Question: “This spring was the time I attempted deer food plots on my property. I planted three food plots that are about 1 acre each. They did great in the spring and throughout the early summer, but now they are struggling with low rainfall, high temperatures and hungry deer. That said, I am pleased with my results. I learned a lot of tings along the way to better my warm season plots for next year. Now I am preparing for the fall.
When should I start planting fall/winter food plots in southeastern Oklahoma? I plan on using the same 3 acres for my fall and winter deer attractants. When we planted the summer plots we killed all vegetation, got a soil test, fertilized, and ended up putting out lime. We then disked the ground, broadcasted seed and used a drag. Should I need kill the remainder of my summer plots or just disk them over? I really would appreciate any input and help regarding my plots and all help is appreciated.”
Deer Food Plots: There is no real secret when it comes to establishing food plots for deer. It just takes some serious work up front to make sure that everything is prepared. The rest is up to Mother Nature and hopefully she will deliver the rain. It sounds like you did everything right on your spring food plots and the prep is basically the same for the fall.
The first step will be to remove any remaining vegetation from your spring plots. During some years a warm season our food plots in Texas will continue to grow well into the fall if the summer rains carried it through. This is one reason why I am a big proponent of using different areas for spring and fall food plots. It’s a shame to have to mow and disk under a plot that is fully function just to put in another that may not work for sometime or potentially even fail completely.
Once the plot is returned to bare soil, you can get plant your seed mix between September 1-15. If you plan to hunting during the archery deer hunting season then earlier is definitely better. If it will be used for gun hunting only, then you have a little more wiggle room. One of the best tried-and-true winter food plots consists of oats mixed with wheat. Whitetail deer absolutely love oats, but wheat is a bit more hardy. For your fall planting I would suggest a 50/50 mix at total of 100 to 120 pounds per acre.