What plants attract deer? the food plot species that work

Last updated 2026-07-25

what are deer's favorite food plot plants?

There's no single "favorite" because deer preference shifts with season, region, and what's already growing wild nearby. That said, university deer research and food plot trial data point to a short list that outperforms almost everything else: clover (white and red), soybeans, brassicas (turnips, radishes, forage rape), oats, and corn. Clover is probably the closest thing to a universal answer. It's high in protein (often 25-30% crude protein in good stands), stays palatable most of the growing season, and regrows after grazing pressure that would kill a lot of other plants. Land-grant extension programs consistently rank clover among the top perennial forages for deer nutrition and use ^[1]. Soybeans and cowpeas are the summer heavy hitters, especially in ag country where deer already key on beans. A well-established soybean plot can produce more tonnage of high-protein forage per acre than almost any other food plot option. Brassicas (turnips, radishes, kale, rape) become the fall and winter draw. They're mild early in the season and deer often ignore them until a hard frost converts starches to sugars, at which point they can pull deer off standing corn and acorns. Cereal grains (oats, wheat, rye) fill the gap in between, green and attractive from planting through frost and often again in early spring.

do deer like clover?

Yes, and it's one of the most-studied food plot species there is. White clover and red clover both show up repeatedly in wildlife extension guides as top-tier deer forage, valued for high digestibility and season-long regrowth ^{[1] [2]}. Clover's advantage is duration. A soybean field gets hammered to dirt in July if deer density is high. A well-managed clover stand keeps sending up new leaves after every grazing event, as long as you're mowing or spraying to control weed competition. Clover also fixes nitrogen in the soil, so it can go into a rotation ahead of a nitrogen-hungry crop like corn or brassicas without much added fertilizer ^[3]. The tradeoff is establishment. Clover needs decent soil pH (most guides recommend 6.0-6.5 or higher) and a firm, well-prepared seedbed with good seed-to-soil contact, since the seed is tiny. A soil test is the only honest way to know if your ground needs lime before clover will perform. Your soil test lab's recommendation is the final word on lime and fertilizer rates for your specific field.

do deer eat sorghum?

Deer will eat sorghum, but it's a mid-tier choice, not a top pick. Grain sorghum (milo) produces a seed head deer and other wildlife will feed on, and it holds up reasonably well as a standing winter food source in regions where corn struggles with drought or deer/hog pressure. Extension guides on wildlife food plots often list sorghum among alternative grain options, particularly in the southern Great Plains and parts of the Southeast where it's more drought-tolerant than corn ^[4]. The catch is that sorghum isn't as consistently preferred as corn or soybeans when deer have a choice. It works best as a drought-insurance crop or a screening/cover plant that also happens to feed deer, rather than as your main attraction plot. If you're picking one grain crop and have the soil and rainfall for corn, corn or soybeans will usually out-draw sorghum.

when to plant food plots for deer?

Timing splits into two windows: spring/summer plots (clover, soybeans, cowpeas, chicory) and fall plots (brassicas, cereal grains, some clover blends). The exact dates depend entirely on your USDA plant hardiness zone and local frost dates. As a general framework used by state wildlife agencies and extension programs: spring plantings go in after your last frost date, typically anywhere from mid-April in the South to early June in the far North. Fall plantings need to go in early enough that plants establish before the first hard frost, which usually means 60-90 days before your average first frost date for brassicas and cereal grains. Your state wildlife agency's food plot guide and your local extension office both publish frost date charts and zone-specific planting windows, and those are more reliable than any generic national calendar. A "fall planting" in south Georgia can be six weeks later than one in Michigan. For a broader breakdown by region, see the seasonal calendars hub for zone-specific timing. If you want a planting date and species list built around your actual property instead of a national average, that's exactly what a Custom Food Plot Plan is for: a $99 one-time plan based on your location, soil test, and equipment.

when to plant oats for deer?

Oats are almost always a fall planting, going in 6 to 10 weeks before your first expected frost so they've got time to establish and put on leafy growth before winter shuts things down. In much of the Midwest and Upper South that lands somewhere between late August and mid-September; in the Deep South it can push into October. Oats are attractive to deer almost immediately after emergence, which makes them a good early-season draw plot, and they often get a second flush of grazing interest after a frost sweetens the leaves with sugars. Spring oat plantings are possible too, mainly as a quick cover crop or nurse crop for clover establishment, but oats planted in spring tend to head out and get tough before they do much good as a fall hunting plot. Oats don't survive hard winters as well as winter wheat or cereal rye, so in the northern half of the whitetail's range, a lot of hunters blend oats with wheat or rye specifically so something is still green after a deep freeze.

when to plant turnips for deer?

Turnips go in the ground roughly 60 to 90 days before your area's first fall frost, which for most of the whitetail range means a window from late July in the North down through early September in the Mid-South. Planting too early and the tops get leggy and bitter in summer heat; too late and they don't bulb up before the ground freezes. Turnips are a slow-burn attractant. Deer often walk past young turnip plots for weeks, then hit them hard after the first hard frost converts starches in the leaves and bulbs into sugars, a well-documented cold-tolerance response in brassica crops ^[5]. That's why turnip and other brassica plots are usually timed to peak in late fall and winter hunting seasons rather than early bow season. A mix matters here. Pure turnip plots can get ignored if deer haven't been conditioned to eat the bulbs, and in areas with low deer density, half your tonnage (the bulb) might go completely unused. Blending turnips with radishes, rape, and a cereal grain gives deer more options and usually more consistent hits.

what is a food plot?

A food plot is a planted area on hunting or wildlife land, usually somewhere between a quarter acre and several acres, seeded with forage crops specifically to feed and attract deer or other game. It's a form of habitat management, distinct from agriculture grown for sale, though the same crops (soybeans, clover, corn) show up in both. State wildlife agencies generally treat food plots as a legal land management practice, separate from baiting or supplemental feeding, but the line between "food plot" and "bait" varies a lot by state and matters for hunting legality. Some states restrict hunting over food plots that were planted very recently, or have specific rules about size, distance, or whether the crop can be harvested versus left standing. Always check your state wildlife agency's current regulations before you plant if you're unsure whether a plot could be classified as bait. Food plots serve two overlapping goals: nutrition (helping deer body condition and antler growth through spring/summer plots) and attraction (drawing deer to a huntable location in fall). Most serious plotters run both types on the same property. For a rundown of plot types and how they're typically categorized, see food plot whitetail and deer food plots.

do deer like honey?

This one usually comes from confusion with "honey hole" hunting slang, not an actual food plot question, but there is a real answer. Deer aren't drawn to honey as a food source in any meaningful field sense. It's not a plant, it's not part of natural deer diet, and there's no wildlife research treating it as an attractant. If you've seen "honey" mentioned near deer hunting, it's almost certainly either a term for a productive hunting spot or a reference to a mineral/attractant product that includes sugar or molasses, not raw honey itself. Worth flagging: mineral and sugar-based attractants (as opposed to planted forage) fall under bait and feeding regulations in most states, and those rules vary widely. Some states ban mineral sites entirely on public land, others restrict them seasonally. If honey or a molasses-based product is part of a commercial mineral mix you're considering, check your state wildlife agency's baiting definition first, because a lot of states define bait broadly enough to include mineral licks.

how does soil affect what plants attract deer?

Soil pH and fertility decide whether a plant grows well enough to attract anything at all, and this is where most food plot failures actually happen, long before deer preference is even a factor. Clover and alfalfa want a pH around 6.0-7.0; brassicas tolerate a slightly wider range but still perform best above pH 6.0 ^{[2] [3]}. A soil test (available cheap through most land-grant university extension offices) tells you your current pH, phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter, and gives you a lime and fertilizer recommendation specific to your field and the crop you're planting. That test result, not a generic bag-of-seed label, should drive your lime and fertilizer decisions. Your soil test lab is the authority on rates for your ground; a national guide can only give you ranges. As a rough rule, undersized or stunted plots almost always trace back to low pH locking up nutrients, not to the wrong plant choice. Liming acidic soil to the target range for the crop being grown commonly produces meaningful yield gains in extension trial data ^[3]. For more on getting soil right before you plant, see the soil and fertility hub.

corn vs. soybeans vs. clover vs. brassicas: which attracts deer best?

clover	spring through fall, regrows after grazing	25-30% crude protein in good stands [1]	moderate; needs pH 6.0+, firm seedbed
soybeans	mid-summer through early fall	high tonnage, high protein forage	easy to plant, vulnerable to early grazing pressure
brassicas (turnips, radish, rape)	late fall/winter after frost	sugars increase post-frost, big draw late season [5]	easy, fast-growing, needs 60-90 day window
oats/cereal grains	early fall through frost, sometimes spring flush	attractive almost immediately after emergence	easy, but oats winterkill in northern zones
corn	standing through winter where legal to leave	high energy/carb source, good winter cover too	needs decent soil and equipment, more expensive	A lot of experienced plotters run clover as their perennial base, brassicas or cereal grains for a fall hunting plot, and soybeans or corn where they've got the acreage and equipment for a bigger summer/fall program. See deer food plot seed and food plot seed for species-specific planting rates and mixes.

There's no universal winner; each crop has a season and a role, and the strongest plot programs run more than one. | crop | peak attraction window | protein/appeal notes | establishment difficulty |

what equipment do you actually need to plant these species?

It depends entirely on plot size and how rough the ground is, but you don't need a full tractor setup to plant clover or brassicas on a small plot. A hand seeder, a rented disc or tiller, and a way to pack the seed in (even driving over it with an ATV) will get a quarter-acre clover plot established. Larger acreage, or ground with heavy sod and weed pressure, benefits from a real tractor, disc, cultipacker, and a broadcast or drill seeder, especially for small-seeded crops like clover that need shallow, firm placement. Corn and soybeans generally want a planter or drill for even spacing and depth, though broadcast-and-cultipack methods work in a pinch on smaller plots. Whatever you're running, get your soil test back before you buy fertilizer or lime, since guessing on rates wastes money either direction. For equipment-specific planting guidance by species, the [equipment and methods hub] covers what tool fits what plot size and soil condition.

Frequently asked questions

do deer eat sorghum?

Yes, deer will eat grain sorghum (milo), and it's a reasonable drought-tolerant alternative to corn in dry regions. It's not as consistently preferred as corn or soybeans though, so most plotters use it as a backup grain crop or screening plant rather than a primary attractant.

do deer eat clover?

Yes, clover is one of the most reliable food plot forages available, with crude protein often in the 25-30% range in well-managed stands. It stays attractive spring through fall and regrows after grazing, which is why land-grant extension programs rank it among the top perennial deer forages.

when to plant deer food plots?

Spring plots (clover, soybeans, chicory) go in after your last frost, typically mid-April to early June depending on latitude. Fall plots (brassicas, oats, wheat) go in 60-90 days before your first fall frost. Check your state extension office or wildlife agency for exact local frost dates.

do deer like clover?

Yes. Clover is high-protein, palatable most of the growing season, and tolerates repeated grazing better than almost any other food plot crop. Its main requirement is decent soil pH (6.0 or higher) and a firm seedbed, since the seed is small and needs good soil contact to establish.

when to plant oats for deer?

Plant oats 6 to 10 weeks before your area's first fall frost, generally late August through mid-September in the Midwest and Upper South, later into September or October farther south. Oats green up fast and draw deer almost immediately, but they winterkill easily, so pair them with wheat or rye in colder zones.

when to plant food plots for deer?

Split your calendar into two windows: spring/summer plantings after your last frost date for clover, soybeans, and cowpeas, and fall plantings 60-90 days before first frost for brassicas and cereal grains. Exact dates depend on your USDA hardiness zone; your state wildlife agency publishes local frost date charts.

when to plant turnips for deer?

Plant turnips 60 to 90 days before your first expected fall frost, roughly late July through early September across most of the whitetail range. Deer often ignore turnips until after the first hard frost sweetens the bulbs and leaves with sugar, so time planting to peak in late fall or winter.

what is a food plot?

A food plot is a planted area, usually a fraction of an acre up to several acres, seeded with forage crops to feed and attract deer on hunting or managed land. It's treated as a habitat management practice by most state wildlife agencies, distinct from baiting, though rules on size and timing vary by state.

what are deer's favorite foods for food plots?

No single plant wins outright, but clover, soybeans, brassicas (turnips, radishes, rape), oats, and corn consistently rank as top food plot performers in university and extension trials. Preference shifts by season: clover and beans dominate spring through summer, brassicas and cereal grains take over after fall frosts.

do deer like honey?

Not as a natural food source; honey isn't part of a deer's diet and isn't used in legitimate food plot or attractant research. The term usually gets confused with "honey hole" hunting slang or with molasses-based mineral products, which are a different thing and often regulated as bait in many states.

what's the difference between a food plot and baiting?

A food plot is a planted crop left growing in the ground; baiting typically means placing loose feed, minerals, or harvested grain to draw deer. States define the line differently, some restrict hunting over plots planted within a certain timeframe, others treat any standing crop as legal. Always check your state wildlife agency's current regulations.

how big should a food plot be to attract deer?

There's no fixed minimum; quarter-acre plots work in areas with good cover and lower deer pressure, while heavier deer density or open ground often needs a full acre or more so the plot isn't grazed out before hunting season. Shape and screening cover matter as much as raw size for hunting effectiveness.

do I need to test my soil before planting a food plot?

Yes. A soil test tells you current pH and nutrient levels, and gives a lime and fertilizer recommendation specific to your crop and field. Skipping it is the single most common reason food plots fail to establish, since low pH locks up nutrients regardless of which seed you plant.

Sources

1. University of Georgia Extension, Circular 1252: Establishing Wildlife Food Plots: Clover requires pH generally in the 6.0-6.5+ range for good establishment
2. University of Tennessee Extension, Soil Sampling for Better Nutrient Management (PB1740): Liming acidic soil to target pH can raise crop yield significantly compared to unlimed acidic ground
3. Oklahoma State University Extension, Wildlife Food Plots: Grain sorghum is listed as a drought-tolerant alternative grain crop for wildlife food plots
4. University of Kentucky Extension, AGR-18: Cereal Grain Forages: Oats should be planted roughly 6-10 weeks before first fall frost for fall food plot establishment
5. Clemson Cooperative Extension, Brassicas for Deer Food Plots: Frost converts starches in brassica leaves and bulbs to sugars, increasing palatability to deer in late fall