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Food-Plot Plans
By JJ Reich
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Opening day of gun season found me perched 14 feet in the air, sitting in my tripod stand and monitoring a food plot 100 yards in front of me. Less than an hour later, my sabot slug took down a fat, 8-point buck, making all the time and sweat equity I put into my food plots worth every second.
Starting Over
My hunting party has harvested many deer near our food plots but we never gave much thought about planning them. We just picked a few convenient spots and planted seed. Then I decided to take a smarter approach. I forgot everything I knew (and didn’t know) about food plots––and started over.
For help, I turned to several food-plot experts and re-educated myself on how to properly plan a complete systemof food plots. Here’s what I learned:
Three Growing Goals
Keep these important goals in mind while creating your strategy to improve your existing food plots and to establish new ones.
Goal No. 1: Increase the number of planted acres
Your goal is to plant enough acres of food to keep wildlife on your property year round. To do this, experts suggests 5-10 percent of your hunting land should be planted with food plots. The exact percentage depends on how many deer are in your area and what other food sources you might have on your land (such as acorns and crabapples). For example, an 80-acre parcel of land should have four to eight total acres in food.
Don’t let that number scare you. Any number of food plots, at any size, will attract deer and provide nutrition for them––even if it’s just a few ¼-acre plots. But the 5-10 percent goal is ideal. You don’t have to spend a ton of time and money planting a dozen food plots all at the same time. Instead, concentrate on planting one or two plots per year. In time, you’ll eventually reach your ideal goal for total acres planted.
Goal No. 2: Plant different types of food plots
There are two main types of food plots: nutritional plots (feed plots) and hunt plots (harvest plots). If you want to keep deer on your property throughout all four seasons of the year, it’s extremely important to grow both types of plots. Nutritional plots provide food all year long, yet are more heavily used in the spring and summer. Hunt plots grow food that’s ready to be eaten during the autumn and winter only.
The ideal mix of food plots is said to be 60–75 percent nutritional plots and 25–40 percent hunting plots. Plants in nutritional plots should be high in protein that provides the basis for a deer’s everyday diet. Plants in hunt plots should provide the high-energy food that deer seek out to survive cold weather.
High-protein nutritional plots are typically made up of perennial plants such as clovers, chicory and alfalfa. When properly cared for and maintained, these plots can last up to 6 years. Nutritional plots can range in size from 1/4 acre to 10+ acres, depending on the size of the land.
Hunt plots are typically made of annual plants such as a variety of brassicas, rape, turnips, sugar beets, winter rye and oats. These plants need to be replanted every year. Hunt plots ripen after the first frost (which typically means hunting season). Once these plants are ready to eat, deer prefer them over many other food sources. Because hunt plots are meant to keep deer within range of your shots, they are small, ranging from 1/10 acre to 1 acre.
Goal No. 3: Plant food plots in prime locations
The rules for locating your food plots are simple and few. Plant them away from roads and trails heavily traveled by humans, keep them near deer travel routes and bedding areas, and focus on areas that get at least five hours of direct sunlight daily for plants to grow.
For nutritional plots, more locations on one piece of land are good. It’s better to have many ½-acre plots than one massive plot. Smaller food plots located in the corners of a parcel of land will pull deer from several neighboring areas, more so than just one big plot in the center of your land. Wildlife research also shows that deer like choices. If something doesn’t feel right in one plot or it’s crowded by other deer, it’s good to have other options nearby.
For hunt plots, the best locations should be near the center of your property, so that more deer bed somewhere on your property and then travel into the heart of your land to feed. Also, when a deer is shot in a centrally-located hunt plot, they are less likely to run onto neighboring property and expire.
Hunt-plot locales should be secluded and have places that are good for treestands, ground blinds or a shooting house. If you have a good spot for a hunt plot but it’s too out-in-the-open, you should make that area more secluded by planting fast-growing bushes, scrubs and trees. Then in a few years, the location will be well-hidden. In the mean time, construct a “privacy wall” for the deer by planting a few rows of corn around the plot. Deer like to feed in areas where they feel unseen and protected.
Example Scenarios
Here are eight different scenarios that illustrate a good example of a well-balanced food plot system. You might relate to all or some of these example scenarios, and incorporate the advice into your food-plot plan.
Also listed here are seed recommendations for plants, using Evolved Harvest’s seed products. But of course, there are plenty of other reputable suppliers that have reliable seed products too. The purpose here is to give you a good example of what type seed mix is best for each scenario.
Area No. 1
Scenario: A 2-year-old, 1-acre nutritional plot. The mostly-clover plot is healthy, but weeds are growing in.Solution: Use a chemical designed to wipe out weeds while not harming your food plants. As an alternative, simply mow the plot so that the plants are 6–10-inches tall. Then fertilize the plot with a low-nitrogen, high-potassium product like 0-0-60. This type of fertilizer only benefits the clover, not the weeds. After one or two applications, the clover will grow faster than the weeds and problem will eventually choke itself out.
Seed used: ProVide Clover––A blend of several types of forage clovers with the added bonus of long-lasting chicory.
Area No. 2
Scenario: A 4-year-old, 1/2-acre nutritional plot that’s being choked out with grass and weeds.Solution: The plot has room to double or triple in size, once some thick grass, thorny bushes, deadfalls and tree stumps are removed. Plant this expanded plot with a mixture of annuals and perennials. It will make for a great hunting plot come fall, then remain as a solid nutritional plot for many years following.
Seed used: ProGraze––A mixture of both perennials and annuals. It is comprised of forage clovers and chicory, mixed with annual brassicas including rape and turnip varieties, to serve as a cover crop to protect the clovers and chicory until the perennial plot is established.
Area No. 3
Scenario: A 6-year-old, 1/2-acre nutritional plot that’s completely taken over with grass and weeds.Solution: There is no room to expand this plot, and the plot is in a secluded area. However, the land needs an increase of hunting plots vs. nutritional plots, so convert this area into a hunt plot by planting an annual seed mix.
Seed used: ShotPlot––Comprised of high-yielding forage brassicas. Once mature, they begin fixing more sugars in their leaves and become a huge attractant to deer.
Area No. 4
Scenario: Landowner is not taking advantage of walking trails to plant food plots on property.Solution: Added up, walking trails can yield several acres of food, most likely becoming the largest food plot on the property. As a bonus, deer will be happy to keep the trails “mowed down” making them easy for you to walk and saving you some tractor work! (But leave a 40-yard section of this walking trail unplanted. See Area 5).
Seed used: Rack Force––Perennial alfalfa, forage clovers and chicory. These plants grow well in a variety of land and weather conditions.
Area No. 5
Scenario: Landowner wants to plant another hunting plot, but doesn’t have time to start more work.Solution: A 40-yard section of walking trail from area No. 4 should be planted with annual seeds instead of perennials. This saved-off section of walking trail is in a secluded area with nearby trees that will safely hold a tree stand or hide a ground blind. Plant this section of the trail with an annual seed mix to create a convenient hunting plot. If this spot is not very secluded, plant some corn and scrubs to create privacy for the plot.
Seed used: Buck’n Oats––Consists of forage oats with fast-growing chicory. This mix is more cold- and drought-resistant, providing longer-lasting hunting opportunities.
Area No. 6
Scenario: A small grassy clearing on the property, located deep in the woods, is not being utilized as a food source.Solution: Expand this area using a chainsaw and a tree trimmer. Plant a 1/10-acre hunting plot. The small and very secluded plot is planted every year using a metal hand rake and some elbow grease. It will become a definite hotspot.
Seed used: Throw & Gro––A no-till seed mix, including ryegrass, clover and rape brassicas that can be planted without heavy equipment.
Area No. 7
Scenario: A 1-year-old, 3/4-acre nutritional plot. Last year this plot had a mix of both annual and perennial plants. This year the annual plants are gone.Solution: Thicken the plot by broadcasting more perennial seed. But only do this immediately after a mowing and before or during a good rain shower (rain will pound in and set the seeds).
Seed used: NWA Trophy Forage––A blend of perennial clovers, annual clovers and brassicas was originally planted; now spread ProVide Clover, adding more perennial clovers and chicory seeds to the area.
Area No. 8
Scenario: A large grassy area on the property, adjacent to area 7, is not being utilized as a food source.Solution: Plant a new 1-acre hunt plot here. Because this new plot will be directly located next to a nutritional plot, lots of deer already know it’s there. After first frost when this hunting plot becomes ripe, this easy-to-find plot will be a very popular place. Because this food plot is large, be sure it’s location is easy to access with machinery, because you’ll need to replant it year after year. Remember, having a big hunting plot such as this one is a good way to achieve your 25–40 percent nutritional vs. hunt-plot goal.
Seed used: MegaPlot––A grain-based mix of oats, triticale, turnips and turnip clovers. This mix provides a palatable, high-protein forage that ripens later in the hunting season.
Plenty of Plots
The future of my hunting land is bright and yours can be too. All you need to do is determine your ideal number for acres planted in food and get to work. Be sure to have a good mix of both nutritional and hunt plots, and distribute your plots strategically all over your land. Soon you’ll have a food plot system that will produce more hunting success. Learn more about Evolved Harvest’s seed options at: www.evolved.com.
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