Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
Deer are drawn to high-protein, high-sugar forage: clover, soybeans, oats, and brassicas top most lists. Clover works spring through fall, brassicas and turnips shine in late fall and winter, and oats fit as a fast-growing cool-season draw. Planting dates depend on your zone, usually late summer for brassicas and fall cereals, spring for clover and beans.
What is a food plot?
A food plot is a planted patch of land, usually somewhere between a quarter acre and several acres, put in specifically to feed and hold deer or other wildlife. It's not a garden and it's not a lawn. It's agriculture with a wildlife goal instead of a harvest-for-market goal. Most hunters plant one of two plot types. A destination plot is a bigger field, often planted with clover, brassicas, or beans, meant to be a food source deer travel to. A kill plot (sometimes called a hunting plot) is smaller, tucked close to bedding cover, planted more to catch deer moving between food and bed than to feed a herd all season. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service treats food plots as part of its wildlife habitat conservation practice work, and NRCS Conservation Practice Standard 645 (Upland Wildlife Habitat Management) describes establishing and managing food plots and other vegetation to meet the seasonal food and cover needs of target wildlife species, including stress periods like late winter when natural browse is thin [1]. That's really the whole point: fill a gap in what the woods already provide. If you're new to the concept or want a broader rundown of layout and plot types, the food plot whitetail guide covers the basics in more depth.
What are deer's favorite foods?
| Clover (white/red) | Spring through fall | 20-30% [3] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soybeans (forage type) | Summer | 25-30% during vegetative stage [3] | |
| Brassicas (turnip, radish, rape) | Late fall/winter | 15-25%, higher after frost sweetens | |
| Oats | Fall, early spring | 12-16% | |
| Corn | Late fall/winter (energy, not protein) | 8-10% | |
| Chicory | Spring through fall | 20-32% [3] | For a rundown of specific seed blends built around these species, see deer food plot seed. |
Deer are ruminants with a strong preference for young, tender, high-protein plants, and their tastes shift by season. In spring and summer they favor forbs, soybeans, and clover, chasing protein for antler growth and lactation. In fall they shift toward carbohydrates and fat, acorns first, then standing corn, soybeans, and brassicas once a frost sweetens them up. Acorns are probably the single most consistent natural whitetail food across the eastern half of the country. Research on white-tailed deer food habits has long documented mast dependence in fall. A frequently cited food habits study out of the Southeast found acorns and other hard mast can dominate fall and early winter deer diets in oak-dominated habitat during years of good acorn production, with hard mast sometimes making up roughly 40 to 50 percent of rumen contents [2]. That's a lot of competition for a planted plot in an oak-heavy woods during a good acorn year, and it partly explains the year-to-year variability hunters see in plot activity. Among planted options, whitetail generally rank clover, soybeans, and brassicas near the top, with corn valued more for its carbohydrate load late in the year. Chicory, cowpeas, and lablab also draw strong interest in summer. None of this is guesswork dressed as science. It comes from decades of state agency and university forage trial work, much of it summarized by extension wildlife programs in Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. A quick reference on relative deer preference by plant type: | Plant | Season of peak draw | Protein range (dry matter) |
Do deer like clover, and is it worth planting?
Yes. Clover is probably the single most planted food plot forage in North America, and for good reason. White clover (Trifolium repens) and red clover (Trifolium pratense) are both perennials, both tolerate mowing and grazing pressure well, and both keep producing tender regrowth all season if you manage them. Clover's draw comes down to protein and digestibility. Extension forage data commonly cites whole-plant crude protein for white clover in the 25 to 30 percent range during active growth, which is well above what deer get from most native browse [3]. It's also one of the few plot crops that keeps producing new, tender leaves after grazing, so a well-established clover plot can get hit hard in April and still look green in October. The tradeoff is establishment. Clover needs a firm seedbed, correct soil pH (most university guides recommend 6.0 to 6.5 for legumes), and inoculant on the seed if the field hasn't grown clover recently. Get the pH wrong and clover struggles no matter how good the seed is. That's really the whole argument for pulling a soil test before you plant anything perennial. Your soil test lab's lime and fertilizer recommendation is the authority here, not a general guide like this one. Clover plots typically need a full growing season to hit their stride, and a well-maintained stand can last three to five years before it needs renovation. If you want something that pulls deer in June and still has something to offer in October without replanting, clover earns its reputation. For seed selection specific to your plot size, check deer food plot seed or food plot seed.
Do deer eat sorghum?
Deer will eat sorghum, but it's not a top-tier attractant on its own, and most food plot guides list it as a secondary or companion crop rather than a headline species. Grain sorghum produces a seed head deer will hit once it matures and dries down, similar to how they use standing corn, but the whole-plant nutritional draw during the growing season is lower than soybeans or cowpeas. Where sorghum earns a spot is as a nurse crop or a screening and structure plant. It grows tall fast. That makes it useful for hiding a plot's interior from road view or breaking wind across an exposed field. Some blends pair grain sorghum with legumes specifically because the sorghum stands up and gives climbing plants like cowpeas or lablab something to grab onto. For a fall or winter energy source deer will actually seek out, corn and soybeans still outperform sorghum in most university forage comparisons, and sorghum is more often used as a mix component than a standalone plot.
Do deer eat turnips, and when should you plant them?
Deer eat turnips, and they eat them hard, but usually not until after the first hard frost. Before frost, turnip foliage is bitter with glucosinolates that make it less palatable. Cold weather converts starches to sugars in the leaves and especially the bulb, and that's when a turnip plot goes from ignored to hammered almost overnight. Brassica planting windows run backward from your average first frost date. General extension guidance on brassica forage crops recommends seeding turnips and other brassicas roughly 60 to 90 days before the first killing frost so plants have time to bulb up before cold weather hits [4]. In practice that means: - Zone 3-4 (northern tier): mid-July to early August
- Zone 5-6 (transition states): early to mid-August
- Zone 7-8 (southern states): late August to mid-September Turnips need loose, well-drained soil and a near-neutral pH. Most brassica production guides target a soil pH of 6.0 or higher for best bulb development [4]. Broadcast seeding at roughly 4 to 6 pounds per acre for straight turnip stands works in most guides, though many hunters plant turnips in a blend with radish and rape rather than alone. One real limitation: turnips are a fall and early winter play. Once deer clean out the tops and dig the bulbs in a hard winter, there's nothing left until you replant next year. They're not a spring or summer food source.
When should you plant oats for deer, and do deer like them?
Deer like oats a lot, especially in the fall when the plant is young, leafy, and easy to digest. Oats are a cool-season annual cereal grain, and they're one of the fastest-germinating, most forgiving food plot crops available, which is part of why they're so common in fall blend mixes. Planting timing for oats depends heavily on your goal. For a fall attraction plot meant to draw deer during archery season, most guides recommend seeding oats 6 to 8 weeks before your average first frost, similar timing to brassicas but with faster germination, often 5 to 10 days in warm, moist soil. For northern states that puts oats in the ground anywhere from mid-August into early September; southern states can push into late September or October. Oats can also go in as a spring nurse crop for clover, protecting young clover seedlings while they establish, though spring-planted oats will head out and die back with summer heat in most regions rather than persisting. Oats don't survive hard winters in most of the whitetail's range the way winter wheat or rye do. If you want a plot that's still green in February, oats alone won't do it. Pair them with wheat, rye, or brassicas for late-season coverage. For a broader look at cool-season blends, deer food plots covers combination strategies.
When should you plant food plots for deer overall?
| Northern (Zone 3-4) | Mid-May to early June | Late July to mid-August | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition (Zone 5-6) | Late April to mid-May | Mid-August to early September | |
| Southern (Zone 7-8) | March to April | Late August to late September | Soil temperature matters as much as calendar date for spring plantings. Most legume seed guides, echoed by land-grant agronomy extension bulletins, want soil temps consistently above 50°F before clover or soybean seed goes in the ground, since germination stalls and seed rot risk climbs in cold, wet soil. For fall plantings, working backward from your first expected frost is the more reliable method than picking a fixed date, since frost dates vary by 3 to 4 weeks even within a single state. A soil test, pulled 2 to 3 months ahead of planting, gives you time to apply lime if your pH is off, since lime can take months to fully move through soil and correct acidity. Waiting until planting week to test soil and then trying to fix pH the same week is one of the most common mistakes new plotters make. |
Timing splits into two windows: spring plots (clover, soybeans, chicory, cowpeas) and fall plots (brassicas, oats, wheat, rye). The right date depends on your frost dates far more than the calendar month, so a Georgia hunter and a Minnesota hunter are working from very different windows even for the same seed bag. A rough planting calendar by region: | Region | Spring plot window | Fall plot window |
Do deer like honey, or does honey attract deer?
No, honey isn't a meaningful deer attractant, and it's not something wildlife agencies or extension programs recommend or study as a food plot input. Deer are herbivores built to digest fibrous plant material through a four-chambered rumen. A concentrated sugar syrup like honey doesn't fit their normal diet or foraging behavior the way it might for some omnivores or insects. What probably drives the honey question is confusion with mineral licks, molasses-based supplements, or sweet feed products marketed for deer, which do use sugar and salt to draw deer to a site. Those products fall under bait and supplemental feeding rules in most states, and many states restrict or ban feeding and baiting for hunting purposes entirely, especially in areas with chronic wasting disease concerns. Check your state wildlife agency's regulations before using any attractant product, honey included, since rules vary widely and change year to year. A planted food plot is generally treated differently from a bait pile under most state definitions, but the line differs state to state, so it's worth reading your specific regulation rather than assuming a plot is automatically legal where bait isn't.
Which plants make the best food plot for deer overall?
There's no single best plant, because deer needs change through the year and no one species covers spring, summer, fall, and winter equally well. The strongest food plot programs stack multiple species across a property so something is always palatable. A reasonable core lineup for most of the whitetail's range: - Perennial clover for spring through fall protein
- Soybeans or cowpeas for a summer high-protein annual
- Brassicas (turnip, radish, rape) for late fall and winter energy after frost
- Oats or winter wheat/rye for fall attraction and some winter green-up
- Corn or grain sorghum, where space allows, for late-season carbohydrate and cover Soil matters more than seed selection in determining whether any of this works. University extension food plot guidance consistently puts soil testing at the center of a successful plot program, recommending fertilizer and lime rates be set from lab results rather than a blanket rate applied across every field [5]. Skipping a soil test and guessing at lime and fertilizer is probably the single most common way food plot budgets get wasted. If you want a plan built around your specific soil test results, acreage, and region rather than a generic species list, that's exactly the kind of thing a Custom Food Plot Plan at plotseason.com/plot-plan-builder is built to do: a one-time $99 report that turns your soil numbers and property details into a planting and fertility plan. It's general guidance built from your data, not a substitute for your soil test lab's specific lime and fertilizer recommendation.
How much land and what equipment do you actually need?
You don't need a tractor to plant a good food plot, though a tractor makes bigger acreage far more practical. Plots as small as a half acre can hold and feed deer, especially kill plots tucked near bedding cover, while destination plots of 2 to 5 acres or more work better for feeding a larger local herd through a season. Minimum equipment for a small plot: a way to kill existing vegetation (herbicide or repeated disking), a way to work the seedbed (disc, tiller, or hand tools for very small plots), a broadcast spreader, and a way to pack the seed in (cultipacker, ATV tire drag, or even foot traffic on a small plot). Larger plots benefit from a disc harrow, a drill or no-till drill for better seed-to-soil contact, and a way to spray herbicide evenly. Specific equipment recommendations depend heavily on plot size, soil type, and whether you're working reclaimed woods ground or old ag fields, which is outside what a general article like this can responsibly tell you. For equipment breakdowns by plot size and budget, that's really its own topic worth its own guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do deer eat sorghum?
Yes, deer eat grain sorghum, especially once the seed head dries down in fall, similar to how they use standing corn. It's a lower-priority plot species than soybeans or corn for whole-season draw, and it's most often planted as a companion crop for structure or screening rather than a standalone attractant.
Do deer like clover?
Deer strongly prefer clover. White and red clover offer 25 to 30 percent crude protein during active growth, according to common extension forage data, and they regrow after grazing, making clover one of the most reliable spring-through-fall food plot species available.
When should you plant oats for deer?
Plant oats 6 to 8 weeks before your area's average first frost for a fall attraction plot, typically mid-August to early September in northern states and late September into October in southern states. Oats can also go in as a spring nurse crop for clover, though they die back in summer heat.
When is the best time to plant food plots for deer?
Spring plots (clover, soybeans, chicory) go in after soil temps hit roughly 50°F, often April through early June depending on latitude. Fall plots (brassicas, oats, cereal grains) get planted 60 to 90 days before your first expected frost, so timing shifts by 4 to 6 weeks between northern and southern states.
When should you plant turnips for deer?
Plant turnips 60 to 90 days before your first hard frost so bulbs mature before cold weather sweetens them. That's roughly mid-July to early August in northern states, and late August to mid-September in the South. Deer generally ignore turnip foliage until after that first frost.
What is a food plot?
A food plot is a planted area, usually a fraction of an acre up to several acres, established specifically to provide forage for deer or other wildlife rather than for market harvest. Plots fall into two broad types: larger destination plots and smaller kill plots near bedding cover.
What are deer's favorite foods?
Acorns top most fall diets when available, with food habits research showing hard mast can make up roughly 40 to 50 percent of intake in good mast years. Among planted crops, clover, soybeans, and brassicas rank highest for protein and palatability, with corn valued more for late-season carbohydrate energy.
Do deer like honey?
No. Honey isn't a recognized or studied deer attractant; deer are herbivores adapted to digest fibrous plant material, not concentrated sugar syrup. Confusion likely stems from molasses-based mineral or sweet feed products, which fall under state baiting and feeding regulations that vary and should be checked before use.
How long does it take clover to establish in a food plot?
Clover typically needs a full growing season to fully establish a thick stand, though it can be grazable within 6 to 8 weeks of germination under good conditions. A well-managed clover plot, mowed and fertilized per soil test results, can persist for 3 to 5 years before needing renovation.
Can you plant a food plot without a tractor?
Yes, for smaller plots. A half-acre to one-acre plot can be worked with hand tools or a heavy-duty ATV, a broadcast spreader, and a drag or cultipacker for seed-to-soil contact. Larger destination plots of several acres get much more practical with a tractor, disc, and sprayer.
Why won't deer eat my food plot?
Common causes include wrong soil pH for the species planted, planting the wrong crop for the season (like brassicas before frost sweetens them), heavy natural food competition such as a strong acorn year, or seed planted too shallow or too deep. A soil test usually reveals the fertility half of the problem.
Is baiting deer with feed the same as planting a food plot?
No, most states treat them differently, but rules vary widely and some states restrict both under chronic wasting disease concerns. A planted, rooted food plot is generally legal where bait piles are not, but always check your specific state wildlife agency's current regulation before hunting over any planted or supplemental food source.
Sources
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Conservation Practice Standard 645, Upland Wildlife Habitat Management: Food plot rotation can supply forage during specific seasonal stress periods for wildlife
- Journal of Wildlife Management, food habits of white-tailed deer in an oak-dominated forest during a period of mast failure and mast abundance: Acorns can dominate fall deer diets, making up roughly 40 to 50 percent of intake in good mast years
- University of Georgia Extension, forage and food plot species crude protein data: Crude protein ranges for clover and chicory forage in food plot species
- Mississippi State University Extension, Brassicas for Deer and Other Wildlife publication: Recommended planting window (60-90 days before frost) and soil pH target for brassicas/turnips
- Mississippi State University Extension, Establishing and Managing Wildlife Food Plots publication: Soil testing is the foundation of successful food plot fertility programs
- Mississippi State University Extension, white-tailed deer nutrition publication P2632: Deer diet composition shifts seasonally toward high-protein forage in spring and summer