RE: foodplots in texas
Don't run a tiller across it. Nothing will make your ground as hard as a tiller, unless you are in very sandy soil. I have heard all these people build up lablab, but our hunters tried it for a while and it didn't do much. I've had decent luck with black-eyed peas, and will be planting some this Sunday while the sign is right. But I'm doing them for harvest, not a food plot. I'm hoping this will work because this year is an el nino year, and our rainfall is usually heavier. On non-el nino years, I'm only successful about 50% of the time. Those success rates in a food plot probably do as much or more harm than good.
Really, your best option is sound range management. Native plants have been used to the conditions for thousands of years, and they are equipped to handle them. I've been working on range improvement on our land for about the last three years. So far, I've got about 900 acres done. And the results are very visible. The pastures look better, and the trial cams have been showing healthy deer even in January and February, which are probably the hardest months on them here.