fulldraw Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Whats yalls thoughts on the best food source to plant in food plot in the south? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Perennial, clovers and chickory. Spring/summer annual, hard to beat eagle beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 best food plot I'm a fan of perennial clover plots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 For Fall annual, a mix of wheat, oats, & rye. It will withstand heavy grazing. Why a mix? If one fails the others are still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fulldraw Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks guys, I always planted rye but seemed the deer would eat it but wasn't crazy about like they are w the beens and peas. But the beans/peas get a wk or so old and they wipe em out in just a few nights... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks guys, I always planted rye but seemed the deer would eat it but wasn't crazy about like they are w the beens and peas. But the beans/peas get a wk or so old and they wipe em out in just a few nights... Rye grain or rye grass? Rye grain is more palatable and does real well, at least around it here it does. Have had great results here with pennington's wintergrazer rye, which is a rye grain. Gotta agree with Rhino on the fall plantings of grains. Have not tried oats in a mix with rye and wheat, but have planted wheat and rye grain together before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Yep...rye grain is what I meant William. Some oats are not as tolerant of cold as others are too. I think Krool did test plot studies on them & if I recall correctly, Buck Forage Oats did the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSU_Seminole Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 (edited) QUOTE=fulldraw;1304336]Whats yalls thoughts on the best food source to plant in food plot in the south? Now that really depends on what your goal is. If you are talking year round nutrition I think clover and chicory mix is great. If you are talking attraction, nothing will attract a southern deer more than soybeans or peas. If you are talking major attraction when it gets cold and the beans start turning I've found that deer love oats. I started using Buck Forage oats years ago when they were the only company promoting oats. All the major food plot companys have copied Buck Forage and have come out with some sort of oat. Biologic, Tecomate, Imperial, Evolved all of them. If I had to plant one annual it would be oats for southern deer. I've also found at least here in SC deer here will NOT eat any type of brassica. I've planted several brassica types they've all come up with huge beautiful green leaves and deer here totally ignore it. Even after a hard frost. Edited July 30, 2012 by FSU_Seminole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fulldraw Posted July 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Thanks Seminole good info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Whats yalls thoughts on the best food source to plant in food plot in the south? If you are talking attraction, nothing will attract a southern deer more than soybeans or peas. If you are talking major attraction when it gets cold and the beans start turning I've found that deer love oats. I started using Buck Forage oats years ago when they were the only company promoting oats. No arguement here about the beans & peas. The problem with them for us in our part of MS is they won't withstand heavy grazing unless you have a HUGE field. We've tried both on food plots as large as 4 ac. on our place in MS. They were wipped out every time we planted them within 3 weeks of the time they sprouted. A place not too far from us won't plant them unless it's in a field at least 30 ac. in size. With that said though, according to the QDMA deer density map our deer density at least matches the highest for any area they note on their map. I agree on the oats too but they are less tolerant of cold. IMO, it's best to mix them in with other choices like wheat and/or rye for insurance. Of course that all depends on what part of the country you're in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 No arguement here about the beans & peas. The problem with them for us in our part of MS is they won't withstand heavy grazing unless you have a HUGE field. We've tried both on food plots as large as 4 ac. on our place in MS. They were wipped out every time we planted them within 3 weeks of the time they sprouted. A place not too far from us won't plant them unless it's in a field at least 30 ac. in size. With that said though, according to the QDMA deer density map our deer density at least matches the highest for any area they note on their map. I agree on the oats too but they are less tolerant of cold. IMO, it's best to mix them in with other choices like wheat and/or rye for insurance. Of course that all depends on what part of the country you're in. Have you tried eagle rr soybeans Al? Eagle soybeans do real well here even in small plots, but we probably do not have quite the density you have. If heavy browsing is a problem might also consider planting beans with something to give the beans a little cover like sorghum, but then going with a rr variety is pointless unless you have a rr variety for your nurse/cover crop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Nope...haven't tried eagle rr soybeans William. To be perfectly honest, we gave up on trying soybeans and peas ~8 years ago after they ate them to the ground for about the 4th, 5th, or who knows time. Ya know, you try to forget bad memories. When you consider the time, effort, and expense to plant our bigger fields it's hard to convince ourselves to try it again. I'll have to do some digging to see what rr cover crops are available...if any. Thanks for the insight though William. Hummm...Might consider doing that on the new Missouri property in the future! BTW...I can remember a 3.5 ac. field we had planted in beans. We sprayed it with hinder and one guy even went by his barbar's shop to collect hair to spread around the field. All this just trying to give them a chance to get up high enough to make it. It was really beginning to look good! Then we had a rain early in the week. When we checked that field the following Friday afternoon, there was just some young weeds & a few beans left here and there. Couldn't believe it! They ate good for a several days though. Since that time, our dang pig population has exploded too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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