What type of plant is better for fall/hunting season?
07-29-2015, 05:40 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: MS
Posts: 343
What type of plant is better for fall/hunting season?
I've read in articles that during the fall it is best to plant cereal grain plants (Wheat, Oats, Millet, etc.) for deer. The articles said the cereal grain plants are considered carbohydrates and give deer more energy for the cold, rut, etc. Just wanting everyone's input on what's best to plant in the fall? Cereal grain or Protein? or Both?
07-29-2015, 07:37 AM
#2
Spike
Join Date: May 2014
Location: WV
Posts: 54
I personally like the seed blends that are for fall planting. Had a lot of luck last year with evolved harvest throw n grow w/radish and turnips. Plants generally raised for protein are spring planted as the deer need the protein for antler growth (spring/summer). The blends give you a bit of both worlds.(carbs/protein)
The key to a successful fall plot is rainfall. In my case, last year, we had a lot of rain late summer/early fall which brought about a nice hunting plot
Good luck with it!
The key to a successful fall plot is rainfall. In my case, last year, we had a lot of rain late summer/early fall which brought about a nice hunting plot
Good luck with it!
07-29-2015, 01:22 PM
#3
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: MS
Posts: 343
I personally like the seed blends that are for fall planting. Had a lot of luck last year with evolved harvest throw n grow w/radish and turnips. Plants generally raised for protein are spring planted as the deer need the protein for antler growth (spring/summer). The blends give you a bit of both worlds.(carbs/protein)
The key to a successful fall plot is rainfall. In my case, last year, we had a lot of rain late summer/early fall which brought about a nice hunting plot
Good luck with it!
The key to a successful fall plot is rainfall. In my case, last year, we had a lot of rain late summer/early fall which brought about a nice hunting plot
Good luck with it!
07-29-2015, 02:03 PM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,431
You want to think about what a deer's natural food is. Deer are made to eat bark, buds and greens etc. They are not cattle. If deer are going to need a suplement in food it will be late in the year, winter when the grains are long gone. If I had a piece of property that I was managing for deer and I wanted to provide late season food, I would do some cut and bend sapplings and just drop some trees for browse and forget about foods that are not necessarily foods that are natural for deer. When you read articles about feeding deer they are usually writen by people who have large fenced properties and are raising deer with unnaturally large racks in order to charge more to shoot them. The average land owner does not have the control of property and where the deer move to and from as these people. What they are recommending is not generally feasible for the average guy with a piece of property. If you are bound and determined to pland something, go with turnip and raddish.
Last edited by Oldtimr; 07-29-2015 at 02:09 PM.
07-30-2015, 05:18 AM
#5
Spike
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 18
This year I have everything, If you have the means do it! I have 1-2 acres of beans planted, fenced off so they can get big with a dual perimeter electric fence. This august I am going to broadcast my favorite mix over the plot, ( NOT PREMIXED SEED BAG) just cold tolerant oats and rape, might mix in turnips every other year.
07-30-2015, 06:54 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: MS
Posts: 343
You want to think about what a deer's natural food is. Deer are made to eat bark, buds and greens etc. They are not cattle. If deer are going to need a suplement in food it will be late in the year, winter when the grains are long gone. If I had a piece of property that I was managing for deer and I wanted to provide late season food, I would do some cut and bend sapplings and just drop some trees for browse and forget about foods that are not necessarily foods that are natural for deer. When you read articles about feeding deer they are usually writen by people who have large fenced properties and are raising deer with unnaturally large racks in order to charge more to shoot them. The average land owner does not have the control of property and where the deer move to and from as these people. What they are recommending is not generally feasible for the average guy with a piece of property. If you are bound and determined to pland something, go with turnip and raddish.
07-30-2015, 06:59 AM
#7
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: MS
Posts: 343
This year I have everything, If you have the means do it! I have 1-2 acres of beans planted, fenced off so they can get big with a dual perimeter electric fence. This august I am going to broadcast my favorite mix over the plot, ( NOT PREMIXED SEED BAG) just cold tolerant oats and rape, might mix in turnips every other year.
07-31-2015, 08:27 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
If you have not already, check with your local Ag Extension Agent and gather any of the information that the state in which you live might have so that you pick the right varieties for you soil type and area. Here in SE Ala. the group I hunt with plants about 38 acres of food plots, ranging in size from about .50 to 2.50 acres. We use soil testing to make sure we have the pH in good shape and apply the correct amount of fertilizer.
We plant a mix in the early fall ..... wheat, oats, grain rye, Crimson clover and purple top turnips. We buy the seed from a local farm Co-Op. The "Tri-Mix" is about $15/50#, Clover about $1/# and turnips about $1/50/#. We mow and apply herbicide to the fields ourselves, twice befofre they are planted ... around mid July and again in eaarly September. We plant in late September. We hire a fertilizer spreading service to fertilize the fields. We hire a guy to plant the Tri-Mix ,then we come behind him and over-seed with the clover and turnips .... and then cultipack these small seeds into contact with the soil using our equipment.
Yes, deer are not grazers, but they will hit this sort of mixed food plot down this way from the time it pops out of the ground and all through the fall and winter. We have found that once the frost hits a few times and the browse is "burned" by the freezing temperatures, the deer will absolutely fog in. Our trail cameras confirm that practically all the feeding is nocturnal, but we are keeping the deer fed , close by and have had some good results once the does come in heat seeing and taking some pretty good bucks off the plots.
We plant a mix in the early fall ..... wheat, oats, grain rye, Crimson clover and purple top turnips. We buy the seed from a local farm Co-Op. The "Tri-Mix" is about $15/50#, Clover about $1/# and turnips about $1/50/#. We mow and apply herbicide to the fields ourselves, twice befofre they are planted ... around mid July and again in eaarly September. We plant in late September. We hire a fertilizer spreading service to fertilize the fields. We hire a guy to plant the Tri-Mix ,then we come behind him and over-seed with the clover and turnips .... and then cultipack these small seeds into contact with the soil using our equipment.
Yes, deer are not grazers, but they will hit this sort of mixed food plot down this way from the time it pops out of the ground and all through the fall and winter. We have found that once the frost hits a few times and the browse is "burned" by the freezing temperatures, the deer will absolutely fog in. Our trail cameras confirm that practically all the feeding is nocturnal, but we are keeping the deer fed , close by and have had some good results once the does come in heat seeing and taking some pretty good bucks off the plots.
Last edited by Mojotex; 07-31-2015 at 08:31 AM.
