razu13612

I live in Up-Up-Upstate NY and we have a lot of snow !!!!! During the harsh months (Jan, Feb, & Mar) the critters have a hard time finding food. Is there some type of "above ground level" perennial plant that I can use to supplement their meager forage. Bear in mind that there will be over 2 feet of snow cover, so clover, rape, oats, etc would be impossible to get to. Something like small trees or bushes which are nourishing!! At present, they come right up to the house and "snack" on my foundation plantings of yew and cedar, which is NOT that nourishing for them AND it's wrecking my plants. Years ago, I raised (or at least tried to) sweet corn in my garden. I know they like it cuz I NEVER got it to mature (they ate it all) and was long gone by mid-Oct. Just trying to make it a bit easier for the critters !!!!!

OhioBowhunter

im not sure about plants... but we put corn out in the winter on a few different places on the property. it may not be legal in NY though..

haystack

One of the best things you can do for winter browse is to spend a lot of time with a chainsaw hinge cutting small diameter trees such as maple, hickory, and many others.

Planting some of the bush type dogwoods, red osier and gray will make great long term browse that stays low enough the deer can reach would work, as well as elderberry, willows and some hawthorns.

Spreading lime and fertilizer on the browse you have growing is well worth doing also.

This year I've got more snow and steady cold than I've seen in at least 20 years. I've got several food plots of winter rye, wheat, oats, austrian peas that the deer continued to feed heavily on until the snow accumulated to about 30 inches. One of the snow storms was a wet and heavy snow accompanied by high winds which took out a lot of trees. It made a mess of the woods but sure helped a lot deer.

If you have enough area and decent soil soybeans and or field corn makes a great winter plot also.

razu13612

Thanks a lot Storm Dog......Yer right on, "baiting" is NOT legal in NY state, although I'm not sure this is "baiting" since no one will be doing any hunting on this "plot"....... I'd put out shelled corn but the quantity needed would be very expensive.

Yo haystack, the area I'm talking about is residential, not wooded, so chainsawing small trees for browse will not work so well.

My neighbor and I were brainstorming ideas over an "adult beverage" and came up with a possible remedy. That is to roto-til about a dozen strips about 200 yards long and seed it with a mixture of sunflower/corn/sorghum/soybeans. Another brain-fart was to contact the nurseries/landscapers in the local area and re-plant any of their "throw-away" yews or cedars (or what ever else they may have) that had been damaged or overgrown at some of their customers sites.

Any comments and/or suggestions? Thanks a lot, Razu

timbercruiser

What kind of deer population do you have? Sounds a little like due to the development and the probable non-hunting in the area the deer population is getting too high for the available natural food. Lowering the population might be the best remedy. It would take a big corn field to make a lot of difference.

razu13612

Well Timbercruiser, I live in the small village of Black River, and on my 3 acres (backyard) and the surrounding acres (probably about 10 acre) of "backyards" we have about 6 deer that live here year around (I think) cuz anytime I desire I can walk "outback" and see them. Just across the road there are about 10-15 deer that live in about 20 acres.

To answer your question, LOTZA deer. AND, Yes, development (new housing construction mainly) in the local area has disturbed the area, concentrating the remaining critters into new areas AND Yes, they are not hunted (within the village limits). It is probably reaching a point of being over-populated with the critters but NY DEC (Dept of Conversation) won't do anything about relocating, trapping, or hunting.

A coupla years ago I decided to start feeding them (bad mistake) and 2 particular does and their off spring would come EVERY evening and literally stand by the garage as my wife and I were having adult beverages/dinner on the deck. They would walk off about 100 feet while I filled the feeder, and would return before I got back to the deck. I stopped feeding the corn when it was taking over 100#/week.......

What I'd really like to have is a perennial feeding area toward the rear of the property with neighbors back yards also (who also like to watch the critters). I think we are going to go with the roto-tiller (this Spring). Then have the soil tested and fertilize as necessary. Really sow a wide variety. That way, THEY (the critters) can tell us what they like. I may even visit some of the other neighbors that have been having critter damage on their vegetation and see what the varieties may be. Maybe even take some clippings from their bushes/shrubs for re-location.

1sagittarius

Sweet corn gets hit fairly early. Try planting a tall field corn variety with good root and fall stalk strength. These should stand through most of the winter and maybe provide some winter forage. If these too get trashed prior to maturity ... you need to lower the deer population to "make it a bit easier for the critters" that are left.

farm hunter

Its a lose-lose situation - especially since you cannot control the population in any manner.

You can plant some plots - but you aren't going to like the results. Generally - all the area deer will find the plots - and you will have more deer to feed. The plots you plant will be gone in no time - and you' have more deer to eat your yard.

Supplemental Feeding in NY is illegal at any time of the year - And even if you could -you'll get more deer than you ever planned on.

In my experience - the best plan of action is to plant species in your yard that deer dislike - and encourage your neighbors to do the same. Watching deer from the deck sounds neat - but unless you live in the backcountry - nothing good can come of the situation.