RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

Blood trail be patient when all the other grass is brown and dormiante they will hit it and any alfa alfa in the are hard. This is one of the best einter time plotts you can have.

Are you seeing any sign at all? they should be working it a little through the night.

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

The deer here are also not touching the clover. They are passing thru the plots, even my newly planted Buck Forage Oats, on their way to our orchard, which includes some Persimon trees, One so loaded it is dropping ripe fruit before frost. These trees are all within 50 yards of the house.

Russ

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

Slobby,

Then wait I shall. Things are still very green around here but scattered acorns this year. This is second year planting clover. Last time they pounded the clover early...cant remember if it was a good acorn year then or not. Thanks for the input.

Jon

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

I know of nothing that can compete with acorns. We have an abundance of them this year in NC.

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

I just went and checked My 3 clover plotts this week and they are still cleaning up acorns, corn and beans. But they are hitting a little at night. If you have an abundance of acorns they will not come out of the woods to until they are cleaned up or chasing does, which ever comes first. Clover will be hit hard after the weather gets cold and the other food sources are gone. Deer seem to have a nact on knowing what food will be where when.

I have 2 2 yeard old plotts of white clover and a new plott (spring planting) of red clover and I can see a few tracks in it but not very many. Also look at it like this. Clover is very high in protein. Protein equals heat. Deer are going to eat much of anything that causes them more heat in the summer heat.

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

A quick suggestion - Taste the clover yourself. I think this is a simple tactic that is often overlooked. White clovers should have a mild flavor - if its bitter - then the plot could likely use some lime to raise the Ph closer to 6.5. Also - If you applied the lime you needed to - it may not have had time to fully effect the Ph. Check the flavor of a farmer's plot nearby for comparison.

We've planted clovers in some really acid places - mostly trying different varieties - to see what clovers will grow in nasty Ph AND that the deer will eat. Red clover seems to beat out Alsike - White Dutch seems to beat out Red clover - Ladino - just dies off if the Ph is less than 6.0.

Of course it could be acorns, apples, soybeans, or another local food source - but check that too.

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

Farm Hunter,

I hope this isnt like the droppings taste test! Is there good hunting in Cazenovia? I grew up in Skaneateles. Great farm hunting there.

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

I've known many farmers that will taste the grass and other foliage for sweetness. It's a quick way to determine if a hayfield will provide good hay for the winter feeding. I had an old time farmer check my bottom before renting it. He tasted the grass in at least a dozen places before deciding to rent the bottom, which he planted in corn. (Got a bumber crop, which not an easy chore in our local soil.) He said that it's a lot quicker, and cheaper than a soil test.
Remember, they rely on it for their livelyhood. Not the same as our foodplots.

Russ

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

Russ, how often do you let this farmer check and rent your bottom?;)
Brian

RE: Deer are not eating my clover
 

They may be just using it at night and secondly, other crops can be playing games with your clover. Right now in central Minnesota we've got Acorns al over the place, the corn crops have turned brown and the corn is hard (thats when the deer start to eat it) the deer are pounding the corn and many bean fields are or have been picked. Lastly, I just noticed apple and crabapple trees are falling and the deer are gobbling them up! Lots of stuff been happening the last few weeks!

Good Luck!