Why You Need to Be Planting Warm Season Plots
The fervor of food plotting peaks every year during late Summer and early Fall as hundreds of thousands of hunters all over the country plant plots that they hope will turn into destinations for big bucks. For many hunters this is the extent of their food plot plans, a plot in fall to hunt over. If that sounds like you, listen up: we've got some things for you to consider that might change the way you think about food plots.
Food plots can essentially be split into 3 main types: cool season plots (or plots planted with species that will grow from Fall through Winter and maybe into Spring but die off in summer), warm season plots (or plots that are planted in Spring and grow through Summer and sometimes early Fall but die off with cold weather), and perennial plots (plots like white clover and chicory that grow all year round and last multiple years).
The most popular of these are cool season plots, those that we mentioned earlier that get planted just before hunting season and provide attraction for hunting. Now these plots are great and of course they are where the action happens in the fall but if you're only planting cool season plots and nothing else its a little like waiting until the night before to start your homework. It'll just never be as good as it could've been if you'd just started working on it earlier.
If you're serious about making your property and your plots the best they can be you need to be taking advantage of the other half of the year to get ready too not just a few weeks before the season opens, let me tell you why: Planting warm season and/or perennial plots will result in better fall plots with more activity, better production, less weeds, and a healthier deer herd.
Use Your Plots or Lose Them
Your plots will be there all year long and you can either use them, or lose them. If you only plant fall plots, abandon them all Spring and Summer, and then show up in August or September to plant your fall plots you will be fighting weeds and usually poor soil. If instead you plant something in Spring like Summer Bulk or Dirt Doctor you're going to have a mostly weed free plot that has been feeding your deer all Summer long. In the case of Dirt Doctor you're actually going to have a plot that is in much better shape than you left it in last fall because the soil building species in that mix have been doing their work all summer and it's going to be ready to grow a great plot come fall.
In addition to suppressing weeds and building up your soil, having something planted in your plots during Spring and Summer means deer have all year to learn that plot is there and start frequenting those areas not just a few short weeks before the season opens. That is going to increase traffic in your plots and create stronger habits of feeding in relation to them. That means more predictable patterns and more opportunities to seal the deal in the Fall.
While those deer are feeding in your plots during Spring and Summer they're doing more than just get accustomed to them, they're chowing down and the huge amounts of forage produced by warm season plots like Summer Bulk and that means better antler growth in bucks and better body condition in does which benefits their brand new fawns as well. All good things if you want bigger and better deer.
If you're fine with what you've got, you don't want bigger deer, you like fighting weeds and poor soil, and you don't care about increasing the quality of your soil or the traffic in your plots then planting warm season plots may not be for you. If you do care about those things and you want to really improve your food plot strategy then give them a try this year. Summer Bulk and Dirt Doctor are our 2 most versatile warm season blends for whitetails and they should be a part of every property's plot program.
Summer Bulk is a graze tolerant warm season blend that produces a literal green wall of forage 3-4 feet high that deer love to chow down on all summer long and into fall. It has grain sorghum to provide vertical structure for cowpeas and forage soybeans to grow on. Joint vetch provides a high protein native forb that is nearly impossible to kill and buckwheat rounds out the mix helping to build soil while also providing fast growth and high protein forage. The soybeans and peas will keep pumping right on into bow season in most states making for a great early season plot. The if left standing through winter the sorghum seed heads will perform in similar fashion to standing corn bringing in deer into the winter. It will also provide some bedding cover as deer often bed among the stalks.
Dirt Doctor has a roster of species that are hand picked to build soil and they do it well. Buckwheat is one of the workhorses building up organic matter, suppressing weeds, and growing virtually anywhere. Tillage radish breaks up hardpan and helps to mine nutrients from deep in the ground with its long taproot. Once these radishes rot you're left with good broken up soil and a recharge of nutrients. Clover helps to suppress weeds and capture nitrogen for your soil. Sorghum provides tons or organic material that helps get your soil back to that healthy black loam we all want. While designed primarily for building soil this mix does provide great high protein browse as well.
Both blends are easily crimped or tilled/disked under in late summer when you're getting ready to plant your fall plots. They keep the weeds out, build your soil, and feed your deer all Summer long. What's not to like?
Waterfowl and Dove & Quail
In addition to these whitetail blends, Spring and Summer is also the time to plant 2 blends for some of our feathered game as well. Waterfowl Blend is a millet based mix designed to perform excellent when used in and around duck ponds and impoundments. It will hold its seed late into duck season and feed them like nothing else. Dove and Quail is the ultimate dove field blend and excellent for providing food and cover for quail as well. Dove and Quail needs to be planted around 60-90 days before dove opener in your state and Waterfowl Blend needs to be planted 90-120 days before the average first frost in your area.
Perennial Plots
In addition to the strictly warm season plots we've mentioned already, perennial plots like our Whitetail Hill Clover, Multi-Year Mix, and Bucks and Beards are also great options for planting in Spring if you're in the North or Central parts of the country. In the Deep South you can Spring plant these plots but if we get a bad drought they may suffer so Fall is usually a better option for starting them. These plots are going to be the best of both worlds. They feed your deer all Summer, suppress weeds, and keep on going right through Fall and Winter giving you a great plot to hunt over. We do a lot of these plots on our properties they are easy, effective, and efficient. They're great for deer and turkeys because they go right through Fall and into Spring making great strutting grounds and feed sites for Spring turkey season. If you don't do perennial plots now try them out, you'll be surprised at how much work they save you by not having to replant every year.
