Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What’s your favorite food plot seed?

Fall and winter plots are Buckbusters and it’s about thigh high as of today.

Spring and summer plots will be purple hull peas and joint vetch and coming pretty soon.

I’m in upstate NY (zone 5a). Planting a smorgasbord really promotes moment. I like corn, brassicas (mixture of Rutabagas and Winfred) and Rye or triticale with clover (mix of MRC and white) and chicory. Brassicas get planted 3rd week of July, Corn is late May/early June (as soon as the ground dries up) and the grain/clover/chicory is planted Labor Day weekend. Grain is perhaps the strongest draw, but deer won’t dig for it with more than about 10” of snow. The Rutabaga tubers will feed deer as long as they can dig down through the snow to get to them. Corn is a draw all the time, and really gets hit when there’s more than a couple feet of snow.

I get grain and MRC from the local Agway, the white clover (ladino) and chicory is from Welter’s seed, and Windfred and Rutabagas are from Deer Creek seed.

central Missouri, white clover, corn/soybean rotational, brassica mix, native forbes, and TSI. I draw deer to my food, and help my native herd

What do you all like for something that will do good in a damp/wet area?

Can benefit deer, turkey or any other wildlife. I just see no reason for the area to not be used. Morningto noon sun then shaded after mid day.

Last plots I did were in South Carolina. Oats & Crimson clover. Did one 2-3 acre plot half Wheeler rye/clover and half oats/clover. Could look down the break line and there was no doubt about which was preferred. Just about all that was eaten on the rye side was clover.

I always plant oats, wheat, rye with mixed greens (turnips, mustard, kale etc.) scattered about. They were using Daikon radish last year until they froze. The turnips that survived were hit hard late in the season. The greens all froze last year for the first time that I remember, and I am 74. was not a bad cold spell but we had frozen rain, and that somehow did them in. I have established a couple of white clover patches for the deer and my bees. I would like more. The greens also make for nice bee blooms early in the spring. The rye seemed to draw better late in the year too. miles

I plant clover where I can , but most of my concentration is on oaks and, more recently, apples with varying drop times.

Whitetail Greens

elkaddict, do you have bears up your way? Whenever we plant corn in 4O the bears smash it all down. It's a real waste of time and money down here.

Usta plant alfalfa! 🤯! A fifty pound bag was $75!
Last I checked, a 50 lb sack of inoculated seed was somewhere north of $200!!!! 😖
Needless to say, I no longer plant alfalfa!
Winter peas, snow and sugar, are killer attractants.
Worked great down in the sandy Red River bottom ... until the feral hogs found them! Yeppers! Ruined THAT plan!

Last time I planted alfalfa, I had deer bedding in an area deer hadn't bedded on in decades!
It's about the best perennial cover crop money can buy....IF you can afford it!
Alfalfa is a legume and doesn't need fertilizer, but I would have a very thorough soil analysis done and check with your local farmers coop and county agent.
Alfalfa is VERY picky about where it grows, but it draws deer better than s#¡t draws flies! 😉!

We have bears, and occasionally, they knock a bunch down. On the other hand, I’ve watched them go to town on my grain and brassicas. I’ve finally gotten philosophical about the damage (I like watching them). I think I’ve suffered more damage from beavers than bears. Any plots near water have multiple trails…. Of course the raccoons and too many turkeys are also a problem as well. I enjoy the wildlife….

We are using more clover at our AL deer lease. We sent some money up early this year for fertilizer. We got too many does and they got our plots ate down. With spring will come warmer weather, rain , sun and more natural browse so the plots might get a break.

Cereal rye is my favorite. I realize it's not the best draw for deer, but it is almost silly cheap, easy to grow, grows most anywhere, and can be planted with little prep work or equipment.

I have great luck with Winter Rye. Also I am going to more Buckwheat as a soil builder mainly because fertilizer cost went through the roof.

Anyone in hog country have problems with them right after planting eating all of your seed?

Yeppers! If they find it!
I've seen them turn over several acres of newly sown wheat....overnight!!!😖

I planted oats on the edge of a wheat field. I also had a corn feeder going.
Pigs never touched it......until after deer season!
The pigs took over, rooted up the food plot and ate all the corn.
I had deer galore on my trail cam. Once the pigs moved in, the deer moved out!

Anyone have any success with any of the biologic products?