Welcome to BGH Abby.

Here is a site that I have found useful and I even have a link to it on my Hunting Club website. it will answer alot of your questions.

http://fw.ky.gov/howto.asp

Its kinda late for food plot for this years use but sounds like you are on the right track with your suggestions/questions. I have found that Royal Radishes really get mowed down 1st in my late fall/early winter food plots. They are kinda expensive to plant and I usually only plant a couple of rows of them but they really do show as the deers first preference.

Clover is always a good plot staple but it will not grow during the hot months but will make a green comeback as soon as the weather starts to cool down Crimson Clover is what I use. I personally only plant Clay Peas, Rape, Wheat and Oats for my summer plots but only because they grow well in our sandy soil and not for some magic deer holding or attracting power. Oats, turnips, Crimson Clover, Rye(not rye grass), and Chickory make up my late fall/winter plots. I can use Turnips cause it really does not get too cold for them but in Tenn it will probably not be a great winter choice.

As for Mineral licks and such, here is a video of stuff that I have used and is really easy to make and works better than any of the commercially made stuff. Try it, it wont cost you but $25 0r $30 to make some and you can add some of your own "special" ingredients to customize to your own needs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bO7febTmcN4

Good luck and have a Happy New year !!

Thanks for the links. In my searches online for info the KY website never came up... it's very informative. The only place I have for food plots is my granddad's farm in KY so the site will be extra helpful. He just had the place logged so it looks like a trash heap but there's lots of room for plots.

I'm always up for do-it-yourself mixes and will definitely try yours out.

You may also want to contact your local County Extension Agent. They can give you some great advice on what to plant along with when and where. Ours here has seed mixes of plot seeds that will do well here and have been proven sucessful by other hunters. They may also have some mineral lick recipies and/or ingredients to make some, also based on what works for your area. You can also get soil sample kits from them to use for testing your soil to determine many things but most importantly the ph level and suggestions on how much lime to use to bring it to the level needed by the plants you will be planting. The County Extension Office can be a wealth of useful information.

You don't need alot of room for a sucessful food plot. One of my most productive and used plot is situated in a planted pine row and only about 80 ft long. That makes it about 12ft X 80ft and I just used a garden rake, hoe and some sweat to make it. Just find a good trail or near a bedding area and start one up. They'll find it and use it.

Turnips will be fine in TN. Just talk to some local folks that grow them in their gardens. My dad always has them in his garden. They stay green until way after the frost. I will go over and check dads turnips out in a day or so and let you know what they look like. You can plant them as early as late June or early july so the roots can get established before cold weather. But you can plant them later if you want, but the earlier you plant them the better they stand cold weather. Like the others said, oats, peas, wheat and clover all make good food plots. You could also plant some soybeans, deer love these when they are young and will eat the beans off the plants late in the year after the frost has killed the stalks.

So do they eat the root vegetables themselves or just the leafy tops?

I finally thought to look at the turnips in my dad's garden today. They are still green and we have had some low teen temps a few nights and several days of never getting out of the 20's. I would guess he planted them in August but will ask next time I think about it.

I'll add turnips to my list of forage plots then. I'd like to plant some bushes and trees too... probably can't plant apples or anything like that huh? They'd take too much care I guess.

Thanks for the tips everyone!