more

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<v Speaker 2>beneficial as the season gets later and later and later. Personally,

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<v Speaker 2>I want something the deer will eat in September, October,

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<v Speaker 2>and at least early November. That's just me, though you

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<v Speaker 2>do yours according to what your hunting strategies are and

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<v Speaker 2>where you live and what your soil's like. Now. I

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<v Speaker 2>also like planning perennials, which means it's going to come

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<v Speaker 2>back year after a year without receding. This leads me

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<v Speaker 2>right back to clover typically because the deer love it.

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<v Speaker 2>It's pretty hardy, and a good planning will last me

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<v Speaker 2>up to about five years. Because even my clover plots

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<v Speaker 2>are so, so I will also throw in a handful

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<v Speaker 2>of oats, usually in August. Oats will damn near grow

0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.280
<v Speaker 2>on pavement if they get a little rain, so this

0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:28.960
<v Speaker 2>is like an insurance policy in case my clover sucks. Plus,

0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.600
<v Speaker 2>where I have kill plots, good deer food is pretty

0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:36.480
<v Speaker 2>hard to come by, so even oats, especially fresh oats

0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:40.200
<v Speaker 2>that haven't headed out yet, pretty attractive. This is sort

0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:42.840
<v Speaker 2>of my go to from year to year. Now I

0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:44.800
<v Speaker 2>do spend quite a bit of time eat spring, hauling

0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.960
<v Speaker 2>in bags of lime and sometimes fertilizer. It's like my

0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.080
<v Speaker 2>soil is always in need of a pH boost that

0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.480
<v Speaker 2>line provides, and it's always in need of the extra

0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:57.400
<v Speaker 2>juicy juice that fertilizer provides. I've learned all of this

0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.319
<v Speaker 2>through trial and error. In the places where I can

0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.640
<v Speaker 2>mess with a plot, you're gonna have to find your

0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.640
<v Speaker 2>own way. But if I could offer up general advice,

0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.280
<v Speaker 2>it would be to stick to the instructions and keep

0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.880
<v Speaker 2>things simple. The simpler you go, the easier it is

0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:15.880
<v Speaker 2>to figure out your problems and remedy them. I'd also

0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:21.520
<v Speaker 2>advise this keep your expectations in check. My absolute favorite

0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.080
<v Speaker 2>part about putting in kill plots is putting in kill plots.

0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:27.360
<v Speaker 2>It's fun to get your hands dirty and clear out

0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.760
<v Speaker 2>a little spot for the deer. It's fun to watch

0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.600
<v Speaker 2>the forecast and cross your fingers and realize that you

0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:34.840
<v Speaker 2>have a bet a deer munchi's growing out there that

0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.960
<v Speaker 2>you did yourself. What's not fun, at least for me personally,

0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.680
<v Speaker 2>is hunting over a plot. I don't know why, and

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.079
<v Speaker 2>it's not to say I don't, because sometimes I do.

0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:48.560
<v Speaker 2>But I get far far more enjoyment out of work

0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.000
<v Speaker 2>in the land, getting something to grow, and then going

0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.600
<v Speaker 2>to hunt somewhere else. I do, as I mentioned earlier,

0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.719
<v Speaker 2>love taking my daughters out to a kill plot when

0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:59.719
<v Speaker 2>I know at least a few year have been using

0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.640
<v Speaker 2>it somewhat consistently. And I do love to see the

0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.400
<v Speaker 2>grouse and the bunnies show up too, and occasionally bears.

0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.199
<v Speaker 2>Black bears eat a lot of different stuff, being the

0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.760
<v Speaker 2>not too picky omnivores they are, but I also know

0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.160
<v Speaker 2>that they love eating fresh oats and absolutely destroying the

0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.520
<v Speaker 2>raspberries that sometimes grow around my plots. I think that's

0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.720
<v Speaker 2>pretty cool, although I can't really articulate why. Another thing

0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.280
<v Speaker 2>that you'll learn to love about food plots is that

0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:27.800
<v Speaker 2>if you want to keep them going, you gotta do

0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.840
<v Speaker 2>the work. A lot of white tail hunting isn't really

0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:32.960
<v Speaker 2>that much work these days, which is one of the

0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.800
<v Speaker 2>reasons we love trail cameras. They just do so much

0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.200
<v Speaker 2>of the heavy lifting for us now, unless you pay

0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.400
<v Speaker 2>someone else to put your plots in, which if you

0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.520
<v Speaker 2>do that, you're not really worried about a small kill

0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.440
<v Speaker 2>plot in the woods. Anyway. You're just gonna have to

0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.200
<v Speaker 2>do some work from year to year. There will be

0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:51.600
<v Speaker 2>brush to clear in the winter, soil to work in

0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:56.480
<v Speaker 2>the spring, maintenance like mowing throughout the season, and probably

0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:00.120
<v Speaker 2>if you're like me, you'll just find yourself piss sing

0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.800
<v Speaker 2>off some yellow jacket and nests in the process. Because

0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.440
<v Speaker 2>of those feisty som bitches seem to love food plots,

0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.480
<v Speaker 2>and it gives me super great satisfaction to find a

0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.440
<v Speaker 2>nest of them that has recently been dug up by

0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:17.080
<v Speaker 2>a bear. Take that, you stingy pricks. So is a

0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:19.320
<v Speaker 2>little kill plot the answer to your deer hunting woes.

0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.960
<v Speaker 2>Probably not, but it's another part of the process to love,

0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:24.960
<v Speaker 2>and it just might keep a dough group or two

0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.800
<v Speaker 2>around one of your favorite stand sites, or maybe you're

0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.760
<v Speaker 2>into it just for your first buck, and that little

0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.040
<v Speaker 2>six pointer who kind of got booted out of his

0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.400
<v Speaker 2>home range and he's looking for someplace new decides to

0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.320
<v Speaker 2>set up shop in your clover. Maybe that's good enough

0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:39.520
<v Speaker 2>and you're gonna be able to go in there and

0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.680
<v Speaker 2>shoot him, Or those dough groups that swing through for

0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:44.720
<v Speaker 2>a mouth full of clover happen to decide that your

0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:46.200
<v Speaker 2>kill plot is going to be a part of their

0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.080
<v Speaker 2>day to day life, and on one of those days,

0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.640
<v Speaker 2>maybe about the first week of November, one of the

0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.520
<v Speaker 2>big boys in the neighborhood will follow them into the

0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:57.320
<v Speaker 2>plot while you're sitting over it. Or maybe maybe you

0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.080
<v Speaker 2>know someone who's never killed a deer and they'd be

0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.800
<v Speaker 2>tickled pink to arrow dough and you could facilitate that

0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.000
<v Speaker 2>right quick with your little clover plot. Or perhaps you

0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.120
<v Speaker 2>have twin girls who want to contribute to the family

0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.840
<v Speaker 2>dowry of venison, and so they hunt hungry in a

0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:11.720
<v Speaker 2>spot where a few doughs and a few spikes and

0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:13.720
<v Speaker 2>forki's are likely to show up at some point in

0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.200
<v Speaker 2>the season, and then when they do, you see one

0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:19.520
<v Speaker 2>hell of a benefit to work in the soil and

0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:23.920
<v Speaker 2>sweating your ass off and dodging some bees. Now, listen,

0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.680
<v Speaker 2>I know some people who are going to hear this,

0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.120
<v Speaker 2>and they're going to say food plots or bait plots,

0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.600
<v Speaker 2>and that's essentially cheating to them. I say, I don't

0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:36.640
<v Speaker 2>care you do you and you hunt natural travel roads exclusively,

0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.160
<v Speaker 2>that's what blows the wind up your skirt. A lot

0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.400
<v Speaker 2>of hunters aren't like that, And honestly, when almost any

0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.120
<v Speaker 2>hunter has the chance to put in a kill plot,

0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.360
<v Speaker 2>they usually do. A lot of them fail, which is

0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.080
<v Speaker 2>not a story you hear out of the hunting industry

0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.760
<v Speaker 2>very often, but it's true. It's not as easy as

0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:53.360
<v Speaker 2>it looks to take a patch of woods or a

0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.640
<v Speaker 2>natural meadow and transform it into a lush, beautiful spot

0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.840
<v Speaker 2>full of the kind of calories that deer just can't ignore.

0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:01.800
<v Speaker 2>But it is fun. So get out there if you

0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:03.840
<v Speaker 2>can and start thinking about how to babysit the soil

0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.720
<v Speaker 2>a little bit to get something beneficial to grow. And

0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.160
<v Speaker 2>tune in next week because it is the one hundredth

0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.080
<v Speaker 2>episode of Foundations, and just for the hell of it,

0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:13.960
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to tell you some deer hunting stories that

0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.080
<v Speaker 2>might make you laugh, might make you ponder your own success,

0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.520
<v Speaker 2>and will probably make you question how the hell I

0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.679
<v Speaker 2>ever killed a single deer with my bowe in my life.

0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.479
<v Speaker 2>That's it for this week, my friends, thank you so

0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:28.879
<v Speaker 2>much for tuning in. I'm Tony Peterson. This has been

0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.639
<v Speaker 2>the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, which is brought to

0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:35.679
<v Speaker 2>you by First Light. If you want more deer hunting advice,

0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 2>you want to read up a little bit more on

0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.600
<v Speaker 2>on how to hunt hunting strategy, styles, tactics, whatever gear,

0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.280
<v Speaker 2>go on over to the medieater dot com slash wired again,

0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.280
<v Speaker 2>that's the medieater dot com slash wired, and you'll see

0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:51.400
<v Speaker 2>a pile of hunting articles there, written by a whole

0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:58.000
<v Speaker 2>bunch of different hunting experts.