Trying to put a strategy together for planting this off season. I'll layout what my property generally looks like:

About 75 acres, a good 60-70% of which are 3 fields that are planted in soybeans every summer for cash crop, beans are cut late summer or early fall then winter wheat is planted as a cover crop that comes up thru winter. None of these fields are planted for the express purpose of attracting deer although the beans obviously do before and just after they are cut, but once they are gone I don't really see the deer browsing the wheat that much. The rest of the property is a hardwood creek bottom and slough, very swampy at times with fair amount of white oaks, a couple small pine thickets.

I have a few smaller spots in mind between these 3 ag fields that I could plant, just wondering what you would plant given what the deer will already have available to them with the beans and wheat in these large fields?

Dr. Harper suggests that studies show pure oats are the best attractant strictly for harvest plots. It sounds like you have nutrition taken care of, so you're looking just for an attractant.

Could you pay the farmer to leave a few rows of beans standing for early season hunting? During a mild fall and winter, you could get good mileage out of that arrangement.

I would offer to pay the farmer for a few acres of soybeans along the edges to be left. I like Buck Forage Oats also.

Good thought about asking for some soybean rows to be left, I have no idea why it never occurred to me before. I will look into it.

Plant pear and crabapples

What about frost seeding clover for Spring, opinions?

Brassicas like rape.

I had very lackluster results with my attempt at winter seeding clover. I think it was partially due to infrequent rainfall so I wouldn't rule out trying it again one day.

I've been seeing for most clover blends that right now until early March is the plant dates. Do you think you could get a clover plot established planting it by hand, much like you would a no-plow small plot? The places I'm looking at planting in clover are at their largest 1/4 of an acre or smaller. I've got about 3-4 spots in mind.

I'd plant oats in the small areas you are talking about and fertilize the crap out of a few corners of that top sewn wheat

Atoler, wait until fall to plant oats correct?

I wouldn't plant perrenial clovers late winter or spring. I would plant in the fall. They need time to develope their root system and it needs several months to do this, before we have hot dry summers.

Thanks blumsden

I agree with Blum if you're looking for the best results. But I would think it would be okay to try a planting now, as long as you realize you may not get optimum results. What could it hurt? It may give your deer a little something to eat that they wouldn't otherwise have had. If you choose to plant now, just realize that Blum is right and a fall planting will probably yield better results.

Cool, I may wait until fall anyhow with all this warm "winter" weather we've been having it might make it tough to grow a Spring plot with all the competing weeds and such.

What could/should I be doing now and leading up to the fall plant time for these areas to prepare for best results? When to fertilize, lime, roundup, etc?

Lime now, yesterday would be better.