Throw and Grow? Food Plotting Made EASY!

Food plots are certainly great at bringing deer where you want them. The tough part is that deer, especially mature bucks, don’t always live among areas that are easy to access with large plotting equipment. That makes it hard getting the ground worked up using equipment. This blog is all about the steps necessary to put in a food plot where even a small garden tractor or 4-wheeler is not an option.

Here is the situation:

I hunt a 160-acre property that is about 157 acres of tillable ground, but it has a small-wooded creek in the far corner that is an absolute deer highway at all times of year. There is a bit of flat ground on the opposite side of the creek that would make an ideal food plot location, but the creek bank is too steep to get to the other side with equipment.  

Here are the steps we are going to take to transform this overgrown grassy area into a productive food plot for the local herd:

1. Eliminate the weedy/grassy competition with a backpack sprayer. Using Glyphosate and 2-4 D, spray the area you wish to plant with a backpack sprayer. If the vegetation is too tall for this step, I recommend using a weed whip to knock it down a week prior to spraying.   
2. Wait two weeks to let the vegetation die off.
3. Burn off the area using prescribed fire. This step is not mandatory if you are at all afraid of the fire getting out of control or are not in an area where burning is feasible. This simply eliminates the thatch so that better seed to soil contact can happen. If you cannot remove the thatch, double your seeding rate to account for lower germination rates.
4. Broadcast seed right before a good soaking rain — easier said than done.  I’ve had many forecasts ruin this step, but really the best way to get seed to grow without equipment is with adequate moisture. If you are near the plot, consider waiting until you see the rainclouds approaching to spread the seed. If you spread seed and it sits too long without rain, they can dry out to the point of no return by the time the rain arrives.   

What seeds will work with broadcast application in this manner?

• Fixin’ Clover: This is the best blend for this application. The seeds are small enough to work down into the soil surface, but large enough to have plenty of energy to pop through any thatch left. This seed blend is made up of all annual clovers which grow faster than perennial clovers, so this can be hunt-ready within 3 weeks of planting.

• Caveman Blend: This is the fastest growing blend we offer. It will grow in a wide range of soil types and will offer a green food source within 2 weeks of planting. This is a true throw and grow type blend, so if you are new to food plotting, this is the blend for you.
• Pro Clover mixed with Amazin' Grains: This is the blend that will allow you to get a deer in the fall and shoot a turkey in the spring in the same plot. Clover will last 3-5 years if properly taken care of, and The Amazin’ Grains will act as a nurse crop to protect the young clover plants this fall. It will also help suppress weeds. Use this in areas that have slightly wetter soils. If you have a little shadier spot, swap out the Pro Clover and use the Clover Plus Chicory instead.  
• Pro Brassica Blend: Of all the small-seeded blends we offer, this one would have the highest tonnage when fully grown. This is a blend that offers big leafy forage tops for earlier in the season, and as the season progresses the high carbohydrate tubers start to get consumed.

If you are refraining from doing food plots because you don’t have large equipment, you are missing out. Poor man plots could make the difference when it comes to getting that shooter buck out of his bed and within easy shooting distance in daylight. Don’t let the lack of equipment hold you back from planting a lush food plot this year!