Anyone know of a good place to go online for quality wild grass seed/native grasses that would help benefit deer?
Didn't look around there too much for grass, but I've had good experiences with www.cooperseeds.com .
Not sure about places online, but most feed and seed stores or farm co-ops sell any seed you can think of from Kentucky bluestem, Indiangrass, Switchgrass, etc. I would imagine too they are much cheaper than ordering online.
I don't know if you noticed Cody.. but we don't have a lot of feed and seed stores around here. Nor gentlemens clubs. If only.
No.. I have an idea.. but want to learn more first before I make the final decision. An Indian grass.. or certain switchgrasses.. or even just praire mixtures seem to be the way to go. I'm looking for a grass that deer will feed on.. and at the same time offer cover some of the year. I'm looking to try and manipulate does to stay longer near one of my mock scrapes.. thus keeping bucks more active. This is a very small.. acreage wise.. property. The only chance I have is through manipulating the deer. I've been fortunate enough to do some things that are working (mock scrape.. trails leading to water).. but I feel I can do a little more still. Interested in any perspective on native grasses.
http://www.welterseed.com/ A lot of guys on QDMA recommend them for online ordering. I will most likely be ordering some seed from them for spring planting.
We purchased all of our native seed from Hamilton seed in southern Missouri. They were extremely helpful. Duke, I would also toss in forbs along with your NWSG. Deer along with all types of wildlife really love the native forbs and it really beautifies your property. http://www.hamiltonseed.com/
Check with the IDNR. The had a program called farming for wildlife I think it was. I got all of my seed for free from them a few years ago. One of their guys came out and looked at what I had and then wrote up a program. I didn't have to follow it to the letter, but a lot of it made sense. NWSG seed is really expensive if you have to buy it yourself. I think I still have some of the info at home. I'll check tonight.
Here is a link to IL program. It's actually "Acres for Wildlife". Farming for Wildlife is the Mossy Oak Magazine. http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/Wildliferesources/AFW/index.htm Just so you know, NWSG is a slow project. It usually takes about 3 years to really have a good stand. Unless you can do a great job of keeping the weed competition to a minimum. It may be legal to harvest seed from roadside stands of NWSG too. As long as it is for personal use and not for sale. Here is another good link. http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13362
I was trying to see if we had a product catalog here at work for Conserve FS to look up what they have and couldn't find one. I went online at conservfs.com and they show they carry: Native Grass Mix - Big/Little Blue Stem Side Oats Gramma Canadian Wild Rye Switchgrass Annual Rye Spring Oats Indiangrass Perennial Rye Conservation Mix - Little Blue Stem Canadian Wild Rye Buffalo Grass Alfalfa Spring Oats The Native mixture is definetly going to give you more cover than the conservation mix but would also be good. There are Conserve FS stores located all over Northern Illinois and probably would help answer any questions you have. If I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to ask. As for the Gentleman's Club....will Bowhunting.com work?
Naw, don't work there we just get stuff from them from time to time. Sorry for the information overload. I work at a golf course and as you can tell....it's slow time!!
http://www.prairienursery.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_seed_info&cPath=4&products_id=153 I have ordered from here before. My goal was to try to create holding habitat similar using switch-grass. Really follow the sunlight recommendations they provide and try to match seed to the actual soil you have.
