Do Brassicas Actually Get “Sweeter” After a Frost?

| By
We’ve all heard it in one form or another – that deer select brassicas more strongly after frost because the starches turn into sugars, making the plant sweeter. At the University of Tennessee, we set out to fact-check this idea through science. Brassicas – including rape, kale and turnips, as well as radishes (which are …

Read More

Crimson Clover for Deer Food Plots

| By
Versatile. Rugged. Productive. Attractive. Nutritious. Resilient. Persistent. These are some of the characteristics that come to mind when I think about crimson clover. Maybe that’s why it is one of the most popular species of clover ever planted for deer and other wildlife over the past several decades. In fact, I have a co-worker who …

Read More

3 More Herbicides Every Deer Steward Should Know

| By
In a previous article— 5 Herbicides Every Deer Steward Should Know — I covered what I believe to be five of the most common herbicides used by habitat managers, with a specific focus on those used for creating and maintaining food plots. That article included glyphosate, which is often used to kill all vegetation in …

Read More

Food Plot Screening Cover for Better Deer Hunting

| By
If hunters are willing, the easiest part of a deer management program is to produce mature bucks. It’s quite simple. If young bucks are not harvested, most will get older and provide hunters with an opportunity to improve the adult sex ratio and buck age structure of the deer herd, as well as provide opportunities …

Read More

Strategic Food Plot Designs: Try the Wagon Wheel

| By Mike Grandey
When I first began deer hunting, I would often head to the woods with a few two-by-fours, a pocket full of nails, and a hammer to erect my treestands between closely grown trees. Then I’d sit, stand or squat for hours waiting for my quarry, which more often than not never appeared. I was uncomfortable …

Read More