Spring Food Plots Hunters Should Start Now

Spring is the perfect season to plant food plots. It’s during the off season, so you won’t disrupt deer activity, the soil is moist from April showers, and there’s enough time to let the crops mature and develop between now and the fall hunting season. Check out our tips on spring food plots, below.

Clover

Clover is a fan favorite among deer herds. They love this plant when it’s both a seed and flowering, making it an ideal choice to plant in the spring to sustain the activity throughout multiple seasons. You’ll want to plant clover when the soil is well above freezing, about 50 degrees or higher if possible. The spring rainy season also makes it an ideal planting season because the moist soil will cultivate seed growth.

When you’re planting these crops, keep the weather in your state in mind. You don’t want the crops to burn out in the summer sun before they even have a chance to see the fall hunting season. If you live in an area prone to summer droughts, planting a little later in the spring in May will extend your crops into summer. If you live somewhere where that’s not much of a worry, planting now is perfect.

Oats

Oat plants will also burn out in the summer sun, but they germinate quickly. So, if you want to use oat in your food plot you can plant them in two rounds, one right now in April to attract the deer during the spring and another round in September to draw them in at the start of hunting season.

Grains

Grains like corn and beans take longer to mature. If you wait too long into summer, they won’t be a mature crop come fall. It’s all about what you want the corn to be like during peak hunting season. Plant them in April-May for them to be at the table-ready stage when corn is usually harvested. This is when the corn is juicy and ready for the grocery stores. Deer will be attracted to the ready-to-eat crops during this time. Then, the corn will be dry beginning about November. This will provide deer cover during the hunting season and a carb-filled food source that they’ll be able to smell through the snow.

Use them to Choose Your Stump Blind Spot

Planting your own food plot will give you control over where you want the deer herd to funnel through. Wherever you plant the crops is where the deer will be drawn to. Build them strategically next to natural water sources and wooded areas to give the deer herd the trifecta of food, water and shelter. Once you’ve established their route on your property leading them to the food plot, set your Stump blind up along that path. Building these plots gives you control over where the deer will congregate, so have fun with mapping out your ideal route and do what works best for you.

Plant a mixture of all of the above to provide the deer herd with a varied diet from now until the fall hunting season. If you don’t have the means to plant a plot in the soil, use our Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeders and fill them with the same seeds and crops you’d be planting in the ground. So much of hunting success is cultivated in the off season. Make sure you’re taking advantage of this season of growth!

What kind of crops do you plant in your spring food plots? Let us know how you bring in the deer in the comments below.