The sleek whitetail doe quietly and cautiously sauntered into my small-but-lush turnip and radish plot. I already felt a sense of satisfaction even before taking aim. A few minutes later, when I anchored her with a well-placed arrow, the experience was that much sweeter. That encounter played out during my first year of hunting that killing plot. The next year, I shot a doe and a nice fat buck out of that same plot within 20 minutes of each other. I’d rather be lucky than good any day, but I’m pretty certain my killer food plot setup was helpful to my success. Here’s how to plan and plant the best food plot for deer, with some things to consider when establishing yours.
Every food plot effort should serve specific purposes.
Two Food Plot Types (With Different Goals)
Being a deer and turkey hunter is a lot like being a realtor, where much of the success depends on location. There are two types of food plots that I create; destination food plots that keep deer around, and killing plots that I hunt.
Destination plots tend to be bigger and typically, offer more than one food source such as corn, beans and clover. This is the sort of situation where an animal can count on a solid food source throughout the year. I do not recommend hunting on destination plots, but rather well downwind of them, hoping to catch a buck scent-checking a destination plot for a hot doe from a distance, downwind.
A killing plot tends to be more of a situational plot that is ideally small, close to a known bedding source, and may even become a prime food source in the fall. If created well and hunted properly, deer feel comfortable feeding in killing plots all day long. A good example of a killing plot would be a small plot of turnips, radishes and young oats, all planted in August for an October or November hunt.
Additionally, it’s really important to ensure that the killing food plot can be easily accessed without bumping any bedded or feeding deer. Also, effective exit routes are equally important because the deer do not care whether you are coming or going, they just know that humans are a threat. Use the detailed Satellite and Terrain overlays found in HuntStand (see above) to determine these killer locations, taking into consideration important details such as prevailing winds. Ideally, all plots should feature several entrance/exit trails, and a few different stand sites, to ensure use in varying wind conditions.
A food plot with a well-played plan makes it easier to target specific bucks.
Building a New Food Plot
After deciding on a smart plot location, the next step is to prepare it. I’m of the belief that more is better when I prepare food plots. I like to get really aggressive with my chainsaw and tend to slash and hack at any trees in the area. At the very least, this approach ensures that new woody browse growth will pop up in any areas I don’t till under. I’ll burn the resulting logs, or use them for deer to lay against in bedding areas. Then:
- Take all the brush and line the edges of the plot to create a barrier, effectively allowing only well-planned entrance and exit routes.
- Spray the ground generously with weed killer at least once, if not twice, in a two- or three-week period.
- Take a soil sample to make sure everything is kosher for planting. (Many people waste hard-earned money throwing good seed on poor soil.)
- Ensure the soil is deemed suitable and prepped with needed fertilizer and lime.
- Work the soil and turn it all over.
- Prepare a good seed bed.
- Plant the seed.
How to Maximize Your Box Blind Hunting Setup
Choose a proven seed supplier, such as Evolved, and the right food plot species for your specific location and situation.
Plant the Right Food Plot Seed
Some common and effective food offerings include clover (which is full of protein), soybeans (also full of protein), and corn (which offers desirable carbohydrates). Brassicas (such as turnips and radishes), are also full of sugars and carbohydrates. The brassicas, especially, become desirable in the late fall after a few hard frosts when the starches in their greens turn to sugar.
So, what’s the ideal mix? Every area is different. Do some research. Talk to experts — maybe even a local wildlife biologist — and figure out what sort of food plot offerings would be best for your area. Or, keep it simple. Evolved has taken much of the thinking out of the equation; they offer great annuals, perennials, and blends, as well as effective minerals and attractants. Additionally, find the best and easiest-to-use soil test kit that works for you.
Position stands in areas that offer good entry and exit routes.
Consider Optimal Stand Locations
Stand location is critical when hunting close to a food plot. It’s imperative to remain as invisible as possible, and it all starts with stealthy entrances and exits. Trim and neatly manicure trails before hunting season arrives. Therefore, when hiking in, footsteps are faint, and you’re not snapping and cracking dry branches and rustling noisily through piles of leaves.
Once on stand, even the most-secretive exit route can be ruined when deer are feeding in the plot. So, be extra-careful and alert. As daylight wanes, be ready to sit patiently. Another great help to remain undetected is HuntStand. If on an extended food plot sit, and your app shows a forecasted wind change, it might be wise to bail early and sneak over to a more-favorable stand location, rather than risk spooking incoming deer.
A good box blind can greatly reduce scent that escapes into the immediate area during the hunt.
There are several smart products that can help minimize your impact on local deer. Numerous products are available that implement the ozone or PureION technologies, which help treat hunting clothing, limit scent in the field, and more. These things come highly recommend if your goal is absolute scent control and the lowest-possible impact.
For treestand hunters, Muddy and Hawk offer a variety of smart stand options to safely and secretly hunt in most any tree. Where there are no trees, or if you’re not comfortable leaving the ground, well-made blinds offer smart ground-based options, and even elevated blind stands. A nice bonus with Muddy blinds is that you can sit wherever you want, and its hard-shell models also offer a good deal of scent control, especially when combined with a scent-reduction unit.
How to Plant Successful Food Plots [Deer Dirt]
Monitor food plots with a good cell camera setup.
Monitor the Food Plot
As with any killing food plot, it’s really important to closely monitor it. This can be done in a couple of different ways. The key to monitoring anything when you’re not out there is about smart use of trail cameras. Stealth Cam offers incredible cell cams and Command app, and for good reason. This technology allows the hunter to hang a camera and never have to visit it, until much, much later when the batteries finally die. This game-changing system not only eliminates a huge dose of human interference but also allows you to travel to your plot only when the time is right to kill a trophy buck.
If using traditional SD-style cameras, make sure they are in very high-traffic areas, ideally in locations where human presence is expected and will not be too alarming. These areas are logging trails, creek crossings, farm gates, grain or hay field edges, etc. When hanging and checking a manual trail camera near a killing plot or bedding area, scent control, again, is very important. Residual, unchecked human odors do all sorts of damage to the deer woods. In super-high-traffic areas, where human odors are not alarming, I simply drive up, leave the truck or UTV running, and swap cards quickly. But when the hunting gets technical and your cams show a trophy has been making his rounds, the Command technology, and its ability to integrate with the HuntStand app (to further analyze trail camera details and deer patterns), are worthwhile investments.
Put in the food plot work, and deer will come. As a result, you'll fill tags.
Focus on Food Plot Details
Hang treestands for the specific hunt, time of day, and wind conditions in mind. Here again, HuntStand’s map layers are very useful, including habitat-based layers (such as Crop History, Mapbox Satellite, Monthly Satellite, National Aerial Imagery, Satellite, and Whitetail Habitat Map), and topography-based layers (such as 3D Map, Contour, Quad Topo, and Terrain). Other tools, such as the Map Editor (customizable hunting land markers and notes), HuntZone (wind direction and speed), Whitetail Forecast (deer movement predictions), and more, can be invaluable.
When on site hanging a stand, when possible, make sure that the sun is at your back, and shining in the animal’s eyes to minimize your chances of being busted. (Don’t sacrifice the better wind direction to achieve this, though.) Also, educate yourself a bit and beware of the thermal effect of rising air in the morning, and dropping air in the evening. As mentioned previously, invisible entrance and exits to stands can’t be overstated.
Establishing food plots helps the herd and your deer hunting.
Overall, put all of these pieces together to create your perfect stand and killer plot location this spring, and you’ll reap the benefits of it all this fall.
Mature Buck Tactics to Know About [Deer Dirt]
Editor’s Note: Author Jason Herbert, of Plainwell, Michigan, is a part-time outdoor writer who has traveled the world in search of memorable adventures. When he has free time, Jason enjoys spending time with friends and family on his small organic homestead and farm.
