MudderChuck

Ditto. I do pretty much the same. The CoOp and/or the local Feed and Seed are the place to shop and ask questions.

TN Lone Wolf

I live almost right on the TN/KY border in northwest Tennessee. For the past several years, I've maintained two plots of ladino clover that I hunt over. The beauty of ladino clover is it provides food from about the end of March to the beginning of December, and it attracts deer constantly from the time it comes up in spring to the time it dies back during the winter. My family has taken several decent bucks off of the plots over the years. You can plant clover spring or fall, but I recommend planting in the fall.

elevatedhunter

Thanks for all the in put guys.

The food plot is about a 1/2 acre in the middle of the hardwoods with a small pond on it.

And I guess I want something that will attract deer during early bow and then late season as well. Would anyone recommend planting two different crops for that purpose?

Thanks

super_hunt54

elevated, you have a DREAM spot!! If you have Oak in them there hardwoods you have what a bow hunter looks for in his wildest of dreams. You have a water source, food (acorns are like Hershey kisses to deer), and more than likely bedding close by. Put yourself some clover and alfalfa in that half acre and some Rape later on and if there are deer in that area, you can pretty much bet you will have one hell of a nice bow hunting spot!

elevatedhunter

super hunt54

Thanks man, yeah the acorns are good there and is the main source of food. Just wanted to put something in the field that will be different for the deer to browse on. Thanks for the info, I'll look at doing that.

TN Lone Wolf

For an early and late season plot, few combinations beat cereal grains (forage oats, winter wheat) and brassicas (turnips, kale, rapeseed). Get yourself a bag of forage oats and a 1/2 acre bag of ShotPlot, plant it about two weeks before season starts, and hunt away. The oats will provide a lot of palatable green forage for a month and a half, then the brassicas will mature and ripen following a few frosts.

Funny story. I was hunting the edge of a plot similar to what I recommended during bow season one year. A group of turkeys showed up and started walking through the young oat plants. They spent the next few minutes ambling about and eating the oats to the ground. I never knew they liked oats that much.

GTOHunter

I have been planting the Pennington Durana White Clover and it has done better than any other Clover I've tried and as mentioned in the Fall it's good to plant something that's going to draw in the Deer when Your Bow Hunting and into Rifle Season. I put out a mixture of Rape,Brassicas,Turnips and even some Dakon Raddishes with some Clover on the edges.

This Summer We planted Corn,Milo and Soybeans in several Plots then planted Milo & Clover with Sunflowers down the center on a few Plots and lastly about 3 Plots with Milo,Sunflowers,Turnips and Durana Clover on the edges....all of them looking really nice but as the Summer is progressing as mentioned earlier the Turnips & Raddishes do better later in the Season since they are more bulb/root based they can take colder/cooler Fall temps,the Rape and Brassica Plants are more Leafy and won't produce the bulbs/roots and the,Deer like,them year,round but will hit the Turnips,Raddishes,Rape,and,Brassica more in late Fall and after a few Frost which will bring up the Sugar Content making them more desirable!

Lots of great info from Everyone on here,try different Plants and see what the Deer like and hit the most....every area is different and what some Deer like in 1 area may not do well in in another.If possible just split up the Food Plot and lay down different seed in certain areas and watch what the Deer eat the most or blend the,seeds together and put something short with a tall growing plant?

The Plots I have Milo,Turnips and Raddishes are growing nicely together and I hand seeded Sunflowers down the center.Deer like Tall plants to hide in for cover plus the Corn and Milo are their favorite and they have the leafs from the turnips and Raddishes too.

GTOHunter

TN Lone Wolf....I've had lots of Turkeys lay down in the middle of our Wheat Food Plots and peck at the wheat seed heads and feed off them,they will do Oats the same way.I planted a bunch of Sunflowers this year so it will be interesting to see what will hit them once the heads get some decent seeds in them....some aren't very tall so the Turkeys shouldn't have any problems reaching them.

Blizzard Ridge

My favorite is soybeans planted in the spring (Real World is my favorite). I will then over seed with Plot Topper (Turnip, Radish, Brassica Mix) in August. After they wipe out the beans in the fall you will have some nice greens for them to munch on through the winter. The best part about this rotation is all plants are good for building your soil up as well.

BarnesX.308

We have had the best luck with turnips. I mean, the deer LOVE them. And they eat them in August and September too. We are in northern PA.