Diversify your Food Plots for Success

Diversify your Food Plots for Success

By Ryan Graden

I have a whole file on my laptop filled with pictures of successful harvests of my daughters. I am the proud dad of four daughters ranging from ages nineteen to twelve. And yes, all four of them are successful deer hunters. Their success, however, came with the benefit of a good food plot. All but a few of the deer they have collectively harvested over the last many years, have been in food plots that we have planted in the spring or late summer months.

As you can guess, when it comes to planting food plots, I am a believer! There are too many benefits to ignore and I would like to convince you of the same!
If you are a believer too, I’m assuming you have property, and it doesn’t have to be much, to plant a food plot of some size.

What’s the Purpose?
There are two main purposes to planting food plots. The first would be to give your local deer, turkey, and other animals a healthy and beneficial food source to utilize; something they can eat through the spring, summer, and hopefully into the fall and winter months too. Nutritious and available food will contribute to antler growth, healthier animals, and keeping those animals on your property so they aren’t wandering off looking for food elsewhere. The second reason for planting food plots is to attract animals to a certain location to allow you to make an ethical harvest during whatever season you are hunting. Whether it be fall or winter hunts for deer, or spring hunts for turkey, food plots “funnel” the species you are pursuing to a certain point helping you have a chance to fill your freezer.

What Should I Plant?
That’s a question all planters have asked over and over again. For me, that’s probably the most exciting question I try to answer every year. What I choose could dictate the success of my hunting others who hunt the same areas. What I plant could either bring the deer in or cause them to avoid the area altogether. They might have a good pallet for the type of food I choose, or they might be reluctant to try eating it and ignore it. They might use the plot for a certain season, then leave it alone for others. What you choose to plant will, in many ways, give you success or fix you a tag sandwich.

So here’s a few suggestions for what to plant.

Corn
This is a deer’s favorite! If you can hunt over a corn food plot, you will have it made. There is something about that golden kernel and deer treat like candy! Corn is primarily made up of starch which is a huge sustainer of energy for deer. So, naturally, deer will try to consume a good amount of this especially during colder months of the year.

Soybeans
You can plant soybeans a little later in the spring and they will still have plenty of time to grow. Soybeans are a staple of an Iowa deer’s diet providing large amounts of protein into their bodies which they need to sustain cold winter months. They are super easy to plant too. Sometimes, if you prep the ground well enough, all you need to do is broadcast them then drag something over them. You will see them pop up even when you don’t think they will.

Brassicas
Turnips, radishes, rapeseed, canola, and more are all in this category. These are another few great plants to put in food plots. They will grow a lush, green, leaf through the summer for wildlife to feed on. They grow large and they can grow quick. But, when that greenery dies away in the late fall or early winter, with some of these plants, the deer will then have the roots of the plants to eat. Brassicas will provide a great food source through summer, fall, and even into the winter.

Clover/Alfalfa
These are a great forage choice to plant especially for early to mid-fall hunts. Deer will come to plots like this until the winter weather turns them from green to brown. But still, it is known and seen that if deer are willing, they will dig through snow to eat what’s left of these greens during the harsher winter months. Alfalfa and clover provide a large amount of fiber to a deer’s diet. Clover and Alfalfa are also crops that are perennial. Meaning you can plant them one season and they will come up year after year without having to replant them for many years.

Is There a Strategy to Planting?
Yes! There are a few strategies to your planting when it comes to food plots. The first strategy you should consider is variety. Deer, just like humans need a variety in their diet. Protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar (good), and sodium are just a few items that are needed in the diet of many living mammals. When it comes to catering to the needs and the health of your local deer herd, you should take this into consideration when planting your plots/plot.

If you have the space, I would suggest choosing two or three different types of crops that could be planted in separate plots for a season. Say you have three single acre plots to plant. Maybe choose three different crops and plant one in each plot. This would give you a good balance to the food needs of your deer.

If you have limited space, you can still accomplish a similar effort. If you only have one acre, try planting two to three crops strategically within that acre. Maybe divide it into thirds. Or plant one around the outside while planting one or two different additional crops in the center. You can still create a plot with variety even if you don’t have a ton of space to do it in.

A second strategy for planting plots depends on the time of season you will be hunting. If you are just a shotgun hunter or a late muzzleloader hunter, you might stick to crops that are going to be more attractive in the later winter months of December and January. Crops that will stand through the weather and produce lots of forage that will last as deer feed on them through the fall. Corn and soybeans would be my suggestion if this is the case. These crops will be a much needed food source when the months get colder.
If you a bowhunter, you might want to plant some brassicas or clover/alfalfa mixes for your early season hunting. As the fall begins to turn from green to brown, these crops will maintain their green just a little longer than everything else. They handle colder temperatures and their colors become a natural attractant to a deer’s eye and pallet during September, October, and even sometimes through November. If you plan on pursuing deer as soon as bow season opens, planting a “green” plot might be a good strategy for you. It will often attract a number of does and where there are does, bucks will show up!

What Else Should I know?
If you are looking to add a food plot to your hunting tool bag I would remind you of this, you don’t need to own large tracts of land to plant a food plot. You don’t need to put in a ton of money purchasing seed. You don’t need to even do tilling and planting in order to have a successful food plot. Be creative and see what’s out there.
The following are a few ideas that might be of interest if you fall into any of the above categories.
Consider planting a micro plot for your food plot. A micro plot is something that you could produce using a small tiller that would allow you something that deer might “stop and visit” while in transition to a larger food source or a bedding area. I’ve planted a few of these over the years in the middle of retired pastures. Some were only fifty feet by fifty feet. When I strategically set my stand near these plots, we had great success as deer paused for a bite on their way through!
If you don’t have much money to buy seed, maybe talk to a few farmers that you might know. When they are getting ready to plant, they just might have seed left over from the previous year. Maybe extra partial bags they don’t plan to plant. In exchange for a little help on their farm, you can score some free or cheaper seed with a decent germination rate. I’ve planted plenty of soybean food plots over the years using this idea. It’s works!
Maybe you don’t have any tillable land at all to plant a food plot in, but you have plenty of timber that you can hunt. Consider taking a small area of that timber and clear cutting fifty to a hundred feet across and remove every tree that is in that area. If you can create a clearing and mow it down with a brush hog, you would be surprised what grows up in it’s place! Grasses, small greens, and other plants that have been waiting for years to see the sunlight will begin to appear and will be attractive to deer. Continue to mow it and you will find deer returning on a regular basis due to the convenience of a food plot in the timber!
As you think of the coming spring months, the warmer weather, and the opportunity to plant a food plot for the next hunting season, think it through! Make a list of your resources such as land, seed, time, help, and use that to plan out what your plot will be. In your planning, keep in mind the seasons you will be hunting, the food the deer will be attracted to in those seasons, and what variety you might be able to offer. With a little effort, you could have an incredible hunting story to share! Good luck!