Deer and coastal grass question

[jcamp]

May be a silly question, but will deer eat/use coastal to bed in?


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[Rubi513]

May be a silly question, but will deer eat/use coastal to bed in?


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We have deer in our pastures regularly, so I guess they are eating it...

[jcamp]

Just wondering if i let it go could it do the same thing for me as say planting switchgrass for a foot plot screen. Won’t be tall enough i guess though unless we get this kind of rain every year and i keep cattle off of it


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[ghenson82]

They might be out in the coastal with their head down, but I was told that they're eating the forbs and browse instead of the actual grasses

[texan16]

My house is basically sitting in the middle of a coastal field. Deer will definitely use the coastal field as a bedding area but they wont eat much of the grass, if any at all. They will feed through the field browsing on other stuff, but wont eat much of the coastal.

[Hawkpuppy 1]

Whitetail don't eat coastal to any degree. They will bed in it, but is not considered a food source

[Blackmouth]

Deer only eat about 10-15% of their diet in grass and that is usually new growth that hasn't lignified. They will bed down in it especially if it is taller.

Switchgrass would be a much better option in my opinion except for the fact that the initial expense will be higher to get it planted. However, unlike coastal, you won't have to fertilize or practice weed control on switchgrass and the switchgrass does well in wet conditions like now. It is taller so it will provide better cover and produce a lot of seed. It is a bunch grass so driving over it won't be as smooth as a coastal field, unless hogs have gotten into it.

[jcamp]

Thank yal! . Definitely thinking at this point i an going to frost seed switchgrass around my food plot to screen it this fall.


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[jcamp]

Or screen it with Egyptian wheat


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[Blackmouth]

Egyptian wheat would definitely be a good screen but being an annual, you may have to do it every year unless the seeds are good and resprout for you but may not be as thick as the original planting.

[jcamp]

Egyptian wheat would definitely be a good screen but being an annual, you may have to do it every year unless the seeds are good and resprout for you but may not be as thick as the original planting.

No doubt!


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