I'm having a really tough time seeing deer this year. The farmers nearest me till all of their crop residue under and farmers about a mile away plant cover crops, needless to say deer are few and far between here now.

I'm clearing out areas for food plots but what should I be looking to plant? Ide like to know what I should plant so I can plan accordingly with size and shade requirements. Looking for something that will attract deer in late November and December in central mn.

alfalfa

Assuming 6 deer hit it every day year round how many acres would I need?

I would plant at least one whole field of it.I know every deer for miles around come to it where planted.

Winter wheat is a big Winter draw too.

Keith

I don't food plot, but Bruce T is right wildlife do like/love alfalfa. Wild turkey, elk, deer and upland game use my fields year-round. I leave 5 acre field stand after first cutting. It heads/seeds out and I hand harvest some of it this year to use the seed in a spot that an old ranch house was buried this past summer. Will use the seed to reseed the 150x150 feet site.

The big game love that standing alfalfa field to wintah on. I don't hunt over it, but I like to help the wildlife in any way I can help them thru wintah.

Here are a few pictures from this year of the 5 acre field I only cut once . You can see all the benefits to wildlife with seed and foliage for wintah survival.

Clover

Triticale has worked great for me this year...they are still tearing it up. Ive also had great lucks with brassicas...turnips, radishes..etc in the late season. id be wary of alfalfa for December. I have a 3 acre field of it that the dairy farmer put in and they stopped hitting that a couple weeks ago. Just my experience....

There's a big difference between Minnesota and Southern US Winter temperatures. Alfalfa and clover can completely die in the low teens, in a few days, if not protected by snow. Both die back to the ground in prolonged freezing temperatures.

Winter wheat is available above ground all Winter.

Keith

… down here the deer farmers plant turnips… I pick them for a side to wild pork when I’m trapping


… motion picture below…

Triticale & turnips. White-tails are pounding my plots right now.

I'm not competing with people or know of any that have food plot pumpkins patches strictly for drawing in big game. Here in this country these alfalfa field draw huge herds of wildlife on them darning the wintah.

Wildlife here wouldn't know what a radish, turnup or whatever people plant to draw in big game. These crops here are used for hay production and some is left standing to help them in wintah.

I'm sure there are 100's of things you can plant that will draw your deer into the spot you planted. I'm not into that but to have what II have to help them.

Soy beans
Radishes
Pumpkins, small pie ones
Turnips

It is also best to have it in a sheltered spot, and not too far from their bedding area. I was to my little deer field today . It was in corn this year, the deer are loving it. About 10 inches of snow, they are rooting , down to the corn, lots to eat. . old243

Winter rye will grow just about anywhere and the deer are in it every day. I like radish turnips and kale also but they may not do as well in a new plot if the PH is off.The rye will green up early in the spring also.

Not really looking for a year round source, they can eat the neighbors soybeans and corn most of the year, just need something when those are gone.

I don't wanna farm deer, just want to make a spot to get a couple in December or late November

… this right here then lol

not , my field of expertise but I saw this and thought it interesting.

a truck farmer I knew was telling me how much the deer loved his tillage radish as soon as the snow melts that is the very first thing they are eating out of his fields.

Wow^^^

First off, I am NOT an expert deer slayer and haven't killed semi truck loads of them. Secondly, one part of the State varies greatly from other parts. That said, it sounds like you are trying to compete with the neighboring farmland properties for the best food source for the deer. Right here on my little hunk of dirt, food sources in November and December can vary quite a bit from year to year based on the weather. Some years in rifle season it is 70 degrees, other years we have 12 inches of snow on the ground.
My place is surrounded by food. I have corn or rye fields to the North and East. Red oak stands to the South and West with intermixed patches of regrowth including raspberries and goldenrod. All of my mowed trails are seeded in clover along with some small food plots. My place also has around 300 apple trees of various age classes.
As usual, I will be the odd man out and offer up another school of thought. If there are numerous other food sources around you, give the deer the one thing they are likely lacking and that is good, HEAVY, undisturbed cover. I am a huge proponent of this. The center of my place is heavy cover (natural and manmade) that I haven't stepped foot in for years. I hunt around that and leave it undisturbed.
The deer can go any direction they like to eat based on wind, environmental conditions like heat or snow. Regardless of where they go to get groceries, they always seem to want to come back and sleep in their own bed at night. The cost of this is that this is almost exclusively deer hunting land. I don't shoot grouse here or VERY rarely and don't want dogs running around hunting birds. I want a few groceries for the deer but more than anything, I want that undisturbed heavy cover where they feel safe year round and I don't need to try to have the greenest pasture in the township. Just my 2 cents worth.