I too am planning on a couple of acres of food plots out here in West Texas and have the same questions.  I haven't done any research yet so interested in anyones experience in dryer climates.  We only had 11 in. of rain this year so hoping for a better year in 2010.

west texas is tough without a watering system... i don't know what to use but i was talking with a wildlife biologist for tpwd here and he said don't use a drought resistant plant for nutrition he says that because they don't take much water they don't produce much nutrition we planted maze this year on accident well we busted a freakin bag in the field then when it grew the deer went nuts on it so it worked out i guess they stopped eating it though by middle of november though so i'm goin back to oats and rye grass mixed for the fall and winter for the summer i'm thinkin maze or some kinda clover and hope to god for some rain.... i heard that some kinda weed is deer cocaine but i can't rember what it is called i'll check and let you know.

Well im in far East Texas, almost into Arkansas so i wont have to worry about the drought. I have heard oats are real good but im i going to have to constantly check up on the plot? Im kinda looking for the fire and forget method. Till the ground, plant the seed, fertilize and hopefully be done with it.

try any brassicas. the deer love it. any type of peas, kale, look up brassicas, and pick some to plant.

Gary, I have some property in West Texas around the Dryden area (Myers Canyon Ranch) and we  are looking to do some food plots as well. Did you determine what you are going to grow. I was considering planting some Chicory. Any thoughts or comments from anybody would be appreciated.

wheat grows well in west texas. doesnt take a lot of work to plant either. maze will grow but, will need water and will need to till the ground. would love to have a food plot on our lease, but we are dealing with wild destructive cows. if anyone knows how to keep a cow off a trail camera would really like to know.  

Going with Throw and Grow. It has chicory brassicus and clover all in it

Thanks for the responses.

Who has planted anything, anyluck??? Sorry just got back on the forum.

TPWD guy about not planting anything drought resistant ? (full of it).

Less water means less biomass (forage production), not less nutrition.  Or dare we examine the fine traits of many of our south and west texas brush species???

A combination of small grains is usually a sound bet for simple attraction and some fall winter nutrition.  They put on most of their growth in spring, but this is also when they start gettin less palatable to deer.  But the grain production (particularly on wheat) can still be a benefit to a deer herd in west texas.

Twitch, for your location a Academy purchase is probably easiest given the size you are working with.  Your small grains (oat, wheat, and winter rye) will have some of the best browse tolerance for such a small plot and still be attractive.

Not sure its worth planting to any clover, but if so, I would probably plant something with any of the white clover, for later season production and again (browse tolerance).  Brassica and winter peas will not likely survive on such a small plot.

redseal: annual ryegrass has some but little benefit to deer, now in west texas (if it does grow and is green) i do imagine they will be attracted to it (however).

As for clover in west texas, best choices for legumes are Sweetclover, Alfalfa, and Arrowleaf clover.  The arrowleaf will only grow on non-alkaline ground.  But all will require a good fall of moisture to do any good.  As for growing these legumes, they need be planted in fall typically, spring or summer planting is usually asking for failure.

Chicory will not be too reliable for west texas either, but when you do happen to get a wet fall, it has the ability to do good (and I have seen it work well on alkaline soils).

Unfortunately maize does not carry enough nutrition to meet the general requirements of whitetail.  They will eat it, but an acre of native habitat is still probably more beneficial than an acre of maize.