Deer Food Plot: A Guide to Choosing the Right Seed

Planting a deer food plot involves a lot of careful planning, consideration and work, but the benefits that come along with a successful plot are worth their workload. With the right seed mix and planting, you can find success in luring deer to your property or area throughout the year or during specific seasons. 

There are a few different methods and strategies to follow for planting your seed, depending on your overall goals for your food plot. Before selecting your seed, it’s important to determine what those goals are. Do you want to attract deer during hunting season? Do you want to provide year-round nutrition for them? Or are you just looking to enhance the overall area and provide a reliable source of nutrition as well? Once you determine what your overall goal is, you can begin gathering your materials and choosing your seed for planting. However, before you begin planting, you’ll need to first assess the lay of the land.

Assess Your Planting Site & Soil Conditions

In order to properly plant seeds for your food plot, you’ll need to understand your soil type, pH levels, and overall conditions of the area. Start off by conducting a soil test to determine the current nutrient and pH levels of your soil. This Test Kit by Antler King is a perfect option for getting this done. These results will help guide your decision making when it comes time to choosing a seed that will work for your plot. 

Most food plot plants thrive within a pH range of 6.0 - 7.0. This data paired with the soil type that you have (Sandy, loamy, clay), will heavily determine what type of seed you’ll have success planting. Evaluate the area and look for what types of food sources are currently available. If you can plant different seeds that aren’t common to the area, you’ll increase the variety of your offering and make your food plot stand out. Once deer notice that you have some different food types, they’ll be more likely to frequent your plot since you have some options they can’t find elsewhere. 

You’ll also want to take into consideration the overall condition and position of your plot. Consider how much sunlight it’ll receive and if it’s built for proper drainage. Some plants require more sun, and some are more suited for shaded areas. Once you’ve gone through this evaluation, you can begin the process of planting your seed.

Planting & Overall Maintenance Tips

Exactly when you should plant your seed is going to depend on what type of seed you’re planting and what your overall food plot goals are. To go deeper into those details, we’ll cover more on that down below. Preparing your soil for planting is a lot like planting in a garden. You’ll want to properly till the soil, remove any weeds, shrubs, or dead grass and apply any necessary soil amendments based off of your soil test. After the initial prep is complete, you can begin planting. You should closely follow the recommendations that are on the bag of whichever seed mix you choose to go with. That’s where you’ll find the best guidelines to follow to ensure that you aren’t over or under planting your seeds. 

Once your seeds are planted, you’ll need to keep up with routine fertilization and maintenance. Apply fertilizer as needed and regularly remove any weeds or debris that accumulates in your plot. Keep the areas surrounding your plot maintained as well, so your plants aren’t fighting for resources and essential nutrients for their growth. 

Now that we’ve gone over the preparation steps, it’s time to decide what you are wanting to plant for. Planting the right seeds during the right season is crucial. If you’re planting seeds during the wrong seasons for which you’re aiming for, all of your work will be for nothing. With that said, let’s take a look at the different goals of planting seed for a deer food plot and how the strategies of those methods differ from each other.

Planting Seed for Attraction During Hunting Season

If your primary goal for your food plot planting is to attract deer during the hunting season, you’ll want to focus on fast-growing and highly attractive plants that will draw deer close quickly and often. Look for annual plants, since these complete their life cycle during a single growing season, providing those quick-growing nutrients that are great food sources. 

Some great seed options include: Cereal grains like oats, wheat, and rye, which offer high palatability and nutrition. Or, you can opt for brassicas like turnips, radishes, and kale. These grow quickly and produce large amounts of nutritious forage for deer. Brassicas become sweeter after a frost, making them a great attractant to use in the later parts of the season. Finally, legumes like soybeans and cowpeas are another great annual plant option. These provide a high amount of protein that deer need to stay healthy and strong. 

Late summer into early fall is the best time to start planting these seeds, giving them time to grow and start to produce forage once the hunting season rolls around. 

If you’re looking for a mixture to pick up, we recommend this fast-growing Incognito Food Plot Mix by Domain, which can grow up to 10 feet tall in just 80 - 100 days.

Planting Seed for Year-Round Nutrition & Nourishment

Some like to have a food plot that is built to be a reliable food source for deer year-round. This can be efficiently achieved by planting a mix of both annual and perennial plants that will offer a steady amount of food. Perennials are plants that come back year after year, offering a reliable source of food without having to replant each year. Deer will eventually recognize that there is always food available on your plot, which will attract them to keep coming back, making your plot a regular stop during their travels.

Great options to plant for perennials include: Clovers, both white and red. These are versatile, easy to grow, and highly nutritious, making them an awesome food source for deer. They can thrive in a wide range of soil types and will provide forage for several years after planting. There’s also chicory, which is known for its deep taproot. Chicory is drought-resistant, making it a high-protein source of forage that’s built to withstand the changing seasons. Last but certainly not least is the most popular choice for year-round forage, alfalfa. While it does require well-drained soil and a lot of regular upkeep, alfalfa is a top choice for food plots due to its high nutritional value for deer. 

For year-round food plots, you’ll want to aim for either early spring, or fall planting. This will give the plants time to grow through these seasons, making them available as food sources throughout the summer and winter months. 

Domain has a great hardy mixture, Hot Chic that can last several years once planted and provides a ton of nutrient-rich forage for deer. This is an awesome option for a year-round food plot.

Planting Seed for General Habitat Enhancement

Lastly, you could choose to plant seed for your food plot to improve the overall habitat of your land. This can be done by combining different annuals and perennials that offer both immediate and long-term benefits to your area. These types of food plots benefit not only deer, but other types of wildlife as well, enhancing biodiversity in your area. 

For this, you could put together a cool-season mix, combining cereal grains with brassicas to create a mixture that will attract wildlife and provide food for them during those colder fall and winter months. Or, you could build a warm-season mix using legumes with clover and chicory to create forage that will nourish wildlife all the way from spring into fall. 

Similar to planting for year-round forage, it’s best to start planting for these types of mixes during the early spring, or fall months.

The perfect mixture to create a habitat-enhancing food plot is this Comeback Kid Mixture. Loaded with cold season perennials and annuals, this mix will establish quickly and last up to five years, providing great nutrition for deer, turkey, and more. 

Choosing the right seed for your food plot is crucial for you to achieve your overall goals of planting. Weigh the pros and cons of each, and determine which type of food plot you want to create. Once you understand what you want out of your deer food plot, with this guide, you’ll be set up to successfully attract deer whether you want to supply them with forage year-round or during the smaller window of hunting season. 

You can check out our huge selection of different seeds and attractants online at FleetFarm.com or at your local Fleet Farm store.