Fall Food Plot Preparation and Tips

As we near summer’s end, hunters across North America are gearing up for another fall in the woods. The anticipation in the month of August is at its peak and outdoorsmen and women across North America are biting at the bit to get back into the woods. For deer hunters this month means spending the evening hours glassing bucks held up in bean fields, hanging cameras to get an up-close glimpse at a velvet giant, cutting shooting lanes for tree stands, or getting fall food plots into the ground. The work you put in right now can pay dividends when the season hits, so it is important to take any beneficial steps that give you an edge.

Harvesting an early season buck can be a difficult task. Consistently getting pictures of, or eyes on, big bucks during the last few weeks of summer is a great feeling. But there comes a time when that fuzz comes off, the bean fields turn yellow, and the bucks seem to vanish. This leaves many hunters confused and frustrated. This is a period when deer begin to change their food source and feeding patterns. Depending on your location, this could mean a transition to acorns, standing corn, but hopefully in our case, your fall food plot. Being able to predict fall food sources can be difficult, but proper placement and use of fall plots can significantly boost your odds at wrapping your tag around a mature whitetail; leaving you the rest of the season to kick back, relax, and spend your Saturdays watching football.

Location:

Determining where you want the food plot to grow is the largest factor to having success. Here are some key questions you should ask yourself before planting:

Does this area receive a suitable amount of sunlight?
How does this area correlate to buck and doe bedding areas on my property?
What winds can I properly hunt this area with? Are they predominant ones?
How can I access and leave this area without alerting deer?
Does this area have a good tree I can hunt out of, or is a ground blind necessary?
What is the cover/screening like around the plot? Can I improve this?

Planting a food plot requires substantial investment which costs you time, and monetary resources. The last thing you want to do is go through the motions only to realize you don’t have a tree to hunt out of, or that you never have the correct wind to hunt your plot. Make sure to have concrete answers to these questions before hitting the dirt.

Preparation:

After you determine an adequate location for your honey hole, it is time to act. Depending on the resources you have at your disposal, this process may look different for everyone. Here are a few tips to ensure high end return on investment:

Timing. It is crucial that you time up planting with a rainfall you know is likely to happen within a short time window. Without doing so, the likelihood of failed germination increases drastically.
Nutrient testing. Be sure to test the PH level of your soil to give you an idea of the local nutrients and whether applying lime is appropriate. You can find soil sampling kits online or local farm retail stores.
Seed Selection. It is important to select a seed that works for the fall planting period. Think about brassicas, radishes, turnips, clover, and cereal grains. A fan favorite of whitetail hunters across the nation, including me, is clover.
Machinery. Determine the type of machinery necessary to work the land. A process that has worked for me in the past is using a bush hog, applying chemicals to ensure weeds/invasive competition is minimized, tilling, broadcast seeding, and then rolling seed into the ground.
Will you need to, and can you, find adequate machinery to rent, or do you have access to what you deem necessary?
Do not get caught up on high end equipment, a lot of good can be done with a zero turn, hand sprayer, and a push tiller.

Planning the logistics of food plot work can be tedious, but you will thank yourself in the long run. Sticking to a concrete plan not only keeps you on track, but it makes it easier to look back and fine tune your plan for future plantings.

Post Planting:

Now that you’ve broken dirt and got the seed in the ground, it is time to play the waiting game. This is where you begin to see your hard work pay off. Additionally, this is time to add small additives that can help boost deer traffic through the area. Here are some things to think about:

Mock Scrape/Licking Branches: Adding these can boost buck traffic in the area especially if the plot is close to a known bedding area. This becomes a scent depository for deer in the area and it is in their nature to come investigate, more so if you are in a dominant buck’s range. This is a great way to entice a buck to come out of his bed earlier in the evening, especially after precipitation.
Trail Camera Placement: Hanging a cell or SD camera in a strategic place overlooking the plot is a great way to monitor the growth of your plot and see how deer are using it (focus on entries, exits, and time stamps). If there is significant distance between you and your plot, a cell cam is a great investment.
Maintenance: Mowing is an easy and effective way to improve the quality of new growth. Especially in clover plots. Be sure to mow plots that are resilient and can grow back. Mowing reduces competition with your planted crops and any lingering weeds/invasives. This used in conjunction with specialty chemical applications/fertilizers can be game changing (be sure to use appropriate ratios).

Post planting practices are just as necessary as the preparation work. Being able to sit down and conceptualize how deer react to the plot not only gives you an edge, but more importantly, it builds woodsmanship! This is an invaluable skill.

Overall, food plots are a great way to increase deer traffic on your property, enhance deer nourishment, and improve deer harvesting rates if done correctly. The most important part of this process is to realize that your plan and success could be measured differently than the next hunter. If you never get discouraged, roll with the punches, and be a student of the game, then planting a food plot can be a great learning experience. Now get out there and earn that sweat equity.