Late season food plots

[maros91]

What's a good late season food plot? I know corn and beans are good but how about the other stuff like turnips and other stuff you can plant. What have you heard works the best? It would be nice to have a late season food plot to bowhunt over

[certified jumbo]

our winter rye food plots are getting pounded right now. the nice thing about rye is it always stays bright green, never turns brown. it also helps that we don't have snow to cover it up.

we have shot some nice deer this year over the rye.

[Jameson]

Corn and beans are the best that I've planted.

Sorghum can work.

The neighbors very late hanging/dropping apples are the best that I hunt near.

[jay83196]

I used turnips this year and deer still eating them I planted in early august they did great.

[hockeybc69]

I like corn and beans.

Mainly because I like the roundup ready seeds.... Weed control is so nice and easy.

And the deer love it too.

[maros91]

When did you plant the winter rye?

[hockeybc69]

Several years ago I planted winter rye around Labor Day weekend. I left that field for 3 or 4 years. I just let it grow the following year, mowed it down around labor day, disced it one time and that was it. Just reseeded itself each fall.

[Mr_Lunker]

How's clover do they still hit it during late season?

[jay83196]

Firsy frost its toast, I planted it it did great all fall until frost it looks like it started coming back with the warmer weather but not enough to do much.. they loved it in the summer and fall I used it in conjunction with turnips.

[eyedawg]

Have had great luck with forage oats planted them in late august, by mid October they were close to a foot tall and the deer tore them up right down to the dirt. Luckily I still have other food plots but nxt yr I am guna for sure plant more forage oats. Turnips,corn and beans are great choices for late season also.

[jay83196]

So do you til your plots every year? I tiller mine last year(first year with them) do I need to again or can I just use a weed killer and replant some stuff? I did use some perennial clover but Id start over if its better, I need to plant more I didn't use enough I want it thicker...

[hockeybc69]

eyedawg,

have you ever done winter rye?

I tried those forage oats a few times and what a waste of money.

Winter rye I have found is WAYYYYYY hardier than forage oats and the deer like it better. Forage oats are a complete rip off in my opinion.

[eyedawg]

No I have not but may have to try it nxt yr. Thanks

[hockeybc69]

I tested winter wheat, winter rye and forage oats side by side a couple years.

Forage oats were dead last place for me. Winter rye was WAY better, and its the cheapest of the 3 seeds....

[eyedawg]

I planted winter wheat as well this yr but I ran a little late getn it in the ground.

[LABS4ME]

I had fantastic luck with the hardiness of forage oats and the deer ate the heck out of it...

We have on one property:

Corn

Soybeans

Forage Beans

Winter wheat

Winter Rye

Forage Oats

Canola

Turnips

Beats

Chickory

and Clover

They all are hit hard... some at different times of the year. I hunted over a plot with turnips, forage oats and half winter rye... can't say anyone was better than the other. all nice and green and getting hit hard through the 2nd week or gun season. Will be back up for end of season muzzleloading... then it becomes more a corn / bean hunt

Good Luck!

Ken

[jay83196]

Ken,

If you could pick two or three things to plant what and why? (fyi I bow, rifle and muzzle,hunt)

Thanks

[LABS4ME]

early bow, for sure beans! They destroyed the beans this year... ironically they hit the regular beans harder than the forage beans... clover is good at this time too, especially if given a late summer mowing to regnerate the young plants.

Mid October to Mid Nov. Forage oats or winter rye is a good choice. they do work over the turnips a little then... they also go out to hit our wheat then, but we use wheat sparingly... more for green manure in the spring to help build up the organic matter in the soil and keep winter erosion down. A lot of deer by the 1st of Novemember this year were eating the soy bean pods...

End of Nov through December... corn is always good especilly if the cold has set in. Many deer are in the turnips getting them pulled up and eaten. The chickory is still being hit, along with the clover and rye... the colder it is, the more the corn becomes the draw. Next year I am going to do a partial plot in Kale to see how hard it is hit and how long into the winter. Remember all the brassicas need frosts and cold weather to convert the starch in the plants to sugar and really make them attractive to deer. One other plot will recieve many pumpkin plants... again more for a late winter draw / nutrition. I will use the pumpkins grown for pies, not for jack o laterns. Many of the food plots are set up for turkey and pheasant along with the deer. We are going to work in some millet and Sudan grasss next year too. Also we let 50% of the rye go to seed and leave it stand for the turkey and song birds...

I'm very fortunate to have a friend that loves conservation and gives me 900 acres to play with! It amazing to see the transformation of the land and wildlife over the last 4-5 years. Mistakes have been made along the way, but slowly we are learning and have a better feel for what works and what doesn't...

Good Luck!

Ken

[hockeybc69]

Ken,

Have you tried daikon radishes yet? Bob at RJ Hunt told me that deer eat them year round. they dont need the freezing to change the structure to make it appealing for deer to eat. I tried a very small plot at my parents house and they said does and fawns were in there a lot early fall. they ate it down to nothing.

Are you using buck forage oats? My tests using them for a couple years, by mid to late november, they were toast. Where winter rye stayed green all winter under the snow even.

And the price difference is huge between them. The rye greens up nice in the spring, whereas the buck forage oats are dead and gone. 100% dissatisfied with buck forage oats.

[Musky Buck]

Speaking of food plots, my neighbor who sells the stuff, this is the 1st year we never saw a single daylight deer in his food plots from August to present, the previous years they were in there like crazy, why is this? Maybe he tried a different kind or something but after dark you can see eyes in there from the deer so ? I like that he does plots even though deer #'s are lower at our place because of him, but seeing everything plowed under this year at least they have 1 spot to eat at through the winter.

[Musky Buck]

lol there's my neighbor Hockeybc

[jay83196]

Thanks, I only have an acre or so to play with, this year the deer really used it I was please the clover was liked but once first frost hit it was toast I used turnips too but don't think enough I had less traffic later in season and after frost. so this next year was planning early June planting clover and hickory then Aug do turnips and something else for later fall/winter...rye, maybe that's what trying to decide on . Are my time lines good when do people first plant clover then plant stuff like rye or turnips for fall/winter.

[eyedawg]

I planted my turnips in my backyard this yr around the end of July and they grew to softball size. I planted some of my clover in the spring and also planted some around labor day. Jay u may want to look at leadplant and sanfoin, seed is spendy but the deer love it. The first yr it does not do much but the second yr it sure does.

[jay83196]

Never heard of those, thanks ill look into they a fall/winter type plant..

[LABS4ME]

I plant turnips mid august... like them tennis ball size... (SO do the deer!)

The clover and Chickory are both perennials, you should be able to get a good stand of them going and only have to plant every 3 years or so... no need to treat as an annual. Winter rye will be a good one for some winter draw. If you let it set seed and mow it or knock it down in late fall, it will also self seed and thus become a perennial in a way. Make sure you plant a white clover as it is much more palatble than red varieties. Make sure to fertilize the plants and lime the soil per instructions after a soil test.

You can also do a spring planting of cow peas, work those into the soil mid - late summer to build up the soil and then do your other seeds for a fall planting. Deer love cow peas, they are full of protein which both the bucks need and the lactating does... Awesome for green manure plant. drought tolerant too... but they will get hammered, especially on a 1 acre plot. not that that is a bad thing, just maybe not a lot of plant left to work into the soil...

Never did radishes... my buddy in So Dak did them as a cover crop on a bigger fallow field for green manure. He said the deer were in there at night... I never investigated the cost of that seed and the potential payback if it's spendy. Maybe I'll mix some in with something like the Kale and see if the deer go for it....

Good Luck!

Ken