How to Design a Fall Kill Plot for Deer Hunting

How to Design a Fall Kill Plot for Deer Hunting 

A little sweat equity in the next month or two could lead to a shot opportunity this fall.  

By Darron McDougal 

If you're on social media, you've likely seen/watched food-plotting posts and stories from high-profile hunters during the last few months. Whether life's been busy or you're still working through the terms of a new lease or purchase, perhaps you're worried that you missed the planting season and will have to wait until next year to install food plots on your hunting property.  

Good news: The best planting dates for fall annuals, which are highly attractive to deer throughout the hunting season, are several weeks to a couple of months out, depending on your growing zone. Yes, you probably still have time, and the following suggestions and products can help you create a more effective kill plot. 

Select a Location 

First, drill down on a specific location. Use your knowledge of the property in conjunction with HuntStand. If you don't have the app, I highly suggest getting it. Using the different base maps and overlays, identify potential bedding areas and destination food sources, including those on adjacent properties. This knowledge can inform your kill plot's placement. 

Generally, the most effective mature-buck kill plots are between a bedding area and a large destination food source. Does, fawns, and immature bucks might frequent a destination food source in the daylight, but the mature bucks often stage back in the timber and come out in the dark. A fall kill plot located 50-300 yards off the destination food source could be your ticket to a big-buck encounter this fall. 

Next, ensure the area gets at least 3-4 hours of sunlight daily. Consider shaping the plot to funnel deer by your stand or blind. Lastly, reference HuntStand's HuntZone feature on a prevailing-wind day to see how your scent will disperse from your stand or blind location. Adjust your plot or stand location accordingly. 

Your weapon of choice should inform your plot size. If you're bowhunting and your maximum ethical range is 40 yards, create your plot so that the maximum shot is only 30 yards to make it a slam-dunk. If you're firearm hunting and have the space, consider making the plot much larger to offer more food, but with the ability to easily shoot any deer that enters the plot.     

Test the Food Plot Soil 

Next, grab a soil test kit from the Sportsman's Guide or a local farm/garden store. A soil test will show your soil composition, and perhaps most importantly show you the soil's pH to inform your lime needs. But when a soil test isn't available, Evolved seed bags suggest adding 500 pounds of lime per quarter acre. Skipping this step could negatively impact the results of your time, effort, and money. 

Choose a Food Plot Seed Blend 

Time to go shopping. Here are a few seed suggestions relative to the late-summer through early-fall planting window. 

Evolved 7 Card Stud: This blend includes winter oats, winter wheat, winter peas, annual clover, forage turnip, radish, and forage chicory. It's designed to thrive during harsh conditions. If you're unable to till to a depth of 4-6 inches, move on to the next product suggestion. 

Evolved Throw & Gro: This no-till blend is your go-to planting if you don't own tillage equipment or have chosen a plot location unreachable with equipment. Preparing your seedbed can be as simple as clearing all vegetation and debris from the site and exposing the soil. Using a rake, do your best to break through the soil's top layer to improve seed-to-soil contact, then broadcast the seed and watch it flourish. This simple blend consists of forage rape, annual clover, and annual ryegrass.  

Evolved Hail Mary: The ideal late-season plot, this blend is cold-tolerant and consists of cereal rye, winter wheat, and forage turnips. It's easy to establish, grows quickly, and will become a hot food source once other crops such as corn and soybeans have been harvested. If you're running behind and don't get a kill plot planted by early fall, there's still time to plant this one in most growing zones.  

Soup It Up and Pray for Rain 

Juice up your kill plot to make it more attractive. When and where legal, create a mineral lick using Deer Cane Apple or a Buck Lickers Acorn-Flavored Mineral Block.  

Place either product at an easy shot distance from your stand or blind. 

Next, bury a 3- to 4-inch-diameter cedar or pine pole several feet deep, leaving 4 to 5 feet protruding above the ground as a rubbing post. If there are no overhanging limbs around your plot ideal for a mock scrape site, bury an even taller pole and then saw off a leafy, branchy limb from a nearby tree. Using a drill and spade bit, bore a hole through the pole about five and a half feet above the ground, then insert the limb. Secure it with zip-ties, then rake away the soil below to create a mock scrape.  

Finally, dig a small waterhole. Add a pond liner for the best water retention. Cover the liner with clay, dirt, and/or sand. Ensure you can reach the waterhole with an ATV or other equipment to fill it initially and when dry conditions persist. A large cooler or an IBC tank makes a good water-transportation vessel.  

Now, pray for the Lord to send rain to get your Evolved plot growing. Come hunting season, you'll be glad you put in the work and have a great kill plot to hunt over.