They are amazing sources of supplemental feed that can provide great sources of protein and other nutrients pretty much year round, depending upon what plantings you do.
Perhaps the most attractive thing about them is your chances of seeing deer go up, albeit if it's yearlings and does primarily. You will see deer, typically, a lot more than you did before setting in a tree stand surrounded by no food sources.
However, there are a few dangers food plots can present that some hunters just simply over look, aren't aware of or simply don't feel is necessary.
The first, in my opinion, is the biggest. They ignore the deer's need to feel safe and secure when in their food plots. I get it, we see guys on TV hunting whitetails on field edges or right in a box blind smack dab in the middle of a food plot and we are simply naive in the belief that will work for us. Fact is those deer we see those guys harvest are either farm raised or extremely un-pressured whitetails (granted a few are rut-headed dumbies). I can atleast attest to the fact you would have never witnessed a mature buck using our food plot(s) a few years back during legal light. Reason? Not enough security to make them feel safe enough to use it before dark.
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| Now this can work and does for many guys, however how many mature deer is this set up missing? (http://dnrhcc.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html) |
It's common sense and common knowledge amongst hunters like Randy Vander Veen (Whitetail Ambush Secrets) that if a deer can't see very far they're naturally going to feel safer. Hence the reason many guys that go about designing 1/4 acre food plots with sight barriers and edge thickening tactics see more bucks than the hunter who clears a big rectangle food plot that spans 10 acres...now there will always be cases where he will be successful, but if I were to place money on which would be more successful I'll go with the properly designed 1/4 acre (given both are say on the same property).
The second danger guys fall into is trying to hunt like the videos they see. How many times have we watched guys on videos set up right on the edge of a massive corn field or soy bean field or sugar beet field; and harvest a mature whitetail? I bet all of us have a time or two minimum, but that's not the real world of hunting. Those whitetails have been tracked and studied from a far for months, sometimes years prior to anyone hunting it. It feels safe because it isn't pressured, meaning it's going to behave differently than nearly every mature buck you and I chase after in our areas. SO WHY IMITATE SOMETHING NOT COMPAREABLE?
Stop taking the videos as biblical ways to hunt, and take them for what they are: entertainment. Sure you can learn how to maybe call, scent tactics or other aspects but honestly it needs to stop there (unless you've got the cash or the abundance of land to hunt like that).
The third danger is; too many guys ruin the plots by hunting them. PROTECT THE SAFETY OF THEM! Why hunt right on a spot you want the deer to feel safe in? I know the only time I'd every hunt or shoot directly into a food plot is very late season or if I have a mature buck using the plot and it's the only way to get in on him. Otherwise I'm hunting the routes in and out of the food plots...which as you've learned I encourage by hinge cutting and strategic plantings of bushes and trees. By hunting my property this way, deer continue to feel safe while they feed in the plots, something that will continue to bring them back time and time again.
So instead of immulating the videos start thinking from a deer's perspective. Don't make your food plots based on your thoughts, instead on a deer's thoughts. Doing that will lead you to doing everything I believe in and so do amazing habitat manipulation guys like Randy, Jim and Jake (Whitetail Ambush Secrets). If you do this trust me, you'll find yourself seeing more deer when hunting!
Hopefully some of this has sunk in and helped you in your future plans for your property. Good luck out there guys!
God Bless,
Ty
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