Exclusion cage in food plots for deer
Why have an exclusion cage in food plots for deer?
An exclusion cage in your food plots for deer gives you an accurate picture of both deer utilization, and the success of your planting. Without an exclusion cage in your food plots for deer, you can only guess at how much browse pressure is occurring, how the soil conditions were, and whether or not you planted the crop properly. An exclusion cage is a must in small food plots for deer.
Exclusion cage in food plots for deer essential in small plots
The smaller your food plot, the more value an exclusion cage has. A smaller food plot for deer is more attractive to whitetails, and can easily be browsed past he point it can recover from. If you place an exclusion cage in small food plots for deer, you can instantly read the impact of browse pressure. If you notice the plot is 6 inches tall inside the exclusion, and dirt outside, you know the deer have literally destroyed the plot and can make decisions based upon the read. 2 obvious choices would be to either shoot more does or plant more food. Without an exclusion cage in food plots for deer, your first guess is the plot simply did not grow, and it may be a completely false assumption. Use an exclusion cage in food plots for deer to get the proper assessment.
Exclusion cage in food plots for deer lets you know what kind of farmer you are
In smaller kill style food plots for deer we need proper growing conditions for success. Sun, water, PH, fertilizer, proper drainage. soil to seed contact and on and on. If we do everything right for soil prep, site selection and planting, and we get lucky on the rain, the only thing that can queer the deal is excessive browse pressure from the animals. Most of us planting food plots for deer are not top rate farmers. We need all the help we can get, and an exclusion cage will let you know if you are doing things right, or if the deer are simply overeating our buffet. It’s a must have item.
Building an exclusion cage in food plots for deer
An exclusion cage can be built from any medium duty piece of wire mesh or fence at least 30 inches tall. Roll out and cut a 9.5 foot piece and you have a 3 foot diameter exclusion cage started. Simply bend the piece into a circle and secure it with zip ties, rope or wire, and your exclusion cage is ready to be used in your plot. You may wish to use a steel post pounded into the ground to anchor the cage, and a simple 2 x 2 is enough to securely hold it. I like to place my cage exactly 20 yards from a favorite stand site so I have an instant yardage marker when I am bowhunting my food plots for deer.
Don’t skip this this step. The cages can be used year after year, and similar to monitoring game cameras, it’s a great way to gauge deer activity as the season approaches. An exclusion cage in food plots for deer is a great final step in the process to help you monitor your success as a plotter, and browse pressure by the deer herd..