I have been plotting for years ,went to school for rec. land management. This said I've never managed true hay fields other than mowing. I put in 2 very small hay fields one 2 springs ago and one last year. So the first mixed grass,clover,alfalfa, and part of it is real wet with a muck type soil. It was drier last year and I mowed it several times to cut annual weed growth. This year very wet so never touched it and finally got timothy heading. It has grown great and I planted it for view coverage and bedding. Whats the damage if I leave it until next year? Second is a much shorter mixed grass ,clover. Pics. Below. Same question. I know mowing will make it more attractive as feed. This I'm not looking at just deer its game birds,bedding cover.
In my experience with timothy.. cutting it spurs growth. We used to have a timothy alfalfa mix hayfield but we never just let it go. The alfalfa would eventually get crowded out. Once a year we let it head out and that cutting was always fed to cattle, we mostly baled horse hay bc you know, those people pay ridiculous prices for clean hay. The only thing my dad did do with that field that was geared toward deer hunting was leave two swaths uncut nearest the woodline on the last cutting. His bow stand was in the corner of that field and it was a honey of a spot.
That's cheap! Hell I sell small squares of wheat straw for $8 a bale. Alfalfa 68-72lb goes for and easy $12 and even back in the nineties we were getting $8 for a timothy alfalfa mix.
I should mention they now have many beds in them. Which is actually what I wanted them to do. The deer lost the horse hay field they used for years to a corn field. So after cutting all thats left is dirt. Both those fields, if not cut, steps them out into late season plots.
I decided just to mow paths through it with th DR. Both are heavy in beds. The paths take them closer to my stand in the small thicker one.
Clipping them high will thicken the stands after they've gone to seed and help make the plants already there to tiller out. Other than that it won't hurt it to let it mature. Alfalfa and clovers can get crowded out as the grasses get thicker.
