Show Notes
If you talk with 5 different food plotters, you'll likely hear 5 different recommendations for seed blends. Like the truck we drive or the bow we shoot, many are just as passionate about their food plots. It can be extremely difficult to determine what seed blend fits your hunting property and scenario, when 5 different experts may disagree with each other. The reality is, there are so many variables to consider when choosing a food plot that it's rarely ever "wrong".
On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, we talk with Mike Lindahl from Domain Outdoors. If you visit Domain's website, you'll notice an abnormal amount of different seed blends. Each blend is designed for a slightly different purpose and scenario. Mike shares his knowledge from getting started developing seed blends, choosing plant varieties that are favored throughout the whitetail's range, and then customizing for different property goals and objectives. Mike shares 3 different property scenarios he is working with and how the food plots look slightly different from farm to farm. Each plan is designed to cater towards Mike's hunting goals and the property's hunting strengths and/or weaknesses. One thing Mike emphasizes is that it's perfectly adequate to tinker with a variety of blends on one farm in order to learn and fine tune for future hunting seasons. If you're planning your food plots for 2023 currently, don't finalize before you listen to this episode!
Show Transcript
[00:00:00] Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman Podcast. Guys. I'm your host, Mitchell Shirk, and we are so close to spring. I can almost taste it, but I'm still seeing the twenties at nighttime. I still got the wood stove cranking to try to keep my house warm, but we're getting closer.
I know working with the farmers that I work with in my daily rounds, a lot of guys are getting anxious too. Start doing some field work. We've got combining weed out in the field and we typically like to do couple of couple of management practices on that. We'll manage weed pressures in that and we'll also dress with nitrogen fertilizer pretty, Pretty much this time of year.
Some guys have already started. I think it's a little bit on the earlier side just because soil conditions are still not [00:01:00] favoring the crop breaking dormancy. We're still that, but we're close, some parts of the state. We definitely have have reached that and it's favoring favoring spring conditions and, we can we can make a fertilizer application, but still still just in the waiting game, I guess you'd say for full on spring.
But I am still in food plot mode. I am thinking food plots. I am strategizing game planning. I was. I finally had the ability to go behind my house and do a little bit of work. I finally made a little bit of time last weekend and I bought a couple of screening trees. So I've been playing the screening game, testing and tinkering with what's gonna work behind my house for the screening in my wood lot, in my small food plot.
And I have a couple rows of miss campus grass. And the first year when I planted it, some of the rows took off really well and others just didn't . And I'm not [00:02:00] quite sure what happened. I think it was Couple of dry soil conditions. It could have been, some of the rhizomes weren't weren't good anymore.
I'm not sure what the problem was. But regardless, I ended up having to replant it a second year. So I've got some some miscanthus grass that stands really tall and it's in its third year, I believe, and some of it that's only in its second. And y it's varying stages of life. I also have a little bit of switch grass planted, and due to my lack of oh, planning or lack of prioritizing keeping it clean, I, I ended up getting some grass weeds in it, so I ended up getting some weed Competition.
Didn't quite get as tall as it should have been, and it also got a little patchy at some places and didn't fill in. So I'm trying to, I'm trying to fill in this barrier between, yard and woodlot. And it [00:03:00] just came to the conclusion like, why am I trying to do so I know this screen needs to be here.
I believe the screen needs to be here. So I ended up buying I got a really good deal on some trees that I'm thinking in, the amount of time it's taken me to have these screens that are not fully functioning the way I want them, I probably could have had the same result or better planting trees that are gonna get a little bit taller, which I do need a taller screen, and a little bit more permanent screen.
I'm looking at it as layers. I think it's a. a good thing. It's gonna be a good thing long term and I got a lot more work to do. I've been neglecting my place a lot for a couple reasons. Number one, life gets in the way. Number two 2020, I was all about working on my place cuz I knew there was one specific year I wanted to target and do as much as I possibly could.
And I had motivation there and I haven't had that same motivation back here. Not until last year. I did have one deer, I got a series of pictures of, and I don't even know if he's [00:04:00] alive yet, but it was just enough to make me think, you know what I need to re reevaluate my my wood lot and. I got a lot of work to do.
I got some trees to clean up. I'd like to redo some travel corridors, and I have some plans of things I'd like to do to just connect it, make it flow better. I'd like to change the shape and angle of the food plot there. There's just a number of things and I hope I can get a lot of this done or some of it done before spring green up.
But that's all in the works. And again the food plot, I have ideas of what I want to do and I always like to pick other people's brains and other people's experiences on that. And this week's episode we're sticking with food plots this week, guys. And. , we're talking with Mike Lyndall of Domain Outdoors, and Mike is gonna talk about domain products a little bit.
He's gonna talk more though about designing a food plot prescription [00:05:00] that fits different types of scenarios, different types of properties, hunting pressures, deer populations, things like that. And just catering it to his experiences, his acknowledge. And he's using some examples of the own, of the properties that he hunts and has part in managing.
And it's a great episode that we go into a lot of hunting strategy with these food plot setups. These. Size of plots, location access, things like that. And then cater it to hunting goals and objectives and, just how properties are different. That's one thing that's probably overlooked a lot.
A lot of times we get these cookie cutter ideas of how a food plot has to be, and if it's outside of that box, it doesn't work. And, we all know that whitetails, there's an extreme diversity of habitat and wild area out there. And deer. There's, it's such a wide range of things or scenarios that could [00:06:00] possibly go on that could impact food plots and food availability and palatability and all that stuff, and how food plots get used.
I'm rambling now, but I real, I'm thinking in my head like there's no one size fits all when it comes to food plots and constantly tinkering to figure out what works in your specific situation is really important. That's one thing that Mike does a good job of talking about. And guys, this is an exciting conversation.
If it fuels me up, gets me thinking hunting strategy, which that's why I like food plots cuz it's all part of that. And I really think you're gonna enjoy this conversation with Mike as well. So let's get right to it guys.
Honestly it's impossible, but I appreciate it. . Hey, we're we're rolling here and I got another guest with me another food plot guru. We've been on this food plot kick here recently, and there's a good reason for that. And that's because number one, as you guys know, I'm a food plot.
None if there ever was one. But this [00:07:00] is as good of a food plot planning time as any, we're leading into the growing season and tonight with me, I'm speaking with Mike Lyndall from Domain Outdoors. Mike, thank you for taking the time to to chat with us on all things food plots. Thanks for having me, man.
It's I share the same passion you do. So I enjoy having conversations like this. It allows, it gives me a chance to continue to learn which in this category, you better have an appetite for learning because you're gonna learn something new every day when it comes to planning and planting, and deer and mother nature and weather, and soil.
So I'm excited. Learn from you as well today. You never stop learning like this. There's people you know, I don't know who you think of when you think of like the professionals, the experts, the people you look to from the food plot world, the industry, whatever you want to call it.
One person in my life that I've really, molded off of and learn from and watched over the years would be Dr. Grant Woods [00:08:00] from Growing Deer. Sure. Yep. And you know what's amazing is if you watch his videos from when he first started to how he's developed his food plot program, now it's completely different.
And he shares those learning experiences. You're always learning and it's no different from, those. People who have dedicated their heart and soul and their career to it versus people like myself who, I'm an agronomist, but I love deer hunting. I love food plots.
And I try to do it in my time. We were talking before this and we were going through the family style and we both shared, we both got young kids and that, that changes the whole dynamic. Man. in a good way. Yeah. I'm, I'm okay with that. Yeah. We were supposed to meet later and bedtime got in the way.
So that's life nowadays. And I think it plays into kind of how we've designed some of our products too, though, like we spoke about or talked about before this started. I would hate for you, our products are designed in that I expect you to have very little time and when you have time, you go hunt.
And our products are designed to have deer no matter when that. Certainly. So Mike, why don't you do why don't you [00:09:00] introduce yourself a little bit better than I did and give everybody an idea of how did you get started in the food plot business? I'm not, I've never been very good at this part.
I, we started Domain Outdoor in late 2018, early 2019. I was fortunate to have been in the industry for six years prior to that. Learning from some incredible people and some agronomists and people far smarter than me. And I was wise enough to listen and not say a whole lot and just, take it all in and continue to learn.
And like you said, over the, what, what's it been like 10 or 11, 12 years now that I've been into this? I've been planting longer than that, but I've been so lucky to surround myself with really smart people and I've been Smart enough to just shut up and listen and yeah, take it all in and take some from this person and some from that person.
I don't think there's one person that's helped direct kind of my vision per se. It's just been a a long list of trial and error and failures and successes and bringing it all together with the idea that we're gonna [00:10:00] provide the highest quality product, first and foremost designed to work anywhere for anybody.
, at a very affordable cost. Ex high-end products, affordable cost. I want everybody to be able to afford them and purchase them and have success with them. The best customer service and support there is to offer helping from start to finish. It's a category where there's a million things that can go wrong.
You can do everything wrong and it turns out right, you can do everything right and it turns out wrong. So my job, our job is to make sure we're here along to, help assist and try to eliminate some of those pitfalls. . And then from a assortment standpoint, we've got a million products because of what you were talking about.
Everybody's property is different, everybody's equipment is different, soil is different, Deere are different. So that leads to a whole bunch of different options to help solve problems and create success. So domain, outdoors, kind, following on all those things. If you follow along with us at all, we're just hardworking, honest, [00:11:00] blue collar guys.
We're pretty straightforward, pretty transparent, and, we're lucky to be able to do what we love every day. Yeah. I'm looking forward to diving into your mind and how your thought process works when you're, talking about some of the properties that you help manager, if you're recommending food plot seed to a customer or something like that.
But you mentioned one thing. You talked about quality. Quality in your products. Yeah, there's a number of food plot seed companies out there. Some of them have been around for a long time. Some of 'em are on the newer side. And it can be really hard for somebody who isn't as well educated to really have a good sense of what makes a quality food plot seed itself, and where I'm coming from, I have this this conversation with my farmers all the time.
When I'm running precision ag data, we'll do a lot of cool things. Like we will for instance, like if I have a 12 row corn planter, we'll do a lot of split planters and we'll compare across a field, which varieties are yielding better. And as as unbiased of an [00:12:00] area as.
And what's amazing is I have seen on six rows every six other six rows, a different variety. Dear favor, one specific variety of corn, way more than the other six rows of corn in that planter. And it's mind boggling how it's the same exact plant. It's just a different variety. It's got different characteristics about it.
So like with that mindset, what, what makes a quality variety? What makes a quality seed blend? And how do you end up coming up with that in your mixes? Yeah, so we worked with growers all across the country and the pandemic put some stress on that where there was some seeds entering the market that had a higher weed percentage and weren't as regulated just because demand was far greater than supply.
But we're lucky to work. A bunch of growers and try to, keep that in check where the percentage of weed seed is extremely low cause of, the quality of grower we're working with. But to your point, [00:13:00] every plant, for instance, clover radish, turnup rate high, different types of hybrid braas have different varieties.
And when I say quality or premium we go through the process. You do, testing all these and having others tested along with us and the agronomists test it in the growers test it to determine palatability growth forage and how they grow in different climates and conditions to make sure that, when we select a variety of hybrid brasa or a variety of turn up radis or.
it checks all the boxes. What do we want this seed mix to do? , we want to grow in shade with minimal till, yada, yada, yada. So we select this variety of blan over and this variety of chicory so that they've got the pity of the growth, the germination they work in the environment and they feed the deer.
And so we, we try to check all those boxes way before the product even becomes a product. And then I work on, percentages so they grow well together and don't fight and don't suffocate each other out. And then we [00:14:00] don't use cheap per se seed like a rye grass. You'll never see that in any of our products.
It's a filler seed that will grow anywhere great. But that's about all it does. We stay away from the SKUs, the rise, some of those cheap filler seeds just because they don't represent our brand and they don't provide the quality of product that we want. There's a lot that goes into that.
That's kinda the fun part. That's where my brain just spins because I really enjoy that part of it. And finding these different types of brass or an Ethiopian cabbage, which is a unique species that checks all the boxes for us. Handles drought, handles heat. It grows two to three feet tall in good conditions, can regrow.
It's a great grazer. All these things. They come into it and there you have it. All of a sudden we've got a product called bombshell or big sex or what have you, . Yeah, that's definitely a fun thing and I've done my own tinkering in a couple senses over the years and unfortunately for me, I don't get the best Comparison results because the places that I'm typically doing this on, even though [00:15:00] I'm fortunate that I get to tinker on pretty good amount of acreage, I just have such a high deer density that Yeah.
It's so hard to really give good comparison. It seems like I can throw just about anything out and they're going to eat it off, which makes, it, makes it really tough when you're trying to really compare and stuff and what's the best. And I think there's a, there's another conversation for another day when you're talking about what's available in the surrounding habitat to support, cuz let's face it, food plots are a supplement.
Okay. Okay. Let me that segues into my next question. In my opinion, and a lot of the goals that I have, I'm using food plots as a supplementation and a use to steer deer movement in my property. Now are you using food plots for anything else besides that? Or is your main goal something similar to what I just said?
Every property's different. The properties I hunt are one farm, We have a very high deer density. We took it outta ag, so we manage all of the food on it. . In addition to the brows we've created through hinge cutting and things of that nature we do feed a lot of deer, but most of the properties I [00:16:00] hunt, most of the properties I help set up, if you will, it's more transition, deer movement, manipulation, things of that nature.
They're working ag farms or the person has a hundred acres and they plant an acre of it. So let's be honest, you can't feed an entire herd of deer on an acre. And it's less, it's 1% of the property, like have 10% of it in food if you're actually gonna feed. So it's a lot of that The lease I've got is a working, it's a egg farm.
It's running, it's operational. So I'm all transitions manipulating deer. How do I get deer in daylight? Without, how do you hunt a hundred acre bean field? You can't unless you direct traffic port, Encourage them to enter or access it in certain areas and hunt that based on the wind and vetting and the type of food you're planting.
And so I would say a majority of 'em are, to your point directing traffic manipulating movement and others that have the ability to plant. A lot of acreage become more of a true [00:17:00] destination food style of setup. Yeah. And I want to dive into this a little bit more, but I wanna backtrack a little bit.
You said earlier and if you look at your list of blends, there's a diverse section of different blends. I don't know how many different blends you have. It's quite a number. I looked at a lot of them. And one thing that I find very interesting, and I think some of this stems from agriculture because in agriculture, we pretty much are growing monocultures of crops for maximum yield potential.
And, there's a common. I'm gonna call it a misconception that we can't mix certain certain varieties of plants with others. And when I say certain varie, certain types of plants, you're gonna have Yeah. Grasses or as in cereals versus brassicas, which are l versus a legume.
And there's a lot of information out there that certain blends are bad because you're mixing one type of plant with another type of plant. And there's a lot of negativity in our world and our industry, and people don't recommend that. And that's not been my experience.
[00:18:00] What I, but I would like you to dive in a little bit more is how do you go about or what does it take as far as tinkering to determine appropriate percentages and seeding rates to allow some of these blends to be molded together and maximize each of those plants in those mixes? Yeah, and you, to your point, we have three mixes where we've mixed grains and gras.
and we've gone even further. And a couple of them mixed legumes with some clovers in there too. And again, I, like I said, through testing, but also through the agronomists I work with we've tried to hit ratios where all the plants can be successful, how we want them to be. For instance, in Green Machine, the way it starts and the way it finishes are two different plots that went awry.
The winter o it's germinated really fast. It looks like it's all grains. And as that plot matures through its full maturity and as the deer feed through it, it ends up being almost all brassicas. So it's just a really neat mix in how it [00:19:00] morphs over time. Hall Pass has a lot more grains in it than that, and it's more of a grain base, but it has a similar feel in that truly believe that those varieties working together allow for different plant maturity for deer to feed through it and for all plants in it to thrive.
And. to get you into that next year by protecting and nursing some of those clovers along. Some of it's trial and error, some of it's quote unquote science . But it's a, like I said I'm lucky to have some guys working alongside me that are a lot smarter than I am that kind of help us refine the mixes so that every plant gets, its space and its fair share to grow.
And then we manipulate plant maturity levels. And prior, and I read a lot about food plots and what works and what doesn't, and it's so black and white when you read about it. Absolutely. I think there's a lot more gray area that unfortunately doesn't get talked about very often in the food plot category.
I don't think anything in black and white. I don't think there's an absolute best way and an absolute worst way. Or you have [00:20:00] to it this way. I have to do it that way. And I think you see that in our blends. I'm very much a gray thinker. Just in how things work and react together and and the success of the products in the field, I think kind of support that.
But there's a lot of ways to do it and just cuz one person's way might be different than another's, they can both work and be successful. And we've had some of our best mixes without question. Go against some of that. Some of the information you read out there as far as mixing different plants, we, we've always done things our own way and and I think that's okay. Sometimes it, it's absolutely okay. And you men, you mentioned one thing. We were talking about this earlier before we started far before we started this episode. But you'd mentioned it here, you talked about the maturities and the ratios and maturities are a big thing.
And I think that's a big reason why there's so much gray area in food plots because let's stay. Every general area and deer population is gonna have a different habitat type, a quality of habitat, a density of deer. It's gonna have a different level of hunting [00:21:00] pressure, which hunting pressure is an anomaly.
As far, to me, hunting pressure affects so much about how deer move through property. You take hunting pressure out of it and you just, man, like to me, like setting properties up and managing 'em for quality whitetails and habitat and all this stuff, it's easy. It's when you throw hunting pressure into the mix, it becomes it.
But sticking with with the food plots, Be, because of all those various factors, you're gonna see things work really well in some areas of the country, in some areas of a county, ver versus another. So I think it's really hard. To make a blanket recommendation on a food plot that is absolutely perfect.
I'm not saying you can't make a blanket statement as far as, understanding the maturity of some plants and setting them up at a food plant plot plan that's gonna be good for most of the season. But there's so many other variables in order to make that work. And I think that was just one thing I wanted to make sure in the ratio part you, I'll give you a good example.
Let's, and for I'm going back to my ag brain. When you're planting a [00:22:00] cereal grain, let's say you're making cereal grain for combining wheat, or you're chopping it for a dairy forge sum, we're planting that really thick, trying to add in a clover, trying to add in Nebraska.
It's a waste of energy, a waste of money. But adjusting those ratios that you're getting some. It can be done. There's enough plant there's enough soil space laterally. If you have those ratios of those seed blends at Justin. That's one thing I don't think people quite understand. I think they just hear this species doesn't belong with this species and boom, that's it.
That's a bad seed blend. And that's not the case. That's human nature. Just immediately No, absolutely. Immediately. Assume like you mix grain rye with Nebraska now it doesn't work the rye off the case. It does if you plant it at 200 pounds per acre. Exactly. But it doesn't if you have the right ratio.
But that's human nature. That's just how people read things and operate and then it becomes black and white when it's really not. And I think something we touched base on earlier too, that we have a lot of fun with and really helps some of our [00:23:00] products live in that gray area is how we play and mix plant maturity levels.
and we do it with every mix We have varying plant maturity levels to encourage, earlier attraction or later attraction. I think when I started doing this 15 years ago when you talked about a radish, a turnip for Nebraska, the first, oh, it's gotta freeze, it's gotta be cold, otherwise it don't work.
Yeah. The first, that's the first thing you heard and that could be more false. Exactly. In my opinion, and from what I've seen, and I think it's one to open people's eyes when they plant a product like our big sexy mix, which has four different types of brass in it, and they all vary in, in maturity levels and what they do and how deer feed in it so early in the season.
It just blows people's mind that their big sexy plot is full of deer in October when it shouldn't be until it's old in their head. . So it's been a lot of fun to do things like that and mix different plants together, like [00:24:00] Nebraska's and clovers, all those can't work together. Why not?
Nebraska works as a nurse crop. You forget you planted the clover and chickie the deer eat. Nebraska's in the fall, the following spring, your clover and Chickie grows. . There's so many things that you can play with. That help the customer be more successful that if you just read online, it's a major No-no.
Yeah. We kinda have fun swing upstream. I think one of the things that you said about brassicas and clover being a no-no. I think one of the reasons why people say that, and I tend to agree with this on some cases, let's say you've got an established clover field, but it's, it's a couple years out, it's starting to get patches of weeds, but you've still gotta e established clover.
I haven't had very good luck in trying to terminate that clover and put it in brass or at the same time put brassicas. into that established clover. And the reason for that, and a lot of people don't understand this, is most of those clovers that are in there are perennial clovers. They've got a deep root base, and that root base is gonna outcompete a young seedling whose root base is, you're watching it grow, you know it's going to outcompete [00:25:00] from moisture and stuff.
I've seen it work, but I've seen when we talk about seeing failures with Nebraska's and clovers, that's generally where I saw, but now when you're talking about establishing a new clover plot and, and putting a nurse crop with Nebraska's, that's a great strategy in a lot of cases.
And that's why that seed blend really works. Yep. Yeah. I get the question a lot. I wanna plant your clover mix in the spring. Can I then just broadcast, your Nebraska mixes into it, it's , it doesn't quite work that way. Just in the way those perennials establish themselves, to your point, deep roots last long time, they don't allow that type of competition just to come in and.
Walk all over 'em per se. Sure. But I do the rotation over time of clovers Nebraska's because what one takes the other one gives just as long as you, fully worked that in and we pulverized it with a a tiller if you will. And I like that rotation. Cause of the ation from the clovers of fixated nitrogen and then the Nebraska's coming in and, soaking it all up.
So yeah. [00:26:00] So ways to do it. That's the fun part about this. There are just so many different ways to, to plant food plots and it's so much fun talking to people because you learned something every time. Come up with new strategies and ideas, and that's where all the blends come from. Solving problems.
Yeah, that's for sure. And I think let's, I'd really like to dive into that. So the, I think the best way to narrow narrow this or navigate this conversation, I should say I if you don't mind doing this, you'd said you've got a couple different properties that you're able to hunt.
You, you either your own or part of and management. And, without going into too much detail, that's gonna be, incriminating on yourself. I'd really. If you would explain the best of your ability, how you would describe these properties, and then let's cater your seed blends and your food plot mixes your recommendations based on the goals of those properties.
Cuz you and I both know that each property size, shape, or form is probably gonna have different potentials, different goals serve different purposes throughout the [00:27:00] hunting season. Let's take your scenarios and let's just navigate through that, starting from one property to the next.
Yeah. So I've got three different properties that I hunt. One's my four acre house. One is a family property that's 140 acres and one's a lease that's a couple hundred acres. And they all, they couldn't be more different, which is fun when it comes to doing what I do. So at my house it's tiny property, tons of deer.
So I have to approach it a little differently in that. I, I do I plant earlier than one might think of planting brassicas. because I'm trying to get these plants almost over mature in that they almost get, too big, too woody, too mature for that early season attraction in with the idea that my best hunting opportunity is later in the year, and I'm trying to get as much food as long into the process as possible.
Small plots which is a huge challenge. So I'm going for huge [00:28:00] tubers. Huge, forage plants, the hybrid bras, the radishes, the turnips and my seed rates are the opposite of what think. I don't put down too much. I put down less to get bigger plants from each seed and I plant them early.
In June and Wisconsin is when I typically plant at my house. , which is a lot earlier than I recommend most people plant because of my goal. Of pushing that food way late into the year. So that's what I do in my, behind my house and then down below it's super shaded. So I really only have the opportunity to plant it in early spring, and that's in our hot chicken comeback kid mix, a perennial mix because of its shade tolerance.
So those are the two plots at my. and they're strictly designed to try to last as long into the fall and winter as possible. And before, before you get into the next one, I, I wanna bring up a good point that you said. So you set that plot up because you, you said you believe that later in the season is gonna be a place or a time where you're able to capitalize on that.
And I think that's one thing I've talked [00:29:00] about on a lot of episodes that we've had other people talk about. When those, you get into those small properties, micro tracks, it's really hard to have a mic a track of that size, those 2, 5, 10 acre tracks that it's good the entire length of the season.
I think it's a really good idea to figure out where is your best time to, to capitalize on that property, and then with that knowledge of knowing how deer handle, move through that property, cater your food plots to just be the ice cream to that situation. So that's a really good point that you brought there.
Yep. Yeah, I'd love to hunt that early season. I don't see any mature deer till October 31st. , and this is my seventh year hunting it. And my best chance of killing a deer if I don't do it the week in November, 10th of the 15th is December and January. It's just how it works. I can't hold deer on my property.
I have four acres. I have dough groups that live there, so obviously they go into Esthers the 10th to the 15th, clearly. And then I've got too many dos. So I've got 'em cycling again in December and January, [00:30:00] and that's when those bucks are in there. So I've gotta try to manipulate, the forge I have available to try to cater to those times of the year on that specific property.
I love that. I love hunting those small tracks cuz they're so fun to try to figure out. And when it's your own place that you live at, that just makes you, I, yeah, I had a great experience the other year. I did that on a really cool bucket in my back. I have two acres here and did that.
And it was such a cool experience watching, catering exactly what we're talking about. It's a, it's the experience that if you've never done it you don't understand the feeling of gratitude. I've killed one of my biggest deer on it January 7th. Wow. It was a deer that I hunted very hard.
He was on the property from the 31st all the way to the seventh. So three months of cat and mouse. I'm convinced he watched me get outta my house and walk down to the stand every day. But I had a young do going to heat late, and he followed her right into the plot January 7th. I got lucky. So I wanna dive a little bit more into the making this property's a little bit better, on that sweet spot of the rut.
And [00:31:00] then later not just from the standpoint of just your observation do, but what's the surrounding area like I, is it heavily ag, is it mixed ag? What's the cover ratio like? What's what other factors influence you? As far as food availability, cover availability that make you say that these times are better?
So there's a, I mean I'm the first house before we start to enter the town if you will. And we're butted up to a large tract land that you can't hunt where all these deer are living and it's getting to be more of an older growth less stem count forest. But there are areas where the state has come in and done some logging not far from me.
That are, have started to increase stem count, all those things behind us, in between us and the city. Big ag field that about a hundred acres cornfield every year, but now it's getting transitioned into warehouses and things of that nature. So it'll be cur in Interesting to see how that changes the dynamic.
Not much egg at all. I [00:32:00] mean backyard bird feeders. Yeah. And just this large tract of un huntable ground are the the, what I'm up against, if you will, and my best guess is that deer frequent my property, and I shouldn't say deer bucks frequent my property based on when my do goes going into Esthers.
That's just my guess over the last seven years of kind of hunting it and understanding how deer react to, and it's the same every year. So It's telling me that, alright, my first do goes in the es you know that probably that first week in November, but then more of them do that the 10th of the 17th.
Cause that's when my property's on fire. I'll have all my mature deer their then, so that tells me that things are going on. And then as they recycle in Jan or December and January, those bucks will come back through again. And I know from neighbors and whatnot that the bucks in my area seem to have a large area that they'll travel miles if you will.
, [00:33:00] I'm a really big deer a few years ago and thought I was him. And it turns out he had about a five mile radius that everybody knew about him. Wow. So it adds it makes things very interesting. You never really know what you're gonna see. And, but you always have that one or two deer that you see every year like that, that one deer that your property's his core.
and the others are just coming for when the time is right. Yeah. One thing I noticed with the deer that I killed two years ago, and I'm trying to see if there's a deer that I had pictures of this year that's still alive. You talked about those dough groups coming in the heat at a certain time.
I, I've noticed with that, those specific individual bucks that you can identify doing that exact same thing. That's how I was able to connect in 2020. And that's how I'm hoping to connect. In the future with a couple other deer I watched, it's just, it's a challenge.
Pennsylvania is very similar to your state in that, high hunting pressure. It's hard to get a deer to the age class that that you wanna see, but they do exist and that's all part of the fun game. I really like the way you described that. Let's keep continuing, let's continue going down the food plot prescriptions [00:34:00] based on some of these properties.
Yeah. So my lease is unique in itself as well. I got it late last year. I said it has no food on it. That's a lie. It has a egg on it, but once that gets pulled, then there's no food. . So it's a 200 acre piece and I bet it's got a, at least a hundred acres of egg. And the rest is rolling hills and timber.
They just cut a bunch of it cut, they cut 40 acres of it, which is gonna be awesome in a few years when there's a lot more stem count from that. But it's a really neat property hunt's way bigger than it is. The fun part for me is that I've got free reign to plant wherever I'd like given what's already there.
I just need to, I'm be aware of that, but it allows me to strategize what you and I talked about as transition food plots, which I have found to be probably the most successful type. , I think I beat my head against the walls. A young kid I hunted egg property. I grew up around it. And boy, I'd see a lot of deer.
I'd see hundreds of deer a night and I never killed any of them. Because you're [00:35:00] hunting this big egg field and all the deer pouring into it. But I didn't do anything to help predict where they were going to enter the field or exit the field or what have you. And these little transition plots that I'll be able to plant are strategically located based on access.
How can I get in and out knowing that I'm sitting over a food source prevailing winds in the early fall and then late fall. And then, you know what plot rock I'm gonna plant based on when I'm gonna hunt it. So there's a corner that connects the logging road to bedding and this kind of protected corner of what's going to be a bean field this year.
And I've probably got an eighth of an acre kind of chiseled out between the woods and the bean field that I'll be able to plant. And it's perfect for me to access on a south wind. , which in the first two weeks of our hunting season in September, we're 80% south winds. Yeah. It sets up perfectly for hopefully an opportunity this fall.
And I'll plant that in late August because I want those plants to attract deer [00:36:00] in September and October using plant maturity levels. So it's completely opposite from my house. Instead of planting really early, I'm gonna plant really late so that those plants are fresh and growing early September, early October when the beans are green.
And I've got, my, my brass, my, my kas, my radishes, varieties of RA and hybrid that are still in their growing phase, not the maturity phase. So you're gonna be there feeding on him as they enter this big giant hundred acre bean field. Completely different setup. Completely different strategy for me.
And we'll see how it goes this year. And then we've also gone in and we'll plant the logging road. And a mix really early in the spring before Canopy, just as a not to necessarily feed the whole herd , but to give them a reason to continue to use that path to enter and access the field and just build into that plan.
Yeah, absolutely. I'd like to, and couple things you said that I'd like to bring into conversation, bring to light. So you talked about ag, not that there's not food, there's ag but ag is one of those things to, to me I think the, the Midwest is [00:37:00] an exception if you're letting standing grain in stuff for the overwhelming majority of the whitetails range, and this is very true and my area, I don't know if it is for you, but agricul.
is feast and then famine for wildlife. Agriculture is bad for wildlife. I will I, and like I said I'm sticking my neck out here because I am an agronomist. I am very pro farming. But when you're talking about managing for wildlife, managing for deer let's face it, the ar my personal area, we've reduced the amount of tree lines.
We've reduced the amount of cover, the amount of edge we use pesticides. We try to kill ev. We try to eliminate all other species of plants except the monoculture crop we have. And we are making equipment as efficient as we possibly can to maximize the amount of grain intake. So yeah, we might cut a cornfield and you'll see some deer coming out and eating that corn immediately.
I see it every year, but it's quickly consumed. And the same thing is true with beans and stuff. [00:38:00] So it's very feast and famine. And I think relying on that is, is just not. It's just not consistent. It's not the consistency that I want when I'm calming up with a food plot program.
Yeah. And that's why that lease is so unique compared to the other two properties and that it's, there, there isn't a lick of food on it right now. Just none to your point. The equipment they use now is so efficient that I mean we'll have five different micro plots there that hopefully hold deer until winter sets in, and then they'll move to bigger feed lots.
Wisconsin is getting to the point now where more and more hunters are leaving things standing along with just planting more and more depending on who you are, what you have, and what you can afford to do. Every, everything's different, yeah. I mean that every property I have sets up a little differently just in what I have, and I think the, at least that I have is very similar to a lot of other people where it's in ag, they have no.
Regulation or [00:39:00] control over, when it gets cut or how it gets cut, what it's planted in. So they've, I've gotta be strategic about how I use it and plant it and hunt it to maximize my opportunities in that first half of the fall. And once we get winter my plots will last, they're so small through, through December and probably run out of food at some point just because, an eighth and acre times four is still a half an acre , that's just can't feed a lot of beer. And that's why I set it up the way I set it up just to really try to maximize those first couple months of fall. So you said you have small pro small plots. They're set up strategic locations for wind advantage access and things like that, which I really love and can echo that as far as how the importance of plot placement.
Talk a little bit more with this property. How are you catering this? You mentioned kas and clovers and stuff, but how are you, me using the specific food plot varieties? And one, one thing I'd be curious to pick your brain on if you talk about different locations in the farm that you're planting, are you [00:40:00] planting different varieties of food plot seeds or are you planting the same food plot program with the same food plot blend in everything?
Based on what you feel this property needs can you talk a little bit about are you seeing transition in, Clover one here, Nebraska's here? Or do you like to see the same thing in every location? Super interesting question. I think if you asked a bunch of different people that have different thoughts on it, I know some people that will plant everything in the same thing because then when it's on everywhere.
And when it's not. I tend to provide a little bit more variety just based on I'm a variety guy. All of our mixes have a ton of stuff in it and I just hate for things to be either on or off. , I like the plants to dictate when deer want 'em, and hopefully that increases the length of time that I've got deer on the property.
So a lot of times it's the environment that will dictate what I'm planting. For instance, one of the plots is tucked back in the woods. Limited light. We'll plant it early in the year and some some clover, some chickies. The logging [00:41:00] road again in our hot mix, which is Clover chicky early in the season.
Field edges. Then I'll have three different plots and it'll probably be three different things to make sure that I've got all my bases covered. This is still a new farm for me, and deer are weird. My dear love radishes, my neighbors deer won't eat. Radis. They say I'm not smart enough to know why that all works.
Sometimes it's soil, sometimes it's what else is available on your property, et cetera. And in year two, but technically really year one of a food plot program, I'm gonna plant three different mixes with a ton of variety and just collect data. When did they eat it? When did they, what did they eat first?
How did they go through it? And continue to build off of that plan for next year. I might come in here and say, you know what, Mitch? I'm planting all three of those plus in the same damn thing. Just based on what the deer told me. I'm gonna plant three different mixes and have probably 14 to 15 different plant varieties.
All are gonna get planted in August. Just because it fits my goal to try to attract September, October. And then I'm gonna collect the [00:42:00] data and learn from it. Did they like the radishes? Did they like the winter ride? Did they prefer the winter peas? Did they like the clover and jery more than anything?
And just collect that data. I really like that. I think you hit the nail on the head there. It's one thing when you've worked with a property long enough to know what's gonna be the best prescription. But in this new case, you are you're tinkering, you're collecting observations and you're fine tuning it.
And as you fine tune your food plot program, you're probably gonna fine tune your hunting strategy on that property too. Because you know what the food plot plants that you plant are gonna affect your hunting strategy because of timing, because of location and everything else.
And the more you fine tune that the more sound you'll make your hunting strategy if you're doing it in an effective way. Another question I had for you, you were talking about transition plots versus sitting on open ag fields. Are you transition plot. And I think I'm understanding, my definition would be the same as you.
It's a plot that you're staging deer, you're feeding 'em, it's giving you a shot opportunity, but it's not that, it's not the spot they're gonna stop and [00:43:00] feed all night long that they're gonna be moving through for, a couple minutes of the evening. So are you, is that your preferred food plot way to hunt?
Or are there other types of food plots you like to hunt, or do you change your strategy? I guess what my, what I'm getting at is, do you ever run into situations where you do find success in creating those quote unquote, I guess you call it like a destination plot or a holding plot? Some people say to not hunt those.
I like to what's your take on that? Yeah, so on this particular property yeah, I use the staging plot, like you said, for a couple reasons. One. Typically they're gonna stage in it and feed in it before dark. They won't be there that long, but they're gonna be there long enough to hopefully if it, the time is right and everything works out to get a shot but then they move on to their destination food, the beans and corn, whatever it is, it's gonna feed the whole herd, which allows me to get out easier too.
So there's more to the stage about than just killing it's access and getting in and out without [00:44:00] blowing things up. And to your point earlier, manipulating those deer, trying to have a better guess as to how they're gonna enter the food plot by creating a reason for them to be there.
And that's how I hunt that property. Now our other property that might, it's not mine, it's my in-laws and my brother-in-law kind of, they manage it and I just help plant and hunt a little bit. The things, then the strategy changes a little bit because we've turned what was 30 acres of egg into our own.
Playground, if you will. Wow. So we've socked in trees and some cedars and some switch grass and some some wind breaks and some of that natural fun cover. But we've also created some destination food that we hunt. And in those scenarios, typically what we'll do is hunt 'em from blinds elevated blinds to help with wind.
We'll use our incognito mix, which is a tall growing Egyptian wheat sorghums to access in and out, things of that nature, because when you're hunting food, you're probably gonna be in it in the morning and then in the [00:45:00] evening, and that's when you come and go. So those are things that we definitely take into consideration, but then we hunt destination food.
So I'm completely going against my strategy for the last farm based on how this one's set up. So that's why I said I'm a gray thinker, not a black and white. I'm never the type of guy that says, yet, can't do this. You have to do that. More of a, every property lends itself to different strategies.
And over time, like you said earlier, like Grant Woods, it can change. And what we've found is when this farm was in working ag, we had all these stands and they were great. And now that we've changed it, our old stands aren't as good as they once were. And new stands are better. Yep. It's been a lot of fun if we've learned a heck of a lot.
And our first two years that we did this, my father-in-law killed a deer the first night. It was just like clockwork. We had deer. And then this last year was different. We never had that early season beer. And then later in the year we had more shooter bucks than we've had in our lifetime.
So it's been fun to see how it's changed in [00:46:00] three years just by manipulating the way we're doing things with a lot more food. A lot of that is food. A lot of it's covered too. . But every, I think the key takeaway is every property is different. Every property is unique. There's different ways to set up every property.
There's no right or wrong way. And you better be willing to learn from, the past years to continue to improve. Yes. Because you're gonna learn something new every year. It's kinda like a win in Rome, do as Romans kind of thing. So you talked about the hunting, the destination plots on your other farm here.
One thing that I think is really important, regardless of food plots, and you already mentioned it, it was access and not blowing deer. And I think people talk about deer being nocturnal or bucks being nocturnal on a property. I truly. that properties are nocturnal properties, deer are not nocturnal.
Deer are doing what they do during the daylight, just where they feel secure. Yeah. And I think if you want to turn a property into a nocturnal property, chase [00:47:00] deer and set your food plot program up in a way that you chase deer, that they see you hear you or smell you. Because if a deer feel comfortable to go to a food source where it's in an opening and to feel secure, it's going to use it at nighttime.
So if by any means in that hunting strategy, you can't access your plot without deer seeing you, hearing you or smelling you. And the same thing with exiting. And that's gonna, that's a flaw in how you're getting in and out. It's going, it's. That's gonna be detrimental to the whole entire system that you've developed.
You talked about hunting on box blind. So one of the things that's just opened my eyes so much over the years is, y we hunt hill country here in Pennsylvania. You're familiar with that in Wisconsin? Oh yeah. There's no such thing is, oh, the wind's outta the west. It's perfectly out of the west today.
We get swirling winds constantly. Yeah. And , let's take a food plot in a block of timber, for instance. If you've got, trees, leaves, stuff like that you've got a barrier. Then all of a sudden you create this opening, it's just gonna allow wind to swirl and tunnel in there and do crazy things.
Sitting on those [00:48:00] food plots, even if it is a transition plot or if it's a, a destination plot, whatever those swirling winds kill you if you're sitting there and the deer staying there long enough to smell you. And, if, I guess if the first deer in the field is the buck you wanna shoot, it's all well and good if you do it before he smells you.
But what's not usually the case, it's usually doze and fawns and everything else. So that's big for me. So I really like that you mentioned that setting up foolproof access on that property and the stand location was key and maintaining containing your sc, things like that, that all plays big when you're coming into a food plot hunting strategy.
So I, the, one of the thing like you to do a little bit more before I let you go here is, I. Go ahead. Go ahead. I didn't invent that strategy. I did it wrong for so many years, and finally realized maybe I should take that into consideration. When I grew up hunting, you didn't think about wind or access or anything?
Yeah. Honestly, you's at the same stand every day, every week, all the time. That's just what you did. I learned that from failing many [00:49:00] times. And finally, figuring out what one of the reasons I'm, for lack of success was you would be both. It's amazing when you have that aha moment when you do the change and you see it work.
It's oh my word. This has been years. And I find I see it. I get it. It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And then you wonder, wow, what took me so on, Mike, what took. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, I, before, before we get letting you go, we're closing in on time and I wanna be mindful of your time.
I really would like, you went through those first two properties in what food plots you really work. And now you're talking about this third property that is, it's a hunting property. You've pulled ag from this property and now it's solely for wildlife and deer. So talk a little bit about how the food plot strategy, the plants, the timing, all that go into a little bit more detail.
What does that look like on a property of this this caliber? Yeah, we do a lot of testing on it too, honestly. It's a kind of our test grounds, one of our initial test grounds. So we run a lot of different things and we do plant corn and beans [00:50:00] and leave it standing in areas as well to just add more food and forage to the property.
But we've got, I wanna say probably 20 acres that we're planting. . And we plant more and more, I feel like every year into perennials. Some of those, high protein, cold tolerant perennials, clovers and chickies that honestly, Mitch, we're getting, they're the first thing to grow up in March.
They stay green and feed deer and turkeys and grouse, and the pheasants are in there April, may, June, July, August, September, October, November. They're digging for it in the winter. So often guys like what do you have for hunt plots? What they overlook some of the simplest things. So we've integrated more and more perennials in there.
And just to help build what I call the foundation of our program is just having food sustainably for as long as possible. Now that we have more deer that are at attracted to the property, because some of the changes we've made, we gotta make sure we've got the food for 'em. So we do have some standing corn, we do have some standing beans and a bunch of perennials [00:51:00] positioned throughout the property.
A lot of times our perennial plots are more. Bigger open areas the, you're comfortable feeding in spring, summer when the testosterone levels are lower and they just seem to be more readily or willing to be out in wide open. . And then for us on this farm radishes, our, the golden ticket, so like our big set sexy mix, our green machine, our illicit, which is a variety of radish, are the core of our program.
And we will manipulate when we plant. So we'll plant some early in, some late just to make sure we don't have 10 acres of radishes at the same exact time. I like to manipulate things to make sure that we encourage, feeding throughout the fall and winter. But the radishes I think it's the sandy loam nutrient pour soil that we have.
We get the pH where we want it, but still the natural, it's just a nutrient less soil and less radish. can thrive in it and still provide high levels of forage. And so that's how we built that program. And [00:52:00] last year we had a super hard summer to plant in. Our plots were probably the worst they've ever been, just based on seven straight weeks in no rain.
And it changed how the deer behaved on our property just because of the, we had to come back super late and plant, so we didn't get that really good late season forage. Cause we just didn't have maturity levels that got 'em there. So we relied on our clovers and the early season hunting.
And I say that like through November as our focus, but then we also get to test stuff. Like we're working on a, I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm going to an upland blend that I've been working on for years. That is super fun to play with because of the diversity in that.
And our new mother load product that we've tested for years on it, that super high forage lab and soybeans, and iron clay peas, and just these really high protein mixes that we've it helped change our property just in how it, it became more of an early season food, which we've never had.
It's been a lot of fun and I'm going in circles, [00:53:00] but it's that's a, all three properties we work differently. Good, bad, or otherwise. Just based off what we've learned and what we know. And next year when we sit down and chat I probably will change my mind a couple times again, but that's just in this food plotting is an obsession.
It's one of those things that you keep chasing perfection even though it doesn't exist. And that's what we do, right? We. We make a plan, we sit down at the end of the year and go, this work, this didn't work, that work. And then we blow it up and do another plan. And that's just the fun of it.
It is. I relate a lot of it to ag. Every year when I go through a growing season with growers, we talk about what worked, what didn't. And we do a winter planning. We, by soil tests, we go through the soil tests, we come up with strategies for the upcoming growing season.
And every year you stem from the last, but everything's a little bit different. That following grows, it's not exactly the same. So you have to fine tune. And I think food plots and, for one thing you're talking about farming for wildlife. And it sense you're farming. Farming is very variable.
But y I [00:54:00] think those factors just it's just part of making it fun. But fine tuning it is just I just love it. I'm rambling too, but it is just fun. Agreed. And I, people laugh at me when I say this, and I probably don't even mean it, but I might. The planting and the buildup for me, almost getting to be just as much fun as when I release the the arrow.
It, I just love it so much. It's like a chess match with the property and the deer and myself and the mother, nature and all the things. And my wife hates it cuz it consumes me. Yeah. But , but it, yeah it's so much fun. And watching the ability to work with people who have never done it before and watching the progression of their property that makes it all worthwhile.
It's a, it's a lot of aha moments, a lot of fun to watch somebody's hard work and trust in us, come to fruition and they kill a deer or they have more deer feeding in their property or whatever it is that is so gratifying to help people. Improve their property and enjoy hunting [00:55:00] more.
All the reasons we do it you're getting to share it with other people. So yeah there's a lot of gratification in helping other people with that. And that's a fun part. That's why I want to have this podcast, is to share the wealth of knowledge of people like yourself. And, ab absolutely, that's a huge part of it.
But, for me, there's a lot of parts when you talk about private land manipulation habitat, such there's a lot of important things when it comes to private land. And like I said, this isn't the land management podcast, it's the Pennsylvania woodsman. But like I said of all the things on private land and habitat manipulation, hunting strategy, I would say for me personally, food plots have probably had the greatest impact on my hunting learning curve knowledge.
You. Learning about deer hunting strategy, hunting successes. Like they're just, that's how important they are to me. And I'm to the point now where with private land, where, for me to want to consistently hunt it, I gotta have some kind of food plot. Not necessarily that I always want to have a food plot to sit on.
[00:56:00] That's not what I'm getting at. But it's just the , the what they do for your hunting strategy and how you can create it around that property. It just, to me, it's so vital and it's you don't know any better until you experience that. I couldn't agree more honestly. It's like I said, it's watching somebody purchase a property that has no food on it, haunted that first year, call us in November and say, I need some help.
And then just watching the transformation of that property it's incredible. It's the single most important factor. . And then every year obviously you learn more about accessing it and how Deere are using it to, set up stands better and all that. But I tell you what, it's a game.
It's a game changer. And for me, I can personally say without question, it's the reason I've had success the last 10 years hunting. It's why I have a taxidermy bill every year, honestly. Without that I wouldn't be nearly as proficient as I have been. Just, ha having the ability to build a plan and every once in a while getting lucky enough to [00:57:00] follow through on it.
I owe that to, how the food plots on the property to, to make a reason for Deere to wanna be. Yeah, I definitely think it's important, there's there's nothing wrong with, I love public land hunting too. I really do. I love going, oh, I do it too. I absolutely, yep. I've killed some good deer on public land and it's, every bit is gratifying.
You, you're just talking about I I, I'm so sick and tired lately of the the division in the hunting community between private land and public land. It's so bad right now. And I think what's going on right now with the promotion of public land hunting is good. And I'm so thankful that we've had it and get promotion in the sport, but there's no reason to be divided in any sense.
I don't know how I would descri. There is differences though. Let's face it. Hunting and private land hunting public land are two different enemies. It's the same game. But would you call it like, I don't know how to des is it a different league or just like a, I don't know how. How you compare it, but it's still hunting
I don't know. Yeah I do most of [00:58:00] my rifle hunting in Wisconsin on public land. And I love every second of it. I've done it for 25 years that way. I don't know. It's I try not to get into the debate, I, you hunt where you can and I'm thankful for every time I can hunt and whether it's public or private, and I don't like to get into the verses battle I'll I, and I hope people don't look at me and think, what a prick, he gets to hunt private land I'm blessed to have the opportunity, but I've also worked hard for the opportunity to hunt private land, so That's exactly right. Do do you? Yep. And I, every once in a while we'll get somebody that's mad at us, cuz we're using food plots to hunt deer and and they do it the. The spot and stock way, which is man, you know what, that's awesome.
Do it the spot and stock way. Like I, I'm happy for you. Don't be mad at me for doing it my way. There you go. I, it's the world we live in the 1% as I was gonna be the 1% , I try not to judge the whole, the whole bushel by one bad apple. Yeah. You got it.
Hey, we've been rolling for a [00:59:00] while and oh, one thing I'd like you to do, if you don't mind, you talked a little bit about specific names of food plot varieties that you have and some of them you described, but I'd really like to give you the opportunity to talk about anything that's new or exciting you'd like to share with us.
And then, plug your company a little bit here and tell people where they can find us before we let you go. Yeah, this is the part I'm bad at. But no, I, we have a wide variety of mixes. I lost co I think it's 19 or 20. They all solve a problem. They've got very unique names.
They come in transparent jugs so you can see what you're gonna buy. I was wondering how you came up with all those names, by the way. A lot of beer. A lot of beer . No, it's a, we have a fun think tank. A bunch of crazy passionate guys here and it gets harder and harder every time to come up with new names.
We've set a pretty high precedence with big, sexy and hot chicken. No BS and Green Machine and Incognito and all the crazy names we have. But I would encourage you to go online, research it, see what other people are saying about it. Check the reviews and www do domain outdoor.com is our website.[01:00:00]
we're in most retailers nationwide, and we prefer you shop your local dealer. If you have one, we've got a, your dealer locator on our website, typing your zip code. It'll tell you where it's at. And feel free to reach out to us on any platform via email, phone. We love answering questions, is what we do.
Our goal is for you to be successful, so we're gonna help you along the way. And like I said I appreciate you letting me on here. I've learned a lot. You're, it's fun to talk to somebody as knowledgeable as you, honestly. Thank you. Absolutely. Like I said I'm no expert. I just have drawn from a lot of experiences and learned from a lot of smart people and put together a program to help people be successful.
And it's been a ton of fun. We're super blessed to be domain outdoor and stand for the things we stand for and do the things we do. Morale's gonna do it the right way, even if it's the hard way. And I think people appreciate that and just how we do things. So o one thing I'd like you to do yeah.
When I met with you guys at a t a and was looking at some of your seed blends and talking with you guys, you had a seed blend and I cannot remember the name. [01:01:00] It might've been bombshell, but it's the seed blend that it's a brassica, but it's a No Tuber brassica. Yeah. It's all leafy bras.
I don't know if I have the name right on that one. Bombshell. Yeah. You nailed it. Yep. I was, when I read about that, like that was a seed blend of seed variety that excited me for some of the experiences I've had. And I'd really like you to talk about that before we go. Yeah. Bombshell was brand new last year and it's very unique in the space.
We pulled some plant varieties that haven't been used a lot. And there, there are no tubers in it. It's all above ground forage. It is a forage Nebraska mix that. Some of the plants in it mature as fast as 40 days some 60 days. So it grows extremely fast. Heat tolerant, drought tolerant. It's great across the country.
Like I said, just manipulate when you plant it based on where you live. But it's got Ethiopian cabbage in it, forage, collards a hybrid brasa and a hybrid turnup. So no tubers, all above ground growth. A bunch of reg [01:02:00] growers in there. A couple of those different plants can regrow themselves up to four times in a growing season.
And I tell you what, it's one of those products that you release even though it's more expensive than some of its counterparts because of the plants that are in it. So it's a more expensive Nebraska mix than like our big sexy mix can be way more expensive because of the varieties that are in there and the type of forage it produces.
but it's designed to feed a ton of deer all summer, fall, and winter. And like I said, there's no tubers in it. Sometimes when you get down into the southern us folks don't like to plant radish in terms cuz they, their deer don't typically eat the tubes because for whatever reason, they don't need as much energy per se.
And this mix is one that, Deere are gonna be in it early and they're gonna stay in it for as long as possible, as long as that thing continues to grow. So it's been a, it was, it will be one of our top selling mixes this year after launch last year. It was a lot of buzz last fall as guys were seeing it for themselves and just seeing the draw ability because of those [01:03:00] varying maturity levels.
And its ability to withstand heat and drought and really feed a ton of deer. It came from the egg space feeding livestock. It's a, I'm glad you brought that one up. It's one of my favorites and it's like I said, extremely unique in the space. But I love. I love what in Ethiopian cabbage what a hybrid forage Nebraska, what forage college in their coal tolerance and palatability and what they can all offer.
Working together. Yeah, I wanted to bring that up because in, in my experiences in food plotting when it comes to brassicas, that was something that to me was unique and in my opinion is a little bit above some of the other, it's really common to have oh my goodness, I can't even like an ego till radish, which is a great plant.
But depending on your situation, you might be sit in a situation where certain forage brassicas might be better. And I've been in those situations, I've had seed blends on one property that worked really well, that bras blend and didn't do the exact performance that I wanted on another for very similar reasons.
[01:04:00] So I wanted to bring that up before we, we let you go cuz that was one that excited me and I think would be something that anybody listening to this and, I think a lot of guys think brass is when they think food plots is. That was one I wanted to mention. Yeah. I appreciate you highlighting that one, because again, like I said, it's a.
It's one that I'm pretty proud of just how it performs and it really, it's just such a cool mix that that adds diversity that typically you don't have. And I, what I think you'll find is that when you add that diversity you're gonna find the deer react to it very favorably. . I think it's definitely one of those products that we're gonna see more and more people plant it this year and getting that oh wow, this is pretty awesome.
That, that feedback is gonna be pretty favorable. Good deal. So yeah, I, like I said I appreciate you having me on. This has been a heck of a lot of fun. So hopefully you've gotten a little bit out of it. Agreed. I did. And I think people listening to this did. So Mike, thanks thanks for taking the time and chatting with us.
You bet. Appreciate you ma'am.
