Food plots for turkey

[Genehalteman]

Do people plant early food plots specifically to attract turkeys? If so what are you planting?

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[Gobble Nole]

1st question is whether or not you have hogs?
2nd question is soil type?

If you do not have hogs, plant Chufas in sandy loamy soil.  We plant in Late June for NW Florida.  Plant enough to last through to the spring, we usually do 2-3 acres.  BTW, deer will eat them as well.  But I can tell you that turkeys literally will flock to a stand of mature chufas.  It is insane to watch.

For an early planting in the spring...  I would say to look at wheat or any of the different millets such as brown top.  Our turkeys love brown top millet and it matures very quickly.  Wheat will handle the cold better than the other cereal grains. 

[shatcher]

Durana clover in the fall and mix it with wheat or oats.  The root system establishes best with a fall planting for the clover.

[VAHUNTER]

You would be surprised how many turkey you will see just by plowing up the soil. They love fresh plowed ground.

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[Lucky Goose]

A lot depends on your location and site you're looking to plant.  Warm season plots are great, but the cool season plots below benefit turkey for a much longer window, and in greater times of nutritional stress.  Clovers are great because they provide green browse AND attract insects that poults REQUIRE in their first few weeks of life.  These rates are per acre. The full pub. is here: https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/forestry-wildlife/cool-season-food-plots-for-deer-planning-planting-maintenance/

The Annual Deer and Turkey Mix
40 lbs. Oats or Awnless wheat
15 lbs. Crimson clover
5 lbs. Arrowleaf clover

This simple mix provides forage for deer and turkey throughout the winter and early summer and is a great choice for dry, upland sites. The cereal grain provides a fast green-up, while the clovers are not far behind. Crimson matures first in the spring, as arrowleaf heads out in the early summer (figure 9). Again, grain is produced after oats or wheat mature, but the legumes continue to produce green browse into spring and good bugging areas for turkey poults as well. This plot can be mowed and sprayed in August after the arrowleaf dies out and overseeded with grains from September through October. Since both clovers are heavy reseeders, they will volunteer year after year as long as seed production was not limited from overgrazing.

Almost Season-Long Perennial Mix
25 lbs. Oats or Awnless wheat
5 lbs. White clover (Durana, Ladino, Osceola, Patriot)
7 lbs. Red /clover
2 lbs. Chicory

This mix provides quality forage for most of the year, with low production only in August through September and January through February. It is very well suited to shaded and moist sites. If planting a drier site, you can shift rates to favor red clover (which tolerates drier sites and can produce into July) over white. Chicory performs well on many sites and is very drought tolerant. Cereal grains are only included in the initial planting for quick green-up as clover and chicory establish. This plot can persist for 3 to 5 years if properly managed by mowing, fertilizing, and spraying. The variety of green browse, long windows of production, and insect attraction makes this a great plot for deer, turkey, and many other species.

Wet-Site Clover Mix
40 lbs. Awnless wheat or Awnless triticale
4 lbs. White clover (Durana, Ladino, Osceola, Patriot)
5 lbs. Alsike clover
5 lbs. Berseem clover

Wet sites limit options for food-plot varieties, but this mix is a good choice for low areas and bottomlands. Berseem clover is an annual, producing from October through April, while the perennials white and alsike produce from May through July. Because berseem is a poor reseeder, it will likely require overseeding each fall. In overly wet sites or years of high rainfall, be prepared each year to overseed this entire mix in areas that were killed out.

[Genehalteman]

Hey, thanks to all for the feedback! I'm in south-central PA and my 25 acres is mostly wooded with a gas line running through it. Neighbors have most of the fields and roosting.

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[wchadw]

Clover. Easy to plant. Little to no maintenance.


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[Vintage]

Will clover grow in the woods?

[wchadw]

Will clover grow in the woods?

If it gets enough sunlight. It's about like grass. Needs sun


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[Genehalteman]

I'll have to try some of these options on the open gas lines. And I might try a strip of food in the woods too if I can get it to grow.

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[Dtrkyman]

Frost seed clover in the gas line, If there is exposed soil it will work like a charm.  Can you burn the gas line safely?

Frost seeding clover is just broadcasting over frozen ground in late winter, the freeze thaw process cover the seed with soil and it will germinate.  Then you just mow it periodically in early summer but leave it alone late summer when it is hot and dry.