I have permission to plant a little more to an already established plot. I have about 1 1/2 - 2 acres to plant and 1/2 that is in clover and chickory already.

I am wanted a late season attractant for the new part. I have tried turnips there w/ no real success. Any ideas?

I am getting ready to spray and kill it and will plant in August time frame. I have little to no big equipment that is needed for some plot work. I can access my garden tractor there and could use a small disc and I can drag it as well.

Thoughts? Idea's? Experiences?

I'd plant winter wheat. Ive been planting food plots for over 10 years and if I could only plant one thing it would be winter wheat.

Don't plant it until mid to late Sept. Up north we have a no fly time of Sept 25 when the flies that attack winter wheat are gone. Check will your local ag dealer and see when the date is for your area.

I usually plant winter wheat and turnips, one next to the other and that makes my plot good up into late January or early Feb.

I suggest you buy your wheat early as possible because once farmers start buying it sometimes wheat gets hard to find. You can use ben run wheat but make sure its cleaned or you will get unwanted weeds. Use plenty of fertilizer about 300 lbs per acre.



This plot is from a couple years ago, first clover, then turnips and far is winter wheat. When the deer came they would usually eat some wheat first, then eat clover or turnips but wheat was usually their first choice. Good luck, h.h.

Thanks. How did you plant it?

bean,

You will probably have to experiment to see what the deer in your area like. The deer in my area will NOT eat a turnip. There is a LOT of wheat planted around me every winter. I have yet to see the deer in the wheat eating it. Even late in the year. Like HH said, winter wheat is a good choice....if the deer in your area like it. Oats are the preferred winter plot for us. The deer eat them to the roots every year. Its crazy. I put some WI Wintergreens out 3 times. The deer ate them down ONE time. But, that was late in January and we had a bad cold snap and a lot of snow on the ground. One year we had very little snow, and they never touched them.

On the oats. I learned a little trick that can add to your food plot size. Just about the time the beans leaves are turning and falling off, I walk the rows of beans, and broadcast the oats. The leaves that fall off the beans basically cover and mulch in the oats seed. I have gotten great stands of oats that way. Last year the oats were up about 6" when we harvested beans. The bean head gave the oats a good "haircut" but they came on strong after that. It was like "free" food plot space!

I was surprised to actually have outstanding success with purple-top turnips last year. Problem was the 2 acres I planted were plucked and stripped clean by deer by around the first of December. Even though it was the first year I ever planted them, they started devouring both the turnips and the green tops immediately after a few freezes. So this year I'll be over-seeding turnips on 6-8 acres of a standing soybean crop field in late August, before the bean leaves drop. Then hopefully with leaf drop and a few rains, a decent stand will come up and remain after the beans get cut, and it will be big enough to last deep into winter.

My other favorite fall plot is Winter Rye. I broadcast it onto hard undisturbed ground then disk lightly. If I had a seed drill, that would probably be much better, but I don't have one so I make do with a disk. Oats are good too, but nowhere near as winter-hardy as Rye or Wheat. To get a good thick stand, I plant no later than the first week of September. You can buy Winter Rye at most any farm store.

The nice thing about fall plots, is weed control is never much of an issue.

Bean, I broadcast all of it with a 175 lb. seeder behind my 4wheeler. I have a tractor, disc, plow, grain drill, corn planter and cullipaker. I was too lazy to get the drill out for the wheat so broadcasting was done.

Ive heard some of you guys have bad luck with turnips but it might be a climate thing. Its usually colder where I live than do south and our green stuff dies off by mid Nov or early Dec and that might be the difference. Oats up here will die after a hard frost or freeze so winter wheat is usually the last plant green with some carbs. Deer hit the carbs when its cold.

Bean, if I was you Id plant a strip of oats, rye, winter wheat and turnips and see what your deer like. h.h.

I would do the winter wheat and seed clover once established the clove r will be there for years. Like HornHarvester I'm lazy, I only want to plant a plot every 3-5 years not annually. Winter wheat and clover does that. Deer on my place ate ALL the turnip tops before the first frost, the turnips died and did no good for when I wanted a food source for them in Jan-March. Wasted time, effort and money........

Thanks Joe. I understand what you are saying but I already have a clover/chickory plot at this site and am looking to plant this area in an annual. My clover plot is always good and bid enough to handle all the deer we have and more. I am looking at something different than a "walmart blend".

Might just have to trial and error this year.