Question about Praire Foodplots..

[headhunter]

Hello, I live in North Dakota and we have very little thick type cover , trees/shrubs etc. I'm gonna take 30 acres and plant it to attract deer. I'm putting in Winter plots (biggie) and summer plots as well, mabeye 3-4 crops. What should I plant????Oh, here's the stickler, because we have little cover / and its flat terrain, Any thick/TALL cover attracts deer ( some CRP for instance) So What is the Nastiest/thickest/tallest stuff I can plant to make the deer feel secure and also feed them well.Any input appreciated. (Corn is allready high on the list as well as Clover of course)

[bigdave]

Milo should work well if corn grows there. You might try some of the new Imp Whitetail stuff its supposed to have all sizes of forage and work for feed and bedding.
For long term plots the cheapest way to go is ladino clover. You should be able to find a local variety that will grow at around $3/lb. Be sure not to use a fertilizer that has nitrogen like 13-13-13 as the nitrogen will encourage weed and grass growth.I have had good luck with the Tecomate Monster Mix which is a blend of 4 or 5 white (sweet ) clovers and chicory (a leafy green that grows even in the heat of the summer) which deer seem to like.
The nice thing about the clover is that you will only need to seed every four years if you maintain it by hogging twice a year to about 6" .
I would recomend wheat or oats for a fall/winter plot, but the deer will also eat the clover even after there is snow on the ground.
I don't know what you could plant that gives a lot of height for cover, but you may be able to find some type of bush willow tree that will grow there. This will provide natural browse and cover as well. They are easily started in the spring by cutting 1ft pieces of limb and sticking them into the ground about 2 ft apart. This will form a thicket within a few years, and can be hogged down in the spring to provide new browse without killing the trees.
I would try to plant rows between your plots to provide cover close to the food. This will help to keep deer in the area around your food plots.
Another plant (vine) that deer love is honeysuckle. It will grow over and around tree tops or brush and provide a canopy for the deer to lay up under, and they love to browse the stuff. Once established, they will not be able to kill it even under heavy browsing, and a shot of 13-13-13 and hogging in the spring will get it going every year.

[headhunter]

Thanks BIGDAVE. Did you mean Milo as a "cover" crop or a food? I assume food. Corn gets taller than milo as a rule? or not?We have quite a bit of willows in the low lying areas. So what do you do, just whack off any branch on a willow bush and stick it in the ground? How far do you stick it in? Have you tried it before? In my country Willow only grows in the wet low spots so I assume it would have to be a moist area? Our Clover usually dies and doesn't come back after year 1. So by whacking it off are you saying it will keep coming back? I hate to Whack it off because the Clover will be thick cover for Winter/Fall. That was the "strip crop" I was going to put betweem the corn so thats why i don't want to "whack it".

[bigdave]

headhunter, Milo not only makes an excellent food source, deer will readily bed in a field once it gets about 18" high or so. It will grow anywhere that corn will and fertilization will be similar. Mowing your clover at about 6" will encourage branching and reduce seeding so more growth will go into the plant. This will also cut off weeds before they have a chance to seed. Be careful to cut when temperatures are below 80 degrees, as the plants can be scalded at higher temperatures . There should be a variety of ladino clover that is available in your area that will grow perennially . Where I grew up in Canada, the farmers would leave clover on the fields, and it would stay green under a foot of snow. Check with a local co-op, or county extension office for varieties that will work in your area.
For willows, you can cut foot long pieces of branches and stick them into the ground about 3 or 4 inches prior to spring green up. They will root either way upside down or right side up so don't worry about that. There are some willows available that will grow in upland as well. One is called meadow willow, and it will keep growing low branches every year and is a great browse without mowing. I can get cuttings here in MO from the state nursery, but I don't know if they are available to out of state residents or not. You can contact the Mo Conservation Dept. , or the state nursery in Licking, Missouri. If available, they will ship bundles of 25 cuttings to you for less than 5 dollars prior to planting time. You might also check with your state conservation dept. , as they may have trees spefically for your area.
Oh yes, on the clover be sure to cut in the fall as well, or probably for you about 6 wks before first frost to allow time for the new growth to harden off. If you can rake and bale the "hay" so that the field stays clean, it will also encourage growth.
The milo stalk will grow to about 3 ft. high or so, and then the seed head will grow on a stalk up about another foot. This fall, while watching a milo field, I was able to see only the head and necks of most deer in the field, and fawns were bedding all over it. It will also attract pheasants and turkeys if they are in the area. If you like to dove hunt, you can brushhog paths through the field about a week before season, and you will have good shooting there.

[MNdeerhunter]

Headhunter,
I am from Northwest Minnesota, about 50 miles from Grand Forks, ND. I don't know how close this is to where you are but if you are looking for a good food plot that will still produce good forage and nutrition in the late fall and winter in our part of the country, I recommend planting a few acres of Biologic Maximum, which is a blend of 5 different New Zealand brassicas that mature at different rates so the deer don't over graze the plot. And once the brassicas have been exposed to a hard frost the deer really start to feed on them very heavily because the starch in the plant starts to turn to sugar and the plant becomes sweet tasting to the deer. I planted a 3 acre plot in early August of 2003 and had great success with growth and attracting deer onto our property especially after we started getting some freezing temps in the fall. In fact there are still some deer digging through the snow now in February to get to the brassicas that are left. Also, I work at a wholesale tree nursery if there are any types of trees that you are looking for that you would like to plant. You would probably have to go through your local soil and water conservation district in order to buy anything from us being we are a wholesale nursery. Let me know what you think.

[Danny_GA]

headhunter

I don't know how beans do up "north" but Biologic and Whitetail Institute both have a summer annual that includes shorghum and a mixture of summer legumes that will grow to 7 feet and provide both summer high protein browse and fall cover. Check out both of them and see if they will work for you.

Danny
Talbot County, Ga

[MNdeerhunter]

Headhunter,
A couple of other things that I forgot to mention that may work for you. At www.mndeerhunters.com they have 3 different blends that they make for food plots for the Minnesota climates.They have a perennial/annual blend, a annual blend, and a clover blend which consists of 25%White, 25%Crimson, 25%Ladino and 25%Medium red clover. I know you were looking at planting clover that will survive our harsh winters. Another place that could be helpful for you is www.habitatnow.com which is Prairie Land management out of Glenwood, MN "central Minnesota".They deal with land management and wildlife enhancement and they also have a variety of food plot blends including a perennial clover blend for the Minnesota climate.They are also a dealer for Tecomate seed which makes some good blends for the ND, MN climates. I hope this is helpful for you.

[headhunter]

Thanks again guys. This site is going to be a great asset when I finally start fooling with foodplots. Thanks MNDEERHUNTER.You know, I have never even heard of "brassica" till this site. Do farmers ever hay it? is it native in ND or MN at all? What does it look like? And...Can I buy a "cheaper" blend at the local feed store you think?

Also, MNDEERHUNTER, I'm going to for SURE plant Shrubs/trees as well. What do you recommend for FAST growing time for ND? I live in NW ND close to the MT line. Our soil and moisture is not near as good as yours. Any suggestions on what trees/shrubs to plant to get good deer cover?Russian Olive do excellent here as well as carriganna trees. What else? . Also nobody ever plants Milo around my place at all. Do you think that would be worth fooling with? It would definately be something "new" to the area. Or should I stay mainly with Corn/Clover/peas???? Cause if you know what I mean those 3 kind of cover everything I would think. Is there really an advantage of adding milo to the mix?

[mikeolivertx]

Another cover idea is to make long skinney 20 ft X 4 foot utilization cages to use as cover in a field

[MNdeerhunter]

Headhunter,
There are different plants that are considered a Brassica, such as different kinds of Turnips, Rapeseed or somtimes refered to as Canola and Kale. Brassica is simply a oil emitting plant that stays green and full of protein during freezing conditions. It is fast growing, high "Fall" attractant annual plant. The best way I can describe what the Biologic Maximum plot of Brassicas looks like is a sugar beet field, large leafed plants such as a sugar beet. Yeah, there are a number of places you can buy a blend of Brassicas but I have not really seen much of a price difference compared to the Biologic blend. If you were going to plant a single planting of a brassica such as Dwarf Essex Rape then it would be cheaper but if it were me I would stick with a blend to give the deer a variety of brassicas to choose from and the protein content of the Biologic blend is 38%. And a deer should have at least 16% protein in their diet to acheive their genetic potential.
A high protein content is what you want in your food plots no matter what the crop is that you are planting. Corn is a good filler but does lack the protein content as some other crops but if you have the land to plant some corn, I would do it.
As far as trees the faster growing ones for this area would be your Hybrid Poplars, such as Norway, Raverdeau and Robusta poplars. Another would be Siouxland Cottonwood.
Willows would be another good choice such as Golden, Flame, Laurel Leaf and Sandbar Willow to name a few. Also Redosier Dogwood would be a fast growing shrub that would produce good cover.
If you take a look at the website www.habitatnow.com that I told you about before and scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link "Trees" it will give a listing of trees and shrubs that are used in wildlife plantings and we have all of the species they have listed.

[MNdeerhunter]

Headhunter
Have you ever been on the Whitetail Institute of North America website? If not the site iswww.whitetailinstitute.com and they have a couple of products that may work for you also. The one product is called Power Plant which is a summer annual blend that gets tall and would produce both cover and food. And they also have a new product called Extreme which is a 3-5 year perennial blend that can withstand poor soil conditions ranging from 5.4 to 7.5 PH and only 16" of annual rainfall but this blend is expensive. They don't have it listed on their site yet but cabela's has it for $34.99 for a 5.6lb bag and that only covers a 1/4 of a acre, so the cost is the issue with this blend. Another summer annual blend that would produce both cover and food and may work for you is on www.mossyoakbiologic.com or www.northcountrywhitetails.com and that is called BioMass.
One more thing that I can think of that could possibly work for you as a food is Chicory. You can find this product on www.tecomate.com and chicory is a good choice because it is a fast growing 3-5 year perennial and has a low planting rate. A 3lb bag costs $24.99 and covers a full acre. It is also very drought resistant and can be planted alone or can be blended with other seeds, especially legumes. Let me know if you want anymore info and hopefully I can help you out.

[MNdeerhunter]

Headhunter
I keep thinking of other places that may help you out with your food plots after I am done writing, lol. Another place that I thought of was Hubbard Wildlife Services out of Deerbrook, WI. Their website is www.feedthedeer.com and if you click on the link "seeds" you will see they sell Japanese Millet, Sorghum Sudangrass and Forage Sorghum which all would be taller annual summer plants that provide cover that may grow in your area but you would what to check with your local soil and water conservation district first to make sure. They also sell a number of other seeds that you may be interested in. I know of a number of other websites that sell food plot seed if you are interested in them at all?

[headhunter]

MNDEERHUNTER, Hey man. I surely appreciate your help on this matter. Its good to talk to another "Norsky"....Speaking of which how about them miserable vikings....Ok, lets not go there, and ruin a good conversation. That Habitatnow.com? I do know about that. I had Tim Morris out of (fargo?) write up a proposal on some of our land. Just got it a few weeks ago. So yes I have been on that website, forgot to tell you last post.

The reason seed cost is somewhat of an issue is because "out west" here, we have about 16" of precip. all year. We grain farm and My "plots" if you want to call them that are going to be much bigger than the average deer hunters plot. I'm not going to seed 2-5 acres, I'm going to seed 20-40 acres.We haveNO trees or brush or anything. Just Sloughs around our area. (some crp) So Thick tall cover will keep deer on my land. And food is just a "kicker" know what I mean?

My fields are not for "growing bucks" like some areas, (I wish) because the neighbors will be shooting at the same bucks I grow. My plan is to hold them as long as I can during rifle season, and then after they find out its safe there, they will be able to come back and get some quality forage in the winter when they yard up.

So, If you had 30 acres in one chunk, on flat rolling praire. What would you plant for cover/food at the same time. Not counting bushes or Willows, Which will also be getting put in down the road later. What "crops" would you put in to get instant cover. I'm thinking 2-3 varieties that are tall/thick and 1 or 2 Forage crops, and it doesn't matter how tall they are, deer just got to be highly attracted to them. I'm going to plant about 3 Big plots 5-10 acres, and put small strips of the attractive food in between the big ones. What do you think?

[Danny_GA]

The most cost effective way for you to go for cover may be corn, sorhgum, or milo which are also good food sources. On the interior of the three plots you may consider brassacas as previouly mentioned. Rape is a good cheap brassaca that is as low 75 cents per pound. The seeding rate is only 15 pounds per acre so your seed cost would only be only 11.25 per acre.

Danny

[MNdeerhunter]

Headhunter
Well, if you are going to be planting large plots I think corn would be your best choice for cover and food during the fall and winter months. I don't know if you are able to grow soybeans out there with the lack of rainfall but I know the deer sure go for the soybeans around here in September and October before the farmers take the crop off and they still go out there after it has been harvested and pick for the beans that are left, this would not produce much cover but would be a good food choice for fall and winter grazing and would produce fairly good protein.
I know you did mention planting peas in a earlier post but we don't really have any peas around here so I don't know that much about them but are probably similar to the soybeans as far as how the deer like to eat them.
Are sunflowers able to be grown there? If so, this would be another good choice for both cover and food during the fall and winter months. I would think that sorghum or sudangrass if able to be grown there would produce good cover but I'm not sure how the deer would feed on this?
Clover or maybe alfalfa would be a better choice for your area for a summer crop because alfalfa normally does better in drier conditions compared to clovers that usually prefer wetter soil. I think I would try put in some chicory for summer grazing also because like I mentioned before it is very drought resistant and actually prefers well drained soil, has a low planting rate and is probably the cheapest food plot you could plant because it is a 3-5 year perennial and costs $24.99 a acre. But I would still strongly recommend giving the Brassicas from Biologic a try in your area to see how they do for you. I would maybe just do a small plot the first year in case they don't do well there. Maximum will actually germinate in drier conditions compared to other common fall food plot crops but does need some soil moisture available. But if they do grow well there, it would be a really good fall and winter food source and give them good protein in their diet as well. If you had a small area that was somewhat wetter ground, that would be a good place to give it a try. On www.cabelas.com you can order a 2.25lb bag of Maximum for $15.99 and that covers a 1/4 acre or a 9lb bag for $49.99 that cover a acre. But if you do try a plot of maximum, make sure you send Biologic some soil for a soil test and fertilize according to their results because this makes the whole difference in how the plot produces. They have instructions and an address to send the soil sample on their website www.mossyoakbiologic.com and then once they have done the soil test they just e-mail you the results. I really like the fact that they have their own soil testing lab.