Not just for deer, a good food plot will draw in turkeys and hold them in your area, vastly increasing your odds at tagging a longbeard this spring.
While food plots are most often associated with fall deer hunting, a green spring plot can be absolutely deadly on spring gobblers. The great thing about spring turkey plots is that they don’t need to be large or involve heavy equipment to work. Even a plot as small as 20 feet by 20 feet can be turned into a killer turkey spot if it is in the right location. Even hand tools and a small broadcast spreader are sufficient for small, secluded open-timber areas.
Why do they work? A variety of reasons. First, because birds are hungry. Spring turkeys love tender green shoots of just about anything. Besides the vegetation, spring food plots offer a veritable buffet of insects and worms. After a long winter spent attempting to scratch the last bit of the previous fall’s mast crop from under the snow and ice, spring turkeys think with their stomach. Even after the gobblers turn their attention to breeding, the hens will hang out where the food is, drawing in the toms as they do.
Once the gobblers get there, they use the open food plots as strutting areas. The most productive turkey plots are located along hardwood edges or timber openings. Gobblers naturally use these areas to show off to the local ladies, and a low carpet of vegetation makes the perfect dance floor.
Finally, hens prefer to nest along natural brushy edge habitat. The growth around the edge of food plots makes for a perfect location to build a nest, particularly if the vegetation around the edge is left wild and tangled. Having a nearby food source helps the hen remain close to the nest instead of venturing long distances to fill her belly. As season progresses, local gobblers will be searching for any remaining hens that might show interest. Having nesting hens wandering around the food plot makes for a perfect living decoy.
So you have a spot picked out, what should you plant? These five choices in this click-through photo blog will bring in the birds.
