need your help!!

[erik]

im new to the food plot, but im looking to do a perennial so if you have tried them please let me what worked best for you and why,  any and all info you can give me would be great, thank you.     

[dakids]

clover is a good one.  The deer use them all year.  We planted ours 4 years ago and will be over seeding it this fall. There are a few thin spots.  Its up near Grand Rapids and we just went to the local feed store and got a mix.  It is a lot cheaper than Buck On the Bag brand and the seed was a proven grower for the area.

[ray634]

What area are you planting, and what kind of ground, what equipment do you have?

[beeker]

the perennial part of your statement is the tough part. most areas of the forest just are not willing to give it up without a fight. we find ourselves spraying every year before we seed just because the forest overtakes it that fast. clover would be your best option but you'll have to refresh it from time to time. and I think your suppose to mow clover to get the deer working it hard.

we mixed up our plots quite a bit this year using turnips/rape/alfalfa/white clover/and some bean throw and grow stuff.

[erik]

@ ray634. im up in McGrath and the ground I will be planting on is a hay field right now. im doing only 1 acre of that field and I have a tractor for the job.

[erik]

thanks for all the info everyone.

[ray634]

If you can work it up good and get the right lime and fertilizer on it, then Alffarack clover/alfalfa blend will last for years with some mowing. The stuff grows good and deer love it. It is not cheap but neither is reworking a failed plot.
Dakids option of going to the local feed store also works but I would look for forage clover over the standard clover used for hay.

[beeker]

mcgrath? I'm North East of 18-65

[dew2]

Have any of you fellows ever tried just planting Alfalfa,Its a deer magnet around here and when I lived so.of Duluth.
 Deer know it from its wide use, and in my yard winters I put out grass hay and some come, but I drop out the alfalfa and get the whole herd in the yard.A Long-lived perennial. right in it  plant beets and any other forage can be planted it produces nitrogen and makes great growing for other plants
 Heres a read of it >http://forages.oregonstate.edu/php/fact_sheet_print_legume.php?SpecID=1

[beeker]

we dropped some alfalfa this year in a few spots. mixed it up quit a bit this year

[dew2]

we dropped some alfalfa this year in a few spots. mixed it up quit a bit this year

It takes generations of deer offspring to naturalize to new feed,Even if they accept it! They are creatures of habit,changing their habit's is a long term endeavor.Personally I believe the natural food in their area is most attractive.
 Look at corn up north,They avoid it, but here in corn country they are in it as cover and food till its cut.That Texas chit where it's dry and little feed don't really work in cold country here where theres lots a feed and they are accustomed to whats available and what time of year its in their diet.Take acorns, They dont go in those woods till their dropping.Plant beets and that stuff well yah may as well pickel em and take the tops for salads.they dont reconize them.Down south GREENS are hard to find in late summer so they flock to em.I just think to many read to much into feed and with our greenery stick to what they utilize they are accustomed to it and it alone

[beeker]

I don't know if I agree with that. I read an article about giving em something different and we tossed out turnips.. they destroyed them.  I've had em eat the tops off my cranberry trees and I don't see any of them around up there.. I think deer or more opportunity eaters and will eat anything they stumble upon.. bottom line is you won't know what they will eat until you put it out. who knows what the guy 2-40's over has been doing

[dew2]

I don't know if I agree with that. I read an article about giving em something different and we tossed out turnips.. they destroyed them.  I've had em eat the tops off my cranberry trees and I don't see any of them around up there.. I think deer or more opportunity eaters and will eat anything they stumble upon.. bottom line is you won't know what they will eat until you put it out. who knows what the guy 2-40's over has been doing

Hey beeker I have cranberries never heard of the tree? Where did you get them and how do they grow here in north country?I'd like to try one or two.
 The deer have destroyed my  cherry trees and the cherry bushes go untouched.
 My unfenced garden has turnip.beet,carrot,salisfy,radish a root garden, deer tracks pass its edge going to the fenced corn,lettuce multi types,and asparagus I had to electrify it to have some for our use

[beeker]

i got them from the soil water conservation district in chisago county.. they were the bare root stock.. right now they about 3 feet tall.. and not a single cranberry amongst them. I'm planning on moving them to a more open area and cage them off..

we grew pumpkins in the backyard here.. the deer would come by and stomp em open and come back in the next night or 2 and eat them.. if I put any pumpkins are my land in McGrath.. I would have to shovel them up so I didn't get a ticket for baiting..

[Auggie]

Beeker, u could plant them. Just don't dump them. We pry plant 25 hills of pumpkins most years. If they are attached to the vine your fine. We had a conversation about it with the CO a few years back. In the same conversation we told him we were gonna work our sugar beets up. Maybe a 1/4-1/2 acre of them we have in our plot which is about 8 acres total, mostly corn and soybeans. He said if you work them up, I'm gonna write you a ticket.

[LandDr]

Clover Chicory mix...but you might want to wait until fall to plant to make sure you have enough rain and\or wait to make sure you don't have a killing front that will knock it out. 

Throw a little brassica in there for some annual attractant if you like...not too much though as you don't want it to shade out the perennial plants coming in.  If you like the brassicas, do a frost seeding each spring by spreading a pound or two per acre of brassicas over your clover\chicory.  The Freeze-thaw action will work the seed down into the soil to get some brassicas coming into your perennial plot.  This is a great method for frost seeding clovers into your trails and clover areas as well to work in some more clover\chicory.

Land Dr