I know it’s hot and there are a load of ticks and chiggers out in the woods, but now is the time to be getting out there and planting food plots. Now is the time to be thinking ahead to the fall hunting season. And time to think about giving the deer and turkey a reason to feed near your hunting area.
Here’s Marti with her family after a successful hunt on one of her food plots.
A food plot doesn’t have to be a big two or three acre area. It could be a little hidden 1/3 to 1/2 acre opening in a patch of timber. You also don’t have to have a tractor and farm implements to put a plot in. While it will take some hard work it can be done and be very beneficial. There are small discs that can be pulled with an ATV, you could even plant some of those small areas using hand tools.
There are food plot seed mixes that are specifically made for those small shady areas. If you have an area that gets plenty of sunlight, it is hard to beat a mixture of red clover, ladino clover and purple top white globe turnips. The clover will keep them munching on your plot until later in the season when the frost sweetens up the turnips. Then they will also feed on the turnip tops and later though the winter they’ll eat the tops of the exposed turnip bulbs.
Another option for an area that gets plenty of sunlight is winter wheat. The deer will like this throughout the fall and winter months. Then next spring you can set-up and wait for that big old gobbler to come to you.
With some sweat equity now, you can bank on some great future hunts. Check out more from Marti, at her blog here called “Marti Davis Afield.”
HERCAMOSHOP.com sponsors “A Marti Moment.”
Marti Davis is a staff member for Browning Trail Cameras, WoolX and Mossy Oak. She is an authority on most types of hunting in North America, and very active in mentoring the next generation of young hunters. View all posts by Marti Davis
I’ve been helping the boyfriend set up food plot stuff on his place. We used a brand called HotZone. It works very well!