After another long, hot Georgia summer, it’s only natural to start thinking about sitting in a deer stand on a crisp fall morning. One of the best tools for improving your odds is a well-planned food plot. While television shows and seed companies can sometimes oversell what a food plot will do, the reality is simple: a properly prepared food plot provides quality forage, which often means more deer activity. The time to start planning is now.
For this article, I’ll focus on fall food plots for rifle season, assuming plots of roughly one-quarter to one acre that are intended to increase your chances of harvesting a mature buck.
Location, location, location. Keep it simple—you need adequate sunlight and well-drained ground. Areas near bedding cover, travel corridors, or existing food and water sources are ideal. Thinned pine rows, powerlines, old loading decks, firebreaks, roadsides, or cleared openings can all make good food plot sites.
Just because you can plant somewhere doesn’t mean you should. The site must be accessible for both equipment and hunting. Whether you’re using hand tools, an ATV, or a tractor, you need to be able to reach the plot. More importantly, you need to enter and exit stealthily without alerting deer. Plan your stand or blind with prevailing winds in mind, and avoid routes that carry your scent toward bedding or feeding areas. Most Georgia cold fronts bring north, northwest, west, or east winds, so plan accordingly.
I often see box blinds and ladder stands placed directly in or too close to the edge of food plots. In many cases, this creates unnecessary hunting pressure. Mature bucks frequently scent-check plots from the downwind edge before exposing themselves. They’ll feed during daylight when they feel secure or when following a receptive doe. If you’re consistently bumping deer while entering or leaving your stand in the dark, your odds of success decline. Hunting travel routes leading to the plot can often be just as productive. Food plots attract deer, but success still depends on woodmanship decisions you make.
Once you’ve chosen a location, it’s time for the least popular—but most valuable—step: soil sampling. At around $7, it’s the best investment you’ll make. A soil test tells you exactly how much lime and fertilizer your plot needs.
Lime can take six to twelve months to fully react, depending on soil type, particle size, application method, and the soil’s lime buffering capacity. Most Georgia soils have a pH in the 4s or 5s, while most forage species perform best between 6.2 and 6.5. Even if late lime applications don’t provide a full benefit this season, they’ll pay dividends next year.
Fertilizer, especially nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, should be applied according to soil test recommendations. If your plot has good access, some local agricultural suppliers may even spread lime during the winter when they’re already working nearby farms.
The ideal planting window is mid-September through early October. Planting too early increases the risk of armyworms, while planting without adequate soil moisture often leads to poor stands. Rainfall should ultimately determine your planting date. Some years I’ve had to wait until just before Thanksgiving because conditions were simply too dry.
For site preparation, many landowners spray glyphosate two to three weeks before planting to eliminate existing vegetation. Some prefer two applications several weeks apart, but one properly timed application is usually sufficient. Prescribed fire can also be an effective option. Most glyphosate products will require 1.5-2.5 oz a gallon in a backpack sprayer or 1-2 quarts in 15/20 gallons of water per acre for boom sprayers. Knowing what your main weeds are can help you decide on rate, but usually you will want to be on the higher side of the LABELED rate for the hard to kill weeds. Most 41% glyphosate products already have a surfactant included and are rainfast by 2 hours, some sooner. Always follow the product label for application rates, personal protective equipment, and safety precautions—the LABEL is the LAW. Extension publications are available to help calibrate both backpack and boom sprayers.
After vegetation has been controlled, most people disk or till before broadcasting seed to ensure good seed-to-soil contact. I have had good success using a no-till approach by broadcasting seed into dead vegetation and mowing afterward. The resulting mulch helps conserve soil moisture, suppress weeds, and improve overall soil health. Ideally, the dead vegetation should be fairly uniform and about 10 to 12 inches tall. In some years I have had to mow or use a handheld brush cutter in the middle of summer to control vegetation that looks like it will be dense by fall food plot preparation time. If you’re establishing a brand-new plot on compacted ground, consider disking the first year before transitioning to no-till management.
Seed selection doesn’t have to be complicated. Rye, wheat, and oats all perform well individually but are commonly planted together because each offers different strengths. These cereal grains should be planted about one inch deep. Most of the 4/5/6 way mixes available have 3 cereal grains, crimson clover, and a brassica. But when you look at the percent of clover and brassica in the mix, it is nowhere close to the proper seeding rate for a mix species blend, so you need to supplement.
Many commercial food plot blends also contain crimson clover and brassicas, but the amount of those small-seeded species is often well below recommended seeding rates. After broadcasting cereal grains, I typically topdress at least one brassica and a three-way clover blend to provide forage through the following spring and early summer. Clover and brassica seed only need to be planted about one-quarter inch deep or less, and a good rain is often enough to achieve proper seed placement. If your soil wasn’t tested or amended, cereal rye and crimson clover are among the better choices because they tolerate lower soil pH (5.5) than many other species.
Finally, pay attention to seeding rates. Broadcasting generally requires 1.5 to 2 times the seed used with a drill. Also account for germination percentage and Pure Live Seed (PLS). Germination rates are usually around 85-95% and PLS can be 30-50% of the bag, especially with clovers and legumes. Ignoring these numbers can leave you with a much thinner stand than intended.
Well-managed food plots provide valuable forage for deer, turkey, and other wildlife for much of the year. They can be an effective tool for increasing opportunities at a mature buck while also helping fill the freezer with does. If you’re new to food plots or run into problems, don’t get discouraged. Your local county Extension office is a great resource for recommendations.
Good luck this season, hunt safely, and don’t forget to wear your orange.