Here is west tn I’m surrounded by row crop that alternates from corn to soybeans. I was debating on wether it’s worth the time and money to plant a summer plot or not. Currently have a brassica and cereal grain plot planted to help pull the deer trough winter up until green up. I plan this spring to do some hinge cutting to open up the small patch of woods on the property.

What amount of full/part sun acreage do you have?

Have 10 acres of pasture. Have big oaks on the fence lines so it adds some shade to the edges field is more N/S oriented

You may ought look into the Alfalfa threads here. I have done typical summer stuff for years but will be putting in about 3 acres of Alfalfa next year as an experiment. The last couple of years I have had less than desired outcomes with both beans/corn and a 5 way summer mix. In your case it may give you an added draw over the ag crops in your area since you have them.

I’ve looked at alfalfa, my soil is one step above terrible. Lol, would cost me a fortune to get it that small window of ph that alfalfa needs. I’ve looked really hard at lablab.

plant cow peas / iron clay peas . deer love them , high protein and hardy growers.

Around here, when it warms up, deer just about abandon feeders. Im assuming they start grazing heavy on green shoots. Theres so much natural food around here, it dont really pay off for me to spend much time on summer feed. However, if i can keep the weeds beat back till the end of summer, right before acorns drop, theyll come out of the woods and mow a field down. Then the acorns drop and they abandon the field and go back to the woods a while. Summer plots just arent worth the effort for me, theres already food everywhere.

This and their cheap

Are IC peas a mow and throw option? i got a small plot about an acre is why im asking...........

if you’re surrounded by food, offer them something they don’t. cover and water. nutrition isn’t their limiting factor in the area. sunlight is cheap if you own the property, just takes elbow grease to get it to the ground. and don’t hinge cut, makes a tangled mess. make the cuts close to the ground. stump sprouts/ mineral stumps will pop up from the stump, are far more nutritional than the new growth from hinge cut.

Yeah I did some hinge this year and wish I hadn’t

exactly how i learned as well

Lab Lab would be great. If you decide not to plant, build a few trough feeders with tops and feed high protein feed. That way no money for feed and fertilizer, but lots of good protein for deer and you can place the feeders in places of your choice.

https://mossyoakgamekeeper.com/hunting/equipment/how-to-build-a-trough-style-deer-feeder/

I have tried several things but the only thing that my deer can’t decimate is Eagle Beans with about 10 lbs/ac RR corn. And I plant about 8 acres. I have tried mixes with Lab Lab, peas, sunflowers, sorghum and Buckwheat for two years and had pretty much total failures. The only places that had any legumes is where I have volunteer Teosinte that protected it. So next year it’s back to what works.

[quote=Stoney]Lab Lab would be great. If you decide not to plant, build a few trough feeders with tops and feed high protein feed. That way no money for feed and fertilizer, but lots of good protein for deer and you can place the feeders in places of your choice.

https://mossyoakgamekeeper.com/hunting/equipment/how-to-build-a-trough-style-deer-feeder/



Wish I could buts it’s illegal to feed in my county

Thank you for the heads up!

Brown top millet and sunflowers. Plus you get to bird hunt them in September.

Already the plan!

Why is that? Been thinking about doing some here.

We will be planning cow peas iron clay peas sunflowers and sorghum .
Two seven acres plots.

I saw something, meybe I was reading it, or a video, that says Lab Lab adds 20 inches to your bucks. It's pricy, I think 50 pounds was $150 last year, but that plants more than an acre.

Would be worth it if it’s adds that much!

Are u planting all 10 acres and what deer density? Unless u have an e fence u will probably be wasting time/money on sunflowers. I planted 8 acres of basically what most r suggesting and it was a total fail due to browse decimation. But I have a chit ton of deer. I you are next to a row cropper it may be different but why even plant on the bean rotation. This stuff is expensive to do right.

Only way to get sunflowers up around here at all is to put Milorganite on them. Otherwise deer will browse them immediately.

I paid $85 for 50lbs of Lab Lab last spring.

Planted 6 acres of sunflower, sorghum, brown top millet. 2 acres of each in sections. 0 browse pressure. I’m trying my best to work with my neighbor to grow the herd. All ag around me. Most the deer just follow the creeks. Doubled the population of does yearlings last year from 5 to 10 on camera. Hopefully double again this spring and start shooting on year 3. Not really a need to have summer plot with 100s of acres of corn and soybeans surrounding me, but mainly want the deer to stay on my spot longer.