Food plot

[Mtsoxfan]

To start, I'm not a hunter...

I'm seeing fewer and fewer deer from my house, and I'd like to give them a reason to come around. I'm acquiring some open field that used to be hayed. Hasn't been in years, and I've been cutting what grows now to make more appealing and as walking paths. Whatever is growing is giving them something to munch on, but it is a brief pass through, like what I saw this a.m.

I've been researching, and it can be as easy or intensive as you want it to be. I'm looking at perennials such as clover and alfalfa. I'm also not looking for groomed agricultural fields. The project is just to give the deer something else.

For the hay farmers out there, aside from spraying chemicals, which I don't want to do or won't, is tilling enough to give the clover/alfalfa a fighting chance? Cutting growth short, scratching surface and then seeding before a rain enough? They hay and whatever else grows fine as is, so really not going to amend soil in any way. I know if I want beautiful fields, soil sample etc. is necessary. Again, just looking to give the deer another choice. If, in your opinion, you think I'm throwing money away by not doing it to the 9's, I will let the idea pass. I'm only considering a plot about 100'x600' or so. Still in thinking stage.

Thanks for any advise/suggestions...

 

[EddieWalker]

Winter wheat grows quick and easy. Any sporting good store will have sacks of seed for food plots that you plant in the Spring. Some will be better then others, but most of them will be OK. A local Feed Store, especially a family owned one will probably have the best choices for what grows in your area that the deer will come to.

Most food plots are planted in the Fall for hunting season. If you plant a Spring food plot, it will burn out over the Summer, and you will need to plant again in the Fall.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Thanks, I have mowed sections just like you described, and it looks like "lawn". I call it grass because all I do is cut. My whole back yard was like you described as well, brush cut to get out brush and cut, now it's grass. The deer usually only come onto my property for the apples.
I don't know if they found greener pastures, but in 4 years it has gone from a dozen deer or so daily, to 3 or 4 very sporatically. There was a lot of winter logging two winters ago, and that was when I started seeing much less deer, turkey and bear.
If you zoom in on pic, the taller hay/grass etc was what my yard looked like 4 years ago. I have since cut paths, that look like yard now too.

 

[BackRoad]

Spectacular view!

The mowing was just a suggestion in the interim if you wait to do a fall food plot.

One other thing a local mentioned was planting turnips in the spring like a crop, as his food plot.

It was a magnet with the deer eating the turnip tops...but it might be too intensive to do easily.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Thanks. It did look like the deer this morning were munching in the area I had mowed. New spring sprouts maybe, although I'm not seeing any greening yet in my yard. Working on getting yesterdays snow off, while its drizzling/snowing today... glad it's south central VT getting the bulk of snow today.
I did read they like radish tops too.

 

[BackRoad]

Your First paragraph, and mention of hayfield:

We bought the property 5 years ago, fields totally over grown and partially mowed maybe 1x per year.

The front field we now mow like lawn with an 8' finish mower...weekly in the spring, once a month when growing slows. We did nothing except start mowing it more frequently.

Neighbor has lived here over 40 years, said they've never seen as many deer as they see now on our "front lawn". They're there everyday and every night, like cows eating grass, laying in the field...munching their cud.

Just a thought if you don't put in your feed plot till fall, it's easy to just try mowing a part of your hayfield to transform it to lawn to see what happens.

Part of the 27 noses I counted last evening...another from last fall...

 

[ponytug]

@Mtsoxfan diet for deer is dominated by browsing shrubs and trees, so you might consider clumps of brush, which also gives them cover. Have you reached out to Vermont Fish and wildlife for suggestions?
A few local tips;

White-Tailed Deer | Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus ) are one of the most studied and talked about species in the state. The importance Vermonters place on deer is evident in looking at the state seal. It is a deer, not an eagle or other mythical creature that sits atop the state seal!

www.vtfishandwildlife.com

What Do Deer Eat? A Deer Diet Breakdown by Season

deerassociation.com

All the best,

Peter

 

[nybirdman]

A friend moved to Northern Vermont(Hyde Park) and is(was) a deer hunter;noted how few deer Vermont has;at least compared to Northern NY.
A small plot wouldn't last here.In your case I would do the biggest area you can with some type of clover.Clover is expensive but good for 4-5 years.
We have been doing food plots for 20+ years.Gave up on soy-beans,deer eat as fast as it comes up.Destroyed an 8 acre planting.
Local farmer left 100 acre corn field and it was picked clean by January.

 

[Thomas]

In our area deer like clover Timothy grass mostly.

 

[jk96]

In the short term a barrel feeder and corn will get them coming every morning or evening or both depending on your timer settings. Ours quickly figured out feeding time.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

In the short term a barrel feeder and corn will get them coming every morning or evening or both depending on your timer settings. Ours quickly figured out feeding time.

I've read that in order to keep deer non-dependent on you for food, you should only feed 1x per week. That way they will continue eating other places. They will learn the barrel is just 1 source for food.

 

[jk96]

I've read that in order to keep deer non-dependent on you for food, you should only feed 1x per week. That way they will continue eating other places. They will learn the barrel is just 1 source for food.

6 seconds of feed means I'm not putting out enough for them to become dependent. Just enough for a quick snack. Especially when we have 8 or more showing up.

This is one of the tripod feeders with barrel suspended in the air so it only spins out a small amount

 

[super55]

I would steer away from alfalfa. While it last long time once established it requires a lot of effort to get it established. Nothing will draw deer in like it to the point where they will likely over-browse the crop. Plus it is a very expensive crop to get established.

For high success crops I would look at cereal grains or cover crops for each type of season. Summer plant buckwheat or maybe oats and fall planting of winter wheat for fall/spring feed. With perhaps mixing in some medium red clover.

Deer are browsing animals so they prefer variety and once a plant gets so mature they will avoid it completely so blends are your best option. Hancock seed has some really good blends. I would recommend using an annual blend over a perennial at least initially since they seem to establish much faster and you will be competing with weeds initially going herbicide free.

Attached is a PDF on by the SARE organization. It's a really good resource to have for what and when to plant certain seeds.

https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably.pdf

 

[EddieWalker]

I plant about half an acre, I have a corn feeder, and I put out Deer Cane Black Magic to bring the deer in. The Black Magic is the first thing they go to, and what they go back to over and over again. They eat the corn, they like the corn, but they LOVE the Black Magic. They barely touch what I plant, and it's probably a waste of time and money for my place, but I still think it helps enough to keep doing it.

Once I started spreading the Black Magic, I started seeing deer trails across my land going straight to the food plot, and to the Black Magic. I never saw that before. When sitting in my deer blind, I've watched them come in and that's the first thing they go to!!

Amazon.com

It's only $8 a sack on Amazon right now, but I've seen the price vary up to $14 just before deer season. I'm going to buy 4 sacks right now, even though I have two sacks on my shelf. I put it out every three months. I spread it out over a ten-by-ten area, and in the last ten years, the deer have eaten the dirt down to over a foot deep in the middle of that area. Now it's a pond when it rains, and a muddy area for a while after that. The moisture actually makes it more appealing to the deer.

 

[BackRoad]

35 noses this evening...they're keeping the big front lawn mowed!