One thing I’ve learned about deer food plots is they take a little time, patience and equipment to establish.

A few years ago, a deer hunter asked me about establishing a deer plot on some hunting property he owns near Seney. To be honest, I’m more accustomed to growing food for humans than I am food for whitetails (even though the deer seem to think I grow it for them). However, beyond some horticultural basics such as site selection and soil preparation, there wasn’t too much I could recommend at the time.

But the conversation piqued my interest and I’ve since done some research on planting these plots. Though still no expert, I believe I can point deer hunters in the right direction, which should point the deer in their direction.

One thing I’ve learned about deer food plots is they take a little time, patience and equipment to establish.

Done right, planting a deer food plot is an effective way to provide four-season forage for whitetails and keep them in your sights. The reason to them, besides attracting game to your property for harvesting and viewing, is to ready the deer for winter, says Ed Spinazzola, author of “Ultimate Deer Food Plots.”

“If you take care of the deer year-round, that should be your goal,” says Spinazzola. “If you bring them through the winter, you shouldn’t have to worry about the summer.”

Deer food plots should be located near heavy cover to allow the deer to visit the site and still feel secure, according to Rick Lucas, forester for Osceola, Lake and Mecosta counties. He recommends planting areas such as old logging trails, access trails and log decking areas, which are already clear of trees and large shrubs. It is important, however, to make sure there is enough light entering the plot, which may require removal or thinning of trees. It is also good to provide cleared lanes leading up to the plots.

“Deer plots come in all shapes and sizes,” says Lucas. However, they need not be real large. “Some people make it more complicated than it needs to be,” Lucas explains. He says deer plots can be anything from a 10-foot-square plot in a wooded area for bow hunters, to a quarter-acre for viewing or harvesting with a firearm.

“Smaller plots are usually more effective than larger ones because deer feel more secure,” says Lucas.

In his book, Spinazzola recommends planting a smorgasboard of grasses, clover and legumes to satisfy a whitetail’s nutritional needs. Lucas suggests that people new to food plots should try planting annuals first, such as rye grass, which are easier to grow and can be ready for browsing before winter.

“If they have a good experience the first time, they feel like they’re giving something back to the wildlife, and they are,” explains Lucas. He adds that annuals are more expensive and time-consuming in the long run, since you have to replant them each year.

Perennials, such as the clovers and birdsfoot trefoil, are more site-specific and require a soil test, particularly for pH levels. Conducting a soil test for pH is critical, since pH will determine how effective your fertilizer will be.

Preparing the site need not be difficult. Though you should “think like a farmer” when you prepare a site, you don’t have to work the ground quite like they do for agriculture. In other words, you won’t have to spend $50,000 dollars on equipment. Most folks who take on this endeavor drag small cultivating implements behind an ATV or small tractor to work up the soil to about 3-4 inches. Shallow cultivation is the preferred method on thin, sandy soils where the good topsoil is within the first few inches.

Of course, it may be necessary to brush-hog the vegetation from the site. This is usually followed up with a glyphosate herbicide, such as Roundup, to kill remaining vegetation before the site is worked up. Sparse sites with little vegetation may not need the herbicide treatment.

“It’s not a bad idea to have some weeds,” says Lucas, who reminds us that deer like a variety of vegetation, some which is already on these sites.

The forester said an easy way to develop an irresistible browsing area for deer is to enhance what is already on your property. Take a long, fairly wide strip of treeless land near the edge of the woods and fertilize it in the early fall. This encourages the green, lush growth of native plant species that deer will prefer over less lush areas. Spinazzola, who is a farmer at heart, agrees, saying he fertilizes right up until Sept. 15.

For more information, read Ed Spinazzola’s book, contact your local conservation district office, or log-on to www.deerattraction.com.

Columnist Neil Moran lives in Sault Ste. Marie. His gardening Web site is www.neilmoran.com