Also keep in mind that "high yield" is important to farmers but not so much to food plotters. For small plots, browse tolerance is much more important. On component of trying to improve the local herd health in a measurable way is providing food for deer, but in order for this to be a reasonable objective, you need scale. That is ownership, control, or significant influence on the entire home range of deer. That home range varies but 1,000 acres is a good ball park. We are talking about converting 1%-3% of that to quality food. Since food plots are as small fraction of a deer's diet, having food available during stress periods when nature is stingy is more important by far than yield in a farming sense.
Most folks planting small plots can't reasonably feed deer. A reasonable objective for small plots is having a level of attraction and making a property more huntable with better predictability of deer movements. Attraction is a balance. Foods that are highly desirable are often wiped out in small plots. Temporary E-fencing as Tap points out is one strategy. Choosing browse tolerant plants are another. Many desirable plants become much more browse tolerant when well established. RR Forage soybeans are an example. If the objective is not feeding deer during stress periods but attracting them during an early archery season, fencing forage beans can be quite effective. Even a single acre is hard for deer to wipe out if they are 6' tall when the e-fence is removed.
Thanks,
Jack
