Fall Deer Food Plot 2009

[meaford]

I have a Jima 204 with Oil pressure trouble .Need cross reference no. for a oil pressure sending unit that bolts on lower left side of engine.Can anyone help me.Ken in Meaford Canada. ken.galliford@rogers.com or I sign in as Meaford,

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Tecomate makes some good blends, I have had good luck with the Monster mix, it was probably the most used food plot that I have ever grown but a bit pricey, over the past few years I have had good luck with Pennington Seeds Rackmaster which has rye, oats ,wheat,winter peas,and some small variety of clover, I just bought a 50lb bag this morning for 20.00 , I will mix it with 200lbs of fertilizer and disc it in lightly and then I will take my hand spreader and put out about 2lbs of Chickory any brand will do, and roll it in with my roller, as hot as it is here I try to wait till the first week in October to put it in provided I have some moisture. These are just some of my experiences with food plots over the last 20 years, the last one mentioned with the Pennington seed,Chickory and fertilizer will run you about $100.00 for between 1/2 and 3/4 acre foodplot.

 

[woodchuckc]

You would probably be better off to go with a grain type of rye instead of rye grass since deer are browsers, not grazers. Grasses are way down on a deer's list of preferable food sources - when you see deer out in an open field seemingly eating grass, they are actually eating the "weeds" (they may get some grass too, but that is not what they are after). They will eat grasses to keep from starving to death, but they do not digest them very well. Also, perrenial and even annual ryegrasses are pretty invasive and can be hard to get rid of once they get growing and go to seed. In general, any of the cereal grains are better in food plots than grasses.

 

[EddieWalker]

Here's a link with some good information on food plots from the Texas Ag Extension.

http://forages.tamu.edu/PDF/scs2000-24.pdf

The peas that I planted didn't really put out much for pea pods. From what I undestand, they are mostly just to help out the soil as a cover crop. While I didn't see any deer in there, I did see quite a few tracks and we had more deer at the corn feeder then we have before. I know it's wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that the peas helped bring them around. Next year, I'm thinking about soybeans. Maybe half and half to see which they prefer, or maybe another type of pea.

I'm all of the fence on Rye grass and Rye grain. I was reading some posts on a few hunting sites that were talking about food plots. Some guys say that all they put out is rye grass. Others said that the deer never touch the rye grass. One guy said that at one lease they loved the rye grass, but at his new lease, they avoid it.

I also read that rye grain is better to plant and that the deer really like it. I never heard of rye grain until I started searching for food plots. I'll probably give it a try if they sell it at the feed store when I go there.

Rye grass seed sells for $19 for a 50 pound sack. I bought a sack for my front yard and will broadcast it any day now. What's left will end up around my food plot where I currently have bermuda grass growing. I figure it's cheap enough and I already have it from the lawn, that I might as well give it a try and see what happens.

I'm off to Alissa's volleyball game in a few minutes, so it's impossible for me to get the fertilizer and seed today. I'm hoping to get it tomorrow. The forecast is for rain on Thursday. That doesn't really mean anything, anymore, but then again, they do get it right sometimes.

Thanks for the advice and imput.

Eddie

 

[Kfbeal]

I have lived on our property my entire life, 30+ years and only started seeing deer 4-5 years ago. I believe this came to be because neighboring farmers planted soybeans for several years. They would plant corn, harvest it, then plant soybeans on top of it. I think those soybeans brought them in.

I normally planted a mixture of beans, oats, and misc. I purchased from our local Coop. I had 1/2 an acre planted and they malled it before it really got a good stand. We have cows on the pasture, but I planted it on one end of our hay patch outside of cows reach so I know it wasn't the cows. We've been getting some decent rains, some today, and wish I would have planted some already.

We are open flat land prairie with little woods around here but some pretty heavy brush in areas.

 

[radioman]

you want deer ? just come up to new york state. you will pretty much find deer left and right. I even hit one with my truck! I doubt it that the government will be a issue if you wanted to import deer from NYS to texas!

 

[EddieWalker]

Personally I would have just plowed the peas, chemical free, into the ground, some may still grow in the wheat but no matter.

I was going to do that, but I wanted to kill the grass and weeds that were growing in there too. I was afraid that if I just disked it all in, then the grass and weeds would come right back stronger then before.

Eddie

 

[Western]

Unless it's stickers or hitch hiking type weeds I think you would be fine Eddie. I don't think it hurts anything, just usually a waste of money and time (for a food plot). As mentioned before by a poster, and knowing you have hunted all over the place, (seen your mounts) Deer like weeds, some more than others. If it was a hay field I see that different, (controlling weeds).

The great thing about peas or any legume, is the nitrogen they put in the ground. I have planted them blended with vetch,oats and arrow leaf clover, and it is dynamic. I got that idea from a East Texas deer biologist, it was their best combination during their deer plot test for North/East Texas. had a longer growing period and variety.

The problem I have had with "store" bought food plot seed is,
1. Seed size is important, small seed gets planted shallow while larger seed goes deep. I plant the larger seeds first, then top dress the small stuff, if they come blended you will be lucky to get said results.

2.Most all of the seed I see at Cabelas or where ever, are not really good growers in my climate, combined with my soil type planting zones ect. I try to buy something grown for seed within my Zone or as close as possible.

3. I try to, but don't always buy "certified" seed for better germination and less weeds. I planted a $50 bag of a commercial deer plot mix 2 years ago and have been fighting careless weeds ever since.

And I always buy inoculated seed or get the powder,( generally for legumes).

Eddie, If you do take another "wall hanger" where ya going to put it? Your running out of room brother..

 

[backdoor]

I have already planted my fall food plot. 2 acres of rye grain, Abruzzi strain. I've tried the special mixes from the TV shows and never got any of them to grow. I've planted oats and the deer wouldn't touch them, but the turkeys cleaned all the seeds off when they ripened. Soybeans are no good-the deer eat them to the ground before they get 4 inches tall. Buckwheat and sunflowers do okay through the summer, but suffer a good bit of damage. Rye grows very fast in the fall, but we have enough deer here to keep the 2 acre patch eaten down to a couple inches in height, at the most. I planted on the 6th of September and the rye is about 6 inches tall now, but it's not quite thick enough on the land yet to draw the crowds of deer that will be here once it tillers out and covers the land. I only saw 12 deer in the field just before dark. In another month the rye will be thick as my yard grass, and the deer will be thick there too. We cannot put out feed for deer after September 1, cannot hunt near where a feeder or salt lick has been. We have so many deer here that our county has an Earn-a-buck limit. First deer you kill can be a buck, but the second has to be antlerless, third can be a buck, forth antlerless. I don't really know what the limit is, I think it's 2 a day, 6 on a license, then you can buy bonus tags, either 1 or 2 a day for the entire season. But we have no hogs here.

 

[Alan L.]

I have some cowpeas in my johnson grass. Actually I planted the cowpeas at the end of June to improve the soil as a cover crop and to fix nitrogen. I tilled the top 3 or 4 inches and broadcast 250 pounds of seed over about 4 acres, then dragged it (I seriously need to come up with a good way to do this). I mixed the black powder in the seed before planting it.

The cowpeas grew pretty good after they finally decided to sprout, but they are competing with johnson and other types of grasses and weeds.

If you do a search for cowpeas you would think deer can't resist it, but I have yet to see a single deer in it.

I plan to let the frost get it, then brush hog and till it in, unless its better to till it in green.

I'd like to go back with something for the winter, but haven't decided yet. The feed store mentioned Laredo soybeans for the winter, but the seeds are expensive.

I have tried bermuda on this part of the property with little luck, and wanted to sprig a hybrid coastal, but the soil quality is not up to par due to dozer work that was done to clear the land 9 years ago. I lost some topsoil during that process.