Originally Posted By: CNC
Furflyin....I think the reason some people see deer eat a certain plant and other don't is a combination of a couple factors:

1) How much natural food is present in relation to the deer population. Deer will eat many things but prefer some plants to others. If there are a lot of deer and little food then they won’t be as picky. They will eat what they have to in order to survive. In contrast, if there is lots of food and few deer, then they will pick and choose what they want and need, being more selective. Its kind of all just relative.

2)To some extent I think the type and fertility of the soil plays a role in how palatable a plant may be. That being said, I think some plants can reach a palatable state more easily than others under less than ideal conditions while others may require a different growing environment to reach a fuller potential and become more palatable to the deer.

As an example....BSK's soil, probably having a higher natural CEC than mine, might just be able to hold more N than my soil and therefore wheat is able to grow better....so in turn its more palatable and he sees the deer eat it, while I see them ignore it. It might just be one slight difference in the growing conditions that keep it from really being an apples to apples comparison.

I tend to not buy the notion that we each have deer with vastly different taste buds even though I do recongize that they have different natural diets as you move around the country. I instead think that its something to do with other factors that we might just be unaware of.


So what do you attribute them not eating turnip greens and barely eating rape in the same field with kale and diakon radishes that get eaten to the ground? All of which were planted in the same field with wheat, buck forage oats, rye and AWP's. The AWP's haven't been eaten much either.

I plant salad bars. I mix my own stuff. I haven't planted turnip greens in the past 2 years because the deer on our place won't touch them.

The mix I've planted the past 2 years:

Per 2 acres:
100 lbs of wheat
50 lbs of rye
50 lbs of buck forage oats (because they are the same price as forage oats here and are very cold hardy)
50 lbs of Austrian Winter Peas (or Whistlers)
5 lbs of rape
5 lbs of kale
5 lbs of diakon radishes
10 lbs Crimson Clover
600 lbs of 15-5-10 (300lbs per acre)
Lime as needed every other year

I usually plant 5-6 acres on our farm with that recipe in the fall. This fall I will only plant 1 1/2 acres. The other "food plot" ground is covered in a luscious stand of Alfalfa.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14