Spring of Fall?
 

If you had to choose between whether to plant your food plots in spring or fall, whichwould you choose and why?

DeerHuntMO

RE: Spring of Fall?
 

Depends what you want in your food plots? Are they attractant food plots or nutritional food plots? Where inthe country are you? Are you planting something that needs a lot ofrain orsomething else to address iswhatever you want to plant take cold freezes?

How much property are you planting alsomay decide how much you plant in spring or fall because planting late fall (like wheat) will still be growing and growing very tall by spring when you would start your spring planitng?

RE: Spring of Fall?
 

Fall.....Spring/summer plots won't do as much to help the herd. A lot of the native vegetation has more protein and other needed nutritionalvalue than what you plant. Deer are more browsers anyway. They will eat a little of this and a little of that to make up their diet. Fall/winter they need the additional food value they can get from good food plots.

RE: Spring of Fall?
 

Shouldn't discourage fall... spring/summer food plots. Spring plots are great for bucks to recover fully inweight and overall healthfrom a long season of breeding and winter. Studies show that bucks can lose up to 25% of their weight so spring is a great time to recover back to full health.Does need spring to get ready forhaving theiroff spring; just another reason tohave spring plots. Summeris when bucks grow their antlers, heavy protein plots will significantly increase overall protein diet;does benefit tremendously toofrom summerplots as well.I do agree fall/winter plots are important but so are the other seasonal plots.

RE: Spring of Fall?
 

How food plot forages meet the seasonal nutritional demands of deer:
By Matt Tarr, Whitetail Stewards, Inc.
Forages that are most nutritious and palatable in the SPRING are important for:
[ul][*]helping all deer recover from winter stress[*]providing pregnant does with nutrition needed to support developing fetuses through the third trimester and to begin producing milk[*]providing bucks with nutrients needed to begin growing antlers [/ul]
Forages that are most nutritious and palatable in the SUMMER are important for:
[ul][*]providing does with nutrients needed for producing milk[*]providing nutrients needed by growing fawns[*]supporting further antler development in bucks [/ul]
Forages that are most nutritious and palatable in the FALL/WINTER are important for:
[ul][*]providing nutrition for weaned fawns that are still growing[*]providing energy deer need to prepare for winter[*]replacing energy lost during the rut [/ul]

RE: Spring of Fall?
 

But given the choice as DeerHuntMO ask, I would pick the fall/winter plots as being more important. There is just more native nutritional vegetation available in the spring/summer for the deer herd.

RE: Spring of Fall?
 

i would start in the spring, and try and keep the deer on your property