ANNUALS & PERENNIALS – Finding the Perfect Balance
By: David Hart
Planting season can be a confusing time of year for food plotters. Not only do we have to decide when, where and how much to plant, but we have to figure out what types of plants to put in our plots. Imperial Whitetail Clover or Whitetail Oats Plus? Summer plots or cool-seasonplots? Annuals or perennials?
There isn’t necessarily a right answer, said Steve Scott, Whitetail Institute vice-president. What you plant and how much you plant of each variety depends on several factors, including you. “If you live hundreds of miles from your land and you don’t have the time to work on food plots and maintain them on a regular basis, you might consider planting mostly annuals,” Scott said. “They require less work and are somewhat easier to plant. You can plant them and forget about them, for the most part.”
It’s true: Perennials require maintenance to stimulate vigorous growth and control weeds. However, they can last up to five years, which means you won’t have to go through the planting process every year.
As a general rule, though, Scott recommends an even split between annuals and perennials. There’s no rule about how much of each is best. Deer will eat both. Whitetail Institute offers several great choices that provide high-quality nutrition and magnetic attraction all year. Annuals and perennials can attract deer and provide outstanding hunting opportunities from the start of bow season through the last day of gun season.
Pennsylvania hunter Kris Klemick agreed. He and his family plant a variety of Whitetail Institute products on their 250-acre family farm. They’ve had great success with all the products they’ve tried. Although he says it doesn’t make too much of a difference to the deer, Klemick typically follows a 60-40 mix, with the majority in perennial plots. “The larger portion is in plots that provide forage during the summer months,” he said. “That’s seemed to work well for us.”
The Big Picture
First, though, remember that food plots shouldn’t be the only part of your habitat management equation. To provide everything a whitetail could want, you need to look at the big picture and manage your property on a landscape level. Everything from woods and fields to food sources and bedding areas might need some attention.
However, the general rule is that food plots should account for three to five percent of your land. Klemick’s food plot acreage is on the smaller end of the total land area, but only because the property sits atop a mountain, and plantable ground is at a premium. Scott knows some landowners who put as much as 10 to 12 percent of their property into plots.
Some plant such a large percentage of their acreage because they have a high density of whitetails and need lots of food to sustain the plots throughout the seasons. Others manage land that provides little natural nutrition for deer, and a few simply like to overwhelm the wildlife on their property with food.
Nutrition Matters
All of the above reasons are viable for planting summer nutrition plots. Keep in mind that an overabundance of deer could be part of a bigger problem. Too many whitetails can over-browse natural food sources, resulting in undernourished deer or over-browsing pressure on your plots. The best solution, at least in the long run, is to reduce the number of deer on your land to strike a healthier balance. The only way to determine if the deer on your property are healthy is to take a variety of measurements, including body weight and antler-beam diameter. You can ballpark it if you don’t want to get too wrapped up in your management. Comparing general body and antler sizes to whitetails from surrounding properties or throughout your region can give you a rough idea of what’s going on. (Your local biologist can offer some guidelines).
Thinner antlers, smaller fawns and yearlings, and lower body weights of all deer can be an indication of poor habitat. Deer aren’t getting enough quality food when they need it most. However, even when your herd numbers are closer to ideal, you still might need to give them a dose of high-quality nutrition when they need it most. Nursing fawns and lactating females will benefit from an ideal mix of naturally occurring and planted food sources.
That’s why summer nutrition plots should be a part of your plan. There is no ideal acreage for summer nutrition plots. However, there’s no question it’s better to lean on the larger side. A field of Imperial Beets and Greens, a blend of annuals that includes sugar beets, kale, turnip and radish variety high levels of protein and will attract whitetails almost as soon as it sprouts. A small field might not last long.
Perennial plots can also provide high-protein forage during spring and summer. Fusion — a blend of WINA 100 perennial forage chicory and Imperial Whitetail Clover — are drought and heat tolerant. Clover might go dormant during the hottest period in summer, particularly in southern regions, but the chicory will remain viable thanks to long tap roots that reach moisture deep in the soil.
Klemick includes about three acres of Fusion for spring and summer nutrition sources, plots that no one hunts. They exist to feed deer and turkey and keep them on the property. It’s clearly worked. The clover stays green all summer, and whitetails flock to Klemick’s nutrition plots. “Before we started planting food plots, we might have seen a few deer in a day,” he said. “Now we see lots of deer all the time. Our buck quality has increased, too.”
It’s not a bad idea to plant a mix of a perennial blend such as Fusion and an annual blend such as Beets and Greens on your land. A 50-50 mix of perennials is a great starting point, but there’s nothing wrong with changing that ratio when you determine how deer use the plots and what works into your management activities.
The Hunting Factor
In some regions, summer nutrition plots will continue to provide high-quality forage into hunting season, which means they can also serve as a hunting plot. Sometimes, however, they don’t survive into bow season. An early frost can stop the growth of some spring-planted annuals. “Some guys either don’t want to plant a summer plot for whatever reason, or they don’t have enough room, and they just want to plant for hunting season,”
Scott said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s important to consider the quality of your habitat and food availability year-round.” As Klemick learned, if your land doesn’t provide adequate forage during summer, deer might be less likely to use it during fall and winter. Summer nutrition plots aren’t just for boosting nutrition. They serve as a great tool for keeping whitetails in your neighborhood. You’ll still need to decide what to plant and how much of each variety to plant. Again, Scott recommends an even split between annuals and perennials when you are starting out.
“Imperial Whitetail Clover is a great choice for your perennial base,” he said. “It will remain a viable option at least until the snow gets deep. It’s a perennial, so you won’t have to replant it for up to five years.” Whitetail Oats Plus is a great early-season option. It’s an annual, but it grows in a wide variety of soils and is highly attractive to deer and excellent at suppressing weeds. Even better, it grows fast and provides a lot of forage. As the season progresses, early-season plants can go dormant in cold weather, are eaten down to the stalks or change in such a way that deer prefer them less. However, frost or a hard freeze alters some plants in a way that makes deer flock to them.
Winter-Greens, a blend of brassicas and turnips, is a perfect example. Both plants are less palatable to whitetails until they are subjected to a frost or hard freeze. The cold alters the composition of the plant, making it highly attractive to whitetails after it changes. In regions with high deer densities and marginal habitat, whitetails often eat brassicas before they have been touched by a frost or freeze.
“I know a lot of guys will split their food plots in half and plant one side in an early-season annual like Whitetail Oats Plus or Pure Attraction and the other half in a late-season product like Winter-Greens or Tall Tine Tubers,” Scott said. “Putting an early annual and a late annual in the same plot is a good idea for hunters with a limited amount of space.”
Your preferred hunting method can also dictate your food plot ratios. Dedicated bowhunters, for example, might prefer a higher percentage of plots in perennials such as clover and chicory and alfalfa or annuals such as Whitetail Oats Plus, Pure Attraction, the Winter Peas Plus or another Whitetail Institute annual. They tend to attract and hold deer earlier in the season. Gun-hunters might want a higher portion of their plots in late-season annuals like Winter-Greens and Tall Tine Tubers.
“We just make sure we have enough variety to keep us hunting over or near a food plot from the start of bow season through the end of our late muzzleloader season,” Klemick said. “There’s usually something like brassicas or turnips that still provide food for deer after the seasons end.”
The Bottom Line
If you still aren’t sure what to plant and how much of each product type to put in the ground, Scott recommends experimenting. Start with an even mix of perennials and annuals, and don’t hesitate to divide individual plots. Some Whitetail Institute products excel at times when others don’t do quite as well. Environmental factors such as drought can hamper some plants, and other factors such as soil type, location and browsing pressure can create varying results. When you find something that works for you and your situation, stick with it. You might find the perfect balance the first season, or it could take several years. However, be sure to rotate brassica plots like Winter-Greens or Tall Tine Tubers at least every two years. “They won’t grow well if they are planted in the same spot year after year after year,” Scott said.
Scott concluded by saying “50 percent annuals and 50 percent perennials is a good starting point but if you choose to plant 100 percent of one or the other, your hunting will improve and so will the quality of your deer. Have fun experimenting.”