Click the link below and it will take you to a new page, towards the bottom of the page is a description of each kind of plant that you might be able to put in your deer food plot.

Deciding What to Plant!

Clover is one of the most popular forage crops for deer. But clover is a bit ambiguious because there are so many varieties…

Remember to keep in mind where your deer food plot is located when choosing a seed. Some plants, for example brassicas, are not preferred by deer until cold weather sets in so if you live farther South those plants would not be the right choice for you.

Most importantly, stick with creating small ambush food plots because if you discover that what you planted was not a big hit with the deer, then there is always next year to easily change the food plot seed.

Lee and Tiffany Lakosky’s Farm – A Dream Dirt Story in Iowa …

While there certainly is more acreage involved than the owned acres, I suspect that Lee and Tiffany also lease some adjoining ground which helps them be as effective as they are in managing the deer on their home place but their home place is about 350 acres. … When you look inside the timber you notice many of the markings of intertimber food plots that you often see in their video footage on their various appearances on television. These food plots are spread out and …

More hunters than ever before are interested in making food plots for deer. But many think it’s too difficult or believe they don’t have the necessary equipment to get it done. I want to dispel that notion here and briefly explain exactly how simple it is to create a food plot using no power equipment at all.

Hand tools are all you need to create a small food plot of half an acre in size or smaller. For bowhunting that’s all you need and the smaller the better. Mine are only 1/8 of an acre, 25 yards x 25 yards, and they draw deer in like crazy.

So here is a list of the hand tools you need for making deer food plots.
- Hand-held or backpack tank sprayer
- Spade shovel
- Leaf rake
- Steel come-along rake
- Fertilizer spreader
- Hand-held seed spreader

If you are new to making food plots for deer, you may be looking for a roto-tiller or cultivator in the list to break-up the ground. You may use one if you like and even pull a disk behind an ATV or tractor. However the average hunter doesn’t have access to those luxuries and may not even be able to get that equipment through the woods back to where his honey hole is located.

If we fast forward through the planting process, the following is all you need to do to have an awesome attraction food plot come hunting season.

Step 1 – Decide on an area with suitable soil and remove any small trees or brush. Do not remove the grass or weeds by disking or turning them over. Take a soil sample and have it tested. Do not skip this step!

Step 2 – Spray the weeds and grass with a herbicide such as Roundup as soon as they reach 8″ inches tall in the spring. In about 4 weeks spray the weeds and grass again and leave them there to fully die all summer. This is also when you put on your recommended pelletized lime from your soil test results.

Step 3 – In early to mid-August you can rake off the dead weeds and debris and apply any fertilizers recommended from your soil test results. Then lightly loosen the surface of your plot with a steel come-along rake. This is when you’re glad your food plot is small.

Step 4 – On the same day in early to mid-August, use your hand-held seed spreader to apply your seeds.
If you are using a seed blend of different size seeds, be sure to open the hopper of your spreader just enough to allow the smallest size seeds to pass through first as you cover the whole plot. Then open it up to allow the next size seed to pass through and so on until your recommended amount of seed is all gone.

That’s it! You’re done. Now go hang your treestand, cut out your shooting lanes, and don’t step foot in your deer food plot until hunting season. Making food plots for deer is fun when you keep them small. Think of the fun you can have hunting 2 or 3 different plots.