By: Ryan Fair
It is said that a whitetail is a slave to their stomach and during the spring and summer months I don’t think there could be any truer of a statement. Other than fawns being born this time of year, a whitetails main priority is to start to bulk back up on body mass they had lost through the fall and winter months. With that in mind, spring is a great time to plant food plots. Not only do they give you a great way to keep tabs on your local herd,
but they also supply them with vital nutrients and easily accessible food. This keeps stress off the deer allowing them to focus energy on health and antler growth. All the while, you can sit back and monitor your herd through your Vortex Optics or Tactacam cell cameras.
Spring Food Plot Prep
When it comes to planting food plots there are several different ways to prepare and plant your plots. Some people prefer to use big farm equipment to prepare the land and plant the seeds while others prefer to use basic garden utensils or even the throw and grow type planting. Regardless of how you like to plant your food plots there are a few key things we all need to keep in mind when preparing our food plots.
The first is location. It’s important to pick out the spot you want to plant your plot by looking over Aerial maps and historical deer patterns in a location. When planting a plot, it needs to be somewhere deer want to be and the seeds will grow. I prefer to plant mine on the edge of preferred bedding location. This gives the deer the security of cover while supplying them with plenty of food. Once a location is picked out you need to measure it. This is an important step not to forget. Reason being is that many seed companies are going to ask you this when ordering seed. You can do this the old fashion way with a measuring wheel or with an app like OnX. After this step is complete, you need to pull a soil sample and spray the area with a heavy dose of vegetation killer or burn off the area to clear the vegetation. Cliff recommends not skipping the soil sample and for good reason. These soil tests tell you what your dirt is missing so you can get the right nutrients or fertilizer spread on for the best growth. After you have all these steps complete its time to pick out the seed.
Choosing the best products
With so many different companies offering food plot blends these days it can be a little overwhelming to decide what to get. For that very reason it is vital to choose a trusted seed company that is knowledgeable and is available for you when you have questions. Here at Working Class Hunter, we are partner with Rakk Fuel for all of our food plot needs. They offer a wide variety of spring and fall blends. There website has everything you need to know before planting such as best soil pH, when to plant, depth to plant, if it needs to be in sun or shade, and much more.
Top 3 spring food plots
With all the great products to plant for spring food plots its hard to pick just 3. I narrowed it down to best all-around food plot, best poor mans plot, and best clover plot. This should cover most everyone's hunting location. Let’s start with the best clover plot. Clover is a staple spring food plot that is not only plentiful but with a little care and some luck will come back year after year. For our clover plots we use Rakk Fuels Lady Luck this 5-clover blend can be planted in spring or fall and does well in all soil types. This clover does best in full to partial sun so keep this in mind when selecting your food plot site. My favorite way to plant this clover is frost seed it in early in the spring. It requires minimal equipment to plant and if you follow planting instructions, it has great results.
When it comes to the best all around spring food plot there are many that come to mind, but one stands out above the rest. Not only is this food plot great for holding deer it will also attract turkey, pheasant, and other types of wildlife as well. Rakk Fuels Hunters Haven is the perfect all-around food plot to benefit all sorts of wildlife while also attracting and holding deer. It is the perfect mix of several different plants such as soybeans, sunflowers, and sorghum, it’s a wildlife buffet. It requires full to partial sun and a has a tight planting window depending on your location. With all the different plants maturing at different times throughout the year there's is always something palatable to keep the deer returning.
Poor man food plots are gaining a lot more popularity for how easy they are to plant. With minimal tools needed to create your plots they are popular for the budget friendly hunters and are perfect for the hard-to-reach spots. With the ability to be planted in full sun to shade areas Rakk Fuels Show Time is the perfect blend for a poor man’s plot. This blend of seeds can be planted in all soil types and in both spring and fall. If you time your planting right, it can even be a throw and grow type plot.
I know I said the top 3 but there is one other great product you should incorporate in your food plot plan. That is a screen, and Rakk Fuel makes the perfect screen blend named The Wall. Screens plots create a border around your plots offering the deer a sense of security and creating the perfect entrance and exit routes for you. That isn’t the only benefit, this mix can also be used to funnel deer in a certain direction, like past your stand or blind. When planting a screen around any of the above food plots you’re in for a great deer season.
Tips from the team
Here at Working Class Hunter, we have made our fair share of mistakes when planting food plots. We have used trial and error as well as advice from some seasoned seed experts to find out what works best for us. With food plots everything comes down to soil composition, fertilizer, and time and effort, but here are some tips we feel are good for any food plot. The first tip from most of the team is to run a soil test. This was mentioned above but that’s how important it is to find out what your soil is lacking to get the most out of your plot. Another tip is to keep food year-round for your local herd. Stephen’s go to plan is to plant soybeans in the spring then go in and broadcast Last Heart Beet by Rakk Fuel into that soybean plot in august. He does this right before brown down. By doing this the deer have a year-round buffet to browse. Lastly, Jake’s advice was that food plot success was dependent on soil composition and weather it was an established plot or not, but when in doubt or if your just learning, clover is always a safe bet.