Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
The best summer deer feed is high-protein forage that survives heat and browse pressure, mainly cowpeas, soybeans, lablab, and perennial clover. Warm-season annuals feed antler and fawn growth from June through August, while clover and chicory carry into fall. Match species to your zone's planting window and soil test before you buy seed.
What actually counts as the best deer feed for summer?
Summer is the antler-growth and lactation window. Bucks are packing on bone mass and does are nursing fawns, so the plant that wins this season is the one that keeps producing digestible protein in 90-degree heat without getting grazed into the dirt. That short list is small: forage soybeans, cowpeas, lablab, and perennial white clover. Iron-clay cowpeas and forage soybean varieties routinely test at 20 to 30 percent crude protein in the leaf tissue during peak growth, according to forage variety trial work summarized by Mississippi State University Extension Publication 2847, "Cool Season Food Plots for White-tailed Deer," which also covers warm-season legume performance data used across MSU Extension deer forage guidance [1]. Clover holds a similar range, often 25 to 30 percent crude protein when well fertilized and cut or grazed on a rotation [2]. The worst mistake is planting something that looks great in a seed catalog photo but folds under 100-degree afternoons and constant deer pressure. Brassicas like turnips, for example, are a fall food, not a summer one. They just don't hold up to summer heat and they're built to be grazed after a frost sweetens the bulb, not in July. If you want a plan built around your specific ground instead of a generic list, that's exactly the kind of thing a Custom Food Plot Plan is for. It's a one-time $99 plan, not a subscription, and it starts from your soil test and your zone rather than a one-size list.
Do deer eat sorghum?
Yes, deer eat sorghum, but they treat it more like a grain and cover crop than a preferred summer forage. Whitetails will browse young sorghum shoots and later feed on the seed heads, and sorghum shows up in a lot of dove field and screening mixes for that reason. Sorghum's real value in a summer plot is structure and drought tolerance, not raw palatability. It grows tall, tolerates dry soil better than most legumes, and can be used as a nurse crop or screen around a bean or cowpea plot. Grain sorghum needs soil temps around 60°F to germinate reliably, similar to corn, per Kansas State University Research and Extension's grain sorghum production guidance [3]. If your goal is pure summer nutrition, sorghum is a support player, not the headline crop. Pair it with a legume like cowpeas or soybeans if tonnage and protein both matter to you.
Do deer eat clover, and do deer like clover?
Deer eat clover heavily, and yes, deer like clover about as much as any plant you can put in the ground. Perennial white clover (ladino types especially) is one of the most consistently grazed forages across whitetail range, and it's a workhorse because it regrows fast after being browsed down. Clover's crude protein commonly runs 25 to 30 percent in a well-maintained stand, which rivals soybeans and cowpeas [2]. It also fixes its own nitrogen through rhizobium bacteria in the soil, which cuts your fertilizer bill after establishment, according to University of Tennessee Extension guidance on clover and forage legumes for wildlife food plots [2]. The catch is establishment and maintenance. Clover needs decent soil pH (extension guidance typically targets 6.0 to 6.5 for clover stands) [2], and it needs to be mowed or grazed to stay in a vegetative, high-protein state rather than bolting to seed. A neglected clover plot that's gone stemmy by July is a lot less valuable than a fresh stand of cowpeas planted the same spring. For a summer-specific mix, many hunters run clover as the perennial backbone of a plot and add annual cowpeas or soybeans in a separate field or in strips, so they get spring-through-fall clover plus a heavy summer protein push from the annuals.
When to plant food plots for deer, in general?
| Deep South (Zone 8-9) | Mid-April to late May | Late September to October | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-South / Transition (Zone 7) | Late April to early June | Mid-September to mid-October | |
| Midwest / Upper South (Zone 6) | Mid-May to mid-June | Late August to mid-September | |
| North / Zone 4-5 | Late May to mid-June | Mid-August to early September | These windows are generalized from USDA plant hardiness zone data and common extension planting calendars; always check your local frost dates before committing seed to ground. |
Timing splits into two seasons: cool-season plots (clover, brassicas, cereal grains) go in late summer to early fall, and warm-season plots (soybeans, cowpeas, sorghum) go in late spring after the last frost. The practical rule most extension programs use: warm-season annuals need soil temps consistently above 60 to 65°F and no frost risk, while cool-season plantings go in 4 to 6 weeks before your area's average first fall frost so the plants establish before growth slows. Here's a rough national framework, though your state wildlife agency or extension office is the better source for your exact county: | Region | Warm-season planting window | Cool-season planting window |
When to plant oats for deer?
Oats are a cool-season crop, not a summer one, but the question comes up so often in summer plot planning that it's worth answering directly: plant oats 6 to 8 weeks before your first fall frost, which for most of whitetail range lands somewhere between late August and early October. Oats germinate fast, often within 5 to 10 days in good soil moisture, and they're one of the most attractive fall food sources you can plant, especially in September and October when deer are keying in on carbohydrates ahead of winter, per Mississippi State University Extension Publication 2847 on cool-season deer forage [1]. If you're planning your summer plots right now, oats aren't part of that planting, but they are worth penciling into the same annual plan since a lot of hunters plant summer beans and fall oats in rotation on the same field.
When to plant turnips for deer?
Turnips go in the ground in late summer, roughly July through early September depending on zone, so they mature into a fall and early-winter food source. They are not a summer feed crop in the sense of feeding deer during July and August; the plant needs 80 to 90 days to bulb up and the bulbs get most palatable after a hard frost converts starches to sugar [4]. A common extension recommendation is to plant brassicas like turnips 70 to 90 days before your average first frost date, which for a lot of the whitetail belt lands in the July 15 to September 1 window [4]. So if you're standing in a field in June wondering whether to throw turnip seed down, hold off. Get your summer legumes in now, and circle turnips for your late-summer planting round instead.
What is a food plot, exactly?
A food plot is a planted area of forage, usually somewhere between a quarter-acre and a few acres, established specifically to feed and hold deer or other wildlife on a property. It's different from a natural food source (like an oak flat or a bean field a farmer planted for market) because a food plot exists purely for wildlife nutrition and hunting strategy. Most plots fall into a handful of types: annual clover or perennial clover plots, brassica plots (turnips, radishes), grain plots (corn, oats, sorghum), and warm-season legume plots (soybeans, cowpeas, lablab). Each type serves a different part of the year and a different nutritional need, from spring green-up through the antler-growth window to late-season high-carb food. If you're new to plotting, it helps to read up on the broader category before picking species; a good next stop is food plot whitetail for the fundamentals, or deer food plots for a wider rundown of layout and design.
What are deer's favorite foods overall?
Across most of whitetail range, the most consistently preferred foods are acorns (especially white oak acorns), soybeans, clover, and cowpeas, based on decades of deer diet studies from state wildlife agencies and universities. Acorns are often the single most preferred natural food where they're available, because of high fat and carbohydrate content that helps deer build fat reserves before winter [5]. Among planted forages, agricultural soybeans and clover show up again and again in preference studies and browse surveys as top choices, largely because of high protein and high palatability relative to native browse [5]. Standing corn and grain sorghum rank high for fall and winter energy needs, but they're lower in protein than legumes. So the honest answer to "what's a deer's favorite food" depends heavily on season. In summer, it's tender legume forage and soft mast. In fall, it shifts hard toward acorns and other carb-heavy mast and grain. There's no single food that wins the whole year, which is exactly why most serious plotters plant more than one type of plot.
Do deer like honey?
Deer aren't drawn to raw honey the way they are to sugar-rich fruit or fresh browse, and there's no wildlife agency or extension guidance recommending it as a deer attractant or feed. Deer are herbivores built around a rumen system for breaking down plant fiber, not a diet suited to concentrated sugars like honey. Where the confusion probably comes from is honeysuckle, which deer absolutely do browse heavily, especially Japanese honeysuckle and native honeysuckle species, which show up constantly in deer diet and habitat studies as a preferred browse plant [5]. If someone told you deer "like honey," there's a decent chance they meant honeysuckle. Bottom line: don't waste money or effort trying to use honey as an attractant. It's not backed by any wildlife research, and depending on your state, pouring out a food substance to draw deer for hunting purposes may cross into baiting rules anyway (see the section below).
What's the actual nutrition breakdown between top summer plot options?
| Iron-clay cowpeas | 20-30% | High | Moderate to high, regrows after grazing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forage soybeans | 25-35% | Moderate | Low to moderate, can be wiped out by heavy pressure on small acreage | |
| Lablab | 20-28% | High | Moderate to high | |
| Perennial clover (ladino) | 25-30% | Moderate (needs consistent moisture) | High, thrives under grazing pressure | |
| Grain sorghum | 8-11% (grain), lower forage protein | Very high | Low browse value until seed head stage | The practical takeaway: cowpeas and lablab are the best combination of protein and browse tolerance for smaller plots (under 2 acres) that are going to take heavy pressure from a resident deer herd. Forage soybeans need more acreage, generally 3 to 5 acres minimum by most extension and industry planting guidance, or a fence, to survive to maturity under real hunting-pressure deer densities. |
Here's a side-by-side on the main warm-season contenders, using ranges reported in university forage and food plot research [1] [2] [1]: | Species | Crude protein (leaf/forage) | Heat/drought tolerance | Deer browse pressure tolerance |
How do soil test results change what you should plant?
Your soil test is the single most useful piece of paper you'll have before planting season, and it should drive species choice as much as personal preference does. A test from your state land-grant lab (most run $10 to $20 per sample) tells you pH, phosphorus, potassium, and often organic matter, and that data changes what will actually grow versus what will limp along [6]. Clover and most legumes want pH in the 6.0 to 6.5 range to fix nitrogen efficiently; below pH 5.5, nodulation drops off hard and you'll be feeding the plant nitrogen fertilizer to make up for a biological process that should be free [2]. If your test comes back at 5.2, you've got two choices: lime heavily months ahead of planting, or pick a more pH-tolerant option like grain sorghum or certain brassica blends for that field this year. Your soil test lab, not this article, is the authority on exact lime and fertilizer rates for your specific field. Recommendations vary by regional soil chemistry and crop, so follow what your test report says over any generic number you find online.
What about baiting and feeding rules before you plant?
Standing food plots are legal for hunting over in every U.S. state, but that's different from baiting, which is dumping loose grain, minerals, or feed on the ground, and states regulate that very differently. Some states ban baiting outright for deer hunting, some allow it with restrictions on distance from a stand or amount, and a few allow it freely. Michigan, for example, restricts baiting and feeding of deer statewide as part of its chronic wasting disease response, with narrow exceptions, under the Michigan Natural Resources Commission's Baiting and Feeding Order, issued under authority of the Michigan Wildlife Conservation Order [7]. Wisconsin similarly bans baiting and feeding of deer in counties where CWD has been detected, under Wis. Stat. section 29.38, which authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to restrict baiting and feeding in the interest of preventing disease transmission [8]. Because these rules change and vary so much by state, and sometimes by county within a state, check your state wildlife agency's current regulations before setting out any loose feed, mineral, or bait pile this summer. A planted food plot sidesteps almost all of this, which is one more reason plots have become the default over bait piles for serious deer managers.
How do you actually build a summer plot plan that works for your ground?
Start with the soil test, then pick species based on your zone's warm-season planting window, your acreage, and your deer density. A half-acre plot of forage soybeans in a county with 40 deer per square mile is probably getting grazed to nothing by August; the same seed on 4 acres or split across multiple fields has a much better shot. A reasonable summer plan for most of the whitetail belt looks like: cowpeas or lablab on smaller, high-pressure plots; forage soybeans on larger fields (3+ acres) or behind a temporary fence while young; and perennial clover as the backbone plot that carries spring through fall with regular mowing. If you'd rather not piece this together field by field, that's the gap a Custom Food Plot Plan fills. For a one-time $99, it takes your soil test results, your zone, and your acreage and turns them into a specific seed and fertilizer plan rather than a general list like this one. It's guidance, not site-specific agronomy consulting or a guarantee of deer activity, but it saves the trial-and-error most people go through in year one. For deeper reading on seed selection and mixes, see deer food plot seed and food plot seed for a broader rundown of species options beyond the summer-specific list here.
Frequently asked questions
Do deer eat sorghum?
Yes. Deer browse young sorghum shoots and later eat the seed heads, but it's a secondary summer food, not a top preference like cowpeas or soybeans. It's most useful as a drought-tolerant cover crop or screen planted alongside a legume plot.
Do deer eat clover?
Yes, heavily. Perennial white clover is one of the most consistently browsed forages across whitetail range, often testing 25 to 30 percent crude protein when maintained well, according to University of Tennessee Extension forage guidance.
When should you plant food plots for deer?
Warm-season plots (soybeans, cowpeas) go in late spring after your last frost, once soil temps hold above roughly 60-65°F. Cool-season plots (clover, oats, brassicas) go in 4 to 6 weeks before your area's average first fall frost, typically August through October depending on zone.
Do deer like clover more than other plants?
Clover ranks among the top preferred forages in most browse studies, comparable to soybeans and cowpeas in protein and palatability. Preference does shift seasonally though; in fall, acorns often outcompete clover when both are available.
When should you plant oats for deer?
Oats are a cool-season crop planted 6 to 8 weeks before your area's first fall frost, generally late August through early October across most of whitetail range. They are not a summer feed source.
When should you plant turnips for deer?
Turnips go in the ground roughly 70 to 90 days before your first fall frost, usually mid-July through early September, since they need that time to bulb and become palatable after cold weather sweetens the starches.
What is a food plot?
A food plot is a planted patch of forage, typically a quarter-acre to several acres, established specifically to feed deer or other wildlife and support hunting strategy. It's distinct from natural food sources like oak flats or commercial farm fields.
What is a deer's favorite food overall?
There's no single year-round favorite. Acorns, especially white oak, are often the top natural fall food. Among planted crops, soybeans, cowpeas, and clover consistently rank as top preferred forages during the growing season, per state wildlife agency browse studies.
Do deer like honey?
No good evidence supports honey as a deer attractant, and it's not something wildlife agencies or extension programs recommend. The confusion likely comes from honeysuckle, which deer do browse heavily and which sounds similar to honey.
What's the best summer deer feed for a small food plot under one acre?
Iron-clay cowpeas or lablab are usually the best fit for small plots because they tolerate heavy browse pressure and regrow after grazing better than forage soybeans do. Soybeans on less than 2 to 3 acres often get wiped out before they mature.
Can you plant clover and cowpeas together in the same summer plot?
Yes, some hunters mix perennial clover with an annual like cowpeas, though they're usually planted in separate sections or fields since clover is a perennial and cowpeas are replanted annually. Running both crop types across a property covers more of the growing season.
Is it legal to put out loose deer feed or bait in summer?
It depends entirely on your state, and sometimes your county. Some states restrict or ban baiting, especially in areas managing chronic wasting disease, per rules from agencies like Michigan's Natural Resources Commission and the Wisconsin DNR under Wis. Stat. 29.38. Standing food plots are legal everywhere; loose bait piles are not.
Sources
- Mississippi State University Extension, Publication 2847, "Cool Season Food Plots for White-tailed Deer": Iron-clay cowpeas and forage soybeans commonly test 20-30% crude protein during peak growth
- University of Tennessee Extension, "Establishing and Managing Wildlife Food Plots" (PB1769): Well-maintained clover stands often test 25-30% crude protein
- Kansas State University Research and Extension, "Grain Sorghum Production Handbook" (C-687): Grain sorghum needs soil temps around 60°F to germinate reliably
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, "Deer-Resistant Ornamental Plants" and food plot brassica timing guidance summarized in Clemson HGIC forage factsheets: Brassicas like turnips are planted 70-90 days before first frost and sweeten after a hard frost
- Pennsylvania Game Commission, "White-tailed Deer Food Habits": Acorns, especially white oak, are among the most preferred natural deer foods, with soybeans, clover, and honeysuckle also ranking high in browse preference
- University of Tennessee Extension, "Soil Sampling for Field, Pasture and Horticultural Crops" (W346): Soil tests from land-grant labs typically cost $10-20 per sample and report pH, phosphorus, potassium, organic matter
- Michigan Natural Resources Commission, Baiting and Feeding Order, issued under the Michigan Wildlife Conservation Order: Michigan restricts baiting and feeding statewide as part of CWD management
- Wisconsin Statutes section 29.38, "Baiting and feeding of wild animals; disease control": Wisconsin restricts baiting in CWD-affected counties