Setup a Wildlife Food Plot
Set yourself up for success by first outlining the goals of your food plot. Do you want to develop a wildlife viewing area? Harvest game? Increase carrying capacity? Or maybe you want to support all of these.
Once you’ve determined your needs, it’s much easier to determine the food plot size, location, and seed mix.
Find the location of your new food plot. Keep your eyes and ears in tune with clues like deer bedding areas, roosting spots, water access, and other wildlife trails. Choosing a place that’s already active with wildlife makes it that much easier to attract into your plot.
Determine forage seed mix to plant. Acknowledge if tillage or other equipment can access the plot. If not, choose no-till blends. Other mainstays in food plots include legumes like clover and cowpeas, which provide a good source of protein and help to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. Cool-season annual grasses like oats, wheat, and ryegrass keep animals (especially deer) fed from late fall through to winter. Opting for a commercial seed mixture can increase the diversity and availability of forage throughout the year.
Get the soil & seedbed ready. First, test the pH of your soil. You’ll know before you plant if you need to add inputs like lime to correct low pH. Then it’s time to prep the seedbed. If you have weeds, you need to remove them (new seedlings don’t really stand a chance against established weeds.) Then consider discing to create a level seedbed before using a cultipacker to firm up the ground
Plant the seeds & maintain your plot. Get solid seed-to-soil contact with a food plot seeder. Once growing, keep soil fertility and weed eradication top of mind. Even though a food plot is a supplemental planting, it still needs to be properly managed to increase the yield and overall enjoyment of your work.
Measure your success. How well is wildlife taking to your food plot? Set up a “exclusion cage” around a small patch of land and have a visual cue to what you’re providing. Usually made from woven mesh fence and about four feet square, this cage keeps critters out while letting the same amount of sunlight, rain, and other nutrients in. This way, you can see what the food plot offers to animals without the strain and stress of being picked over.
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