Three Tools You Need to Plant Food Plots

Food plots are like grocery stores to deer. Provide them with the right mix of forage, and they’ll come running. However, food plots are also a lot of work, but you can make the chore easier with the right equipment. Before you gear up to make your first next plot, consider these three necessary implements.

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You can adjust this model 0, 15, or 30 degrees in both directions to help break up tough ground. Black Boar

A good disc will break up the ground for planting and is the most efficient option if you’re dealing with a large swath of land. If you don’t own a tractor, some companies make discs you pull behind ATVs or UTVs. It should be heavy enough to cut deep into the ground without being so heavy you can’t pull it with your vehicle. Models with pin adjustments that angle the disk blades and electric motors to raise and lower the disk gangs within the implement’s frame are the easiest to use.

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This model has 30 degrees of vertical angle adjustment. Brinley Co

Harrows smooth food plots after you break the ground with a disc or plow. Skip this step and the ground might be too rough to work with for years to come. On some models, you can adjust the harrow’s teeth down for a more aggressive cut, down and to the rear for a less aggressive cut, or up for simple smoothing. A heavy harrow smooths broken ground better than a light one, but again, the towing capacity of the vehicle you’ll use to pull it is important in your purchasing decision.

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The hopper on this model is large enough to cover a ¼ acre space before refilling. Agri-Fab

Spreading food-plot seed by hand often results in thin forage in some areas and very thick forage in others. A quality seed spreader, however, spreads seed evenly. A small spreader that holds 75 to 100 pounds of seed behind an ATV or UTV can cover a lot of ground in a short time. Large, inflatable tires tow better than cheap, hard plastic ones, and spreaders with adjustable flow controls make it easier to spread a lot or a little. Later, when your plants are coming in, you can use the same spreader to treat plots with fertilizer.