germain

What would be the best seed to plant for archery from sept-nov and rifle in early dec?I understand the deer go crazy over rape once the frost hits it.Clover on the other hand also draws turkey in and lasts more than one year.I was thinking about a 80% ladino/20% white clover mix.Any opinions on what is better to plant and what you think of my clover mixture?Thanks

Russ otten

Your best bet is the clover. But the mix you stated has me confused, as Ladino is a white clover, too. I planted rape and did not have very much success with it. It might be that being in Miss. when the frost hit, they hit it, probably at night. As I saw very few deer eating rape. But the clover seemed to be available after the rape was gone. This is the third year for that plot and the only thing left is clover. It originally had a mix of various forage crops, other than the clover, all annuals. If it wasn' t for the clover, I would have to replant the whole plot.

FlDeerman

I didn' t have much luck with the rape until a good frost and it turned purple.I heard on another thread here that it' s best to plant the rape away from the clover,that if the deer try it befor it turns then the deer want try it again.

CLOUD 9, MN

Clover is easy and it comes back good for several years. Deer everywhere like clover. Rape allthough, has been a absolute magnet on my property the deer eat it all year! Last year I watched the deer from long distance many evenings and they always went to the rape first. They loved it all year. My foodplots (2) are both 1/2 Imperial Clover and 1/2 Whitcomb' s mix(rape, several clovers, chickory and timothy). They only thing I could think of why they loved the rape in the Whitcomb' s mix was because the rape stalks have tons of water in them and the closest water to either foodplot is about 300 yards. I will definetly replant my rape part of my foodplots, its just to bad it doesn' t grow back each year!

lawnfarmer

Hey Germy, stick with the ladino clover. If you take care of it you should get 5 years or more from one planting. Cut it on the holidays if it isn' t too dry, like last year. Fertilize and lime as required.. I don' t know where you are but it would be helpful to many on here if you would at least put a state in your profile. The clover will be green and lush in the Spring. The turkeys will go after the bugs it draws. The deer will dig through a foot of snow to get at it in the Winter. I have plots of rye, will try rape this year. The best draw is clover though.

germain

I think ladino and white clover are different.Am I wrong?Thanks for your replies

Oh yeah,how' s that for location lawn farmer?

Dan O.

Ladino is a tall growing variety of white clover. ie. All poodles are dogs but not all dogs are poodles.

Dan O.

lawnfarmer

That' s a lot of help. Penn., just a little bigger than Rhode Island but smaller than Alaska. Your weather is probably very similar to what we have here only better. Farmhunter gives good advice as well as Lunchbucket, Dan O., and others. Stay tuned. Get it togeather before you do it. There is more to it than you think. That' s from someone who has been impatient and wasted plenty of time and money. [&:][&:] terry

NorthJeff

Plant BOTH!!

Clover is a great draw spring through early fall, but in my experience, brassicas win hands down when the going gets cold.

I have had great experience with brassica/clover mixes.

I moniter my food plot usage with 3 cameras and 700-800 photos each year. My clover fields are tops all summer long, but come fall, my cameras need to be where the brassicas are.

Call me gullable, but I believe that the large companies, that choose their seed for cold-tolerance and varying maturity times, are indeed the best to buy.

My main, 2 acre, central, largest plot will be planted in Biologics Premium Perinnial this year. You get the best of everything. A perinnial clover/chicory mix, and a good dose of brassicas for the fall/winter months. You can then top-dress this planting in the following spring, with a dose of a straight brassica mix, such as Biologics Maximum.

I' ve been planting these combos for 3 years now(clover and brassicas), and I can' t imagine planting one, without the other.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan

turkeyreaper

I use Rape and the deer start eating it in October, however, there is no agricultural fields in the area, mostly hard woods. they eat it right to the dirt thoe.