Winter Hardy Clover Deer Food Plots

Getting Started

• Plan a food plot at least one acre in size to allow room for observation. Deer browse at the edge of open spaces. Choose a long, narrow shape for best browsing. Placing a blind at the edge allows the entire plot to be viewed. Choose a clover variety capable of overwintering in your USDA plant hardiness zone. Offer a blend of clover and grasses of various heights to attract deer. Plow and rototill soil and remove large rocks and weeds before seeding. Clover does not need highly fertile soil. Maintain soil pH at 6.0 to 6.3.

White Clover

• Plant white clover using one of three methods. Frost seed in late winter or early spring. Broadcasting seeds onto shallow snow allows you to see where seed lands. Fill in bare spots. Broadcast onto bare soil before light rains. Use 2 to 4 lbs. of seed per acre when clover is the only seed being planted or 1 to 2 lbs. as part of a blend. Winter-hardy ladino varieties spread underground by stolons and self seed. They provide 24 percent protein content, important to deer preparing for winter. White clover grows 6 to 8 inches tall. Growth slows above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Red Clover

• Choose red varieties to add height to the plot. Red clover provides only 18 percent protein but more forage than while clovers. Seeding is successful through mid-August. Provide water when rain fall is less than 1 inch. Broadcast seed at 8 to 12 lbs. per acre. Red clover seed is much larger than white, requiring more seed for the same amount of plants. Red varieties are winter hardy but short lived. Reseed every other year.

Maintaining the Food Plot

• Winter-hardy perennial clover varieties provides less forage for deer than annual varieties. Maintain plots yearly to keep high amounts of browse available. Pull smaller weeds until the plot becomes well established. Reseed bare patches biannually. Winter-hardy clovers prefer high phosphorous levels to establish strong roots. Maintain phosphorus during the first 2 years to control thistle, burdock and curly dock throughout the growing season, eliminating competition for growing space.