Why plant food plots?
Do food plots stack up to natural habitat management? asked David Morris of Tecomate Wildlife Systems rhetorically. Assume that natural habitat averages 11 percent protein year-round and closer to only 7 percent in the South. Then assume an intensive year-round food plot program directed toward deer can yield a protein level of around 25 percent. Based on average deer consumption of 7 pounds of feed a day, it would take 25.6 acres of native browse to support one deers nutritional needs, while it could only require about 6.4 acres of quality food plots. Food plots can carry four to five times more deer, while preserving the quality of natural habitat. The No. 1 reason for developing food plots for deer is that such resources increase herd numbers. When more deer are present, increased hunter success rates seem to naturally follow. Correspondingly, when hunter success rates rise, hunter satisfaction also gains high marks. Good food plots also improve the quality of the deer herd. Properl
