White Clover Plots
White clover is the foundation of food plotting - a perennial legume that feeds deer protein from green-up to frost, lasts 3-5 years from one planting, and forgives beginner mistakes.
If food plotting has a default answer, it's white clover: plant it once and a good stand feeds deer 25%+ protein from March to November for three to five YEARS. It thrives in small woodland plots where big equipment can't go, tolerates shade and traffic, fixes its own nitrogen, and remains the single highest-value seed a beginner can put in dirt.
Why deer love it
Protein (25-30% in spring), digestibility and constancy - clover is candy that's also health food, drawing does and bucks alike all season and rebuilding them post-rut and post-winter.
When & how to plant
Two classic windows: frost-seeding onto late-winter freeze-thaw ground (easiest), or a fall seeding with a nurse crop of winter wheat. Shallow is everything - clover seed barely covered (1/8-1/4") or surface-broadcast onto prepared dirt; deep planting is the #1 failure.
Soil & pH
Wants pH 6.0-7.0 - soil-test and lime FIRST (a $15 test beats $150 of wasted seed); moderate fertility, phosphorus and potassium per test, no nitrogen needed (it makes its own).
Maintenance
Mow 2-3 times a summer to knock back weeds and keep clover young; spot-spray grass invasions (clover-safe herbicides); overseed thin spots each winter. A managed stand lasts 5 years; an ignored one lasts 2.
When it draws best
Green-up through early fall, and again on warm late-season days - the early-season bow plot par excellence. During hard rut and deep cold, grains and brassicas out-pull it.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the soil test/lime (acid soil = weak clover, strong weeds)
- Burying tiny seed deep
- Never mowing - weeds take the stand
- Planting a huge clover monoculture instead of pairing with fall grain/brassica plots
🌦️ Planting dates and varieties shift with your zone and rainfall - your county extension office gives free localized advice and cheap soil tests. Also note: rules on hunting over planted plots vs 'baiting' differ by state - plots are legal most places, bait often isn't; confirm your regulations. We don't give legal advice.