The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will again offer free seed for the upcoming growing season to landowners interested in planting wildlife food plots for pheasants.
Rather than a traditional corn or sunflower food plot, this seed mix provides increased plant diversity, including flowering plants from spring through fall, which will attract insects, the major diet component of pheasant chicks. Additionally, the mix will provide needed cover during spring and summer, as well as a winter food source. Other wildlife species will also benefit from this mix.
Department private land section leader Kevin Kading said most Game and Fish food plots are part of the department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen program.
“This food plot campaign does not require a PLOTS contract, but we are asking participating landowners to allow reasonable public access, which could mean simply providing access permission to hunters from time to time, putting up ‘Ask Before You Enter’ signs around the area, or not posting the surrounding land,” Kading said. “Landowners participating in this promotion cannot charge a fee for hunting.”
The department will provide enough seed to cover up to a maximum 5-acre planting at no cost to the landowner.
Landowners interested in receiving the food plot seed must sign up online by April 1. Seed will be available in April at Game and Fish offices in Bismarck, Jamestown, Devils Lake, Harvey, Dickinson, Williston and Riverdale.
Game and Fish private land biologists can provide technical assistance on food plot location and site preparation.
Landowners interested in additional financial incentives may be considered for the PLOTS program as well. More information is available by contacting a private land biologist at any Game and Fish office in the state, or email ndgf@nd.gov.
