Killer Turkey Food Plot

Before you know it spring turkey season will be upon us and now is the time to start planning a killer turkey food plot.  Establishing a great food plot takes more than just planting seeds.  It takes planning and preparation prior to planting those seeds. The prime turkey food plot is chufas.  Chufas are yellow nutsedges that turkeys absolutely love.

The first step is finding a good spot.  A 20ft x 20ft spot with no trees and ample sunlight will work well.  You can select a larger spot but that increases the cost of planting.  Chufas prefer full sunlight so make sure the area gets 6-8 hours of sunlight per day.  

Next step is to take a soil sample from the area. Here’s a video demonstrating how to properly take a soil sample.  When you get your soil sample results back, you will want to adjust the pH as necessary.  Perform this task well ahead of planting to give the lime time to raise the pH.  Chufas grow best with the soil pH between 6.0-7.0.

Now other animals love chufas too, like hogs and rabbits.  I wouldn’t plant chufas if you know you have a large population of rabbits or you have a feral hog problem.  Reduce those populations before planting chufas.

Other options include plants such as brown top millet and buckwheat.  Turkeys love tender young shoots.  You can plant these in March ahead of spring turkey season.  These plots also will attract insects which the turkeys feed on.  

Now we get to the fun part – planting.  Chufas can be planted anytime between April and July.  They germinate quickly once soil temperatures are above 65º F..  You can plow the area or use a herbicide like glyphosate to kill existing vegetation.  For chufas, you can use a pre-emergent herbicide like trifluralin or pendimethalin to help suppress weeds during the growing season.

Plant	Broadcast Seeding Rate
Chufas	40-50lb/acre
Brown top millet	20-25lb/acre
Buckwheat	50- 55lb/acre

I find that packing the soil after broadcasting the seed, either by driving over it or by using a cultipacker, helps with germination as the seeds flourish with a firm seed bed.

Next, fertilize according to your soil test results and enjoy a great spring turkey season.