By: Jim Voigt
New York
I have heard and I’m sure you have heard the phrase before many times. "Corn is king!" My good friend and hunting partner Taylor Stratton uses this phrase every year, usually during a cold snap in December when he’s headed to his favorite blind overlooking a standing corn plot. Do not overlook corn, the late season attraction of corn is unmatched by any other food plot seed or blend. A late season standing corn plot will draw the deer in. Pretty much any buck you get a picture of during the year, you will have the chance of seeing that buck in daylight feeding in your late season corn plot. Granted the ones your looking at must survive to that point.
The key to this being successful, is to make sure your access is 100% bullet proof. Always play the wind and thermals, make sure you have cover for access and egress, and your set up is quiet as can be. Setting up far enough off the plot really helps with this. This set up should never be considered a bow stand but only used in late gun/muzzleloader. Nor should you shoot does from this stand. Basically stay out until the big boys show up.
Only a very few special properties will have the option to hunt this way, I prefer keeping a long way back from the area deer will enter and leave the corn. Setting up near a road or barrier helps with that and having a small kill plot to snipe the deer out off before entering the corn plot is a must. Another option is to keep the leading edge of the corn plot mowed down and planted with rye and brassicas to catch the deer before entering the corn.
Plant this May for a December to remember.
How I did it.
I am basing this on the fact that you have done a soil test and amended the soil properly.
I have two side by side 1.5 acre fields that I rotate on a yearly basis: corn in one and soybeans in the other. I’m not concerned about creating a doe factory as the summer food (beans) is only 1.5 acres and I have other fall food plots. Both fields are also shootable from my elevated blind, without detection from any deer.
At the end of March or early April I spray in Simazine (this step is not 100% necessary).
Plow down and disk under any time after May 10th. Let the weather tell you when time is right, not the date. Usually May 15th or after. I look for soil temps above 60 degrees. Another good thing to do is watch your local farmers and when they plant, just wait a week and plant yours.
Planting Directions
Spread 100lbs to the acre of AMS, broadcast corn out at a rate of 1.25% of what’s recommended. Disk in very lightly.
When the corn is at the V5 stage or about 10 inches high or so, I apply 2.5 gallons of Plot Dr liquid NRG with 40 gallons of water as not to burn the corn. This is the time I also add a liquid foliar fertilizer.
If weeds are an issue, and I don’t think they will be with Simazine down before planting, you can spray Glyphosate on the plot too. Just do it near or before the V5 stage. After that the corn will not take well to being run over by your 4 wheeler.
Wait. Wait. Wait. The deer will show, and as your neighbors put pressure on their property, your corn plot with lack of pressure will surely pay off.
-Jim Voigt
New York
Jim is an active habitat manager in the state of New York. Jim has been very successful on harvesting large mature deer, in a heavily pressure hunting state.
