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

It’s spring , soon it will be summer and then fall. What’s your favorite seed for your fall food plots?

1. Seed

2. Location

3. When do you plant?

It was iron clay peas also known as cow peas. The deal was they could stand grazing. We have protected our doe deer so much that the peas get grazed and killed out now. I also planted 5 pounds of okra seed. They wiped that out. Not sure what to do now. They eat sunflowers. Maybe thickly planted corn or sorghum-sudan hybrid but as soon as a seed head comes on that the hogs ride it down. In the past I have just planted 50 pound bags of wild bird seed like you put in feeders.

Going to try cereal rye with a clover mix this year in late August. Working on some plots in Kansas real soon for soil prep. Longer term goal is 3-5 acres of alfalfa.

I plant soy beans and corn. Deer are in the beans all summer and in the corn all fall. Heck they often bed in the corn in the summer. There are forage beans available specifically for food plots. The are much harder for the deer to kill and stay green much later in the year.

Hard to beat clover and winter rye. I have had good luck with both. Rye is easy to grow and fast. It can grow well where the soil is not good enough for most other plots. Once established it will grow at around 35 degrees and up, so cold weather don't slow it down much.

Here in northern New York I have planted brassica mixes for about the past 15 years. It always seems like it’s a crap shoot. Some years it grows thick and tall, some years it barely does anything. Deer definitely love it though, it will draw deer to your property. Winter rye has become my favorite. Easy and cheap to grow, and deer devour it! I have a few 1/2 acre plots with a mix of clovers and chickory that do well. Deer frequent them , but don’t seem to pound them like brassica and winter rye.

If you are planting your own land or have a long term lease, consider a perennial clover mix. I've had mine planted for three years and it's still going strong. I cut it three to four times a year. My resident deer feed on it as soon as it starts greening up all the way till it's covered by snow. I've had them on camera feeding 30 minutes to an hour at a time. Here is the link to the one I planted, but they also have a broad range of plot seed. You can order direct from them.

https://www.seedway.com/product/recoil-clover-mix/

Compared to what I have used that is a very heavy seeding rate. In our area a 3# per acre will give a very heavy stand with normal germination.

Had the best luck with wheat, bob oats ( not the high $$ “buck” oats) and elbon cereal rye.

Get a lot of coverage for the $$ with that.

Never have really been a fan of the 100’s of good plot mixes.

Look at the tag, it’ll be 50% or so rye grass.


Never had any knee deep biologic or stuff like on TV.

Though l, I’ll admit. I don’t do soil tests.

I do put out lime before planting. . And ammonia after the seed comes up.

Imperial Whitetail No Plow….have had fantastic luck with that mix for 25 years.

I simply responded to the OPs question. I didn't want to have to replant every year. If you take annual planting cost into consideration, this does not seem expensive. The only thing I've done is lime and fertilize each spring. The deer in my area love it and the does and bucks body size indicate it works for them as well.

As I said, this is my preference. Should you prefer something else due to price, seed rate, nutrition etc; please share info on it.

Winter wheat and oats

I plant brassicas underseeded with a white clover mix in the first year. Deer love the brassicas and it gives good cover for the clover mix. Then maintain the clover for several years before doing it all over again. I have 5 plots and 1-2 per year in the first brassica/clover stage. Edit to add Ohio and late summer, though I’ve had good results in early summer also.

Hard to beat white clover. Plant in early September and do it again next year. Why fight the weeds. I have used brassica and it is excellent, but it don't last very long because they devour it as soon as it's ready. Two acres gone in about four days...nothing left but the little white tap root right down to the ground.

Corn

You need to plant a variety of seeds for fall or spring food plots. White clover does excellent on the dryer ground, red does better on lower ground. Wheat grows better in the low spots than oats, or rye. For spring and summer plots in the south it's hard to beat Alyce clover and brown top millet. Don't over use the brown top millet or it will stun the Alyce clover. Mow before the millet goes to seed it will last till fall. Or just let it seed out and the Alyce will take over. Fertilizer is the key, rotary mow and fertilize your edges and the deer will be there.

TG,

What fertilizer you using for clover?

8-8-8 or 13-13-13 will burn it?

I use 20-10-20 with some sulfur at 200lbs to the acre. Just make sure your PH is 6.0 or better. I feed a lot of critters including cattle, this is the cows 3rd time around and there's plenty for a fourth.

Here in Kentucky, for fall food plots, I like a mixture of purple-top turnips and daikon radishes. I also like winter rye, but not mixed in the brassicas. I usually do half of the plot in brassicas and half in rye.

Had three mixed (white and red) clover plots that have done well for three years. This is the fourth and growing really well.

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?