Our objective as hunters is to attract deer, and one of the best ways is with food. However, modern hunter-conservationists are more educated and sophisticated. We understand that attraction and nutrition are interrelated but not necessarily the same, and providing the right food is more beneficial to both hunter and hunted.
Chris Alexander graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries. He worked for Mossy Oak Properties for seven years, helping clients and landowners with management practices. For the past six years, he has worked with Mossy Oak BioLogic, GameKeepers and Nativ Nurseries. BioLogic was among the early companies to develop seed mixtures specifically for wildlife attraction and nutrition.
I connected with him recently to discuss the nuances of whitetail nutrition and how attraction fits into the equation.
Why Year-Round Whitetail Nutrition?
Bob: Most hunters are primarily interested in attracting deer in the fall. BioLogic offers products designed for different seasons. Why is it important to provide nutrition throughout the year?
Chris: Hunters usually think about food plots as a way to attract deer during hunting season, but their value goes well beyond that. If we’re serious about managing a property for deer, we need to think about what the deer need throughout the entire year.
Whitetails go through different nutritional demands as the seasons change. Spring and summer are important for fawn growth, lactation, body growth and antler development. In the fall, deer are dealing with the demands of the rut and preparing for the winter months. Having quality forage available during those periods can make a real difference in the health and condition of the herd.
It also comes down to giving deer a reason to spend more time on your property. A property with good food, cover and water is going to be more attractive to deer than one lacking in those areas. You may not be able to keep every deer on your property, but improving the habitat can increase the amount of time deer spend there and help the property support more deer.
To me, that’s the real value of a year-round food-plot program. It’s not just about putting more deer in front of a hunter in October or November. It’s about providing a consistent source of quality nutrition that helps produce healthier deer while making the property more attractive throughout the year.
Food plots are just one part of that equation. When they’re combined with good native habitat, adequate cover, water and responsible harvest management, they can play an important role in improving both the habitat and the deer herd.
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Bob: Let’s expand on that a little. How do deer’s nutritional needs change throughout the year, and which plants are most nutritious in each season?
Chris: A deer’s nutritional needs change quite a bit throughout the year, and that is one of the reasons I think it’s important to look at food plots as a year-round management tool rather than simply something we plant for hunting season.
In the spring, deer are coming out of winter and food quality becomes very important. Does are carrying and nursing fawns, and bucks are beginning to put on new antler growth. This is a time when deer really benefit from young, actively growing vegetation, particularly high-protein forbs and legumes.
Native plants such as ragweed, partridge pea and other broadleaf plants can provide excellent nutrition, and warm-season food plots containing soybeans, cowpeas, alyceclover or American jointvetch can supplement what is available naturally.
As we move into summer, deer continue to have a high demand for quality forage. This is especially important for bucks growing antlers and does raising fawns. The challenge is that forage quality can decline during the heat and dry conditions of late summer, which is one of the natural nutritional stress periods for deer in the Southeast. That’s where maintaining warm-season plots and managing native vegetation can really pay off.
Fall brings a little different nutritional picture. Deer are preparing for the breeding season and eventually winter. Energy becomes increasingly important, so foods such as acorns, other hard mast and soft mast can be extremely valuable when they’re available. At the same time, cool-season forages such as wheat, oats, rye, triticale and clovers provide highly digestible, nutritious green forage.
During winter, maintaining body condition becomes a priority. Deer are dealing with colder temperatures and reduced availability of high-quality native forage, and this is another period when supplemental food plots can be particularly valuable. Cool-season grains and clovers can provide green forage when other vegetation is dormant, while brassicas such as turnips, radishes and rape can provide highly nutritious, digestible forage during the winter months.
The important thing to remember is that there isn’t one plant that checks every box for deer nutrition. A good habitat program provides a variety of forage types and keeps something nutritious available as the seasons change. That’s really the goal—don’t just have a great food plot in October. Try to have something deer want and need in January, May, July and December, too.
When you do that, you’re not only giving deer a reason to spend more time on the property, you’re also helping provide the nutrition needed to maintain body condition, grow larger antlers, raise healthier fawns and support a healthier herd overall.
Why Food Plot Blends Work
Bob: Most, if not all, of your products are blends or mixes. Why is that a better approach than planting a monoculture?
Chris: I think there are several advantages to planting a blend rather than relying on a single plant species. The biggest one is diversity. Deer don’t need just one type of plant, and different plants provide different nutrients, growth patterns and palatability throughout the growing season.
A good blend also gives you some insurance against things you can’t control. Weather, soil conditions, insects and disease can affect individual plant species differently. If you plant a monoculture and that particular crop doesn’t perform, you’ve lost the entire plot. With a blend, one species may struggle while another continues to produce, so you have a much better chance of maintaining forage.
Another advantage is that different plants mature at different rates. Some may be most attractive early in the season, while others continue producing quality forage later. That helps extend the amount of time the plot provides something useful to deer instead of having everything peak at the same time and then decline.
There is also value in combining plants with different characteristics. Legumes can provide high levels of protein, while cereal grains can contribute energy and produce a lot of forage. When you put those plants together, you’re providing deer with a more diverse source of nutrition than you typically get from a single crop.
From a habitat-management perspective, I like the idea of diversity for the same reason we encourage diversity in native vegetation. The more variety you have, the more resilient that system tends to be. A food plot doesn’t have to be complicated, but having several complementary plant species working together can provide a more consistent and dependable source of forage for deer.
Ultimately, the goal isn’t just to grow one plant really well. It’s to create a food source that continues to benefit the deer and the property throughout the season.
Why Plant a Blend?
Food-plot blends can offer several advantages over a single-species planting:
- Different plants provide different nutrients.
- Species mature at different times, extending the useful life of the plot.
- A mix offers some insurance against weather, insects, disease or poor growing conditions.
- Combining legumes, cereal grains and other plants creates greater forage diversity.
Mast, Food and Cover
Bob: Another entity under the Mossy Oak umbrella is Nativ Nurseries, which offers hard- and soft-mast-producing trees and shrubs. How does planting them improve nutrition and attraction?
Chris: Planting mast-producing trees and shrubs is another way to add diversity to a property and provide deer with natural sources of food. Hard mast, such as acorns, can be an extremely important source of energy for deer in the fall, while soft mast from species that produce berries or fruit can provide food at different times of the year.
One of the biggest advantages is that you’re putting something permanent on the landscape. Unlike an annual food plot that has to be prepared and planted each year, a properly established tree or shrub can continue producing food for many years. As those plants mature, they can become an increasingly valuable part of the property’s overall habitat.
Mast also gives deer another reason to use the property. When you combine mast-producing trees and shrubs with quality food plots, native browse, cover and water, you’re providing deer with a variety of resources in different places and at different times of the year. That can make the property more attractive and encourage deer to spend more time there.
I also like the fact that you’re not just planting for the immediate benefit. You’re investing in the future of the property. A food plot can provide an immediate source of nutrition, but planting trees and shrubs is a long-term habitat investment. Ten or 20 years down the road, those plantings can be producing food every year and benefiting generations of deer.
The best deer habitat is rarely built around one food source. It’s a combination of different plants and habitat types that work together. Adding mast-producing trees and shrubs gives you another piece of that puzzle and helps create a more diverse, sustainable property that can provide both nutrition and attraction throughout the year.
Bob: Another thing that attracts deer is cover. How might certain mast-producing plants do double duty by providing both food and cover?
Chris: Absolutely. Some of the best habitat improvements are the ones that serve more than one purpose. Certain mast-producing trees and shrubs can provide deer with food while also creating the cover and security they need to feel comfortable using an area.
As these plants mature, their branches and foliage can provide screening and bedding cover, particularly when they’re planted in groups or incorporated into areas of existing cover. Species that produce dense growth close to the ground can be especially valuable because they give deer a place to bed, escape weather and feel secure while still being close to a food source.
That’s important because deer don’t just need food—they need places where they feel safe. A property can have plenty of food available, but if it lacks adequate cover, deer may spend a relatively small amount of time there. When you can provide food and cover in the same area, you’re making that portion of the property much more useful to deer.
I also like the long-term aspect of these plantings. A food plot provides an immediate source of forage, but a well-planned planting of trees and shrubs can become a permanent part of the property’s habitat. As those plants grow, they can provide increasing amounts of food, screening and cover.
The goal should be to create habitat where deer can meet as many of their needs as possible without having to travel far. When food, cover and water are distributed throughout a property, you aren’t just creating a place where deer come to feed—you’re creating a place where they can live. That’s what ultimately helps a property hold more deer and support a healthier herd.
Attraction will always be part of the equation for hunters. After all, a food plot doesn’t do us much good during hunting season if deer don’t want to use it. But the bigger picture is providing the right food at the right time and making the property a place deer can use throughout the year.
Where Minerals and Attractants Fit
Bob: So far we’ve addressed plants. BioLogic also offers mineral supplements and attractants. How do these factor into the nutritional equation beyond mere attraction?
Chris: Minerals and attractants can play a role in a deer-management program, but I think it’s important to put them in perspective. They shouldn’t be viewed as a replacement for quality habitat or good forage. Those are the foundation of a healthy deer herd.
Mineral supplements can provide minerals when they are limited in the natural diet. Deer have different nutritional demands throughout the year, and those demands can be particularly high during periods of antler growth, reproduction and fawn development. Minerals should be viewed as a supplement to—rather than a substitute for—the nutrition deer receive from natural forage and food plots.
Attractants serve a slightly different purpose, but they can still be useful beyond simply getting a deer in front of a camera. They can encourage deer to use certain areas of a property, which can be helpful when you’re trying to learn how deer are using the landscape or focus their activity in areas where you can monitor them. That information can be valuable when making habitat and harvest-management decisions.
I think the key is to look at all of these things as pieces of the same puzzle. Food plots provide forage, native vegetation provides additional browse and diversity, trees and shrubs can provide food and cover, and minerals can supplement the diet. Attractants can help us understand and influence how deer use those resources.
None of those things by themselves is going to create a healthy deer herd. But when they’re incorporated into a broader habitat-management plan, they can complement one another. The ultimate goal is still the same: provide deer with the food, cover and other resources they need throughout the year and manage the property in a way that supports a healthy, sustainable herd.
Editor’s note: Regulations governing supplemental feeding, minerals and deer attractants vary by state and may be more restrictive, especially in areas where chronic wasting disease is present. Check current regulations for the area where you hunt before establishing a mineral or attractant site.
The Bigger Picture
Attraction will always be part of the equation for hunters. After all, a food plot doesn’t do us much good during hunting season if deer don’t want to use it. But the bigger picture is providing the right food at the right time and making the property a place deer can use throughout the year. When nutrition, cover, water and good habitat management all work together, attraction becomes more of a byproduct than the sole objective.
