Due to rainfall and hunting schedules we used slightly different techniques for our fall food plots than we have used in past years. We usually plant our food plots with the no till drill. This year the fields were muddy and we had a trip planned. We wanted to get the seed on the ground before heading to Kentucky for the archery season opener. This called for boots, seed broadcasters, and enough energy to cover some ground. Instead of drilling the seed into the ground we broadcast the seed on top of the ground and hoped for rain.

We received a rainfall within two days of broadcasting our seed, but it wasn’t in the amount that we hoped for. We checked our Reconyx cameras and noticed turkeys were in the fields almost every day. These turkeys were most likely eating the soybean and wheat seed (that hadn’t germinated yet) off the ground.

A small hidey hole food plot that was broadcast with seed and had great germination.

A lot of times a person who doesn’t have the equipment to use a no till drill on their food plots will use a broadcaster and spread the seed on top of the ground. If it doesn’t rain soon after broadcasting a lot of the seed will be carried off by birds. This is why it’s important to check your food plots after planting to ensure you have a great stand of food. This is especially true when broadcasting a food plot. You don’t want to return to hunt and be upset with your lack of results!

With rain quickly approaching we returned to check our plots and found that a couple of them hadn’t grown as well as we had hoped. So as it rained we broadcast more seed. After having over one inch of rain in 24 hours we’re confident we’ll have a great stand of Brassicas, wheat, and soybeans.

Remember to always check those plots to ensure a great food plot to hunt over throughout the hunting season. If germination was weak don’t be scared to go back into your plot and broadcast again.

Daydreaming of whitetails,

Adam