Food Plots - What are the best?
 

What is the best food plot for the Southern KY Northern TN Region to use for white-tails?

Clover, clover, and more clover!!! And Alfalfa... Before you hunt (about 2 weeks) mow that clover. As soon as rain hits that mowed clover it will start a new growth spurt and deer will absolutely flock to it. For a wintering crop, I like Rape plants. Deer seem to like them and they will help sustain your deer during the winter months. Plant it around August.

Hey elevatedhunter, Clover- White Dutch & Lidano (red) is a must. However plant Barassica year round bud.

Superhunt deer love Barassica year round.

Up here that is a late season draw after the frost. I think that first frost makes it sweeter or at least more of an attractant. I also agree with the clover and alfalfa. I don't have any food plots but a neighbor does and he does both clover and barassica. The only thing I plant is....myself in the woods.:biggrin::biggrin:

They love it year round but it tends to not grow well when planted in the mid summer months. Hence why I said plant it in August. It just doesn't take well when planted too early.

Edit to add: this is in the southern part of the country. Up here in Illinois it does a bit better but down in TN and Lower Kentucky it just doesn't root well when planted too soon.

Yup agree. Planted in late summer/ early fall here. Our late season ML hunt is always great when there is some planted. They can't leave it alone.

I think the question you want to ask yourself, is , what time of yr do you want the plot to be most attractive to deer?
as that will determine what you plant and when to plant it
all plants have peak feeding time to deer, as in when the plant is most digestible and liked by deer, its not as simple as JUST PLANT THIS and your good all yr!

I have 30+ yrs of planting food plots and farming under my belt?

Up here in IL I plant clover (both red and white) and Alfalfa, on a couple plots I have some other assorted things such as soy beans and turnips (when they find the turnips they don't last long :D ) for my spring and summer feedings and then I usually lay some winter wheat and Rape for the winter plots. The absolute best advise I can give you would be to go to your local CoOp and ask them what grows best in the areas that you intend to plant. The folks hanging out in those CoOps are some of the best information sources one can find. And the seeds will be a hell of a lot cheaper than those over priced "food plot" blends that you can get at Cabelas and such.

Something I've mentioned before and is worth repeating, a large portion of a Deer brain is dedicated to the sense of smell. Sure there is the obvious, so they can smell predators at a long distance and for finding food. The not so obvious is Deer need trace elements for bone growth and other health functions. All forage isn't created equal.

They can smell these trace elements at long distances. We've all heard the stories about wildlife traveling long distances to eat the dirt in a certain spot.

Why they choose one place to feed over another has a a lot to do with available cover, the available forage etc. A lot also has to do with the soil. I put my plots where the Deer feed anyway. Pine forests aren't where you find many of these trace elements.

A lot of ruminates are Calcium and phosphorus deficient, especially lactating Doe in the spring.

Two things that really seem to drive my Deer crazy are sweet tasting plants after the first frost (Rape, Rye etc.). And any sort of grass or Clover planted in Calcium and Phosphorus rich soil. They seem to really hit them hard, I mean two dozen Deer returning to the same area to feed consistently and for years. I've put various forage plants in the same plot, good soil is likely just as important as what you plant.

http://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/rape.htm worth a look, might give you some ideas what deficiencies your plot or even native plants are exhibiting.