Food Plots for Trophy Deer Hunting

Trophy Whitetail Hunts Start with Natural Deer Food and Attractants

Dec 1, 2008

A food plot for trophy whitetails is readily done with a little planning and field work. Vital for deer management, it can improve both firearm and archery hunting.

Trophy whitetail hunting is within reach for anyone with access to private hunting land, where food plots provide a natural alternative to deer feeders and other forms of deer attractants. Because a food plot is basically a crop, it takes some agricultural know-how, planning and physical labor to make it pay off with trophy deer hunts.

Think Like a Deer

The food plot best sites are between deer bedding areas and water sources. Other good spots are along travel routes between additional deer food locations and areas deer use for cover. Consider planting more than one food plot to provide seasonal and nutritional variety that deer seek.

Preparing a Food Plot

Best results come with proper site preparation. First, clear the plot of any shrubbery. If the food plot site contains competitive weeds like crabgrass, use a safe herbicide with low toxicity for mammals. Then mow it and allow the cut foliage to dry completely.

Food Plot Equipment

If a seed drill is available, jump to the planting step. If not, use a disc to cut the sod. Cross the plot several times to loosen sod well. Plowing is the next step, and loosened sod helps considerably. A small one or two-bottom plow will work well. Allow the furrows and overturned sod to dry at least a week. Disc again, this time to thoroughly cut the dried sod and level the plot. Disc until the soil is friable and even.

Planting Food Plots

Choose grass seed and other crops that are deer favorites such as annual rye, buck forage oats and clovers. Broadcast the seed with a spreader or by hand. Disc to cover the seed lightly. Seed germinates with enough heat and moisture. Grasses, clovers and similar crops can be sown in the spring. Grains such as annual rye and winter wheat are best sown in late summer to early fall. In most years, they will provide succulent greens that trophy whitetails love, just in time for hunting season.

Consider Fruits, a Favorite Deer Snack

Apples, pears, cherries – generally any tree fruit – are like candy to whitetails, including big deer. It doesn’t take an orchard; just one or two bearing trees are a strong deer attractant. Depending on the species, a pollinating tree may be needed.

Bare-root stock is best. Dip the roots in water-retaining silica gel to give the plant a great start at the site. Choose disease-resistant varieties, preferably as two-year-old stock. Protect the trunk with a sturdy tree wrap or tube to keep out voles and rabbits. To keep deer from browsing tender shoots and to prevent bucks from shredding the trunk by rubbing, surround the young tree with a full-height cage of chicken wire or welded wire.

Hunters who’ve seen trophy whitetail perched on their hind legs to stretch for the last apple at the crown of a tree fully understand the potency of fall fruit as a deer food. It’s worth the extra attention and care needed to establish the trees as a part of productive food plots.

Free Food Plot Planting Advice

Most local agricultural extension offices can provide advice on selection of the varieties of grasses, grains and fruits that best match local soils and growing conditions. Fertilization advice is also available, as are soil tests if needed. It’s a practical way to reduce browsing in commercial operations, which will make both trophy whitetail hunters and farmers happy.

The copyright of the article Food Plots for Trophy Deer Hunting in Hunting is owned by Scott Walker. Permission to republish Food Plots for Trophy Deer Hunting in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.