If you can’t wait for deer season to open, why not get involved in a food plot program right now? Whether you own your own property or need to ask permission from a landowner, a food plot helps attract and hold deer near your hunting area and transforms months of anxiously awaiting deer season into a course of action that make time seem to pass more quickly. Although food plots aren’t a new concept for wildlife, you need to recognize that there’s more to do than sprinkle seeds on the ground. Craig Dougherty has been a pioneer in the QDMA program from its inception; here, he speaks to three key factors in this Outdoor Life article.

Neal Dougherty, Craig's son, is a wildlife management specializing in food plots for whitetail deer.
Neal Dougherty, Craig’s son, is a wildlife management specializing in food plots for whitetail deer.

By the time you read this blog, you may have already planted your food plots for the 2016 season. Hopefully they are off to a good start and headed for a productive fall. If they are like most plots, however they will experience one or more bumps in the road. Here’s the most common pot holes you are most likely to bust an axel in. We should know we have been hitting food plot bumps in the road for over 25 years. We’ve seen food plot failures of all types but they typically fall into three categories: poor soils, weeds, and over use by deer. That’s the bad news, the good news is they can be either prevented or fixed.

1. Poor Soil

Most soils will grow plants. And most food plot blends are relatively easy to grow…for a while. But poor soils eventually catch up with you. Everything starts out nice and green but then some unusually wet or dry weather comes along and your plot drops into a soggy or droughty slump… [continued]

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