Planting bow plots

I've done cowpeas in the past for a bow plot but it was a summer plot. I had great success with it. The deer didn't touch them for what seemed like 45 days but when they did it looked like a combine came through the plot. I guess you'd want them ready for early October?

The best forage species for early bow season fields are large leaf legumes like cowpeas, lablab, and soybeans. The problem with these is that they are most attractive when they first sprout and the deer normally hammer them right away and completely wipe them out in a matter of days. If you can somehow time the planting so they sprout close to opening weekend of bow season, you're in the money, but its hard to plan like that without being able to see the future.

I would plant a mixture of cowpeas, oats, dwarf essex rape, and red/white clover. This is a mixture that will take you from september all the way into spring.

Your cowpeas will pop up first and the deer will hit them hard early, then the oats and clover, then the rape once it gets cold, then the clover will persist into the spring and maybe beyond depending on rain/weather.