Being a Texas Wildlife Unlimited biologist, hunters often ask me for advice cooncerning the food plots on their hunting properties, which I am more than happy to give.  Here are a few examples of questions I have recieved, along with their coresponding answers.  If you have any questions or comments please send them to landownerservices@texashuntfish.com.

Q:  My family has a small place in D'Hanis, TX, which is west of Hondo. I was just wondering what would be a good deer plot for that area, just to draw in a few more deer. I am thinking about putting a few plots in a small field and a few senderos. I have heard of clover and some others but would just like an opinion from someone who knows what they are talking about. If you could send me back an answer it would be greatly appreciated. 
 
Thank you for your time, 
Brandon Wiemers 

A:  Clover is a great food plot species, but I would not recommendit for your neck of the woods.  Clover seed is expensive and can be tricky to plant.  It is a perennial which is why it is worth paying extra for and if planted right will last several years.  However in drier regions there is little chance of most clovers surviving more than one season.  It is also a high protein deer forage which means it is more valuable in the spring in larger nutrition plots.  If your goal is to simply draw deer into an area for harvest I would recommend planting cold hardy oats (most oat varieties today are cold hardy).   There are few forage crops that attract deer better than oats.  In addition to being a highly palatable nutrition source for white-tailed deer oats are less costly to plant and require less maintenance to ensure growth throughout the hunting season.  Just for good measure I would also plant rye in with your oats.  Make sure not to plant your rye to deep.  While oats will do well when planted to up to 3/4"; deep all you need to do when planting rye is too make sure there is good seed to soil contact.   There are three issues normally encountered when planting food plots in your region.  One is bermudagrass invasion and since you are planting in the fall we don't have to worry about that.  Another is dry weather.  This is often out of our control but try your best to find a low area with deep soil that is somewhat prone to holding water for a planting site.  Lastly is over browsing.  You are a little west of what is traditionally thought of as the hill country where deer numbers are higher than anywhere else in the country, and east of Bracketville where since an out break of anthrax less than a decade ago deer numbers have not been what they used to be, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect as far as deer densities in D'Hanis go, but I would imagine it is still higher than most areas of the state.   Oats are resistant to heavy grazing, but this can still be a problem with food plots in that area.  To adjust for high deer densities one can plant bigger plots and double the recommended seeding rate (if you do so be sure to also double the recommended amount of fertilizer as well).

 Without seeing exactly what you have to work with, I would recommend planting a mixture of oats and rye in a low lying area using aggressiveseeding/ fertilization rates.  See how it goes and make adjustments for next year, but if your goal is strictly deer attraction do not waste money on clover.  If you have any other questions let me know. 

Q: I read your article on dove strips on www.texashuntfish.com and thought you gave some excellent advice.  I was wondering if I could run some ideas past you and you just tell me what you think.  I am planning on planting a combination of millet, millo, and black sunflower at my property in east Texas, and stagering the plantings so they come up at different times.  I also was planning on keeping each plant species seperate from each other, or should I blend them all together like a mix?

 Also my planting site is on sloping terrain, any suggestions?

A: Staggering your plantings is not a bad idea as long as you give each species enough time to mature by dove season.  In most cases I say combine the seeds to make a mix, but in your situation I would recommend utilizing the slopping terrain of your property by planting the millo and millet in low lying areas as the are more siuted for wet conditions, than sunflower.

Let me know how it turns out.

-John Schwarzlose