Nutritional Plots

[lefthorn]

Ok, time to talk a little about food plots. My club has planted in the spring and summer mostly corn and a little lablab. I am looking to do a little more for our herd this year. I am wanting to plant some soybeans or bean/pea mix. I have been researching some of the commercial products(Biologic, Vita Rack, etc.) and was wondering if any one had experience with any of these? Also, any input on what I may want to plant or what I can mix myself is greatly appreciated.

[hillhunter]

You also may want to consider putting out some mineral blocks beside your plots as well. The deer love them during the summer.

[lefthorn]

Yeah, gonna put out some minerals also.

[matador1]

I'm in the same boat. I want to commit as much to my summer plots as my winter plots if not more. I'm in the Yazoo hills, what have people had luck with?

[Double R 2]

I favor low management. Clover and chicory are perrenials that are high in protein. With management, the planting will last for years. Drill oats/wheat at half rates seasonably. Don't overlook management that increases productivity of native browse either: prescribed burn, QVM, mowing, discing and fertilization.

[jdbuckshot]

managment and attracting are two different things!

[PCI]

One thing I have notice over the past 3 season planting corn, iron clay, & soybeans. Deer on our 550 acre farm in Magee do not eat the soybeans like they do the ironclays & corn. I do not know why, its just something very noticeable. One thing about the ironclays if you get them planted around Mothers Day you will be skinning on Oct 1 or missing

This year I'm only going to plant corn & iron clays.

[RebelYelp]

PCI,

deer typically prefer cowpeas over soybeans and lablab (this isn't a knock to either, both are GREAT annual warm season forages, but cowpeas are like ice cream to deer). One issue with cowpeas is that you have to plant them in a large enough area, or they will be gone, or plant them with other crops, such as a mixture of 60% soybeans, 30% cowpeas, and 10% corn or milo. Vetch is also a good summer crop for deer,they'll tear it up in most places. The places I hunt are traditionally surrounded by ag fields (mostly soybeans) so we do not have to do too terribly much for summer feeding, other than the clover in the food plots.

Like Ramsey said, there is no substitute for QVM (Quality Vegetation Management) because unless your property is more than 50 % agriculture, over 85% of a deers diet will consist of things OTHER than your food plots in most cases. Fertilize briers, honeysuckle, cuckleburs, dewberry bushes, etc etc, all are highly prefered browse forages of deer.

Your main options for planting, and have had success with all, are LabLab, Soybeans, vetch, and cowpeas as far as annuals go. All are going to be above what a whitetail needs as far as fat content and protein content, an added bonus to soybeans is that the seed is VERY high on fat and protein should you leave any of your crop standing for late season feeding. Other annual options include, but are not limited to, arrowleaf clover, crimson clover, red clover, all of which should be planted in the fall with your typical food plot mixes, and all are 25% of higher protein generally (keep in mind, a whitetail needs somewhere around 15-16% for daily body function,etc, so anything above this #is great). To put this into perspective, wheat and oats are generally 14-16% protein. I mention corn in a mix because it is a good cover crop to protect young beans and peas from overgrazing and is a great attractant, however, insofar as deer are concerned, corn is a 1 month wonder. They eat the seed and it's gone, it provides little nutritional value as well.

As far as perrennial crops, there is a place for them too. Perennial clovers and chicory can be dynamite for whitetails (and turkeys) if you manage them right (spray, mow, fertilize), and most types of perennial clovers are well over 30% protein (with most chicory being somewhere b/w 22-25, though there are some varieties with over 30%, and some with as high as 40%). I generally prefer perennials over annuals, because most annual clovers were designed for hay production. Because of this, they have thick, woody stems with high lignin content, generally meaning less digestibility, which means less nutritions for whitetails (while these crops are young, they do fine though, the lignin problems usually occur when they are mature, as deer will just eat the leaves of the plants). Perennial clovers generally are lower/thicker growing, and have much smaller stems which deer prefer even after they mature, if you are wanting to plant a good clover variety, find one with a forage name on it, or one of the ones marketed for deer. The Whitetail Institute has a new product out this year called chicory plus which I have heard lots of good things about, it is a mixture of their imperial whitetail clover and a new variety of chicory their labs have engineered, supposed to be really good. As always, if you are going to do both annuals and perrenials, you want somewhere around 60% of your property in perenials and the rest annuals, assuming you have enough land to do so, this ensures adequate food for deer during all seasons of the year. This will also ensure that deer won't "leave" your property in search of better food sources.

Also, don't forget to harvest enough does, as they are mouths that are eating the limited amount of food on your property (if you have 1 large pizza, and 8 of us are eating, we each get one slice, if 4 of us are eating we get 2, if 2 of us are eating, we get 4, etc etc, the same goes for whitetails).

Now, to answer your original question, BioMaxx tends to be a good crop, easy to plant, easy to manage (roundup ready). Anything I would plant for deer as far as beans, would probably roundup ready just for ease of use and maintenance. I have never tried Vita-Racks mix. Evolved Habitats makes a pretty good summer mix, as does Oak Haven Wildlife. The Whitetail Institue makes a great one called Powerplant (mixture of quail haven soybeans(reseeding, vining), peas, lablab, and milo). Most summer mixes you buy will contain some or all of those, and I have always had good luck with The Whitetail Institues Products.

[bradrussell5]

i'll second double r on this one..... clover, chickory, and vetch are just hard to beat when you compare them to others. Low maintenence (bushog and spray usually once a year), perrinial (we have had some plots last up to five years) and also high in protien. Deer do love beans and cow peas but as soon as they eat the teminal the dang thing stops growin. We've had several large summer plots planted in beans and peas get eatin up within two nights.

[lefthorn]

Appreciate all the input. I am just wanting to plant something that will give the deer a little more(both in body size and antler size). In the past 2 seasons, we have upped our body weights on does from an average of about 85-90 pounds to 95-100 pounds. Now, if we can get the antlers to grow a little better(however, we have seen an improvement in them as well).

[RebelYelp]

lefthorn, some more input on that statement is let the smaller bucks walk... i know that sounds trite, but the reason mature bucks are bigger, is because a whitetails physiology will only allow it's antlers minimal nutrients until the animal is finished developing (about the age of 4.5 or 5.5). This is the reason for the general explosion in antler size in a buck b/w the ages of 3.5 and 5.5, again, generally speaking, not always.

[Double R 2]

Thing abot the perrenial plots - drill peas/bans along the buffers if that's what blows your skirt up and still you got your food plot when they're gone.

[MSDuckmen]

Clover mixed with Cow peas and peanuts are the best we have come up with to date. We will not be planting anything else.
I have hundreds of pictures of deer feeding in the cowpeas. Plant early spring while other natural browse is budding and growing. The deer will leave your crop alone and allow it to reach a usable state say around two to four feet in height. When the natural browse ages and gets tough the deer will move to your food plot. Make sure to add mineral licks for the mothers and antler developement.
You are welcome to waste your money on natural browse such as honey suckle and blackberry but I have found it better to put most of our resources on the food plots and Proven acorn producing trees as well as any persimmon you can locate.

But what do I know I'm just a duck hunter that kills alot of deer.

[matador1]

Her's my problem on food plots. I have 650 acres o fhardwoods with only 8 plots with the largest being maybe 3/4 acre. I scared they'll eat all my plantings before they can mature. Any suggestions?

[PCI]

matador1, Just plant it. You will not know till you try.