# Top 10 Fall deer food plots for Nothern US



## bishs

Taken From Quality Whitetails magazine, from agronomics Dr. Bill Sell, Dr. Dewey L. Lee, and others

Based on: production, utilization, quality, persistence, palatibility, ect. The Top Ten

1. Alfalfa
2. Ladino Clover
3. Red Clover
4. Birdsfoot Trefoil
5. Aslike Clover
6. Sweetclover
7. Wheat or Rye
8. Timothy
9. Turnips
10. Rape (Canola)

Apparently oats were left off do to early die-off after freeze. Oats ranked number 9 with wheat on the Southern US, top ten chart.


----------



## Jeff Sturgis

I think there mainly southern influence and experience is highly misleading. 

My clover usage drops dramatically the closer to Nov. it gets, and with alfalfa being more of a summer draw, it would most likely be worse. So right there 5 out the first 6 is dead wrong form my area. Also, my birdsfoot trefoil had the same draw as clover, so there is 6 for 6 dead wrong for my area.

With brassicas giving me up to 4 tons of forage in just the fall growing season, most likely more than any of the top 8, I'd have to disagree there as well.

On the other hand, a mix of brassicas and clover, with the variety they offer for multiple season usage, would be tops on my chart for a fall planting.


----------



## Liver and Onions

Centrl Mich. area. 
1-7 have all worked great for us. Can't beat alfalfa for attracting deer, but to much work for the average food plot grower. Never heard of using timothy. We tried rape & turnips once. Looked great, but the deer never touched them.

L & O


----------



## johnhunter

The list is way too general. 

It doesn't take into consideration geographical differences.

It does not mention seasonality. In any given area, your "top ten" list would change constantly throughout the year, depending on weather, the physical needs of deer, palatability, availability of other forages, and probably other factors.

In southern MI farm country, in August, I don't believe anything is attracting deer right now better than soybeans and alfalfa. Once the beans yellow, corn will become a big draw, depending on weather, the acorn crop, etc. etc.

I wonder if cost was a criteria in this list. As L&O alluded to, alfalfa is a real pain in the *ss for a casual food plotter, requiring lots of costly (timewise) attention. And once alfalfa goes yellow late in the season, you're gonna wish you had some winter wheat around.

Timothy? Horsefood. I've even read that timothy hay is mildly toxic to deer at certain times of the year. I have timothy growing throughout my old fields, and when the deer are feeding in those fields, you can bet they're eating weeds or some volunteer clover.

And red clover ranked ahead of Alsike? That's a dead giveaway that the list is skewed for the southeast USA. Alsike kicks medium red clover's *ss in the northern part of the whitetail's range. There's a reason why alsike is the dominant clover seed contained in Antler King's Trophy Blend, a Wisconsin product.

BFT may be a beaut, but it fails my convenience test. Near as I can tell, 49 out of 50 elevators never carry its inoculant. So my sack of BFT seed waits in storage till next year, again.

What, no oats?


----------



## fairfax1

FM ...........I have to agree with your post on the popularity of soys & alfalfa in August. In fact, tonight was a good example. Again, I did my usual 10 to 12 mile circuit in the township I hunt in near Grand Rapids. 90% of the 50+ deer we saw were in those two crops. The others seemed to be eating some kind of forage in fields that had been harvested for wheat about 3 weeks ago. Perhaps, some tender forb has emerged now that the wheat no longer shades it out. That's only a guess. I couldn't determine what they were eating there.

I've also noted in prior years that my evening sightings in the soy fields drops dramatically about mid-August. Either soy plants are no longer tender or tasty.....or some other forage becomes attrative. Perhaps, it is the corn you mention. Or fruits such as apples.

Lastly, if one can measure the general health of the herd by observing that the overwhelming majority of bucks have obvious antlers with substantial heighth and spread, and 6 to 8 total points..............then I'd say this years' herd came through last winter in fine shape. The animals I see are sleek and round with no rib definition or bony pelvic points. To my amatuer eye and limited vocabulary I'd say they are looking .....at least in my township ....'well groomed, and well fed'.


----------



## bishs

This chart was derived from biologists, in Northern Georgia, in the mountain region. Elevation around 1,000 feet. It has the same environment as Northern states. But as we all know, all areas are different. Even in Michigan, crops that are very attractive to deer in some areas, are looked over in others. 

If I could, I would post the chart. It was very detailed, everything from production, utilization, quality, persistence, palatibility, price, acid tolerance, drought tolerance, nutrition. The chart was called Top Ten Northern foodplots, it was not just a "most preffered" by deer list. They had specific detail after all plants. I couldn't understand alfalfa as the top plant, when they said it is hard to establish.


----------



## Neal

OK Guys- whats YOUR top 10 or 5 for Michigan?


----------



## bishs

My list has nothing to do with price, because corn is expensive. The deer in my area are not over populated and have farmland all around. They are fussy. 
1. Ladino clover, 
2. Corn
3. Soybeans
4. Oats
5. Wheat
6. Rye

1. The first would have to be Ladino clover. Because this perrenial provides deer feed from early spring through winter. The deer paw through the snow to get at it. With mowing and fertilizer, the plot can last for years. Many other fine stem clovers are probably just as good.

2. For cover and winter food, corn is the best

3. Soybeans are the most preffered summer crop in my area. Hands down.

4. Young oats, wheat and rye are good fall attractants. It's been hard to tell, but everyone claims Oats are more preffered. Followed by wheat and rye. I like wheat because it attracts deer in the fall, then greens up early in the spring.

Buckwheat is a good plot also. It's a good summer plot, but when it ripens in the fall, there is not much there. Small seeds. Alfalfa is good, but I don't plant it because it turns brown when cold weather hits, and it is high maintenance.


Some of my unsuccessfull plots were:
Purple Top Turnips, Dwarf essex Rape, Canola, Kale, grain Sorghum. I have never planted sugar beets, but the farmers plant them in my area. They don't get much attention till they freeze.


----------



## bishs

Farmlegend, I would not hesitate on planting seed without innoculant. You are in good farmland, probably better than my land. I have been planting foodplots since 1994, and have never innoculated any seed. I have also never had a failed crop. My plots always thicken up nice.

My uncle grows and sells "Red Clover seed". He has fine tuned his variety for years. He is what I call a clover expert. He grows a variety for production, not deer. Anyway, he started me on planting clover. He told me from the start that I don't need innoculant. I think innoculant is important for poor soil areas.


----------



## bishs

I am no expert on clover preference, but I think blends use varieties of clover based on adaptability to soils. From what I have read, Aslike is highly used in pastures because of its ability to grow in poor soil. Ladino for instance, is the most popular clover type recomended by biologists. I don't think it has much to do with deer preference over other white clovers. I think it has more to do with Ladino's ability to grow in more adverse conditions and lower Ph levels.


----------



## Swamp Ghost

Clover
Soybeans (summer and fall planted)
Wheat 
Oats
Rye
Standing corn (late season)


----------



## TUCKER

I am no expert yet but when we first started we planted whitetail clover and alpha rack. The deer loved it but it is no longer producing good enough to attract them much. We always plant corn and that is great as we leave it standing for the deer. We planted the shot plot this spring and the deer looked as if they ate most of the rape in it and not as much of the turnip. They are still feeding in it from the spring planting even though it appears to be turning brown with age. The turnips by the way are very sweet when I sampled them. We just finished planting a field of rape, shot plot, and oats with alfalfa mixed in with the oats. The oats will die off in the winter but the alfalfa will come up in the spring. Our other field will be winter wheat with alfalfa mixed in. I know they will eat all of this at different times of the year but our main goal is to make sure they have good browse in the spring when the snow melts. We live in lake county with a lot of farming going on and I have yet to find anything that they haven't liked at some point in time. I will report the success of the different plots when fall arrives. Our biggest draw right now are the two water holes that we dug last fall. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the main reason that we now have more deer staying on our property.


----------



## wild bill

clover
late planting of soy beans
wheat
oats


----------



## Luv2hunteup

1. Imperial Whitetail Clover
2. Biologic Premium Perennial (clover/rape mix)
3. Brassica (dwarf essex rape, canola, Biologic Maximum)
4. Buck Forage Oats
5. Spring planted buckwheat plowed under for fall planting of above items ( the buckwheat comes back with the first rain but is gone with the first frost.
6. Forage Peas
7. Gulf Annual Rye

Clover is the basis for all my plantings. I've learned through trail & error that late summer plantings work best on my clay soils. BTW the EUP usually has the shortest growing season in the state so spring planting is mid to late May or June. Summers also tend to be very dry with this year not being an exception.

We need rain very badly right now. When I was plowing my plots there was no moisture to be found in the top 6". Rain is predicted for Wednesday so I planted 3 different plots and 1/2 mile of trails on Sunday. Come on rain.


----------



## Ed Spin

Tucker;

I just love it when someone mentions putting in a water hole. Yes they are important even in the northern states. I get more action when I put them into heavy cover and not on the edge of it. 

Scott, you are right clover may not need an innoculant and this is usually due to the fact that clover has been around for many years and once the soil has been inocculated that's enough. Every field throughout Michigan has clover seed now laying on the surface. It may never germinate due to differant conditions, but if anyone changed the condition to suit germination it will grow. Mowing any old field twice that seems to have only grass and golden rod in it may surprise the mower with a new growth of a variety of clovers from red, white, ladino and even alsike. It still dosn't hurt to insure your crop with an innocculant. 

Scott my info is that ladino is a hybrid white clover, would you ask your uncle if that is his info also.

My ten best eh? Well it depends on what it is planted for.

For a large open field (3-20 acres) to be use as a bedding, fawning, breeding, loafing and summer gathering area for a mature buck bachelor group I would chose a plant mix that would include grazing alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, all clovers, but short growing types and timothy and big bluestem for year round cover. This field has minimum maintainance with yearly fertilization and mowing once every three years. Located next or near to this all purpose field are your feed or attractant plots. 

Summer and early fall feed plots of three to five acres planted in the spring.

1, clover same ones mentioned above (medium red, ladino, and alsike). that makes it three plants.

2, grazing alfalfa

3, chicory

4, bft primarily there as a safty crop for a drought condition, but deer do hit it year round.

5, brassica mix including turnip

6, soybeans

Winter carryover feed plots

1, corn, may need several acres to last throughout the winter and early spring.

2, brassica mix planted in the spring and late summer (August first)

3,soybeans planted in May

4, sugar beets

Spring green up 

1, wheat or rye for poorer soils

Attractant type food plots of 1/4 to 1 acre planted deep into the woods or next to the woods

1, soybeans planted in May to condition your deer about your plans for them of several acres

2, soybeans planted on the first of August for your bow site. It may be good for only a short time due to frost or it being eaten up by the deer so add a brassica mix with it for an extended hot bow site.

3,corn, probably next to the woods

4, clover mix with chicory

5, alfalfa

6, sugar beets if they can be growen on your soil. deer eat the tops occasionally all summer long and the bulbs during the hunting seasons with the latter seasons being best (muzzleloading)

7, grains (oats,wheat and rye)

Keep the fun in hunting!


----------



## johnhunter

"Mowing any old field twice that seems to have only grass and golden rod in it may surprise the mower with a new growth of a variety of clovers from red, white, ladino and even alsike."

Ed, I mow 2.5 miles of walking/access trails through my old fields twice each season. They are comprised mostly of goldenrod, cool season grasses, and assorted forbs. On these trails, you can now find every one of those clover species, as well as some yellow blossom sweet clover, and also what I believe to be arrowleaf clover.


----------



## bishs

Hello Ed, Thats interesting about innoculation. My land has been farmland for years. Probably near 100 years. Two brothers farmed it till they died. My grandfather sold them a horse, 50 years ago. My grandfather said the "Miller Boys" had a berry farm, then later cash crops. The last brother died 13 years ago. All they had for water was a hand pump. When they died, they donated the land to the church. The church sold it in an auction, then I picked it up. I am building a house on that very spot, right now.

When I began planting trees and shrubs by the hundreds, the neighbors said the "Old Boys" were turning in their graves! He said they spent years clearing that land of trees, and your putting them back!

I suspect clover was grown many times. Everytime I mow or work ground, clover appears. Red, aslike and white clover. My uncle grows a red clover, that was started from my Grandfather. Its a strain from mammoth clover and a few others. He combines the clover and has a screen machine that seperates the seed. Farmers come from all over to his farm to get his seed. His clover is prized because of its size, growth ect. Every spring he cleans out the end of his tile. They are full of clover roots. He saids the deep root, is one of the reasons the plant is so hardy.

When he first came over, to help me plant his clover, I had Ladino to mix in. He didn't like adding that white clover to his superior blend! We used his old clover seed spreader. I can't recall, what he called it, but it was a burlap type bag, slung over my shoulder with a metal nozzle on the end. I just swung it back and forth as I walked across the field. It really worked well. There was no need to add a "filler" to the clover.

He farmed all his life, and ran a seed store for years. He is a clover/soil expert, but he does not specialize in deer clover. He even makes his own version of Round Up. His clover does get a lot of attention from deer. I plant Ladino because a biologist along with many others recomend it, and I wanted a perrenial.

I will have to ask him about Ladino clover.


----------

