Spring deer plots

Joint vetch and Stone Clay peas.

Per the photos looks like clay peas are doing well.


But need to get up there and check

quote:

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thinking we’d have the typical drought

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We always have a wet April, May and early June. You’re think of fall planting season.

I used to but seemed like a waste of time and effort especially if it’s a rainy spring/summer cause of all the native forage for them to eat anyway.

I do put out the cheap 50# brown mineral licks at all my plots and they hit them consistently.

I planted a small field in sunflowers last weekend and I may try to plant some joint vetch this weekend if I can find some locally.

There hasn't been any reason to try and plant before as we (North MS) has only had a couple of rains since February until this week.

I've never seen such a dry spring. It did rain y-day and suppose to rain the next couple of days as well.

Bought a 3 row John Deere planter this year and love it. I’ve planted soybeans, peas, corn, and sunflowers. If I have a seed I’m gonna put it in the ground lol. I used Eagle Seed, which is not far from me, and they have done great. I did do a half acre of old deer corn I had left over from last year just to see if it could grow. Results were terrible. It came up but was spotty and poor looking. I ended up planting over it.

An old LSU wildlife professor told us you’re better off fertilizing natural browse than planting something new. But that was in the early 90’s before people started spending more on growing deer than they do cattle.

Definitely not too late for doves. I’m planting brown top millet next week. Hancock seed has a good dove mix that I’ve used before as well.

You’re doing it right! You sound like the guys on habitat talk forum.

I planted around Easter and then again the following rain event about two weeks later.

The drought got a lot of what I planted at Easter as I got 1.5" of rain the night after I planted stuff came up and the drought claimed a lot of it before the next rain two weeks later. Out of 20 acres planted I have 14 acres that look really good with a mix of soy beans, clay peas, alyce clover, joint vetch, a little corn, milo and buckwheat.

Two weeks later I planted our lease and it's doing very well where the deer haven't eaten all of the beans,peas and sunflowers. However I mixed in alyce clover and joint vetch in the mix figuring that stuff would get hammered and the clover and vetch is doing very well and in the majority of my fields the beans, peas and sunflowers are doing well.

The biggest take home for me this year is the fall planting I did have a good bit of red clover in it, something I have never planted before. I have not seen deer eat clover in a way they are eating the red clover over the last 2 months. You can't keep them off it and they are in it day and night and now my drilled spring plantings are coming into their own and it's really looking good. Very happy with where we are right now as far as planted fields.

Planted a lot earlier this year than normal to try and keep turkey nests safe in fields and it seems to have worked.

Also seeing a good number of hens and poults some of which are flying already so hopefully signs of a good hatch this year.