How to Make Deer Food Plot Seed Mixture

Give deer a place to feed.

Deer food plots provide deer with feeding grounds all year round if planted properly. They also offer gardeners relief from deer munching on their carefully landscaped yards. If the deer have easily obtained food away from your garden, they are less likely to jump over fences to get to your crops. Food plots also help support the deer population and give nature lovers a place to observe deer behavior year-round. The key to a successful food plot is creating the right seed mixture to stagger plant growth throughout the season.

Things You'll Need

• Red clover
• 10-gallon buckets
• Water
• Clover inoculum
• Crimson clover
• Wheat
• Grain rye
• Oats
• Tarp
• Rake

Instructions

1. Pour about 5 lbs. of red clover into a 10-gallon bucket and then cover it with about a gallon of water. Let the seeds soak for about 30 minutes.

2. Add red clover inoculum to the seeds according to the package directions. Stir thoroughly and let the seeds soak for about 8 hours. The inoculum contains bacteria that help the seeds harvest nitrogen and grow more easily.

3. Pour about 7 lbs. of crimson clover into a second 10-gallon bucket and then cover it with about 1.5 gallons water. Add the inoculum to these seeds as well. Inoculate your clover seeds the day before you intend to plant them.

4. Add a bushel each of the following seeds to a tarp: wheat, grain rye and oats. Pour the clover seeds on top of the others and mix them together thoroughly with your rake. Use a long, smooth stirring motion until you can't distinguish individual kinds of seeds any longer. The grains will grow throughout the warmer months to feed the deer, while the clover offers them winter food.

5. Scoop up bucketfuls of your seed mixture and shake it out over your planting area. Use a rake to spread the mixture evenly over your food plot area. This mixture should cover 1 to 3 acres of land and must be replanted each year.

References

• Purdue University: Food Plots for White-Tailed Deer
• Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Cool-Season Food Plots for Deer
• University of Illinois Extension: Seeding Legumes into Food Plots