No, we are not talking about a poorly placed shot here, but rather literally feeding to every buck’s primary need — food. Summer is a serious stress period for white-tailed deer. With that said, quality food is hard to find in many parts of the country right now, unless your area has been blessed with summer and late summer rainfall.

So, what do deer eat and how can you capitalize on hungry deer? Yes, yes, you know the answer is providing food, but you have two choices at this point. Do you wish to bait or actually provide supplemental feed the deer in your area? There is a difference and I’ve talked about baiting versus supplementing before. For those that are ate up with keeping deer in prime condition, most provide supplemental food year round through either food plots or free-choice protein.

Both of these options are fine, most deer managers even use them in combination, and they are ideal ways to promote the highest deer body conditions and support maximum antler growth, but what about some of the lease hunters or individuals that can not afford to provide supplementation throughout the year? (more…)

Warm season annuals such as milo, millets, other sorghum varieties, and legumes, such as beans, peas, and lablab, may be planted and southern latitudes after about mid-April for warm season food plots for white-tailed deer. Of course, don’t forget the biggest limitation on food plots — rain! Go for drought resistant plants every chance you get.

Dry Land Alfalfa

With that in mind, varieties of dry land alfalfa, a warm season perennial legume that comes back from the roots each year, or another grazing-type variety of alfalfa can be planted in food plots. An important thing to keep in mind, legumes have 20-30% protein content and fix nitrogen into the soil! That’s a double whammy considering the price of fertilizer. (more…)

Every hunter and deer manager wants to know, “What is the best thing to plant for white-tailed deer food plots?” There really is no easy answer. First, there are several counter-questions that must first be addressed before an answer can be tossed out.

• Spring or fall food plot?
• What type of soil do you have?
• How much rainfall do you get?
• What type of equipment do you have?
• How much do you want to spend on seed?

As you can see, many variables exists that determine which plant species can be used for food plot material on parcel of land in a given area. Although there is no common answer to the above questions, there are some “common” plants may work in your area. In particular, today we are discussing common plant species that can be planted in the spring, although some of the species may not be used until later in the summer. (more…)

Reasons of establish food plots usually involve supplementation of white-tailed deer during times when forage quantity and/or nutritive value is low. Cost-efficient and biologically effective supplementation can only be accomplished by understanding the seasonal nutritive requirements of white-tailed deer. A wildlife food plot could also be used as an attractant to enhance opportunities for survey, harvest, photography, or simple observation. (more…)

Trees that produce mast are very important to white-tailed deer. Arguably, the most well-known mast producing tree species are the oaks. However, mast is the fruits and nuts of any woody plant, including vines, brush, and trees. In this article, we will discuss mast-producing trees other than oaks that are very palatable to white-tailed deer that you may consider establishing for tree plots.

Trees make great long-term food plots because they are low maintenance and can produce a large volume of food with very little input once established. Remember, sunlight is a must for most species of fruit tree and, of course, the correct tree species for your property will depend upon your latitude. Great species for tree plots include:

Apple – Apples can offer a mast which is a crisp and juicy food source. Apple seedlings 4 to 5-feet tall can produce fruit as early as the second year, but make sure to take necessary precautions to protect young apple trees. The Arkansas Black apple is a great apple species for mast production. The mast is small by apple standards, but Arkansas Black apple trees begin dropping fruit around mid- to late November.

Arkansas Black Apple Tree

Crabapple — Crabapples produce a great soft mast and serves as a prime food for white-tailed deer. A crabapple tree seedling that is 4 to 5-feet tall can also produce mast within its second year. The two best species of crabapple you can plant are the Transcendent and the Dolgo. The Transcendent is a 2-inch, red-cheeked yellow apple yielding very large crops in early fall. The Dolgo, which produces a 1 and 1/2-inch crimson fruit, also yields healthy crops in early fall.

Crabapple Tree

Pear — Pears are a soft mast which white-tailed deer love. A 4 to 5-foot tall seedling can produce fruit as early as 1 to 3-years. Pears begin dropping fruit in early October and can continue into late November. Pears are long-lived and are really among the easiest fruit trees to grow. In addition, pears are adapted to most soils, including those that are poorly drained. In the south, Keifer pears work great.

Pear Tree Loaded with Mast

Chinese Chestnut — Chinese chestnuts are loved by deer, wild turkey, and just about every squirrel species. Despite the fact that it takes a 3-foot tall seedling 8 to 10-years to produce, if you are serious about a primo deer food, it’s worth the wait! The nut is a wildlife favorite because of the sweet flavor and huge yields. You will like it because it will help with your property’s forage management.

If you decide to go with the Chinese chestnut, make sure to plant 2 or more of these trees to make sure that they cross-pollinate. Avoid planting these tree species on alkaline soils. If you are not sure what types of soils you have on your property, get a soil test!

Chinese Chesnut Mast and Leaf

How much of your property or ranch should you put into food plots? Good question, but the answer depends upon the actual amount of deer habitat you and neighboring properties have, the carrying capacity of the land, and the amount soil you have that is food plot friendly.

Generally, estimates range from 1 to 6 percent in both cool season and warm season food plots, but that wouldn’t make much sense if your property is smaller in size. (more…)

A review of offerings at sporting goods stores reveals a myriad of products designed and marketed to attract deer to the hunter. Products, of course, fall into several categories, including food, dietary supplements, calls, decoys, musk and/or scents. Many of these products claim to deliver monster bucks for some unknown reason to anyone who applies them in the prescribed manner at the right time.

Although most products help a hunter increase their chances of success, this success is dependent upon the hunter understanding deer and how they react to nature and other influences. With this is mind, this article focuses on the various “supplemental” attractants used to attract white-tailed deer.

In Texas, it’s legal to hunt deer over a baited area, but hunting adjacent a feeder is not a perfect science. Deer will walk through scattered corn to get to a tree that is dropping acorns every time. Furthermore, deer may not even make themselves visible when habitat conditions are great - all while a mountain of corn grows under your feeder. (more…)

Once you’ve had your soil tested, identified your soil’s pH, and corrected any issues, the next concern is how much fertilizer will you need? Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are the main concerns. Typically, one of the most obvious signs of a lack of nitrogen is stunted forage growth and yellow leaves or stems. Why? Because nitrogen makes forage grow green and grow fast, especially if you are planting and growing grasses. However, if you are planting clover, the nitrogen won’t clearly help the plant since clover fixes nitrogen, but planting clover with grassy plants does work in a mutually positive way.

On each bag of fertilizer there will be three numbers corresponding to the ratio or nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium per 100 pounds. For example, a fertilizer marked as 5-10-15 has five pounds of nitrogen, 10 pounds of phosphorus, and 15 pounds of potassium for every 100 pounds of fertilizer. If your soil test results show that nitrogen is the biggest deficiency of the soil, ammonium nitrate may be your best option. Ammonium nitrate is listed as 34-0-0, so 34 pounds of nitrogen per 100 and zero phosphorus or potassium.

Soil reports also list secondary nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfur as well as the micronutrients zinc and manganese, but one optimum pH is achieved, the secondary and micronutrients will often be corrected. Ideally, you want to get the pH level around 6.5 for optimum growth. Buying lime in bulk is a very considerable savings over the 40-pound bags of pelletized lime. In some areas, you can buy and have bulk lime spread over the land for around $50 a ton. Pelletized lime is about $3 per 40-pounds, so it would take 50 bags to equal one ton. That’s $50 for a bulk ton versus $150 a pelletized ton. It adds up!

In short, once you have your soil analyzed, do what is necessary to correct for your soil’s deficiencies, but shop around and head to the feed store/ag dealer to save some money! Now, you are just about ready for that cool season or warm season food plot.