Help with food plot choice in Northern MO

[Dan7manusa]

We are planning on putting in our first food plot for this hunting ground this year.  The food plot is about 2 acres.  We are looking for a magnet more so during the late season than early season especially given the later muzzleloader season in MO for 2009 (which I like).  There is usually corn and beans plentiful throughout the hunting area.  I was looking at some of the plots that seem to get active after the first hard frost which could be anytime in nov or oct even.  Anyway, I was wondering if any of you have had good success with certain types of plantings and also wanted to hear thoughts on different brands out there and whether their mixes are worth investing in.  Thanks in advance! 

[JPH]

I have about 1.5 acres in clover on my little No. Missouri place. It has been very successful! It is low maint. and seems to draw deer well even late in the season. I have heard that the first several frosts pull sugar into the leaves and make it more desirable.

I don't know where you are, but my place is in Harrison Co. There is a lot of row crop all around me, so corn/beans do not seem to draw deer all that well. They can get it anywhere.

Good luck.

[Goose]

There are many options to choose from.
Clover is probably your best all year round and is low maint.
Brassica's such as shot plot or other mixes are great late season magnets.( they also are pretty easy to grow from what I read and have heard)
Sugarbeets are also a great late season plot but are a little tougher and take longer to grow.
Winter wheat or rye is also another option.
Buck forage oats are good (I've read that regular forage oats are just as good)
 
As you can see there are many options. For late season next year I will be planting Shot Plot (turnips and rape), some forage oats, and some kind of clover like Alpha Rack Plus

[JPH]

Ohh, he's good.

[buckhunter21]

Yea, I think Goose hit it on the nuts there. 
 
Another plot I'd highly recommend is Biologic Maximum.  I planted two different areas this year and as far as late season plotting/hunting goes you can't beat it.  The leaves get huge and the deer literally eat the leaf and everything.  The bottom parts of the plant almost looks like a turnup...Hunting late season in snow they'll dig right through the snow to get to it too.  Will be planting some of this and some Buck Forage Oats I think this year for late season.

[Thayer]

Do they harvest all the beans?  If not, a good stand of beans left for the wildlife could be a great draw...you could grow the beans, then when they brown you could broadcast some wheat, rye, clover, or brassicas into them and you would have the beans and greens for some great, late winter feed.

[ranwin33]

We've had success with clover, but also RR soybeans and oats.  We're surrounded by corn and bean fields, but deer will still go off trail to walk through our soybean plot. 
 
If you're two acres is back in the woods, I don't think you could go wrong planting just about anything you'd like.  Two acres of green stuff in the brown fall woods should be an attractant.
 
Only things we haven't seen our deer hit hard have been turnips and winter wheat.
 
Biggest attractant has been Austrian winter peas, but good luck getting them past the 3-4 inch stage if you have much of a deer herd.
 
As for brands - we couldn't grow anything on our hilltop plot until we tried Tecomate Monster Mix, not sure why it took off, but it did.  I've also had good luck with Pennington's Durana clover. 
 
Tried and failed with Whitetail Institute's Winter Greens and Extreme - neither have grown well for me.
 
We usually just buy what the local farm supply store has, but I like to try a different name brand product every once in a while, just to see if there is any difference.
 
What part of No. Missouri are you in?

[Goose]

Hey buckhunter, I just read an article where a guy took a field in Iowa, planted one half in Buck Forage oats and the other half in regular run of the mill oats. He had enclosures in each field and took pictures of both through out the fall and into winter. The regular oats looked better, grew just as good, and the deer hammered them just as much if not more than the BFO. He had pictures of deer in the field and they were in the regular oats more. With the enclosures you could see that they were grazing the regular oats more than the BFO.
The pictures did show that the BFO lasted about a week longer into the winter than the regular oats.
With the $20 difference per bag I think it's worth saving the money and going with the regular oats.
 
I personally will be going with winter rye. Wheat will die off with the frost where rye wont. It will survive all winter and continue to grow in the spring and deter weeds. The deer and turkey will hit it in the spring as well. It's also very tolerant of over grazing and is easy to grow.
 
I plan on planting rye this fall in early august and then Ill leave it in till the following summer and disc it in for green manure and plant something else. Ill also overseed our soybean field in August with rye to get some green's in that field for the fall.

[buckhunter21]

Goose, thanks for the info I'll keep that in mind!  Might be worth setting it up side by side and seeing for myself I guess too.  Hm. 
 
I'm not too familiar with winter rye.  Without googling it I really couldn't even tell you what it looks like.  Can you tell me a little more about it?  Does it look like wheat?
 
Do you think it'll be tough to overseed your beans in August?  The reason I ask is because they'll be pretty big by then and won't allow for much sunlight to the ground...Hm.

[Goose]

Yes it kinda like oats or wheat. It'll stay green all winter and is more palatable for deer. It's hardier in the cold and tolerates of grazing. Its also better at keeping weeds at bay in the spring for future plantings.
Ill overseed the bean field when the leaves start to drop, that'll help with moisture and open up the canopy.
I might just skip over the beans with a disc to break the soil up a little.

Rye is very easy to grow in any soil and is drought and heat tolerant.

Here's a link to look at the rye in different stages-  http://www.livingcropmuseum.info/CropDetail/Rye/living_crop_museum_CerealGrains_Rye.htm
 

oats-  http://www.livingcropmuseum.info/CropDetail/Oats/living_crop_museum_CerealGrains_Oats.htm

wheat-  http://www.livingcropmuseum.info/CropDetail/Wheat%20SRW/living_crop_museum_CerealGrains_WheatSRWinter.htm