they already picked it clean...now what?
 

i got a small food plot (about .25 acre) going in the the back of one of the fields. i planted clay peas in about april and the deer just started eating it about 3 weeks ago and its ALREADY gone!. they have picked it clean.. all of it! with bow season starting in about a week and a half i got to do something about it asap. should i disk it up and replant? or is there anything else i can plant that the deer will love? i know about mid november-end of season theres not much for the deer to eat and they would love to have this in the field. i was thinking about clover..something that would come up quick.

i would love to do clay peas again but i dont think it would come up quick enough for them.

is there anything else i could use that would work just as good as the clay peas did? mabey something that will keep producing after they eat it so they dont pick it all clean? btw, this is in central NC

Thanks
Tommy

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

I’m afraid you’ll continue to have those problems with only ¼ acre. You could try a clover/chicory mix, but they may still be hard on it. The peas are annuals, so when they’re nipped off, that’s the end. Clover and chicory are perennials, so they’ll continue to grow

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

so just get any kind of clover? im going to the seed store today to some up (its alot cheaper then the stuff they sell at dicks) anything i can buy to to mix with the clover other then chicory like rye grass? i want somthing that will last after the first frost.

this was a learning experience for me...next year guess i know i need to just go ahead and spend the money and do the whole field :)

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

If you're going to till it up next year, I wouldn't spend too much. You could use winter wheat, forage oats, or winter rye in place of chicory since they're all fast growing annuals.

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

Go with the buck forage oats .
Grow fast , and very hardy during winter climates ...

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

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RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

how about 50lbs of rye, 25lbs of claypeas and some clover? i dont know how much clover i would need but i know its $2.75 a lbs so hopefully not much

im leaving in about 30min..so any quick response is really appreciated.

thanks

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

I'd say that's too much for 1/4 acre.

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

I would go with some sort of mix. Like a Biologic Texas Draw or Tecomate Ultra Forage. I'm not saying that you have to buy the brand name, but get something that will regenerate and be productive throughout the season. I know you're in panic mode because all your peas are gone a week before opening day, but you need to think big picture. Have something that will be there long past the first week of the season.

RE: they already picked it clean...now what?
 

With only a quarter of an acre, pretty much any type of forage you plant will be picked clean. An average deer can eat 7 lbs. of forage a day (dry weight).

My suggestion is if you do plant something, I would probably plant at double the recommended adjusted seeding weight. The reason for that is your plants probably won't make it to maturity to compete with one another, and you will have a pretty high incidence of mortality in some of your smaller plants. They will be under a lot of grazing pressure if the deer are looking for them.

Now, keep in mind, that's not double the seeding rate of rye per acre + double the seeding rate of peas per acre + double the seeding rate of clover per acre, all multiplied by a quarter. You have to multiply each one by the percentage of that plant composing the mix.