Planting a successful food plot is crucial for attracting and sustaining a healthy deer herd throughout the hunting season. Choosing the right Food Plot Seed is the foundation of that success. This guide focuses on a unique fall/winter/spring blend designed to provide optimal nutrition and attraction during the colder months.
Food Plot Seed Blend for All Seasons
This specialized blend incorporates winter peas, a unique variety of fall rye, radishes, and buckwheat. These varieties are selected for their rapid growth, often reaching 6 inches in just 10 days, and their ability to remain green and vibrant throughout the fall and winter, creating an “unbelievable hunt plot.”
Why Choose a Fall/Winter/Spring Food Plot Seed Blend?
Unlike oats or clover, which become dormant or die during winter, this blend continues growing and provides a crucial food source. The blend maintains a protein content exceeding 20% throughout the winter months. This sustained growth, combined with high nutritional value, palatability, and digestibility, supports deer even under intense grazing pressure.
Key Ingredients and Their Benefits:
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Fall Rye (Cereal Rye): This cool-season grass stays green and palatable all winter, tolerates various soil conditions, and readily attracts deer. It offers up to 15% protein.
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Winter Peas: These complement fall rye with quick germination, rapid growth, and a protein content of 20-30%. Deer consume the entire plant, including stems, leaves, and pods.
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Radishes and Buckwheat: These provide early fall forage, becoming even sweeter and more attractive as temperatures drop in late fall.
Extend the Attraction: Mixing Seed Blends
This fall/winter/spring blend can be combined with other seed mixes, like Honey Hole or Slam Dunk, to further enhance early and late-season attraction. This flexibility allows you to customize your food plot to meet the specific needs of your deer herd.
Nutritional Powerhouse for Deer
The combination of high-protein winter peas and the sustained green forage of fall rye makes this blend a vital food source during the fall and winter. This nutritional powerhouse ensures your deer herd remains healthy and strong throughout the challenging colder months, contributing to antler development in the spring. Deer will naturally congregate in these plots, making them highly effective hunting locations.
Planting and Maintenance:
- Planting Time: Fall
- Attraction Period: September through January
- Recommended Fertilizer: 19-19-19 or 15-15-15 at 300 lbs. per acre.
- Ideal Soil pH: 5.5-7.0
Conclusion
Choosing the right food plot seed, like this fall/winter/spring blend, is an investment in the health and attraction of your deer herd. This blend’s unique combination of fast growth, year-round greenery, and high nutritional value provides a consistent food source, ensuring a successful hunting season and a thriving deer population.
