Hunt 365 September 2019-Breaking Down Fall Plots
It was September of 1999. My hunting buddies and I had been watching a bachelor group of bucks feed between two alfalfa fields all summer long. With each cutting of hay, the group would simply rotate about a quarter mile between the two fields depending on which field was more tender. The pattern was solid and the deer showed no signs of altering their patterns with only a few days left to season opener. This was the classic early season pattern we all read about and watch play out on the hunting shows. It was almost too easy?
All that remained was a strategy of how to take them. Where to place the stand? Entrance? Wind direction? One final evening of glassing showed two possible stand locations that would take advantage of any wind out of the west…or conversely any wind out of the east. A front was moving through on the weekend before opener allowing for a mid-day stand hanging. The ensuing rain sealed the deal washing any scent away that was left behind. I remember thinking that things couldn’t possibly have gone any better.
The farm we were hunting was a solid two hours from our homes. With stands hung and everything ready, we went home waiting for season opener only a few days away. The days past, and as we pulled back into the farm the night before opener we were stunned, literally stunned, or maybe in shock, to find the two alfalfa fields had liquid manure spread on them the day before opener. The once lush green alfalfa was now a combination of brown and stink. Our early season strategy of hunting two lush alfalfa fields was a bust. We had no back-up plan.
It took nearly a month to recover. Being two hours from home, and having only weekends to hunt, we never could get back on that bachelor group of bucks. We sacrificed evening sits glassing potential green fields but nothing proved promising. It wasn’t until late October until we got back into hunting some decent deer. With almost half the season wasted, I vowed to never put all my eggs in one basket again.
The Importance of Green Forage
All things being equal, I think deer will gravitate to green whenever they can. Sure, I plant spring plots of soybeans and corn, but going without a fall plot of green forage is not an option for me. In most years, warm weather across the Midwest will extend well into October and even November. When it’s warm, deer will gravitate to green forage sources. This has been my experience. Green forage also provides deer with much of their daily needs in terms of water. A fall planted green food source can provide tons of forage too, making them a great cost-effective way to attract deer to a food source all the way until heavy frosts kill most greens. In some cases, this could be well into November or even later. You won’t want to sacrifice a huge chunk of your season by forgetting about greens. If you’re not planting food plots, but are relying on what is available, make sure to scout out several green food sources that will be available where you are hunting so that you have multiple plans of attack during the season. Never sell out to one food source or you will end up regretting it when things go wrong.
What is Available
Way back in 1999, we had a solid pattern on a group of good deer because we had the best green food source around…lush alfalfa. When that alfalfa went away, we couldn’t get back on those deer until close to the rut because we no longer had a preferred green plot on the farm we were hunting. There were other green food sources on our farm, but the local deer abandoned our alfalfa for neighboring alfalfa. It wasn’t until after some hard fall frosts started to kill off the alfalfa that they started to disperse some. The approaching rut helped too. It was a hard lesson I learned that year. But that lesson and the stark contrast it gave me to observe was actually a great thing. It reinforced what I had been seeing my whole hunting life…that preferred food sources depend on what is available.
I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this scenario play out. A perfect stand of green winter rye gets hammered on one farm, but doesn’t get touched on another. Or, brassicas that are being browsed to the ground; and only a mile away they aren’t even touched. The thought usually goes straight to what seed, fertilizer, pH, etc. was used on those plots. Surely, the plot that isn’t being touched must have something wrong? So, more fertilizer and lime are added. Then, more expensive seed…the bag called the Super Trophy Brassica Power Blend must be better than the bulk seed you bought right? And next year, maybe your plot gets hit, maybe it doesn’t. But all too often hunters are turning to the wrong solutions.
In my experience, lush alfalfa can draw deer early in the archery season better than any other green forage. It is so attractive, that with all other things being equal (like hunting pressure), nothing can compete with it strictly on an attractiveness level. If there is alfalfa in your neighborhood, you can be assured deer will be on it. Planting a field into brassicas, winter rye, or Super Trophy Mega Clover probably won’t syphon off too many deer from that alfalfa. My point with all this is, attractiveness is relative to what is available. Now, take away that alfalfa and all of a sudden, those plots of winter rye, brassica, and other green plots now become attractive again.
This concept is so important when scouting for your hunting season or planning out the year’s food plots. It is not good enough just to know your own hunting grounds like the back of your hand, but you also need to have at least somewhat of a good understanding of what your surrounding neighborhood is supplying the deer this fall. Not all hunting areas have great green food sources like alfalfa. Some areas like big timber or giant CRP farms surrounded by grass hay and pasture won’t have any great green food sources at all, let alone lush fields of alfalfa. This makes that attractiveness of the food plot you plant relative to where you are and what is available in your neighborhood. More often than not, a failing food plot is because of its location, the hunting pressure it receives, or because there is another more attractive food source available. When you are assessing your past experiences and trying to decide what to plant, remember these three things.
Fall Planting Strategy
If you’re not planting food sources on your hunting grounds this fall, you may have less work ahead of you…or you may not. Finding preferred food sources on public hunting grounds or on private farms can be tricky. And, if you only have small tracts to hunt, it may actually be possible that your hunting grounds don’t contain any preferred food sources at all. This might make hunting hard or worse yet, give you only a handful of days surrounding the rut on which to have some productive hunting.
But, if you are planning on putting in some plots this fall, you might consider among other things what the deer have available to them. The less there is available in your area, the more options you have to draw deer into a green plot. You should do some extensive scouting and driving around in your neighborhood to see just what is on the deer’s menu this fall. Are you in an area with exclusively row crops of beans and corn? Is there hay…and is the hay mostly grass or is it lush alfalfa? A lot of CRP and pasture? These are all things to note when making your assessment. Drawing deer to a green food source can be easy if you have little competition in your area, but if you’re surrounded by lush hay fields filled with clover and alfalfa, you have your work cut out for you. Here are some tips which should help any hunter plan this fall’s green food plots:
1. If you are trying to compete with very attractive food sources like alfalfa, you have a few options. First, you can plant your own very attractive food source of alfalfa and clover and there is no better time to do it than this fall. A fall seeding of a legume is the best time. Less competition from weeds makes a fall planting the best option for most food plotters. Add in some winter rye as a cover crop and you’ll have a great fall plot this fall, and a great legume plot starting next year. Second, if you can plant small green transition plots leading from cover out to the lush alfalfa, you can plan an effective strategy of getting between the deer’s preferred bedding and feeding. This is a better strategy than hunting the main food source to begin with! This smaller transition plot can be planted in winter rye and appin turnips giving you all season attractiveness. Last, hope for some early frosts or hunting pressure on that alfalfa field, at some point the deer will no longer find the alfalfa attractive and they will likely move or switch to other crops of grains as it gets colder.
2. If you have mostly row crops as competition, you are in luck. Row crops are attractive in the late season for sure, but early on deer would much rather feast on a green field of rye, brassicas like appin turnips, or oats. A well-maintained clover plot will also do the trick. Pretty much any lush green plot will attract deer when their only other choice are row crops. Right after the fall harvest, when the combine has gone through, deer will be drawn to a cut corn field like nothing other…but this can fade quickly if the combine was efficient and there is very little corn left on the ground. This can be the same with a cut soybean field. A great choice when dealing with only row crops as competition would be to plant a larger field of greens. An acre or two split in half, one half planted in winter rye, the other half planted in appin turnips and purple top turnips. This will give the deer a green food source the entire season even into January. These greens won’t compete with standing corn or soybeans during the late season, but if these are agricultural fields there’s a good chance they’ll be gone just as their own attractiveness begins to peak.
3. If you are in an area with very little agricultural food, like pasture ground or large swaths of CRP, just about any good green food source will do the trick. My favorite planting is once again winter rye and turnips. I like Appin turnips early in the season because they are a forage type turnip putting most of their energy into their leaves. Purple tops put the majority of their energy into the bulb making them a better late season attractor. The benefit in being surrounded by nothing but CRP, pasture, and timber is that pretty much whatever you plant will attract deer. The downside is that if you don’t provide enough food, or if the type of plant you are planting does not tolerate heavy browsing, it will be for nothing. Winter rye and even oats will tolerate heavy browsing. Winter rye is and should be the staple for any green food source because it takes heavy browsing and stays green throughout the season and into winter…long after all other green food sources have died. If you keep hunting pressure off this food source, instead hunting travel routes to and from it, you will have good hunting the whole season. Before planting a single seed this fall, make sure to account for what the competition is. Providing greens for the deer you are hunting will make sure you have the entire season to hunt.