food plot

[hansonca]

I checked it in the am and it still hasn't been touched.

[reeper0697]

any news on it? I'm curious because I was excited to use brassicas this year since they turn sweet after they freeze, the only problem with mine is that insects seemed to demolish it early. It seemed to be the only thing insects hit at this plot too. Hope ya took a bigin over it!

[GTOHunter]

We planted several Food Plots this Fall and the Deer have devastated just about every one of them.We planted Brassicas,Rape Seed,Clover,Foraging Turnips,Purple Top Turnips,Wheat and Foraging Oats to name a few of the seed mixtures (Shot Plot,Thro & Grow,Hot Spot,Secret Spot *brand names).At first the deer may not hit the Food Plots because of natural browse,local crops and acorns but after it frost or freezes the sugar content will raise in most of the plant leaves and the Deer will hit it more and more.If you take a small wire cage and steak it down in the food plot you can see where the Deer can't reach into that area and how the other part of the Food Plot is lower to get an idea if they are hitting it very much?

[Demoderby4]

There are too many to name, i have done a lot of researching lately and their are tons of different variety's of plots for deer. A lot matters on where you are at in the country, the weather that you encounter, type of soil, and other things as well the question is pretty vague, give us a little more info and we'll be able to help u better! The most successful one i keep reading abut is the whitetail institute clover. And most times your not going to get both big and a lot of deer out of the same plots, your gonna have to mix it up some and make a few different plots if you want both, it might be best to focus on one of them first and then move on to the other as time goes by. I'm gonna work on attracting deer to my proprty this offseason, then as time goes on after that i'll be working on growing em bigger when more are on the property.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: dxthunter57

i was wondering what is the best types of food plots for growing big and alot of deer

 
Food plots do not grow free ranging deer. Don't drink that kool aid man, it's BS!
 
Time and escape cover grow deer. Food plots supplement nutrition, and may hold deer closer to your property, but big antlers do not come in a bag of seed mix.

[DeanoZ]

ORIGINAL: JPH

ORIGINAL: dxthunter57

i was wondering what is the best types of food plots for growing big and alot of deer

Food plots do not grow free ranging deer. Don't drink that kool aid man, it's BS!

Time and escape cover grow deer. Food plots supplement nutrition, and may hold deer closer to your property, but big antlers do not come in a bag of seed mix.

 
Thats a good point JPH, and something relatively in-experienced guys like me overlook.  I just want to get them closer to my property...love the kool-aid comment, lol..thats some funny stuff!

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: dxthunter57
i was wondering what is the best types of food plots for growing big and alot of deer

The person who can come up with this answer will make a million $$$. 

But here's what we do.

Clover is pretty much a standard, my preference for the time being is Durana.  I also like chicory, it has a deep tap root so does well in drought, plus it's something most others in our area don't plant so it gives the deer something different.  Both are perennials so I don't have to re-plant every year.  Deer have hit the Durana extremely hard this year, its first - but that might be due to plot placement as opposed to clover type, I can't say.

As far as a deer preference food I've not found anything they'll hit harder than Austrian Winter Peas - we can't grow them the deer take them down so fast.

If money, time, equipment, and land weren't an issue I'd choose RR soybeans and leave them standing all year.
 
These all will attract deer, but most of us probably don't plant plots big enough to actually effect deer nutrition or health with our food plots. 

[whubbard]

So here's the question.  Can I buy seed at a local seed store, mix my own, and have the success of whitetail institues mixes?  If i can put alfalfa, chicory, and clover together why doesnt every one do that?  Will my local seed not produce like their "bio-genetic" seeds?  Please help.  That label on that bag makes that stuff expensive.

[Goose]

I'm sure you could do that and have good results if you watch your mixtures, you gotta make sure you don't over seed certain things in relation to others. For example you put turnips in with something else and the turnips grow faster and end up not letting the other plants mature because of the canopy from the turnips.
 
Also there are differences in your seed from local seed mills and the "brand" name stuff like Whitetail Institute.
Their plants are designed to be more digestible for deer therefore more preferred.
The cell wall that stiffens plants up to support the growing plant is often the reason deer turn off of them once they get so mature. Their plants are designed with this in mind and therefore are more "preferred" by the deer.
So yes their is a difference but its not a major one.
I would say if you plant one field with whitetail institute and the another one with seed from your local mill both the same plant, you might see deer prefer the Wi at certain stages.
 

[Goose]

Sounds good, we finally got some rain...too bad we cant find a happy medium!
Keep us updated on your plot!