Too late to plant clover mix?
Mule Deer
Can't seem to post on the food plot section, but I have a time sensitive question for the food plotters.
I put in a small plot last year of brasicas and the mule deer dug down through the snow until it was too deep. They loved it! Now due to some unexpected cat work I'm going to increase my plot size by about five times. The plot will snake along the bush line for about three hundred yards. The only seed I have is Rack Stacker Sweet Success, which is a blend of clovers, chicory, rye and some brasicas.
It's hot right now but by the end of July it will cool down and be wetter. Could have frost anytime after August.
Is it too late to plant this blend and have some feed on the ground by mid September? The area is cleared and I will disc, drag level, fertilize and disc it in before planting.
Thanks for any advice or suggestions on alternatives. I'm in the middle of British Columbia and it's mostly mule deer.
If you know you will have moisture, i wouldnt be afraid to put it down. Down here, July is a scary time to plant, but if you are confident you will get rain, go for it. Mid sept is only 6 wks, so im not sure the clover will give u much this yr. But the brassicas should do something, then ur clover and chicory should look great next spring. Not an expert tho, get some more opinions. Look up Pat and/or nutritionalist on here, they can help ya. Good luck
Yepper on SnS advice. The clover you plant now is mostly for next spring and beyond.
Also, you should be able to frost seed next winter/spring.
Turnip seed is cheap, deer love it most places and it grows pretty fast.
I would think a local government crop specialist could help you more than we could, though, because of the weather differences between mid-BC and the states.
Frost seeding is awesome. We did a few freshly made log roads this spring. The roads dont get much light, we did nothing to the soil to help it and we have a ladino clover stand that is 10" tall and lush as anything ive seen. Totally surprised, frost seeding will be used by us as much as possible. Gets the seed into the soil without disturbing other dormant seeds encouraging them to grow. Doesnt help u this yr tho. But again, theres where the brassicas come in.
Thanks for the advice. I plan to plant a brassica mix in about a quarter of the plot. I have hundreds of pics of happy does and fawns with mouths full of tops into late December. It took a bit for them to discover the bulbs, but then the would eat them right down into the ground. I like the does to go into a long, cold, deep snow winter in good physical condition. And now I'd like to provide a kick start to the spring and fawning time.
I should probably add that we are only talking 8 -12 deer with any regularity and they are mule deer, so when the browse is good the supplemental feed is not used or needed. I also feed some grain in November , December and into January at which time they head for the big timber till spring.
But happy does means bucks will cruise through my stand area starting in November, scent checking on their rounds. And sometimes we meet!
