TMD Sept. 10

What can I plant this year for the deer?

Food plots can play a very important role in the overall health of your deer through the winter. When working up a planting mixture it is important to keep a few things in mind.

1. Palatability = Plant something that the deer will eat. If they don’t like it, what good will you do?

2. Winter Hardiness = Plant seeds that will take cool weather well, check to see if the plant you buy is a cool season or warm season plant

3. Nutrition = plant something that will increase or at least maintain the health of the deer

4. Balanced mixture = a variety that will provide food for the deer from now through April or May.

Keeping this in mind, I will usually recommend a mixture of seeds. The following is enough to plant an acre food plot:

25-35 pounds of Oats

25-35 pounds of Wheat

25-35 pounds Rye (Elbon or V.N.S.) (Not to be confused with ryegrass)

15-20 pounds of Austrian Winter Peas

5-10 pounds of clover (Arrowleaf or Crimson for our sandy soils, subterranean for clay soils)

5-10 pounds of Turnips (I use Purple top)

Ideally I would like to see at least 125 pounds of total seed/acre. Oats are usually the first to come up and are favored more by deer. They are also the first to go when that hard freeze hits. Wheat and rye will take cold weather very well and last you into early spring. Turnips and peas are also favored by the deer and will grow through the winter in to late spring.

Remember also to test the pH of your soil to see if lime is needed. Our sandy soil can require it every 2-3 years. Fertilization can be done when the seed is planted or after it starts coming up. Without fertilizer, your food plots will usually start to come up and then stop growing. Deer may eat on them a little and then find somewhere else to go.

My quote of the week comes from Lanier Stevens. It reads, “Truth has nothing to fear from honest questions.”