Selecting Locations for New Food Plots
Filed under: Ask Grant, Food Plots
My hunting lease has diverse terrain. One part is on a hill covered in post oak and cedar but drops off approximately 40′ into a creek bottom covered in water oak, yaupon and briars. In past years we have not utilized food plots or feeders, so patterning deer movement and concentration has been difficult. In the absence of a food plot, can you shed some light on which terrain the deer would prefer? We plan on establishing two soybean plots and one clover plot this year, with the clover just off the creek in the bottom and the soybeans in a terrain transition area. Is this a good idea or bad? Any suggestions will be most welcomed.
Thanks,
Chance
Chance,
The more similar the habitat, the more difficult it is to pattern deer. This is because there are no limited resources that are more valuable than others to attract deer. For example, if the entire property has oaks, then hunting acorns is probably not a good strategy. It sounds as if high quality forage would be a limited resource and therefore very attractive to deer on your property! Remember that deer are usually more concerned about surviving than eating. So even if the food plots are the only quality forage in the neighborhood, deer, especially mature bucks, will avoid the plots during daylight hours if they associate them with danger.
I would be careful about establishing the clover plot by the creek if flooding is probable. Another consideration is that if hunting is a primary mission for these plots, locate them where it’s to the hunter’s advantage to approach and hunt without alerting deer. Usually the wind swirls less on ridge tops compared to bottomland locations. Unless the soil is extremely low quality, I tend to establish hunting food plots on ridge tops.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
