I live on 1/4ac in the woods where there are lots of deer and other wildlife. Its not a manicurable property (very little grass, imagine a house literally in the woods) but I'd like to give the deer something to munch on while I keep my property looking less like its covered in weeds. I was thinking of buying a few bags of Plot Mix that doesn't require tilling.

Thoughts?

maybe clover, everything else will grow too deep, and probably wont survive mowing / is not really edible until its full grown / too tall for your yard.  Clover gets deep / tall as well, but its in every yard, is edible at all stages of growth, and survives mowing well. if you dedicated a strip of your backyard to clover only, people would never know as it blends right in when you mow it. salt blocks might attract deer as well, also they make deer suckers, which are basically gigantic sugar daddy suckers, and they attract deer well.  a bag of corn in the corner of the back yard attracts pretty much everything. birds, deer, raccoons, etc.

The no till plot seed will not take over and kill off native weeds.

You can spray it with round up a few times before seeding and that will help.

I spray and then repeat about a week later.

A week later, I mow (if possible) and rake the crap out of the area.

Then throw the seed.

Other way around. Those other species will push out your plot seed.

Establishing a feed plot is a lot of work, and it's temporary. You'll need to reduce competition for it, and it'll require sunlight even if your soil is already perfect. And then in a couple years, you'll need to do it all again.

Most of the stuff you get in those mix bags are annuals, so you'd have to plant every year. Also, they are typically seasonal. Native plants will almost certainly crowd them out if you don't stay after it.

^^^^^this^^^^^

You will definitely have to spray and kill out the native weeds, or they'll choke out your food plot. Whatever you do, don't spray with a pre-emergent or you'll have to wait for another 6 months to plant. Rake/leaf blow the area well before spraying, and cut out as many trees as you can to get enough light to the plot. Clover and sweet beets would work in an area like this.

Good to know, thank you all for your advice. I'll take a picture tomorrow to show what it looks like in the back.

Mike, what part of Arkansas?

I'm looking at doing something similar on my hunting land this fall.. (first food plot attempt)

I like the look of the "eagle seed" fall blends, but haven't commited yet..

Will be following this thread