I am already thinking of next years goals and improvements I'd like to make. I have picked out a spot that would be great for a food plot. I am wondering what you would plant if you had to choose your go to seed. Perennial or annual? Early or late season? The area gets plenty of sunshine. Thanks for any ideas.
I agree on clover, feeds deer most of the year. If your plot was about an acre, I would split it into a 1/3 clover, a 1/3 brassica mix and a 1/3 cereal grain mix. For the cereal grain I would use winter rye, easy to grow and the deer love it by me.
That was my original thought on choosing clover. My next question is what seed brand has worked out the best for you?
Vote for clover here too. As far as brand, go to your local seed distributor and ask them what is the best/hardiest clover for your area. I like to bush hog my plots in mid August so that there is some fresh clover for season.
Ease of planting and care...clover. But I'm gonna go with a mix if all I had was one spot for a plot. Depending on size I'm going soybeans in the spring (expecting them to devour them), brassicas planted lightly into the beans lightly with oats and winter rye as well.
Are Soybeans really THE SPRING PLOT for growing big deer? Or can you get just as good of growth out of clover?
I think growing soybeans in hopes of them hammering them in the spring is completely geographical. We've got thousands of acres of them around here that they wouldn't be any more attractive then the crop fields. If you plant a large enough are and keep them out or at least in hopes of them lasting through spring/summer/fall and letting them stand through winter, then I would think soybeans is a good idea and then broadcasting something in late summer like Ty mentioned. It really all depends on when you plan to hunt the most? Late season guy? Early season guy? Can you shoot multiple deer? Do you have a large deer density on your property? Many questions to be asked first in my opinion.
Big deer cannot be grown with any seed. Only thing that grows big deer is age/genetics. The nutrition we give them in a food source is supplemental at best in it's impact. It has one, just not nearly as present as those two things. I'd even throw some peas and buckwheat in with the beans if I had them handy.
Yup, in my area I will never expect to have beans still unless I electric fence them into hunting season...which is just fine by me. I plan to have some kind of food offering all throughout and if they hammer the beans in summer I'm fine with it. Oats/winter rye is always ready to be planted at a moment's notice. Even over-seeded with some just this year in October into our sparse clover plots.
If you want to pick the MOST beneficial plot for deer it would be soy beans, however, they do have a short period of time during the year that they do not provide food. In that gap clover is the go too. Getting soy beans established in a small stand, without some kind of fence, will be impossible; with the exception of a few varietys. Whitetail Thicket Soybeans can with stand a lot more browse pressure and can be established in small plots. No matter if you pick soy beans or clover, I reccomend broadcasting a cereal grain and brassica into the plot about 30-45 days before the first frost. If you are trying to grow big deer the number one key is age, followed by nutrition. You always hear that genetics is a main factor, in my opinion, that is a myth. There have been dozens of studies done that prove genetics play a very little role in growing big deer. Dr. Grant Woods was involved in a similar study in Texas. It would take me forever to explain the whole study so you can look it up if your interested. Giving a deer the chance to grow up and having good nutrition is the two factors in growing big deer, period. I don't know how anyone could argue that the nutrition we provide for deer has little to do with antler growth and size. A deer could be the off spring of a 300 inch buck, and if it doesn't have proper nutrition it will never grow up to amount to anything
Sad thing is though the genetic studies I've read that state similar things NEVER focuses on half the genetic make up of the bucks...their mothers. Everyone always says I want that buck in the gene pool...yet you never do hear the same about a doe.
Oh I agree completely, having a giant in the gene pool is not near as important as having a healthy doe to produce. The nutrition is very important in this stage as well. Making sure the doe has plenty of protein while she is still carrying and plenty after, for milk production, is critical. A good way to judge whether you have a healthy deer herd, and enough forage to support it, is if your yearling does are getting bred. I yearling doe reaching maturity strictly has to do with size. I doe fawn generally reaches sexual maturity at around 70-80 pounds. Next time you shoot a 1 1/2 old doe, check and see if she has milk in her utter. If so, then she was bred as a fawn, and it means you are right on tract with the amount of nutrition you are providing.
