Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Quality Deer Management Throw n Mow Q&A

I agree with what others have said....once the deer wipe out the beans then you'll likely have plenty of native forbs and grasses come in if your soil is fertile. The amount and native forage you grow during the summer is a pretty good indication as to your fields fertility. A good fertile field with nutrients in check will grow all the biomass summer you need through the native plant community.

This part of the answer is for you and Cal as well.....The easiest thing to do to produce plenty of summer biomass is to get your soil nutrients in line such as Ca, P, & K.....hit it with a dose or two of N throughout the summer if needed.....and allow the native plants to do their thing.....they will produce plenty of biomass for you as well as repairing the soil in the process with their root growth. The deer will still use the fields, picking and choosing the plants they like. I haven't done squat to my field this year but I still have deer out here browsing in it every night. The soil is fertile and the plant community is very diverse. There's probably 25-30+ different plant species growing in and around the edge of my field. Species composition will change as fertility increases and organic matter builds. Seven or eight years ago my field was nearly pure crabgrass during the summer due to the degraded conditions.