BOB clover blends.

[Peplin Creek]

I am turning over a small 1/8 of an acre kill plot back into clover. I could just create my own mix like I have done many times in the past but I feel like trying out a BOB clover mix. “Designed for food plots”. Anyone have success with certain brands that they would care to share?

 

[yoderjac]

I'm glad you started this thread. BOB mixes have a niche for guys planting small plot for attraction where the high per pound seed cost is not a significant factor because of the small area planted. In fact, the cost is often less then mixing your own when working with small qualities. There are lots of folks reading the forum that may not even join or post that are working with small acreage. This will be a great thread for them. This is often not the case for folks working at scale doing QDM.

I'm gong to make some cautions about BOB mixes. I know you know this, but other readers may not. I won't address the high per pound cost because that is not a factor for these folks, but on thing that is a big factor is Brand/Mix Name. Never bother with the brand or mix name on the bag. They are meaningless. Every bags of seed sold for planting requires a seed tag. It tells you what is really in the bag. Many companies will sell SuperMegaUltraHumungusBuckMix, or something like that. From year to year, what seed is actually in the bag may change significantly. Often this is done based on the price of seed that year. So, when someone says I love BrandX SuperMegaUltraHumungusBuckMix and you go out and buy it, you may be using something very different than they die last year or a few years ago.

Next, when you look at the seed mix, check for seed like ryegrass. Many BOB companies include ryegrass in their mixes. Deer will eat ryegrass but it is not high on their preference list. It is inexpensive and very hard to screw up. It will grow almost anywhere and can be very hard to get rid of in some areas under some conditions. BOB companies like to use it because it makes the uninformed very happy. No matter what mistakes they make, they end up with a nice green field and consider it success.

Finally, it is important for folks responding to this thread to put their location and USDA zone in their profile. A particular mix may do very well in one region and very poorly in another.

Ok, now for my recent (and on going experience). It is an in-between-er. It is Durana clover. It is not a mix but it is sold with a Buck on the Bag. I love the persistence and drought tolerant characteristics in my area. It is slow to establish. I mix it with Winter Rye (which is available to most folks locally) in 50 lb bags. Since it can be mixed with Durana at 60 to 100 lbs/ac, full bags work for the small plotter. I always plant in the fall which give clover a jump on summer weeds. The key to Durana is timely mowing of the winter rye the first spring to release the Durana. Each time the WR hits a foot or so, I mow it back to 6".

Good Thread Pep!

Thanks,

Jack

 

[chummer]

Whitetail Institute is hands down the best I have tried, and I have tried most of them.

 

[swat1018]

WI Imperial Whitetail Clover. The only BOB mix I still use from time to time. It never lets me down, as long as the pH is correct.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Whitetail Institute is hands down the best I have tried, and I have tried most of them.

Based off of establishment and usage i’m Assuming?

 

[BobinCt]

Ive tried Whitetail Institute products on my smaller plots as well and had great plots. I also have a great PH and fertilize accordingly. I have a small kill plot of WTI clover. My suggestion to you is to start the clover plot in the Fall with a cover crop and not the Spring.

 

[DIY]

I do small food plots with ATV equipment. None of mine are more than 3/4 acre. I’ve used several BOB mixes and have done several of my own non-BOB mixes. I really like some of the WINA mixes for small plots.

In my experience, WINA Imperial clover is the king of little food plots. It contains about 1/3 berseem mixed with their propriety ladino varieties. That said, a better option might be to buy a small bag of WINA Fusion, which is WINA Imperial clover mixed with WINA chicory. A third option if your pH is good would be to buy a small bag of WINA Alfa-Rack Plus, which is alfalfa mixed with WINA Imperial clover and WINA chicory. WINA Imperial clover and WINA Fusion will cost you about $35 for 1/2 acre of seed. WINA Alfa-Rack Plus is pricier at about $35 per 1/4 acre, although you can sometimes find it on sale this time of year. Amazon just had Alfa-Rack Plus on sale for $25 a bag (1/4 acre).

Last year I planted a couple small plots with Tecomate’s Monster Mix, which is Tecomate’s clover-chicory blend. It has a larger variety of clovers than WINA Imperial clover, and it has performed very well. However, trail cam activity seems to show that my WINA clover-chicory plots are favored by our deer. All are in secluded locations, and the WINA plots just get more deer activity.

I have also used the Antler King clover blend. It grew fine and deer ate it.

If I had 1/8 of an acre to work with and hunt over, I’d go with WINA Fusion. That clover-chicory blend is very good.

 

[scott44]

I second the Imperial Whitetail Alpha rack plus.

The middle strip, also has some med red clover mixed in it.

 

[Smallplot]

But if you are mixing your own seeds already you may have what it takes on hand. If so, like was pointed out earlier, fall planting with a winter rye of ladino is still an option even for the small plots.

I have had good luck with WI clover.


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[chummer]

Whitetail Institute is hands down the best I have tried, and I have tried most of them.

 

[Mortenson]

Some good rec's for WI, but I don't see how it could be much better than your own mix. This was a ladino/durana plot that'll have given me 5 years when I rotate it back to brassicas next summer. I've been making them ladino/alice since then. One time Paul Knox said Alice would be his single choice in our climate, if he had to narrow it down to one.

 

[Tree Spud]

x2 ^^^^

 

[Nova]

This guy is pretty new to the food plot seed game, but I have tried some of his stuff and really like it.
midwest monster

 

[Smallplot]

Some good rec's for WI, but I don't see how it could be much better than your own mix. This was a ladino/durana plot that'll have given me 5 years when I rotate it back to brassicas next summer. I've been making them ladino/alice since then. One time Paul Knox said Alice would be his single choice in our climate, if he had to narrow it down to one.

You are quite right depending on location. Where I live duranna normally does not have the necessity of the higher tolerance of the summer time dormancy. And from what I have seen many clovers have similar values as it pertains to nutrition. If something works, don’t change it.



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[yoderjac]

Some good rec's for WI, but I don't see how it could be much better than your own mix. This was a ladino/durana plot that'll have given me 5 years when I rotate it back to brassicas next summer. I've been making them ladino/alice since then. One time Paul Knox said Alice would be his single choice in our climate, if he had to narrow it down to one.

View attachment 21886View attachment 21887

Here is my take on WI clover. They have some very good improved varieties of perennial clover in the bag, but they are a small percentage. A lot of the bag in inexpensive annual berseem clover. They claim that the berseem functions as a cover crop for their improved varieties. Their improved varieties have some nice characteristics but so do other improved varieties like Durana. The key is whether the specific characteristics of their improved varieties fit your needs. I use Durana because of the persistence and drought resistance. Others may not have those same needs. WI has a lot of hype, but that does not mean their improved varieties are any better or worse than others, just different. When the cost factor does not matter, the key is matching the characteristics of the clover to your situation.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[DIY]

Here is my take on WI clover. They have some very good improved varieties of perennial clover in the bag, but they are a small percentage. A lot of the bag in inexpensive annual berseem clover. They claim that the berseem functions as a cover crop for their improved varieties. Their improved varieties have some nice characteristics but so do other improved varieties like Durana. The key is whether the specific characteristics of their improved varieties fit your needs. I use Durana because of the persistence and drought resistance. Others may not have those same needs. WI has a lot of hype, but that does not mean their improved varieties are any better or worse than others, just different. When the cost factor does not matter, the key is matching the characteristics of the clover to your situation.

Thanks,

Jack

Roughly 1/3 of the bag is Alex Berseem, another 1/3 is WINA proprietary ladino clovers (3 types), and 1/3 is inert matter and coating.

WI clover is pretty tough. My plot took a beating in the historic TN/GA drought of 2016, which lasted all the way into winter. The following spring the clover bounced back with a vengeance.

I'm interested to see if I notice a deer preference between WI clover and Durana, so I may try a half-n-half plot next year on a 3/4 acre area that we want to move into clover.

 

[DIY]

I second the Imperial Whitetail Alpha rack plus.

The middle strip, also has some med red clover mixed in it.

Very nice. I bought a bag of Alfa Rack Plus to try next year on a small hillside plot that we have. The other one I'm interested in is Edge (mix of sainfoin, small burnet, alfalfa, chicory). I'm curious to see what our deer think of sainfoin and small burnet.

 

[yoderjac]

Roughly 1/3 of the bag is Alex Berseem, another 1/3 is WINA proprietary ladino clovers (3 types), and 1/3 is inert matter and coating.

WI clover is pretty tough. My plot took a beating in the historic TN/GA drought of 2016, which lasted all the way into winter. The following spring the clover bounced back with a vengeance.

I'm interested to see if I notice a deer preference between WI clover and Durana, so I may try a half-n-half plot next year on a 3/4 acre area that we want to move into clover.

Yep, I'd love to be able to use some of their improved clovers but since they don't sell the seed outside a mix, it is just cost prohibitive for my larger scale operation. I doubt you will see an overall usage preference. It seems there are times of the year when different clovers peak and deer will walk through one for another and then do vise versa. I see little overall preference between clover types, and I doubt WTI would break that mold, but I'd be interested to see your comparison observations.

I'm not in big ag country so preference is not a big issue for me. My competition is food in cover. Once a little hunting pressure begins, my deer will opt for less attractive food in a more secure environment. Their daytime use of food plots is much more related to hunting pressure than the crops I plant.

Thanks,

jack

 

[DIY]

I'm not in big ag country so preference is not a big issue for me. My competition is food in cover. Once a little hunting pressure begins, my deer will opt for less attractive food in a more secure environment. Their daytime use of food plots is much more related to hunting pressure than the crops I plant.

Thanks,

jack

Good point. There is definitely some of that happening on our lease (Southeast TN pine plantation). Fall hunting pressure hits and the deer are off the plots and in the piney woods until dark.

 

[yoderjac]

Good point. There is definitely some of that happening on our lease (Southeast TN pine plantation). Fall hunting pressure hits and the deer are off the plots and in the piney woods until dark.

Exactly my situation. We have a pine farm and the only open land around other than our plots is pasture land. We have started to have a reversal of deer behavior here recently. They hunt deer with dogs in our general area when firearm season begins. We would see lots of deer during archery season in our fields in the early season and daytime use would decline slightly over the season. Our muzzleloader season occurs during the rut but the pressure increase and although we had a lot of deer sightings daytime use of fields continued the steady decline. When gun season rolled around and they started running dogs, we had a sharp decline and almost all field use was nocturnal. The only thing that countered that was a mast crop failure which forced deer to use the fields.

We clear-cut about 20 acres for bedding and thinned our pines and executed controlled burns in both a few years ago. Dog hunting in our local area has declined over this period. I have not yet seen one pack of hounds on our farm this year. This year archery season was tough. Because deer now have an abundance of quality food in cover, they have become very sensitive to pressure. Daytime use of fields is down. Muzzleloader season is about the same as far as deer sighting go because it is driven by the rut but daytime use is down. By the time our gun season rolls around, the quality native foods in cover are drying up. That combined with less dog hunting is increasing daytime use during our gun season.

In the fall, hunting pressure is much more important here than attraction.

Thanks,

Jack