What to put in a food plot for deer: full species guide

Last updated 2026-07-26

What is a food plot, exactly?

A food plot is a planted patch of forage, usually somewhere between a quarter acre and several acres, put in specifically to feed and hold deer on a property. It's not a garden and it's not a lawn. It's agriculture done on a small scale for wildlife instead of for market. Most plots fall into two buckets. Annual plots get replanted every year (think brassicas, oats, soybeans) and often deliver the biggest tonnage of forage fast. Perennial plots (clover, chicory, alfalfa) get planted once and then mowed, sprayed, and fertilized for three to five years before you start over. Neither type is inherently better. A lot of good plotters run both, using perennials as a stable base and annuals to fill seasonal gaps or draw deer during specific hunting windows. State wildlife agencies generally treat food plots as normal agricultural plantings, not bait, as long as the crop is planted and left standing or is otherwise growing in place rather than piled or spread loose. That said, baiting and supplemental feeding rules vary a lot by state, and some states regulate hunting over food plots differently than hunting over a bait pile. Check your state wildlife agency's regulations before you assume a plot is legal to hunt over ^[1]. For a broader rundown on the different plot styles and how they fit together on a property, see food plot whitetail.

What are deer's favorite foods, really?

Deer are opportunistic browsers, and what they prefer shifts by season, region, and what's available. Research on native forage and mast production consistently ranks acorns and soft mast (apples, persimmons) among the top preferred natural foods, with high-protein legumes and agricultural crops like soybeans and clover close behind when available ^[2]. In a planted food plot context, deer show strong, repeated preference for a short list: soybeans and cowpeas in summer (high protein, high tonnage), clover almost year-round where it's not dormant, and brassicas (turnips, radishes, rape) once a hard frost sweetens the leaves and bulbs in fall. Corn is a favorite too, but it's expensive to grow well and it's mostly an energy food, not a protein source deer need for antler growth or lactation. Don't overthink this into a single "best" plant. A property that offers a legume for summer protein, a brassica or cereal grain for fall energy, and a clover base that persists through much of the year will out-produce a property planted in just one crop, almost every time.

Do deer eat clover, and do they actually like it?

Yes. Clover is probably the single most planted food plot crop in North America, and for good reason. White clover and red clover are both highly palatable, and extension forage trial data consistently shows clover among the top-preferred plantings when it's actively growing ^[3]. Clover's real advantage is duration. A well-maintained clover stand can produce grazable forage from spring green-up through fall, and even into winter in warmer zones, whereas most annuals have a much shorter productive window. Clover also fixes nitrogen in the soil, which is a genuine agronomic benefit, more than a marketing line; legumes host rhizobia bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form, cutting your fertilizer need in later years ^[4]. The tradeoff is establishment. Clover needs a fairly precise seedbed, shallow planting depth (a quarter inch or less), and decent soil pH (most extension guides recommend 6.0 to 6.5) to really thrive ^[5]. Skimp on lime and a clover plot will struggle even if the seed itself was good. If you're weighing clover against other perennial or annual options for your specific ground, deer food plots breaks down more of those tradeoffs.

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes, deer eat grain sorghum (milo), but it's more of a secondary or filler crop than a headline planting. Sorghum is drought-tolerant and can produce decent tonnage on poor ground where corn would fail, and deer will use both the standing grain heads and the foliage, especially later in fall and winter once other food sources thin out. Sorghum shows up more often as a component in wildlife blends or as a screening/cover crop planted alongside a food source than as a stand-alone deer plot. It's cheaper per acre than corn in a lot of regions and needs less fertility to produce a crop, which matters if you're working thin, sandy, or drought-prone soil. If your main goal is pure deer nutrition and you have decent ground, soybeans or a brassica mix will usually out-perform sorghum for actual browse preference. If your ground is rough and you need something that will grow regardless, sorghum earns its place.

Do deer like honey (honeysuckle, honey locust, and related plants)?

This one usually comes from confusion between "honey" the food and plants with "honey" in the name. Deer don't eat honey itself; it's not a natural browse item and it's not something you'd plant in a plot. What deer do eat heavily is honey locust pods (Gleditsia triacanthos) and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) foliage and stems, both of which show up as documented deer forage in USDA plant materials literature ^[6]. Honey locust pods are a genuine fall and winter food source in the eastern and midwestern U.S.; deer will clean up dropped pods under mature trees, and some habitat managers plant honey locust as a mast tree specifically for that reason. Japanese honeysuckle is also heavily browsed, though it's an aggressive invasive in much of the country and many state forestry agencies discourage planting it. Neither is a food plot crop in the traditional sense (you're not tilling and drilling seed), but both are worth knowing if you're managing timber edges or hedgerows around your plots.

When to plant food plots for deer (the short answer)

Planting timing splits into two windows almost everywhere in the whitetail's range: a spring/summer window for warm-season annuals, and a late summer/early fall window for cool-season annuals and perennials. Which window matters more depends on what you're planting and what you want the plot doing during hunting season. Warm-season plots (soybeans, cowpeas, corn, sorghum) go in after your last frost date, typically anywhere from mid-April in the Deep South to early June in the northern tier, matching normal row-crop planting windows tracked by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service ^[7]. These plots build tonnage all summer and are usually eaten down or mature by hunting season, so they're more about summer nutrition (antler growth, lactating does) than October hunting cover. Cool-season plots (clover, brassicas, cereal grains like oats and wheat) go in from late July through September in most of the whitetail's range, timed so the plants have 45 to 90 days of growth before the first hard frost. That timing is exactly why brassicas and clover peak right around archery and gun season in most states, which is not a coincidence, it's the whole point. Land-grant extension planting guides commonly anchor cool-season plot seeding to a target of 60 to 90 days before first frost ^[8].

When to plant oats for deer

Plant oats in late summer to early fall, generally 6 to 10 weeks before your area's first hard frost, so the plants establish before growth slows. In much of the Midwest that lands in the last two weeks of August through mid-September; in the Deep South it can push into October. Oats germinate fast and put on visible growth within a week or two under good moisture, which makes them a favorite "quick green-up" crop for plotters who want something growing before opening day. They're highly palatable to deer while young and tender, and a lot of plotters mix oats with a brassica or with winter wheat so the plot has both a fast-growing decoy crop and a longer-lasting one. Oats do have a real weakness: they're less cold-hardy than wheat or rye, and a hard freeze in the teens can kill the plant outright in a lot of regions, ending the plot's usefulness right when late season hunting pressure ramps up. If you're in the northern part of the whitetail's range and want fall forage that survives into December and January, winter wheat, cereal rye, or triticale generally outlasts oats.

When to plant turnips for deer

Plant turnips (and other brassicas like radishes and rape) in late July through early September, aiming for 80 to 90 days of growth before your area's typical first hard frost. This timing is more forgiving than clover, but brassicas are unforgiving about being planted too late, since the bulb and leaf need real time to size up . Here's the part that surprises new plotters: deer often ignore turnip plots for the first month or two, then hammer them hard once temperatures drop into the 20s and 30s. That's not random. A hard frost converts starches in the leaves and bulb into simple sugars as a plant survival response, and that sweetening is what triggers the heavy late-season browse pressure that extension research on brassica forage crops has documented . If you're hunting a turnip plot expecting deer traffic in October, you may be disappointed; the same plot in late November and December, after a couple of frosts, often turns into the best deer magnet on the property. Brassicas also need decent fertility to bulb up properly, more nitrogen than clover typically needs since they're not fixing their own. A soil test matters here more than most crops, because brassicas are notorious for producing huge leafy tops and disappointing bulbs on underfed ground.

Do deer like clover better than other food plot options?

"Better" depends on the season and what else is available, but clover consistently ranks at or near the top of preference among plantable forages, largely because it's available and highly digestible for most of the growing season, not because deer categorically prefer it to every other plant . In spring, clover competes with fresh natural browse and often loses some attention until natural forage thins. In summer, deer often prefer soybeans or cowpeas when both are available, since the higher protein content matters more during antler growth and lactation. In fall, clover holds its own against brassicas early, then often loses ground to turnips and radishes once a hard frost sweetens them. What clover does that nothing else quite matches is consistency across the calendar and, once established, low annual cost. That's why most experienced plot managers use clover as their perennial backbone and layer annuals in around it rather than treating it as the single answer. If you're deciding between a pure clover plot and a mixed-species approach, deer food plot seed covers how blended mixes tend to perform against single-species stands.

Building a planting calendar by region

Deep South (zones 8-9)	March to May	September to October
Mid-South / Transition (zone 7)	April to May	August to September
Midwest / Mid-Atlantic (zones 5-6)	May to early June	Late July to August
Northern tier (zones 3-4)	Late May to early June	Mid-July to August	The biggest planting mistake plotters make isn't picking the wrong species, it's planting cool-season crops too late for their zone. A brassica or clover plot planted three weeks late in a northern zone can get caught by frost before it ever establishes a root system, and the whole plot fails regardless of soil test or fertilizer. When in doubt, plant early within your recommended window rather than late.

Zone matters more than any other single factor in deciding when to plant. A Georgia plot and a Minnesota plot on the exact same calendar date can be three months apart in real growing conditions. Below is a rough framework based on USDA plant hardiness zones and typical land-grant extension planting windows; always check your local extension office for a frost-date-specific recommendation . | Region (rough USDA zone) | Warm-season planting window | Cool-season planting window |

Matching species to soil and goals

Soil test results should drive your species choice as much as your calendar does. Clover wants pH 6.0 to 6.5 and will sulk badly below 5.5 without lime correction ^[5]. Brassicas tolerate a wider pH range but still bulb poorly on acidic, low-fertility ground. Soybeans need decent fertility and, like clover, are legumes that fix their own nitrogen once nodulated, but they're also a favorite of both deer and rabbits, meaning small plots (under an acre) sometimes get grazed to the dirt before they mature. If your soil test comes back with a pH under 5.5 and you can't lime before your planting window, lean toward something more acid-tolerant like cereal rye or oats rather than clover or alfalfa. If your ground is thin and droughty, sorghum or cowpeas will outlast soybeans or corn in a dry summer. None of this is exotic agronomy, it's the same logic row-crop farmers use, just applied to a smaller field with a different customer. This is also where a written, site-specific plan earns its keep. A soil test tells you what your dirt can support; matching that to species, seeding rate, and a realistic calendar for your zone is a separate step a lot of plotters skip or guess at. PlotSeason's $99 one-time Custom Food Plot Plan takes your soil test and property details and builds that species and timing plan for you; find it at /plot-plan-builder. Your soil test lab remains the authority on exact lime and fertilizer rates for your dirt; a plan gives you the species and timing framework around that data, not a replacement for it.

Common food plot mixes that actually work

You don't need ten species in one bag. A few proven combinations cover most goals: Clover plus chicory as a perennial base. Chicory adds drought tolerance and a deep taproot that pulls nutrients clover can't reach, and both are perennial, so you're maintaining one plot instead of replanting every year. Oats plus brassicas (turnips or radish) as a fall annual mix. The oats green up fast and get eaten early; the brassicas take longer to size up and become the better draw once frost hits, giving you October and December coverage from one planting. Soybeans or cowpeas alone, or in a small block rotation, for summer protein. These need fencing or a large enough plot (2+ acres) in high-deer-density areas or they get grazed out before they can produce grain. Winter wheat or cereal rye as a fallback cool-season crop on poor or late-planted ground, since both tolerate a wider pH range and later planting dates than clover or brassicas. For a deeper look at how seed companies build these blends and which combinations extension research backs up, food plot seed and domain food plot seed both go further into blend composition.

Frequently asked questions

What is a food plot for deer?

A food plot is a planted area, usually a fraction of an acre up to several acres, seeded with forage crops like clover, brassicas, or beans specifically to feed deer and hold them on a property. It's small-scale agriculture done for wildlife rather than for sale, and it's generally legal to hunt over where standing crops aren't classified as bait under state rules.

Do deer eat sorghum?

Yes. Deer eat grain sorghum's foliage and grain heads, especially in fall and winter, but it's usually a secondary crop rather than a top choice. It's more valuable on poor or drought-prone soil where corn and soybeans struggle, since sorghum tolerates low fertility and dry conditions better than most alternatives.

Do deer eat clover?

Yes, and heavily. Clover is one of the most consistently preferred plantable forages for white-tailed deer, staying palatable from spring through fall in most regions. It also fixes its own nitrogen, cutting fertilizer costs after establishment, which is why it's the most common perennial food plot crop nationwide.

When should you plant deer food plots?

It depends on the crop. Warm-season plots (soybeans, sorghum, corn) go in after your last spring frost, typically April through early June depending on region. Cool-season plots (clover, brassicas, oats) go in late summer to early fall, generally 60 to 90 days before your area's first hard frost.

Do deer like clover more than other plot options?

Clover ranks near the top of preference most of the year, but deer often prefer soybeans in summer for the higher protein and frosted brassicas in late fall for the sugar content. Clover's real strength is season-long availability and low upkeep cost once established, not being the single most-preferred plant every month.

When should you plant oats for deer?

Plant oats 6 to 10 weeks before your area's first hard frost, which lands in late August to mid-September across most of the Midwest and can push into October in the Deep South. Oats germinate fast and are highly palatable young, but they're less cold-hardy than wheat or rye and can die in a hard freeze.

When should you plant turnips for deer?

Plant turnips from late July through early September, giving the crop 80 to 90 days before first hard frost. Deer often ignore turnip plots early on, then browse them hard after a frost converts leaf and bulb starches into sugar, which is why turnip plots tend to peak in late season, not October.

What are deer's favorite foods overall?

In natural settings, acorns and soft mast rank highest when available. Among plantable crops, soybeans and cowpeas top summer preference for their protein content, clover stays a consistent year-round favorite, and brassicas like turnips become a major draw after fall frosts sweeten the leaves and bulbs.

Do deer like honey?

No, honey itself isn't a natural deer food and isn't planted in plots. The confusion usually comes from honey locust pods and Japanese honeysuckle, both of which deer do browse heavily. Honey locust pods are a real fall and winter food source; honeysuckle is heavily browsed but invasive in much of the U.S.

Can you hunt over a food plot legally?

Generally yes, since standing planted crops are typically treated differently from bait piles or spread feed under most state regulations. Rules vary significantly by state though, and some states have specific restrictions on hunting near or over food plots during certain seasons. Always check your state wildlife agency's current regulations before hunting a plot.

How big should a deer food plot be?

There's no single right size; quarter-acre kill plots tucked in timber work for bow hunting setups, while half-acre to multi-acre plots handle heavier deer pressure and support summer protein crops like soybeans without getting grazed out before maturity. Bigger properties generally benefit from several smaller plots spread across the land rather than one large field.

Should I plant clover or brassicas first if I can only do one plot this year?

If you want a low-maintenance multi-year plot and can prep soil well (correct pH, firm shallow seedbed), clover pays off for three to five seasons. If you want a strong late-season hunting draw this year and don't mind replanting annually, brassicas are the more predictable single-season performer.

Sources

1. Congressional Research Service, Baiting and Feeding of Wildlife: State Regulatory Approaches: Baiting and feeding regulations for deer hunting vary by state and are enforced separately from standard agricultural food plot plantings
2. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, General Technical Report SRS-247 (Deer Forage and Mast Production): Acorns and soft mast rank among the most preferred natural deer foods where available
3. USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet, White Clover (Trifolium repens): Legumes like clover fix atmospheric nitrogen via rhizobia bacteria, reducing fertilizer needs in established stands
4. USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet, Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos): Honey locust pods are a documented fall and winter deer food source
5. USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Field Crops: Usual Planting and Harvesting Dates (Agricultural Handbook Number 628): Warm-season row crop planting windows shift from mid-April in southern regions to early June in northern regions
6. Ohio State University Extension, Fact Sheet W-16: Food Plots for Wildlife: Cool-season food plot crops should be seeded roughly 60 to 90 days before the first expected fall frost
7. Oklahoma State University Extension, PSS-2129: Establishing Fall-Seeded Small Grains for Wildlife Food Plots: Oats should be planted 6 to 10 weeks before the first hard frost for best establishment
8. University of Georgia Extension Bulletin 1443, Brassica Forage Crops for Deer: A hard frost converts starches in brassica leaves and bulbs to sugars, increasing palatability and deer browse pressure