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Food Plot Info

Arrowsmith1 said:
I agree with everything you are saying. My neighbor had cattle in this area in August and September so I did not need to mow. I applied glyphosate. About a week later I lightly tilled up the thatch. I then broadcast the cereal rye seed and fertilizer. I did have a soil test and applied fertilizer accordingly. I broadcast a small 5 lb. bag of Imperial Whitetail Clover no till mix around the perimeter and got the exact result you mentioned. The clover mix didn't do much last fall but came on this spring. It is now buried in that tall rye.

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I looked at your photo a little closer. If it were me. I think I would mow the rye in order to release the clover. Don't mow shorter than 6" or so and don't mow if the plot is experiencing stress from heat or drought.
How much sun does that plot get?
My best looking clover right now is the stuff that is not exposed to all day sun. A little shade is a good thing during mid summer.
 
jsthntn said:
We just mowed all our plots of rye. I’m not sure if it will reseed itself or not. Maybe letting it go to seed then mowing it sown short will help reseed for fall? I dunno for sure. Hopefully someone on here has some experience with rye.
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Yeah in my post up above I’m trying to decide what to do with a rye / crimson clover mixture... the plan was to avoid herbicides to the greatest extent possible by (1) broadcasting buckwheat into the rye, (2) mowing it all down short, (3) letting the buckwheat outcompete weeds in summer, (4) broadcasting fall plots into buckwheat, (5) mow all the buckwheat down. Another option is to broadcast soybeans into the rye and then mow down on top of that.

But it’s bugging me to mow down such nice cover this time of year and yes I do think if you let rye go to long, like it or not you’re
going to have a lot of seed. I may let a patch go to seed just to see what it does.
 
neonomad said:
Yeah in my post up above I’m trying to decide what to do with a rye / crimson clover mixture... the plan was to avoid herbicides to the greatest extent possible by (1) broadcasting buckwheat into the rye, (2) mowing it all down short, (3) letting the buckwheat outcompete weeds in summer, (4) broadcasting fall plots into buckwheat, (5) mow all the buckwheat down. Another option is to broadcast soybeans into the rye and then mow down on top of that.

But it’s bugging me to mow down such nice cover this time of year and yes I do think if you let rye go to long, like it or not you’re
going to have a lot of seed. I may let a patch go to seed just to see what it does.
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Be very careful mowing high stuff at this time of the year. There could be fawns laying in there. My neighbor was making hay a few days ago and he killed a fawn.
I have some plots that really need mowed right now, but I won't do it for fear of fawns, turkey nests, etc.

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Its about time to get fall plots in.. I just got done cutting a kill plot back inside some timber and was wondering what you would plant? I am thinking Winter Wheat, Rye, and Clover. Anyone got a better kill plot mix??
 
BOWHUNTER14 said:
Its about time to get fall plots in.. I just got done cutting a kill plot back inside some timber and was wondering what you would plant? I am thinking Winter Wheat, Rye, and Clover. Anyone got a better kill plot mix??
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If you are planting a perennial clover, it won't much exist until next year. It is slow to start because it spends most of its effort just establishing a root system. So the perennial clover isnt really a kill plot for this year. The rye and wheat will be good, though.
An annual clover in the mix will be more prevalent this year but it will be gone next year.
There are a variety of brassica that can be good. But that depends on your herd and how they actually utilize brassica. It varies herd to herd.
 
I have the benefit of planing in my backyard and watching everything come together. My favorite plot is whitetail institute white clover. It really is a different clover than just any white clover from the store of other foodplot seed manufacture. It makes lots of 4 leaf clovers. My kids have even found a few 5 leaf clovers. I never new that was such a thing. My deer in central Alabama love it. I planted a strip of buck forage oats next to it and my deer would walk through it to feed in the clover. They would be head deer in it and walking around with stems hanging out of their mouth.
I usually plant it mixed with chicory or brassica in the fall and the clover doesn’t really take off until the spring. We always have a drought through the summer and it usually struggles with the brows pressure, causing me to replant the following fall. Last year I extended my plot by cutting down trash trees in my hardwoods and just keeping the oaks. Then I planted within the oaks where I get filtered sunlight. The clover is doing much better in the partial shade than in the open plot.
I also cleared another plot and planted iron clay peas this summer. The deer have put a hurting on them. I still have another bag of peas to plant. I will probably plant and cover it in my backyard plot, then top seed with whitetail institute clover, chicory, radish, sugar beets. They will wipe out the peas when they come up before they die from the 1st frost.
 
I was thinking about brassicas too but I don't want to have to wait till the first frost for the attraction to be there
 
BOWHUNTER14 said:
I was thinking about brassicas too but I don't want to have to wait till the first frost for the attraction to be there
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There are some hybrid seed varieties in the brassica category. They develop their sweetness a little earlier than most. Thats why a good mix is important so you have early forage for bow hunting with successive plant types emerging as the weather turns cold.

A local seed company run by two wildlife managers has developed several specialty blends with up to 8 varieties of plants. One has 4 types of peas, triticale, and annual and biannual clovers. They have developed different seed blends specifically for a variety of soil types and locations.
 
BOWHUNTER14 said:
I was thinking about brassicas too but I don't want to have to wait till the first frost for the attraction to be there
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Have you planted any variety of brassica before? Are you aware of how your herd will utilize it? Not all herds wait until the frost to eat it. Mine hit it early...I wish they would wait, but they eat most varieties that I've planted long before the frost here.
On the other hand, some herds just won't eat the stuff. Brassica use has been discussed at length on some of the other hunting/habitat forums and there are guys that post that their herd refuses to eat brassica and it just rots in the field.
Radish seems to be a variety that gets hit well before the freeze.

There are a ton of brassica varieties, so just because they don't eat one variety, does not mean that they won't eat any variety.
Turnip, rape, radish, kale, rutabaga, and some info says beets are a brassica and other info says it isn't a brassica.
And within each variety, there are hybrids.

It seems that a lot of herds may be a little reluctant to immediately tear into brassica if it's something they've never been exposed to. But as they learn to like it over a few years, they tend to hit it earlier and harder.
 
Never have planted them. The herd running around my place are timber and hayfield deer. So I am sure they will eat about anything that is put out in front of them.. I might throw some Wheat, rye and radish? This is the hardest part about food plotting is deciding what to plant
 
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