DuckSouth.com

like you said, you have your way.... i have mine, my point here is to show you that just because we have different routes doesnt mean that i dont have the utmost respect for the habitat and the animals that i provide for.

I understand that and wasn't implying anything different.

However it is hard to sit here and describe the entire issue with type. When I say harsh winter I don't just mean cold. In mississippi harsh winters come when the acorn crops are almost none existant. Or when browse is old and not palletable for game.
We plant Peanuts and Cowpeas in the summer months. Peanuts are the best for protein at nearly 14%. You'll not get that out of rye, wheat, cowpeas or anything else. Harsh is when the food source is depleted to the degree the deer have a hard time finding it. Just how much browse do you think is availible right now? I saw a doe eating green off of a evergreen the otherday. When they do that then you know times are hard.

To focus on QVM the way the state people have presented it you will need to change the land considerably. Fertilize natural growth? well just how much and for how long. Fertilzer will deplete rapidly after first season so are you going to go around to all the areas and redo it each year to promote growth? Are you able to open the canopy to allow needed sunlight through. Remove undergrowth of unwanted hard and soft woods. Lot to think about and unless you have the equipment in place to do it you'll put out alot of effort for little return in my opinion.

Again this is just my thoughts others think different and their methods may be more profound.

Thats probably the most informative site ive seen yet going off just what i think is great habitat for whitetails. Our problem is 90% of our land is usually underwater during the spring which from what i know is a good part of the ms growing season. Thats why the 10% of high ground we have is either greenbriar/dewberry thickets (thined pines) or clover/chickory plots. With that said i guess the question that i would ask you is how would you practice QVM in huge hardwood/palmetto bottom that stays underwater a good majority of the year?

MSDuckmen's food plots sound superb. In the context of intensively managed forest industry land, it's no doubt they have plenty of deer and when a deer makes it to a ripe old age, a true monster buck like his buddy wes killed is what you get.

Fertilization is a small part of the equation and, in my opinion, least critical on many of Mississippi's soil types which are naturally productive. Fertilization just makes it all the better but, duckmen's right - it's an annual cost.

QVM is a mid-rotation (after first or second thinnings) forest practice applied to pine stands. Removal of hardwood competition increases light, burning scarifies the natural seeds, and increased vegetation - quantity (total number species and yield/acre) and quality (more legumes and high end plant types) - is made possible in the presence of increased sunlight. Timely cool-season burning, every 3-5 years, keeps it going.

In hardwoods, heavy pulpwood thinnings or the removal of non-desirable midstory by means of single stem injections - another application that can be employed to increase advance regeneration of desirable oaks - will increase sunlight similarly. But management of hardwoods is not nearly so cookie-cutter simple as plantation pines.

But while we're on native vegetation, quick - what's teh predominate deer browse species throughout much of the delta on fallow field, crp- or wrp- like areas?

If you answered trumpet creeper (aka buckvine) you would be correct.

Consider - take a 2000 or so acre piece of property that's been reforested to hardwoods and plant 3-5% deer food plots, the best food plot you can imagine.

Will those food plots sustain your deer herd? Probably not.

Mowing and discing will keep that trumpet creeper thriving, with or without fertilizer and can be implented to a far more meaningful degree - and cheaper - than those food plots.

"In mississippi harsh winters come when the acorn crops are almost none existant. Or when browse is old and not palletable for game."

good point.

Dan, sometimes i get a little deffensive when i feel like im getin the yougn brand and have been known to go a little overboard. To be honest with ya i really cant figure out what im tryin to prove to ya other than i like to piss on things from time to time. Guys like you and r2 help alot of us see things from both sides of the issues which i think makes us all better in the end. Maybe one day we can all get together, have some drinks, and listen to how much better of a woodsman i am than yall

what's teh predominate deer browse species throughout much of the delta on fallow field, crp- or wrp- like areas?

where i use hunt in the delta it was smartweed , well atleast durin the fall. Some of the best foodplots i had during october and november was sloughbeds that the water just got off of. For a couple of years i thought i was huntin water holes

early bowseason in river bottom (mature hardwoods), absolutely no idea what the stuff is called (Ramsey, you might know?), but it grows everywhere along the Ms. river, green, small leaves, gets about shin deep, deer love it.... also.. in the sloughs, and roads, cuckelburrs are abundant...and dewberry briers are plentiful in the sycamores.....

Ramsey educate me on single stem injections. What is it and what is used?

Does it remove the entire tree or simply limbs?

Good info Ramsey thanks for sharing.

Brad I'm no deer hunter just learning but I spent time this past summer in San Diego and studied with a group at the Zoo about deer management and habitat issues. Took a bunch of pictures maybe in time I will share. I believe you have more experience than I in the deer arena and I do not look upon you as a youngn…
I’m reading and studying and practicing as much as possible to learn. I have two other classes scheduled this summer and this past year my little group spent 12 weekends on nothing but habitat. So don’t take what I say as law. Ramrod has been doing this many more years. I just know what is working for us now. Every year is a learning experience.

I think I have narrowed it down and am gonna try the Whitetail Institutes Power Plant. Peanuts are good too. How difficult is it to grow peanuts?

How hard is it to grow peanuts?
Do they have to be planted in rows, or can you broadcast them?

Anyone read the paper this past Sunday about food plots?
Good article even if it did come from the Clayron Lier.

Peanuts need well drained soils. They do not like standing water. They are a legume and need to be innoculated at planting. They do need N, P, and K just like most southern row crops. Fertilize according to soil type and request a recommendation for peanuts for your soil. I am sure they can be broadcast, but peanut production is in rows for cultivation, spraying, and harvest. Peanuts have many foliar and root diseases and would be sprayed for in field production. For food plots, it would not be as important. Seed will have to be located in peanut growing areas.
Found this on the net:
Soybeans

There probably is no better off-season forage that one can plant for deer than soybeans. Soybean foliage is high in protein, the soybean seed is extremely high in protein and other nutrients. Soybean plants are utilized heavily from sprouting through seed production. Herein lies the problem with this premium warm-season deer forage. In many areas deer densities are such that soybean plants often are killed by overgrazing. Unless deer density in the particular area is low to moderate, large (5-10 acre) plots maybe necessarily or if smaller plots are used they may need to be protected with temporary electric fencing to allow soybean plants to become established.

There are many varieties of soybeans to choose from but it is best to select a late maturing variety or a variety bred for forage production. Consult with your local county extension agent or Soil Conservation Service for information on proper varieties for your area.

Planting dates vary from late April to mid-June depending on soybean variety and planting location. Soil tests should be conducted to determine lime and fertilization rates. Generally speaking, soybeans should be fertilized with 2-300 pounds per acre of 0-20-20 fertilizer. Note that nitrogen is omitted. Since soybeans fix their own nitrogen, supplying nitrogen to competing grasses and weeds can be avoided by using a nitrogen-free fertilizer. Plant soybeans on a firm seedbed. Seeding rates vary between 35-70 pounds per acre and may be broadcast or planted in rows. Planting depth of one inch is recommended.

Cowpeas

Cowpeas are annual legumes like soybeans and produce high protein forage during the off-season. It has been our experience that cowpeas often are not browsing by deer until they reach a certain stage of maturation. However, when this stage is reached, deer may direct their attention to these plantings and eliminate them in a matter of a week or so. This may defeat the intended purpose of supplying deer high-quality forage throughout the summer season. As with soybeans there are many varieties of cowpeas. We have used Iron-clay mostly but Catjang, Wilcox and Tory also are good varieties.

Recommended planting dates vary from about May 1 to July 1. Soil tests should be conducted for proper liming and fertilization rates. Generally speaking, 100 pounds per acre of 0-20-20 fertilizer is adequate, again note this is a nitrogen-free fertilizer since cowpeas are nitrogen fixers and we do not want to supply competing grasses and weeds with nitrogen. Cowpeas should be broadcast at a rate of 50-70 pounds per acre on a firm seedbed and covered to a depth of about one inch. Inoculation is recommended.

Ya'll seem more edumacated than me when it comes to food plots. I just throw out some grass and a salt block and let the shooting begin!

Cabelas has some Biologic Biomass on sale for about 25 bucks. Bought a bag and gonna give it a shot.

Here is a good little article on food plots. It is for deer in Alabama but am sure it could also be used in Mississippi

http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/game/deer/deerfoodplots.pdf