Another thing to consider here is your objective. Folks trying to do QDM on scale have very different goal than someone trying to improve hunting. For QDM the key is plugging holes in your BCC Bucket. This is not the case for folks that are hunting focused only. When deer are ignoring any particular food source, it is simply because there is some other food source that they deem preferential on the risk/reward scale. The most attractive and nutritious food source can be ignored by deer if they perceive the risk to access it high and a less attractive but sufficient food source is available at a perceived low risk.
For folks focused on hunting, the attractiveness of the crop, the location of the crop with respect to cover, the amount of human activity, the timing of the crop's peak, the relative attractiveness compared to other options during hunting season, are the primary factors that come into play.
For folks doing QDM, the key is figuring out when nature is stingy with quality food and providing a quality food source during that period. If nature is stingy, the food source does not need to be particularly attractive, just high quality. When deer have nothing else, they will use it. Location is less important because when food is scarce, deer will tolerate more risk.
Clover is king for QDM in most areas. That is because it provides quality food over more months of the year for a lower cost than anything else I can think of, and it is not picky about soil conditions. Once established, it can handle heavy browsing. My clover plots are not the most likely feeding locations for deer during hunting season in my area. Nature is bountiful in the fall and early winter here. On good mast crop years it is rare to see deer in the fields. Clover is the anchor of our QDM program. While it is easy to identify primary stress periods like the dead of winter and heat/drought of summer here, there are many smaller lulls that nature has that are much less obvious. Since clover is available for such long time periods it covers many of these. We still plant soybeans or some warm season annual to cover the major summer stress period when clover may be dormant. We also plant crops like turnips to cover that winter period when clover goes dormant or may become inaccessible.
If I was hunting focused, I would use clover where it worked, but it would not be my anchor. If deer were not using it during the time period I was trying to attract them, I would first look at location and human intrusion during that period, and then try another crop. I've found nothing that will pull my deer off acorns on a good mast crop year. If my focus was on QDM and deer were not using my clover, I'd do a reassessment of the foods available over the year within a 3 mile radius and try to get a better handle on local stress periods. I would also double check to make sure I'm not misreading the use of clover over the 12 month period.
Thanks,
Jack
