Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davy Crockett" data-source="post: 83023" data-attributes="member: 367">I planted Sunflowers in both of my plots last year and it was pretty much a disaster as far as a winter food source which is my main goal.     The deer pretty much ate everything down to the bare dirt as it was coming out of the ground in one plot and the other plot came up nice due to less deer pressure but then the deer moved over to that plot and started eating the tops off those plants.  Surprisingly most of the plants still flowered and the deer left them alone for a while but then moved back in again and started eating the heads as they matured,  It was nothing more than sticks with no heads by late fall.    Had some dumb luck when the shelled out small grains from the year before that came up without competition so there was a stand of barley/oats mix for late fall but it was a thin stand.    I rotate both the plot location and the crop because I want to try avoid disease otherwise I would plant barley/oats and other small grains every year,  The deer are less attracted to it during the growing season and it is a good winter/early spring source if I swath it and leave the windrows.  I am surrounded with heavy timber and the plots are in the middle of a couple hundred acres of native grass CRP with a blend of other plants that deer like to browse,   Besides the two plots there is 20 acres of alfalfa so it's not like the deer are hungry,  They just like change and they will travel for miles to get it, There is not a one size fits all magic plant.   Plots are a fun hobby,  I have been doing two 3 acre plots every year for 29 years and I still have more questions than answers.  A couple years ago I planted two bags of that "Special blend" with picture of a huge buck on the package that is really suppose to attract the deer, They didn't even touch it.   Like wags mentioned about clover , It's a cool weather crop and grows wild up here , I'm guessing that's the reason the special blend isn't special to the deer around here but it might be awesome other places.  If you have the time, plant a nice big garden with raspberries and everything you can think of that you like to eat,   Let the deer eat most of it and you harvest what you can eat , That has never failed us up here,  Pumpkins and all once they acquired  a taste for them.   In my honest opinion, A water source and Setting out salt and mineral blocks are just as important as what to plant in your food plot unless your soil is already high in minerals.</blockquote>

Verification: What is the most common fish caught on this site?

Reply to thread

Recent Posts

Friends of NDA