Why do deer come to food plots? Is it the nutritional content? High protein? Extra vitamins? Minerals for antler growth? Nutrition for lactating and gestating does? Or because it provides a variety of foods?
Naahhh.
They go there to socialize… to see and be seen!
Lets liken the food plot in deer country to the only restaurant in a small rural town. Sure people come there to eat but their local eating place is more than that. The area’s farmers and business people stop there every morning to drink coffee and visit with each other. Local kids drop by after school. And it’s the place for lunch and Friday and Saturday dinners. A must stop after local 6-man football games. While it is certainly true that the small town restaurant is where the locals go to eat, even more importantly it is a gathering place for the local community. It is the center of small town social networking.
In my experience, deer are particularly active at food plots in the summer. And eating there is only a small part of the mix. The social networking is the main event.
In late summer bucks want to show off their new racks. They want to see what other bucks are around, too. They posture aggressively and make threatening movements to other bucks. And once the velvet sheds it is all about establishing where they are in the pecking order.
Does have their pecking orders too. There are always does around that they don’t get along with. Also fawns learn how to act among other deer.
Yep, a Food Plot in the right place becomes “the” place to be for the local bucks and does.
Throughout the following video you can see the interaction of bucks and does. I invite you to watch it several times too, because I guarantee you that on every viewing you will discover new interactions between particular bucks and does.
Enjoy. It’s Social Networking, whitetail deer style.
Incidentally, this is my main food plot for 2010. I planted a Heartland Wildlife Institute mix named Rack Maker. It was affordable and easy to plant. I planted in late May and Deer found it right away. So by July it was the happening place for deer to meet other deer.
Watch Video Below, Scroll Over Picture:
