I am wanting to plant a fall food plot this year. I have an area that maybe a shade smaller 1/4 acre that is clear of trees on the inside edge of our woods. It is overgrown in weeds right now but I will be burning them down with with brush killer and then following that up by tilling right before I plant it in later August. What is a good food plot mix to plant that will attract the deer but also provide them with something to eat in late winter. Thanks for suggestions.
Turnips, radishes, any forage brassica with some chicory and oats mixed in for variety is a pure beast fall kill plot. Buckwheat brings in deer big time for us but they destroy it before the season even starts in my experience. This year we are planting a full acre of it to try and overwhelm them. BE ON YOUR BRASSICA PLOT immediately after the first frost if you can. The plants turn sweet and the deer hammer them. Don't forget to lime and fertilize.
Thanks! Is there a particular brand or mix that you would recommend that contains all of those together?
If you have a local Ag supply, you can buy the seed generic and save some money from the bag mixes. I like Purple Top Turnips, Groundhog Forage Radishes, and Dwarf Essex Rape (this is the LC mix from QDMA). I've planted that several years with great results.
I'm with Atlas - a mix of brassicas for late season combined with oats for early season is a pretty deadly combination. We had 2 plots setup like this last year with time lapse cameras on them and you could've killed a deer in either plot 9 out of 10 evenings from October 1 until mid November. Unfortunately due to the drought our turnips didn't come in so late season was tough. Hopefully this year will be better as we've had plenty of moisture so far.
Just to add onto what Justin said (which is almost identical to our experience except our turnips got just enough rain). We were filling 4 GB cards in under 2 weeks on our plot cams. We had an area that was accidentally over seeded with oats (spilled during turn) and they were just thick as could be for 10-20 yards. We would sit on stand and watch the deer feed in the plots and then go bed down in that thick oats patch only to pop out every hour or so to take a few more bites. It's AMAZING how content a deer is to stay put if they have what they need. Mature oats are not only an excellent food draw but they also provide a certain amount of cover and security that I believe keeps the deer calmer and in the plot longer. Sometimes we lose sight of them and it takes a few seconds to find them again. Plus oats will grow almost anywhere so they are a staple in our seed rotation.
