Management. The right fall food plot can attract deer from opening day through the late season. If you have a moderate deer population they will keep the plants knocked back enough they'll never peg. Over the years there have been a lot of improvements and developments in hunting strategies in order to attain some good catch. Personally, I plant my soybeans the last week of April. If you have wild turkeys in your area, you may find them munching on your Cowpeas. A second reason to plant food plots is to make deer more visible for viewing or photography. Planting Grain Sorghum. Southern peas are also called cowpeas, field peas, crowder peas, and black-eyed peas. Most managers plant brassicas for their attractive green forage. *A great food plot program is a diverse food plot program. Red Ripper Cowpeas also grow better in sandier soils than the Iron Clay Cowpeas. • Cowpeas Another option is to plant cowpeas or a variety of various types of summer peas legume called Lablab. Deer love cotton fields. Sow cowpeas at 10 to 14 kg/ha of good quality seed under dryland conditions, with 18 to 35 cm row spacings, to give a plant population of 90,000 to 130,000 plants/ha (9 to 13 plants/square metre). Plant lablabat about 15 pounds per acre, preferably in rows. per 1000 sq. Red Ripper Cowpeas are a warm-season legume used as an added ingredient to spring, summer and fall food plots for wildlife. They are extremely high yielding in forage mass with high protein levels. Always try to plant before a good rain.

How to Grow: Sow seed 1 in. For high-energy and protein, combine soybeans, cowpeas and corn or corn, cowpeas and American jointvetch, a mixture that tolerates heavier grazing. Austrian winter peas: Rival warm-season plantings of soybeans and cowpeas in their attractiveness to deer. The yield and protein content is much higher in the greens than the root bulbs, but some food-plotters love to have the root bulbs because whitetails love them and will dig deep for them. Iron-clay cowpeas will provide excellent forage for deer throughout summer and fall especially after the quality of most native vegetation is decreased. While you’ll experience lower yields than if you were growing them in the ground, you can easily cultivate cowpeas in containers that are at least 12 inches deep. Cowpeas are a favorite for a good hardy southern area food plot. You can also mix in cool season forage like cowpeas, clover or … The three different types of cowpeas have different blooming dates. Many landowners, managers, and hunters derive satisfac-tion from observing deer. Don’t Miss: 6 Food Plots on a Budget per acre - Broadcast Rates of 20-30 lbs. deep, 2 in. Red Ripper Cowpeas are annual late maturing peas that provide feed for quail & deer in the fall. Cowpeas can also be planted in 15 to 30 inch rows. Cowpea, also known as black-eyed pea or iron-and-clay pea, is a viny, warm-season annual legume that provides palatable, high-protein summer nutrition for deer.When the plant matures and bears peas, it makes an excellent source of food and cover for turkey, quail, dove, and other game birds. ft. When used as forage, it should only be lightly grazed after flowering. Click to see full answer. Cowpeas cannot tolerate water logged soils. Planting forage like corn on a smaller property will provide food and habitat for deer in a small amount of space. Even after blooming, each type of pea continues to grow and provide forage. Plant to the rate of 60 lb. In this manner, are cowpeas good for deer? Rank: a notch above cowpeas. Landowners who are managing their land for white-tailed deer may consider planting food plots to provide a supplemental food source (Figure 1). By whatever name you call them, they're an old favorite in the South and can be grown where both days and nights are warm for a period of 60-90 days. Cowpeas can be planted from spring through early fall. Arrow Seed’s Deer Delight blend contains turnips, forage peas, forage soybeans, and two varieties of … I recommend using a rate of 70 to 80 pounds per acre of soybeans and mix cowpeas in at a rate of 30 to 40 pounds per acre. It is very tolerant to deer pressure once established and has good regrowth potential. This plant is closely related to the ornamental garden plant called hyacinth bean. The seeds mature in about 90-100 days. They eat the young plants and enjoy the insects that the plant attracts. I recommend planting peanuts for deer. Type: warm season annual legume Uses: Iron and clay cowpeas are perhaps the most popular peas for wildlife enthusiasts planting warm season plots for deer. and yea the current crop of stalks may be unable to recover. OR Plant 3-5 lb. I'm not sure which part of the plant they eat, but I would not count on the fields being deserts. If drilling, plant at a rate of 35 to 45 pounds per acre. The plants are more attractive and palatable when blooming. On average, cowpeas cost less than a dollar per pound, and seed is usually easy to find at the local seed store. It is best to start planting in the spring and then incorporating new crops throughout the summer and fall. / acre can be used on row planting. Find out a stable base of seed varieties to include first, before ever adding soybeans for deer next, by reading this "Fall Food Plot Rotation Strategy".. In deer hunting, one of the most effective strategy is to have a soybean plot in your property. For a high-energy food source early in the winter, choose corn and both grain and forage sorghum. Pea-type one will bloom in around 6- to 7- weeks, pea-type two will bloom out in about 9- weeks and pea-type three in approximately 12- weeks. You can even grow cowpeas in containers! Smaller deer food plots will not attract as much deer, but they are still effective. In irrigated areas and higher rainfall districts, rates can be increased to 20 kg/ha (190,000 plants/ha). Where to Plant. In addition, they can provide more than 22 percent protein and stand up well to heavy grazing. Deer also seem to know when food is most palatable and nutritious, which is why this is the time to plant your fall plots; so they’ll be most attractive during hunting season. This photo is of root bulbs from BioLogic’s Deer-RADISH. If there are several buds left after defoliation, the plant will regenerate. This is an annual legume that provides forage and seeds for deer and game birds alike, and can be planted in early March through September depending upon the climate zone. On some properties, establishing and maintaining food plots can provide supplemental food and nutrition for deer, but food plots should never be considered a substitute for managing the native vegetation to provide quality food sources. How to Plant Soybeans for Your Best Deer Food Plots. They are excellent for quail, dove and deer. apart in rows 3-6 ft. apart, thinning to 4 in. Broadcast grain sorghum at a rate of 10-15 lbs/acre. They tend to be productive throughout the summer. Planting Iron & Clay Cowpeas. Increased visibility also may benefit landowners involved in ecotourism, which is a growing industry. When dragging your food plots, be sure to cover the seed one-half to one inch deep. You Only Need to Plant a Food Plot Once. Deer and rabbits like this vegetable, too. Don’t plant any deeper than 1 ½ inches. ... My go-to species for spring are: cowpeas, sunflowers, hybrid rape, sweet clover, crimson clover, tillage radish, soybeans and spring oats. Lablab produces higher protein levels (21 to 35 percent) and persists longer than cowpeas into fall. You can grow buckwheat in almost any soil … While they have a few spring food plot blends that would work great for you, two stand out. Sunn Hemp: This plant came from India and dates back to 600 B.C. They will eat the young plants, and nip tender leaves. The anticipation of hunting trips and hopeful encounters with the deer we have been watching all summer is at its peak. Sprouts are an immediate attractor for deer. Then, drag or rake the plot to ensure seeds are covered – up to an inch deep. Peanuts aren't expensive, seed peanuts are usually around $0.70 a pound. apart. Deer love its taste. This will leave plenty of room for the roots to develop, and will also give you room to insert stakes if needed. If there aren’t any, deer will likely overgraze the lablab and strip plants down to the stem before they can reach maturity. For best results, cowpeas should be planted in moist soil that is well drained with soil temperature of 65 degrees. ~~~ Red Ripper Cowpeas are a warm-season legume used as an added ingre It is able to withstand summer heat and drought better than other legumes. Cowpeas grow quickly when planted in September when moisture is available. Contact your county's agriculture extension agent to see if it's legal to plant wildlife forage. Annual summer food plots, particularly those that consist of forage legumes such as soybeans, cowpeas, or American joint vetch, tend to address the late-summer nutritional stress period for deer much more effectively than the perennial white clovers (e.g., Duranna or Ladino) upon which many hunters rely. If you don’t have the means to fence deer out of the food plot while the lablab plants grow to maturity, it will help to ensure alternative food sources are in close proximity. Seed should be drill planted at 40 pounds or broadcast at 40 to 60 pounds per acre. The combination of winter-hardy oats, iron and clay cowpeas and arrowleaf clover works well in any area that receives 35 inches or more of rainfall each year, specifically in East Texas, Higginbotham said. Cowpeas can be used as forage, hay, and silage and is suitable for all classes of livestock and wildlife. Growing Cowpeas in Containers. Deer will forage for the young beans. Plant the entire 2 acres in cowpeas at 100 lb per acre, then plant … You just have to plant the right stuff. Whether you decide on planting fall or spring food plots for deer and turkey, Arrow Seed ® has you covered. If broadcasting, plant at a rate of 55 to 65 pounds per acre. This article will explore what deer food plot seed to have on hand to plant this spring, both early and later when the soil starts to warm up. Iron and clay cowpeas are one of the most popular peas for wildlife enthusiasts who are planting warm season plots for deer and other wildlife. Planting during the late summer and early fall for the upcoming hunting season is one of my favorite times of the year. The deer love the small plants and will sometimes strip a newly seeded area if the deer population is heavy. In the South, I recommend planting your soybeans in late April to early May. The cowpea plant continues fixing nitrogen in the soil right up until it goes to seed, and it isn't fussy about soil quality, so farmers often grow cowpeas as a cover crop in poor soil. buy some field peas, plant them at 6" apart, and the rows 6" apart, broad cast other crop seed such as turnip, radish to draw deer off the beans , these will germinate fast and help your beans. That's cheaper than peas. It is extremely high yielding, high in protein and productive throughout the summer. To maximize nitrogen fixing, a cowpea inoculant should be used prior to planting. Cowpeas have a good growth rate, and with proper planting and timely rains, they are able do well on a wide range of soil types. Don't plan on producing actual peanuts (the crop), deer love to eat the vines as much as iron and clay peas. Plant seed approximately ½ to ¾ inch deep. Crimson clover : Clovers are generally planted in a mix with other cool-season annuals. Leaves are larger than cowpeas and it grows faster when fertilized.