I hunt in Newton county. What are y'alls opinions on the best spring/summertime food plots for both protein and what deer are really attracted to, for East Texas ?
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Oats, wheat should do good -
Good question Stykbow, I too hunt the Jasper/ Newton area, interested in spring/ summer planting as well. We have tried several different peas, no luck due to overbrowsing. We need something browse tolerant, can grow in our pathetic sandy soil. I have finally got a few other members on board for this year to play around with it.
Sorry Big8, I am new around here, will work on a screenname change.Comment
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I can tell you with confidence that purple hull peas and watermelon's planted in the springtime will bring deer in from miles around until that crop is gone. I've planted a mix of oats and winter peas in early September to keep them around yearly.
This was in Henderson, TX of Rusk Co.
and welcome bigeight :PComment
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I hunt in Polk county and planted a Spring/Summer Plot this year using Tecomate's LabLab Plus. I also disked in 500 lbs of granulated lime and 500 lbs of Triple 13 Fertilizer. For my Fall Food Plot, I planted Tecomate's Ultra Forage. I disked in 300 lbs and Triple 13 Fertilizer and planted. The best thing about both is that I was able to spread the fertilizer with an ATV spreader and then disc with an ATV disc. I threw the seed by hand and dragged an old pallet behind my 4-wheeler to "cover" the seeds. After it came up I just threw out a little more seed by hand in the bare spots. I think it worked really good up there. The picture below is the LabLab Plus this past summer. I'll try to get pics of the Ultra Forage when I'm at the lease this weekend. Our lease is a mixture of sand and red clay...my food plot is planted in a more sandy area.Attached FilesComment
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Trophy7 how did they eat the lablab? Isn't lablab just a mixture of peas?Comment
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If you have the means get a electric fence set up by gallagher and plant iron/clay peas. Keep all the plots fenced off till around July and then gradually take them down to allow deer access. Typically deer do not really need it during the spring green up, they really come into play during the potential stress period of summer. If you want also you can keep an area fenced off all summer and then a few days before bow season opens take the fence down. This will give you a great "honey" hole for early season.Comment
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Trophy, that pic sure looks great.
Do the deer seem to eat it good during the summer
months ?
Thanks guys for the responses.
Anyone else have suggestions?Comment
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Bigeight,
Yes, LabLab Plus is basically a mixture of peas...I think it has about 4 different kinds. It also has some white milo and a couple other things in there as well. I know all of it is high in protein. This is my first year on this lease and this was my first attempt at a food plot and I overseeded (almost too much seed). I can tell that something was eating the stuff especially the white milo, I don't know if was deer or hogs or both. They also ate the bean pods too. My plot is about an acre so it was really hard to tell how much was getting hammered before I mowed it in September to plant the fall plot.Comment
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I planted Biologic Lab-Lab this spring along with oats,clover and some others. Here's what mine looked like with 2 tons of lime per ac and 600lbs of trip13 per ac. East of Crockett, sandy redclay ground.Attached FilesComment
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If you are looking for a grazing tolerant plant, I would suggest trying Alyce clover. I have had good luck with it, the deer love it, stands up well to heavy grazing pressure. I just disced mine under in early November and it was still producing in SW Rusk county. You can plant it with Iron & Clay peas but plant peas first and then overseed with the Alyce, see the above suggestions for limiting grazing until the peas are well established. The Alyce clover, which isn't a true clover is a little slow to establish but once it gets started it is very hardy on sandy soils.Comment
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I hunt near Buffalo and the deer there tear up the Imperial Whitetail clover.Comment
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Nothing will compete with Iron&Clay Cow Peas in E. Texas for spring/summer plots. With proper rain and fertilize you can grow around 6 TONS per ac. of 18+ %protein. The peas in my utilization cages were 56" high, the rest looked like a putting green. Highly recommend only planting IF you have 2 acres or more to plant. Any less will result in failure. Electric fence is also recommendedComment
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Was waiting on this post!Comment
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Do most feed stores have the iron and clay peas, if not where can you get them ?
What about imperial clover, where is the best place to get it, or a similiar clover ?
When is the best time to plant a spring/summer plot ?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn a bit.Comment
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