Hunters and landowners actively involved in white-tailed deer management know that age, genetics, and nutrition are the rule when it comes to maintaining a healthy deer herd and consistently producing quality whitetail bucks. Because it takes time for bucks to get older and because one can not change the genetics of a deer once it is conceived, a lot of attention gets placed on deer nutrition by hunters and managers on their lands.
When it comes to providing proper nutrition for deer, more than a fair share of this attention gets wrongly placed on supplemental feeding through food plots or protein pellets. I will be the first to tell you that both food plots and supplemental feeding have their place on almost every property, but all too often hunters consider the management practice of adding food to the equation as taking the place of proper deer habitat management. Wrong. Continue reading “Supplemental Feeding in Perspective”
Food plots are commonly used by deer managers to provide supplemental forage for white-tailed deer. Most hunters and deer managers like to plant forage species that are easy to maintain. However, a little extra work is usually worth it. Alfalfa food plots for deer fall into that category. Besides, nothing worth having comes easy. And, a little extra work can pay off big, especially if you consider establishing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) as a forage plant for deer on your property.
Alfalfa is an excellent spring, summer, and early fall food plot choice for white-tailed deer. Alfalfa is a cool-season perennial legume that contains 16% to 26% of highly digestible protein. Whitetail will flock to a well-established alfalfa field. In addition, this perennial can survive for 5 to 10 years if managed properly. It’s a good food source for deer for those willing to put in the effort.
Alfalfa Food Plots are Tough
Established alfalfa plants have taproots that extend 4-5 feet deep in the soil. As a result, this forage species makes for a very drought tolerant food plot for deer and other wildlife. And what’s better than a drought tolerant food plot? Well, how about a highly productive food plot that is capable of fixing its own nitrogen? Yep, there is a lot to like about alfalfa.
This forage plant is a legume and does not need the application of nitrogen fertilizer. Like other legumes, it makes its own. Established alfalfa is tough. However, it’s not always easy to establish, Alfalfa is a highly effective forage plant for fall and winter food plots, but spring planting is recommended. After the first year, alfalfa serves as a dependable spring food plot for whitetail.
Alfalfa has many attributes that make it a great choice for forage plots. However, some deer managers find it difficult to establish and maintain. Alfalfa is not a plant where one can just disk, throw, and grow with the addition of a little fertilizer like oats or wheat.
Alfalfa has low tolerance for moisture and soil acidity. In addition, it performs best on well-drained soils (loam to sandy loam) with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. And even though alfalfa is capable of fixing its own nitrogen, plots usually require annual applications of other soil nutrients. These often include macro- and micronutrients such as phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, and even boron. Additionally, alfalfa must be inoculated with Rhizobia bacteria (Type A) prior to planting.
Managing Alfalfa Plots
New alfalfa food plots for deer and other animals must be managed. Heavy competition from weeds can will put a lid on recently-planted and poor (thin) stands of alfalfa. In addition, white-tailed deer can over-browse alfalfa plots. This is especially true before plant establishment and/or early in the plant’s growing season. However, proper management by the manager ensures the alfalfa planting is successful.
First and foremast, proper seedbed preparation is important. This is true for any food plot, but especially when trying to start alfalfa. Control competitive plant species through chemical or mechanical treatments. In addition, ensure that white-tailed deer are not present at a high density. If so, overuse of the food plot by deer could be an issue early on. Options include reducing the deer population or excluding animals from the food plot until it is established. Electric fencing and tall net-wire fencing will do the job.
Alfalfa for Food Plots
Believe it or not, there are currently over 220 varieties of alfalfa! Alfalfa varieties are rated for fall dormancy and winter hardiness. These factors should be considered based on the latitude of your property. When evaluating alfalfa, pay attention to hardiness and dormancy. Fall dormancy relates to how soon an alfalfa variety stops growing in the fall and how early it begins growing again in the spring. Winter hardiness pertains to how well an alfalfa variety will survive over multiple winters.
Once established, the dormancy and winter hardiness ratings determine the length of the variety’s annual growing season and the life of the alfalfa food plot. The best way to choose alfalfa varieties that are suitable in your area is to talk directly with local seed dealers, agricultural extension agents, and wildlife biologists.
Planting Alfalfa Food Plots for Deer
Alfalfa food plots can generally be planted in April or September-October each year. Spring is preferred. Timing depends on latitude and the variety of alfalfa. Alfalfa can grow 2 to 3 feet in height and produce an astounding 3 to 5 tons of high quality forage per acre! It is a cool season species that will start growing in late-March, persist through the summer, and grows throughout October at southern latitudes.
Alfalfa planting rates vary by variety, but usually run around 15 to 20 pounds per acre. Seed costs for alfalfa plantings range from $60-80 per acre. Alfalfa food plots for deer and other animals requires more costs and effort up front than other plots. However, the reward is a high quality forage that benefits your whitetail and deer management program year after year. Alfalfa plots are a good investment for properties with suitable soils.
Deer management involves manipulating the habitat and animals found on a property to improve body condition, increase fawning rates, and enhance antler quality of a white-tailed deer herd. Overall, deer management has been fueled by the desire for healthier bucks with larger antlers. And although herd management works well, it does not work over night–it takes years of work and selective deer harvest.
A spin-off of deer management has been the selective pen-breeding of deer which has resulted in the commercial white-tailed deer breeding industry. Love it or hate it, this has allowed line-breeding and the rapid concentration of genes supporting abnormally-large antler growth.
Here enters the deer known as Sudden Impact. Not only is he a big buck, he is an absolutely, insanely, monstrous whitetail buck! After glancing at his antlers, you are probably thinking that this buck has reached maturity and has grown its biggest rack ever. Wrong. The video above features Sudden Impact at only 2 years of age in 2008! Yes, at 2 1/2 years old his shed antlers scored an eye-raising 406 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches.
This buck is already the largest pen-raised whitetail ever and he looks to blow through that mark later this year. There is no doubt that he is impressive, but would you really want to shoot him?
There are as many different kinds of food plot mixes on the market as there are days in a year, but a lot of people do not realize that the best food plots for white-tailed deer actually grow naturally! In my opinion, natural foods are the best food plots.
I guess by definition what I am writing about today can not really be considered food plots, but more like techniques to provide additional foods for deer. But I believe habitat management is the first step in deer management!
Disking– This is a simple technique that can be implemented (get it) during both the spring and fall. There is nothing magical about how disking works. The only thing necessary is that you use a disk to disturb the surface of the soil so that forb seeds can become “exposed” and germinate.
To promote warm season forbs for deer, disk the selected area before spring green-up. To promote cool season food plots simply disk the area where you would like your native food plot to be during late summer. In addition, to promote more edge and diversity you can alternate disked and undisked strips (strip disking). Continue reading “The Best Whitetail Deer Food Plots”
Warm season annuals such as milo, millets, other sorghum varieties, and legumes, such as beans, peas, and lablab may be planted and southern latitudes after about mid-April for warm season food plots for white-tailed deer. Of course, don’t forget the biggest limitation on food plots — rain! Go for drought resistant plants every chance you get. For the best chance at success, located the richest soil/s on your property, properly prepare them for planting and get your seeds in the ground just prior to the growing season.
There are numerous plant species and even varieties of plant species available commercially that can work for plots intended for whitetail. All of these plants will grow, but they may not all be well suited to your area or even the soils found on your specific property. A good rule for food plots is to just keep in simple. Deer eat a tremendous number of plants, so just plant the one that is best adapted to your area. If you plant it (and it grows), they will come.
With that in mind, varieties of dry land alfalfa, a warm season perennial legume that comes back from the roots each year, or another grazing-type variety of alfalfa can be planted in food plots. An important thing to keep in mind, legumes have 20-30% protein content and fix nitrogen into the soil! That’s a double whammy considering the price of fertilizer. Continue reading “Time to Think About Spring Food Plots for Deer”
