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How to Plant at a Deer Food Plot

April 30, 2022

For many, talk of food plots leads to dreams of trophy bucks on opening day. Earlier such dreams become reality, however, prospective hunters need to know only a little deer’s natural diet. While the trends and demands of deer differ among geographic regions and food plots are definitely not the only point to look at in regards to bringing the animals in, specialists propose deer have natural access to four main dietary groups.

High-Quality Green Forage

High-quality green forage keeps deer considering the most crucial time of the year for hunters, the fall. While legumes like alfalfa and clover fit into this category, a great choice is winter wheat. Winter wheat, which bananas in the fall and lies dormant through the cold winter months, draws deer to your food plot as the traditional growing season is end.

Grain

When it comes to feeding deer, then a number of crops, including corn, sorghum and soybeans, fall into the grain category. A common practice would be to plant corn and soybeans together or immediately next to each other. These crops, especially soybeans, are high in protein. Antlers are composed mainly of protein and also the more protein a man deer eats — 13 to 16 percent of the diet seems optimal — the greater its rack development.

Soft and Hard Mast

Mast is the fruit of forest trees which frequently serves as food for wildlife. Hard mast includes acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts and beechnuts, while cherries and strawberries are categorized as soft mast. Not only will deer graze on the fallen berries through the summer and fall, they will still be able to consume the harder mast well to the colder winter months.

Woody Browse

Besides eating the fruit of shrubs and trees, deer will often graze on the plants themselves. A very important part of a typical deer’s diet plan, woody navigate is any of a number of trees, bushes and shrubs deer can reach from the earth. Some the woody navigate most commonly targeted by grazing deer includes white pine and red pine trees, in addition to black chokeberry and common chokecherry shrubs.

Sodium

Sodium, which herbivores demand for the natural regulation of numerous bodily processes, is frequently not available in the plants deer feed. For this reason alone, salt or mineral licks will help draw deer to a specified location. According to scientists at Purdue University, deer will seldom travel over a mile searching for salt, but mineral licks can draw more local deer into a food plot.

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