Switch grass for cover

[Hogmauler]

Is this good to have on your property for deer cover. I know I need food, water, and cover to possibly hold a few bucks on small acreage. The biologist told me that basically I was thinking wrong about yaupon. That does won’t or have a hard time fawning in it. That’s 90% of the underbrush on the property. If I removed it what would you replace it with?

[Lincoln Hawk]

What county are you in and how would you describe the soil?

[Hogmauler]

Robertson and Sandy loam

[friscopaint]

switch grass boomed in NW Oklahoma when CRP came in and so did the deer population. This was pretty open wheat country with some shelter belts of trees and some good stands of trees but the CRP is what made them boom. Growing up there were never any deer and now it's a deer hunting mecca, Alfalfa and Major county.

[Lincoln Hawk]

For fawning cover, a heavy grassy stand is king. Switchgrass is an awesome choice. The Alamo variety can get quite tall - 6' plus. It's best use is in loamy bottomlands, but it does fine in sandy loam uplands in my experience. The Blackwell variety is said to do better in lighter soils (especially upland sites) and it's not quite as robust. Either would be a good choice imo.

If it were me, I'd mix in some little bluestem, Indiangrass, sideoats grama, and green sprangletop for a little diversity.

[Hogmauler]

For fawning cover, a heavy grassy stand is king. Switchgrass is an awesome choice. The Alamo variety can get quite tall - 6' plus. It's best use is in loamy bottomlands, but it does fine in sandy loam uplands in my experience. The Blackwell variety is said to do better in lighter soils (especially upland sites) and it's not quite as robust. Either would be a good choice imo.

If it were me, I'd mix in some little bluestem, Indiangrass, sideoats grama, and green sprangletop for a little diversity.

Ok. I had read Alamo switchgrass’s did well. Not quite sure how or where to apply the seeds though. The deer love being able to get to the mast when it falls off so where do y’all recommend? Awesome info! Now where in the world do you buy this ?

[Lincoln Hawk]

The grasses I recommended previously will NOT do so well in the shade of oaks. Most warm season grasses generally perform poorly without a fair amount of sun.

For grass cover in shaded areas look at Canada wildrye and plains bristlegrass.

Turner Seed Co. can fix you up.

[Not the first]

You might contact your local biologist with TP&W and see about a program for planting native grasslands called Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB). I was awarded a contract and the state give me the seed and allowed me to use a no till drill to plant some native grass in the back of our place a couple of years ago. They even brought out the roundup and other spray to kill the bahia /bermudagrass prior to seeding. I did all the labor. It has not taken off because of the drought but is showing some promise. They look at your location and give you a score based on some factors like endangered species, etc., so no telling how you will score but it would be free to find out. I am on the OSR in southern Robertson County. My biologist was Bobby Allcorn, but I hear he took another job so not sure who you would contact.

[Hogmauler]

The grasses I recommended previously will NOT do so well in the shade of oaks. Most warm season grasses generally perform poorly without a fair amount of sun.

For grass cover in shaded areas look at Canada wildrye and plains bristlegrass.

Turner Seed Co. can fix you up.

The oaks aren’t so thick that they prevent sunlight The majority seem like post oaks and not the big massive live oak variety.

[Hogmauler]

You might contact your local biologist with TP&W and see about a program for planting native grasslands called Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB). I was awarded a contract and the state give me the seed and allowed me to use a no till drill to plant some native grass in the back of our place a couple of years ago. They even brought out the roundup and other spray to kill the bahia /bermudagrass prior to seeding. I did all the labor. It has not taken off because of the drought but is showing some promise. They look at your location and give you a score based on some factors like endangered species, etc., so no telling how you will score but it would be free to find out. I am on the OSR in southern Robertson County. My biologist was Bobby Allcorn, but I hear he took another job so not sure who you would contact.

Yes I had the TP&W private land biologist come out three years ago. It’s free and he was a great guy. I believe he was the senior biologist at TP&W. I’ll call him again. I’m off 46.