I have some land up by Childress TX which we manage for deer, turkey, and quail. I have met with TP&W;and the usual magic number is 8-10% of your property in food plots. One thing to keep in mind when making your plans is what does the land around you look like. I read a lot about food plots and how they help for deer and have been planting my own for the past 5-6 years, but the surrounding land should weigh into your decisions. If every property around you is planted in winter wheat deer will use those for food, and you should be looking at ways you can make your property attractive as a bedding area, or with water, etc. Maybe you have one or two “hunting” plots to attract deer. These would be an acre or less. If every property around you is heavy cover and just feeders, then you would want to have a more food plots since deer will really leverage your offering since there is nothing else around. Right now I am at about the 6-8% in food plots, but I am also just discing areas for weed growth, as well as working with the forestry service to plant native brush for cover. The goal is to have something on your land that deer need, and is in short supply around you.
