Deer Food Plot - Spring Planting Suggestions

Can you burn?

The problem with spring/summer plantings is that if you have even a decent number of deer on the property they’ll slam legumes as soon as they come up. Also, most folks don’t have big enough plots for those types of plantings. Again, deer will mow them down unless you can fence a plot off until the planting can get up large enough that deer will have a hard time eating it down.

I’ve had good success with clovers. If they make, you have a a great food source through the summer.

The reason I asked about burning. When I burn this time of the year I get a tremendous amount of young, tender natives that deer love. Regardless of how much I put in a plot, I’ll never be able to duplicate the tonnage of food created after a good late winter/early spring burn.

Just make sure your fall mix has some perennial clover in it or just add some to it. You plant once in the fall and have a year around food plot.

Sorry, meant to say annual clover.

I assume you are doing it primarily for deer. If you have lots of deer but don’t have big (5-10+ acre) fields, most summer plot crops get overbrowsed as soon as they come up. Soybeans, even forage soybeans, are a waste of money. Same on sunflowers. Corn is very labor and cost intensive. Sorghum will work, but you will likely have lots of volunteers when you plant fall fields, hurting your fall greenfields. The best thing for most people is clover.

I've tried a few blends....I really like Stratton Seed's Heritage Blend


But it does get hammered in some plots and it leaves bare soil.

So this year I'm going with Buckwheat and cowpeas....maybe some sunflower.

Anyone ever mess with buckwheat as a cover crop to protect your soil?

PS I also have a good stand of their clover mix called Revival. It's looking great and i've only had to spray cleth once.

Add a white clover like durana to your fall mix (or go seed it in now).

Spray with clethodim in early march to release the clover before the fall wheat overtakes it.

Top seed with alyceclover and joint vetch in may. They will mature as the white clover wanes in the heat. Those three will cover you until you plant again in the fall. I don’t see a need to till for spring/summer plots and it’s usually too wet to get equipment in.