Prepping and Planting Food Plots with Lee and Tiffany Lakosky
OutdoorHub 05.23.14
Now that the weather has finally warmed up, if you’re serious about having a successful whitetail season next fall, you’ll be thinking about planting foot plots now! Tiffany and I travel all over the country each year attending deer classics and sportsman’s shows, and the number one question that hunters ask is, “If you could only plant one foot plot, what would it be?”
The answer is always the same and that is Crush Clover–it is high in protein for maximum antler development over the summer, stays green throughout the winter, is easy to plant, and can withstand a tremendous amount of grazing pressure. But, why only plant one variety of food on your hunting ground each year? That question is perplexing to me because it only makes sense that if you have the most and the best food sources for all times of the year, you will also have the deer all times of the year!
The answer is always the same and that is Crush Clover–it is high in protein for maximum antler development over the summer, stays green throughout the winter, is easy to plant, and can withstand a tremendous amount of grazing pressure. But, why only plant one variety of food on your hunting ground each year? That question is perplexing to me because it only makes sense that if you have the most and the best food sources for all times of the year, you will also have the deer all times of the year!
When your farm has numerous varieties of food sources as mentioned above, deer have no reason to leave your property. And the best part about these varieties is that you plant them at different times of the year. I plant our Crush Clover in early April–May. Then I prep the soil, check the pH and fertilize my Rack Radish and Canola Crush fields in the first two weeks of June, and plant them between June 15 and the end of July. Then I spend the next two weeks prepping the soil for the Buckin’ Oats and plant them between August 15 and September 1.
This allows me to spread the work out over the entire summer and is perfect if your time is limited or if you only have the weekends to accomplish your planting. Check the back of every Evolved Harvest seed bag for the best planting times for your area.
So, as you can see, there is no reason not to get out there and plant some food plots on your property this season–it’s fun, it extends your hunting season, and I guarantee you will dramatically improve your chances of scoring on that monster buck next fall.
