Food Plot seed brand question

[Backstrap]

Has anyone ever used EVOLVED HARVEST Premium forage?  It says it's a no-till easy plot fast growing forage.  Looking at the seed mixture, it is about 78% tetraploid ryegrass and only 7% clover and 5% barsica rape.  Is this stuff worth buying?  Seem like alot of grass.  If anybody knows anything about this or has used it please give me some feedback on it.
Thanks
Dave

[Big E]

Here's my opinion on those types of mixtures. The reason for all of the rye grass is because the stuff will grow anywhere and comes in very thick and green. So the average Joe thinks he has a nice plot and he got his money's worth. But as far as being a big draw for deer no. They eat it but not anywhere near a prefered food source at all. I had it in a mix once and it took me about 4 years to get rid of it because it takes over a plot in a hury and it's tough. When people say the deer are mowing down their rye 99% of the time they're talking about winter rye aka rye grain aka fall rye it's all the same thing. The thing is you plant rye grain late in the year because you don't want it getting tall. My motto rye grass is for your lawn and rye grain is for deer.
 There are many things out there that grow in bad soil, shade and that you don't have to till under. I frost seeded clover and chicory already this year. They're small seeds and the freezing and thawing of the soil works the seed down into the dirt. If you tell me what you want as far as a food plot like to hunt over it early or late or both. I can give you some mixtures and you can just go buy the seed and it will be a lot less expensive then buying the name brand stuff.

[Backstrap]

Thanks for the response BigE.  I plan on hunting both early and late.  but maybe more of my time in the late muzzle loader season.  What do you suggest?
Thanks
Dave

[Big E]

Honestly the best food source I've hunted over that the deer eat from September all the way through febuary is rye grain. I plant it August 1st. Some people say to not plant it until september because it will get to tall and the deer won't eat it but I've watched them mow down rye a couple feet tall. It will grow in all types of soil and will grow in the shade. I bought a 50lb bag of seed last year for $11 at the local feed store. It takes about 100 lbs of rye per acre and this year I will be mixing in some oats and 45lbs of Austrian winter peas just because I have it left over but you don't need too. Rye does GREAT on it's own. I shot a deer Dec 31st this past year in a rye plot and it was next to a standing corn and standing bean feild. There was deer shot in that plot every month of the season. Another thing is it is almost impossible for the deer to destroy a rye plot by eating all of it because it's so thick and keeps growing even after a few hard frosts. So it works great for small plots too. It is bright green in December and it's the 1st thing to green up in the spring. When there's nothing else to eat around your area in november and december and you have a rye plot you can't keep the deer off of it. It will take over and kill off the weeds in the plot so next year your plot should be weed free.
 If you would like to put a plot in early I would plant some clover where you want to put your rye because clover will put nitrogen into the soil and rye loves nitrogen. I mix my own clover it may not be the exact ratio as a expert would do but it works for me. 1/3 ladino, 1/3 aslike and 1/3 medium red. All of these clovers grow well in shade and poor soils. About 6-8lbs an acre. Then when late July comes around kill it or just till it under if you can and plant your rye grain. But again you don't need to do this just a suggestion.
  When buying rye grain (winter rye, fall rye) the seed will look like oats kinda. If it looks like grass seed then they gave you rye grass and that you DO NOT want. I don't know why rye grain isn't in every fall planting mix. Maybe they want to keep it a secret because it's so cheap and easy to grow. I'm not a expert at all but this is what my friends, family and I had work for us. I've been food plotting for about 8 years now and have planted every thing under the sun but if I could only plant one thing Rye Grain would get my vote hands down no questions. Sorry this was so long but if there's one thing I LOVE to talk about it's food plots. So if you have any other questions as you can see I'd love to give my input.

[Mayfly]

Big E -

Curious what you are planting this year and how much area??

Thanks.

[Big E]

On our land this year I'm planting a few new plots that have never been planted with anything. I'm turning a old field into about a 2 acre rye grain plot with sunflower as a screen around the edges because it's next to the road and the last thing I need is someone stopping to look at the deer while I'm hunting. I'm doing rye grain because it's about the only thing that will grow there and it will draw the deer from across the road where it's impossible to hunt.
 I talked to our neighbor who owns a 5 acre feild that butts up to our land and he's letting us lease it this year. This soil is pretty good as it has been hay and clover over the years. In this plot we are planting beans and having a sunflower buffer from the road. In mid to late july I will be planting Rape and turnips in with the beans on one end and rye grain on the other. (rye will be planted august 1st) Beans produce a lot of nitrogen and rape/turnips and rye grain take off in this mix. I had the tallest rape ever last year when I did this.
 I have a few small shot plots that are about 1/4 of an acre that I will have rye grain in along with oats and Austrian winter peas in the mix. I also plant a long trail leading to one of these in the same mix.
 I plant a few of the trails that head to the plots in clover and chicory. The deer like to brows before getting to the main plot and it also saves on the plot as the deer aren't as hungry when they get there.
 One of my plots is just a wide spot in the fire lane that I planted a clover mix of Ladino, Aslike and medium red and I've shot a lot of deer off this one. Deer from my expierience love little plots in the middle of the woods that are surrounded by brush. They'll get off their bed and come into these in the middle of the day for a snack.
 We have a old log landing that was turned into a food plot about 2 acres and this one use to be our late season honey hole but it's on our property line and they neighbor put up a tripod over looking it so now it will just be clover so during the gun season the deer won't be using it much. I also trans planted pines in front of his stand. I want my main food sources so deer will want to bed on our property or have to travel through our property to get to it.
 

[Big E]

Sorry i forgot to say that what type of rape and turnips I plant. I plant Dwarf Essex Rape which is a very fast growing brassica that you want to plant mid to late july in northern MN. It matures in 90 days. You don't want it to seed out because deer tend to not like it after that. Purple top turnips can be planted earlier than Dwarf Essex Rape but I plant it at the same time. I might try some early this year but just a small portion. Both of these you want to plant at 6 lbs an acre. Don't over seed which is very easy to do because it's a small seed. You can just broadcast this stuff before a rain and it works great.

[HUNTER2]

Big E, do you fertilize first?

[Big E]

We will put pellatized lime on some of our plots with beans (about 500lbs/acre or more) but as far a fert we haven't but might try it this year.....maybe. Our PH is around 5.5 and instead of battling that and buying fertilizer we've just did some trial and error and seen what works. We plant stuff that will grow in poor soils like certain types of clover, rape, chicory, turnips, and rye grain. From what I've read and what my uncle does is fertilizes before planting and disks or just drags it. Then he will fertilize lightly before a nice rain fall after the plants are growing. Make sure you do you're homework on what types of fert your plot needs. Clover and beans make their own nitrogen so you don't want a fert with that in it. Corn, rye, rape and brassicas love nitrogen. The numbers on the bag of fertizer are nitrogen-phosphate-potash like 10-10-10. Watch out some fertilizers have weed killer in them and they will kill brassicas in a heart beat.