No Rye Grass suggested

[deer farmer]

With fall food plotting coming soon, I thought this might get some conversation going and so maybe some experts might join in. I am no expert, But I will start, I like a good conversation When most here talk of rye they are talking rye cereal and not rye grass. Deer are not grass eaters !! Rye grass looks good in the winter when most plants are down and brown. But, I will say it again, Deer are not grass eaters. It looks great to some deer hunters when rye grass is all green and there are deer tracks in the grass. But in all my reading (years of reading) from wildlife biologist, deer do not feed on grass, UNLESS they are starving!! I read once, yrs ago, where in Mississippi, in heavy tree farming areas, where little sunlight hits the ground and little to no native plants would grow, the deer would feed on rye grass because the deer were starving. So, here you go, anyone want to add to this Pop corn anyone

[WLKRTXRNGR]

Great topic and question.... Looking forward to learning from this one.....

[Big pig]

Elbon rye, wheat and oats for me.
I only figured out the elbon rye in the last few years
Not always easy to find

Been planting oat hunting plots since a kid with my dad.

[Slick8]

Interesting way of putting it.

I don't do food plots due to hunting in cattle country but the rancher drills about 15-20 acres of oats in his hay fields and there's more and more wild clover every year with the recent mild / wet winters.

So by definition, they do eat leafy plants; oats, beans, corn, clover etc...some of those listed such as corn are only when emerging so basically a forbe; leafy plants...but not grass.

I know I've seen them eating emerging coastal in a hay field just after the fall cut...is that not grass? After watching them feed through on hand corn, I've walked into the coastal to see what they were eating, thinking it was possibly some small clover. The new coastal shoots had been freshly browsed.

The deer on my lease are far from starving.

[JeffK]

It is certainly not there prefered choice but they will eat rye grass. Watched deer graze on it many times in fields planted for cattle. But don't plant it in your food plots.

Interesting things is I noticed a lot of the deer had shi##ed up behinds, guessing from it.

[Slick8]

I've seen this before, it seems rye doesn't agree with them.

[deer farmer]

I posted it this way because I was feeling my Oats and was feeling a little rowdy before church this morning And was hoping some might learn from discussion

[lovemylegacy]

Man, we have killed a lot of deer out of Rye grass patches. There was other stuff to eat, but they seemed to come to Rye grass especially when it was cold. I have family members that still plant Rye patches and kill deer in them.
I would argue with a biologist about deer and Rye grass consumption. Seen to many eating it. Turkey love it too.

[18ncs]

Our biologist used to preach to fertilize honeysuckle patches. Until we had a couple of freezes that knocked back the browse and the acorns were gone you did not see a lot of deer in the green fields ...during shooting hours at least.

[Slick8]

Agreed, I see most of the green field activity after Thanksgiving.

I really like to watch them on cold dreary even misty rain days. It seems they'll all be out during mid day. Hit the rifle blind with a thermos full of soup or chilli. Good time to doe hunt, go out about noon and be back in time to clean in the daylight.

I'll be looking over a 15 acre hay field that's drilled with oats come December. It will be loaded with deer every evening.

[tex4k]

Your stating that as an absolute, which is not quite the case, deer don't eat a lot of things in its mature state, when plants are in their young tender stage they are eaten often. All animals have a preferred type of food, it changes with the seasons and range conditions. All herbivores are attracted to and prefer the most nutrient dense forage available at any given time.

[unclefish]

It really depends on the type of rye grass. Your typical annual rye grass is not a preferred deer food in most cases....and its invasive as heck and extremely hard to get rid of.

There are some high sugar content rye grass varieties that deer love. High sugar content is the key. Sucraseed has a high sugar rye grass that the folks on QDMA rave about. I have never tried it personally. Southern sweet spot. Some other seed companies have high sugar content rye grasses that would probably make a good deer plot too.

I like variety in my plots...each serves it purpose. I don't like monocultures which is what alot rye grass plots end up as....because they are so invasive with their seed production.

I prefer cereal rye because my deer love it but also because of the soil benefits it provides after the deer are through eating it.....huge root systems, organic matter, allelopathic affects (weed suppression).

[Mertzon Man]

Man, we have killed a lot of deer out of Rye grass patches. There was other stuff to eat, but they seemed to come to Rye grass especially when it was cold. I have family members that still plant Rye patches and kill deer in them.
I would argue with a biologist about deer and Rye grass consumption. Seen to many eating it. Turkey love it too.

I agree, have planted it and they like it when it fist comes up.

[Buff]

I dont know beans about food plots.
I always plant a mixture of Cow peas, clover, wheat and bob oats.


That said, we had a deer lease near Brady. Late in the season grass that to me looked like rye came up under nearly all of the mesquite trees.
Every deer we killed ( we killed a lot) had a belly full of what ever kind of grass it was

[Drycreek3189]

I dont know beans about food plots.
I always plant a mixture of Cow peas, clover, wheat and bob oats.


That said, we had a deer lease near Brady. Late in the season grass that to me looked like rye came up under nearly all of the mesquite trees.
Every deer we killed ( we killed a lot) had a belly full of what ever kind of grass it was

You may not know beans about food plots, but the products you named are all good food plot choices. I've planted straight soybeans and Round Up Ready soybeans, but iron/clay peas are the cheapest and easiest spring food plot to grow IMO. Lots of bang for your buck and high in protein. Same goes for wheat and oats in the fall. Elbon rye is great also. And for a perennial, you can't beat Whitetail Institute clover. There are many other good products, but these are staples for me, tried and proven ! YMMV