Last year I converted over half of our plots over to WMS Alabama Blend and there was a noticeable difference in the deer sightings per the reports. Now some plots that are sandy or have soil that does not grow well, we left with wheat to save on the overall cost. Even with wheat, it does not thrive by any means and typically will yellow. These are also places that we can not get ample amounts of lime to due to their seclusion but the plots are in really good locations.

I have been reading here and there about cereal rye. I guess my question is, would the cereal rye be better suited for the areas where the soil is far less than optimal? My thoughts are to rid the wheat and mix 50/50 oats and rye on these plots, and then hit with 300lbs acre of trip 17 followed by 100lbs an acre of ammonia in December? My local co-op usually carries Abruzi and Wintergrazer, what would you recommend?

I have used Marshall rye with good success.

Do not use rye grass, make sure it's cereal /crop rye. Rye grass is good for erosion control , bout it.

Without a doubt will be Cereal Rye.

Rye grass is great for cattle. Not for deer.

Rye grain is the hardiest thing you can plant. I have also been using a mix with Triticale in it the last two years and it worked out well on a new poor field.

Triticale gives you the best of both worlds. If I wasn’t using that I’d plant cosaque black oats.

Rye is your best bet for poor soil.

Out of curiosity, how much does Triticale usually run?

Everybody wants to hate ryegrass, seems to be the popular thing to do these days. Deer do eat it and eat a lot of it. It is high in protein. It will grow where nothing else will. Not my fist option, but sometimes can be the best option.

Deer will eat it, that's not the problem. It is very dominant and will choke out other things you plant. I've got plots in places that used to be pasture that got overseeded with ryegrass in the fall years ago. It's a pine plantation that hasn't had cows on it in 15 years but the ryegrass is still there and I've been fighting it for years. It's got staying power

It's a cult like mentality against rye grass. The deer I plant for go nuts over Marshall or gulf rye grass. One evening last year I counted 15 deer feeding in one half acre plot throughout the afternoon and early evening. That plot got hammered every night and yet it still looked good throughout the season. Nothing grows faster or gross better in poor soil than rye grass.

Agree with y’all. Deer will do a good number on ryegrass and it’s fairly easy to grow. That being said, there’s a lot of other good options out there to plant for deer. All depends on situation and goals.

Cereal rye would be my choice. Wheat is actually pretty finicky and takes a lot of nitrogen to keep it growin g well. Cereal rye is actually a nitrogen scavenger and used by farmers to take up in excess nitrogen and recycle it back to the soil. It doesn't require nearly as much N to be attractive.

Lol i have planted ryegrass and had deer eat it. I terminated it before going to seed. With that being said my friend showed me a whole bunch of pictures of deer in his plot "eating ryegrass" I zoomed in and the deer had a radish in their mouths. Then i zoomed down. There was radish, clover, winter peas all in with ryegrass. I typically like to do triticale and black oats or bfo or cheap oats with triticale then come back 3 to 4 weeks later and top sow heavy cereal rye.

I started mixing in 4 50lb bags of marshall and nelson rye years ago. The deer will eat it. They seem to like the Nelson rye the best. It will definitely hold turkeys too. I cut the stomach open on a buck killed this year and it was slam full of marshall rye.