Archery Food Plots on Small Urban Acreages

As urban areas sprawl into the countryside, deer populations in these less-heavily hunted areas continue to rise. Small urban acreages provide excellent opportunities for urban archery and food plots for deer.

Your urban bow plot can play an important role in managing urban deer populations as cities and subdivisions continue to spread. You can help restore balance to nature and support healthy deer populations by zeroing in on key considerations for small-acreage urban bow plots.

• Understand Urban Archery Regulations
• CapitalizeonDeerInstinctsandHabits
• Plant a Premium Urban Bow Plot

Good bow plot locations consider the surroundings as well as the site.

Understand Urban Archery Regulations

The first step in establishing a productive small-acreage urban food plot is understanding the local and legal bow hunting requirements for the small acreage you have in mind. For example, there may be numerous state and local regulations relating to how far you have to be from businesses, houses and roads to discharge a firearm — which includes a bow and arrow.

If your planned food plot is close to an urban subdivision, do yourself and your neighbors a favor. Check in and see what regulations regarding bow hunting may be in place there.

It's likely that if you or someone else bow hunts your food plot, you may need to track deer onto surrounding properties. Knowing the parameters — and having the permission of property owners — ahead of time makes that experience more positive for everyone involved.

Many towns welcome bow hunting as a safe way to manage deer populations in urban and suburban areas, even in parks. Often called "Urban Archery" seasons, these special hunting seasons help reduce the likelihood of car-and-deer collisions and deer damage to landscaping. Reducing herd numbers also lowers the risk of deer starvation in urban areas. However, strict regulations on hunting times, locations and practices may be involved. Knowing all the ramifications in advance helps you select the perfect spot for your food plot.

Areas alongside urban woodlands make excellent bow plot locations. 

Capitalizeon Deer Instincts and Habits

Even though deer in urban areas are much more accustomed to people, natural instincts still influence their preferred browsing areas. By keeping deer preferences in mind, you help ensure your bow plot's location capitalizes on the natural movement of deer as they pass through the small acreage you have in mind.

Spend some time on the small acreage to get a feel for how and when deer move through the land. Look for well-worn trails and established crossings that bring deer near your potential plot. Nearby water sources also make your urban bow plot more attractive to the herds. You also want to pay attention to how sunlight moves through the space, providing both sunny and shady spots for deer to feed and rest.

Areas where urban woodlands — whether hardwoods, conifers or both — transition into meadows or peri-urban agricultural fields provide great spots for urban bow plots. (If you plan to use a tree stand, as many urban archers do, nearby trees make that easier, too.)

Placing your plot in an open area along a woodland edge positions it as a welcoming food source easily found by deer. Plus, it draws deer out of the woods into open land where they're more easily viewed.

Nutrient-dense food plots are essential for deer health and growth.

Plant a Premium Urban Bow Plot

Once you've settled on your bow plot's location, your final considerations are how to provide a high-quality, high-energy food source to attract and help support healthy deer herds. Pennington helped pioneer the food plot industry back in the 1980s with mixes that enhance natural habitat, promote conservation and biodiversity, and support responsible wildlife management in urban as well as rural areas.

Pennington RACKMASTER Spring/Summer Deluxe Deer Mixture helps meet the needs of deer during spring and summer when a consistent food source helps bodies grow strong and healthy in preparation for the fall season. This premium mix of grains and forage plants includes high-protein legumes, including soybeans and iron clay peas, along with buckwheat, sorghum and sunflower, all precision-blended for the healthy development and well-being of deer herds.

Pennington RACKMASTER Dual Season Food Plot Seed blends warm-season grains and legumes, including soybeans, iron and clay peas, buckwheat, sorghum and clover. This dual-season bow plot mix provides a high-protein, high-energy food source to maximize spring and summer antler growth and support bucks, does and fawns as they move through spring and summer toward the early fall bow season. Late-summer plantings of this dual-season mix establish quickly to provide a fast-growing plot before fall frost hits.

By establishing an urban bow plot, you can help manage urban deer populations and play a valuable role in overall herd health. Here at Pennington, we put a lot of value on conservation and wildlife management. Let us help you turn a small urban acreage and a love of bow hunting into a place that helps support healthy deer and healthy relationships with your urban neighbors.

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