Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Oops - that was supposed be a reply to disco red - I’m sure he’ll see it though.
Clover plots and doe factories
- Thread starter J Kuch
- Start date
DiSc0Rd
5 year old buck +
i did :) i have 100 lbs of red clover a buddy got me. i had planned on putting half of that in my currently dead field with the rye and brassica im planting this weekend and the other 50 i was going to make my little path with. im not sure how far i will get with 50 lbs in a " S path" design but that is the goal drawn out on a map shows its about 200 yards if it bends the way i want it too. less if i just run a straight line.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I put red clover down at 10 lbs per acre. It’s a one year clover here in Missouri. The ladino I put down anywhere from 4 to 6 pounds per acre. 100 lbs I’d think would do 10 acres.
DiSc0Rd
5 year old buck +
im not sure if it will come back next year or not. i know i will be getting a true perennial down next year if this works so i dont have to do as much work. but it is also an excuse to get out of the house
g squared 23
5 year old buck +
I use clover more for soil building than attraction. It gets a lot of attention first thing in the spring, but the deer (bucks and does) ignore it during the summer months when soybeans are available. A little more attention when the bean leaves start to wilt, but late season it is all about grain.
It’s nice to have around, but will never out compete a standing bean field, and is less attractive to my deer than a wheat plot as well. So, it’s ok. I’d never go all-in on it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It’s nice to have around, but will never out compete a standing bean field, and is less attractive to my deer than a wheat plot as well. So, it’s ok. I’d never go all-in on it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I'd never go all-in on any one crop, but if I could only plant one it would be clover. Attraction is always relative. Who cares about attraction in the summer months. If you have Ag nearby with soybeans, you can let that work in your favor. During the season, attraction relative too, but more factors get involved. Hunting pressure and plot location relatives to cover become much larger factors than the specific crop. As with most things, location plays a role. Bean pods have low attraction in my area unless acorns are unavailable, but deer still seem to be attracted to clover in my small harvest plots. Cereal grains and clover go together like a horse and carriage. Nurse crops of cereal become highly attractive while clover is being established. WR is my favorite because it performs well on marginal soil and has more soil building and nurse characteristics. If you want to have cereal grains for attraction, consider a short-live perennial clover like medium red. I get about 2 years out of it before it is time to rotate. By staggering your fields, you can always have some with cereal nurse crops in them. Grain supports clover establishment and clover supports grain.
Thanks,
Jack
Bill
Administrator
Agreed it will never out compete beans if there’s any left. But I’ve seen deer dig through snow to get to old clover.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I have it as a base in a couple of my plots, deer don’t hit it too hard, but they eat it. I also plant winter rye in the same plot every fall. I think the deer eat the fresh winter rye more then the clover. But they seem to be a good companion for each other.
White Birch Farm
5 year old buck +
A guy who sells clicks on Youtube to guys who have little experience of their own to base their decision making on.
Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
Are we still talking Jeff Sturgis? Trying to read between the lines on that one...but I don't use Youtube for plotting, though I have read his books and he uses the term frequently. His books are full novel phrases like this...I always assumed "doe factory" was his.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
He loves his terms almost as much as he loves telling people he came up with the term 20 years ago.
Victor Van Meter
5 year old buck +
That may be the best explanation I have ever heard!
This is my first year with a dedicated clover plot, although I would say the ratio is 60% clover-40% weeds, but I like the results. I have zero Ag fields in the general vicinity, so I am hoping it pays off when there is far less natural green out there to eat later in the season.
VV
It all gets back to your particular situation, like usual. I don't buy the doe factory theory causing bucks to relocate. Aside from that, after planting food plots for forty years, 34 years of that as part of my job, I now only plant wheat and clover for deer - usually durana clover. I got here because of a number of reasons. Inability to plant a variety of species due to destruction by hogs, overuse by deer, time, cost, weather failure, etc. My durana clover comes back year after year - and is fairly weather proof. It will die back in late August and September if it is hot and dry - but will come back. I plant wheat into my clover plots in late Sep/early Oct to provide a quick Greenup for fall hunting. My clover doesn't really come back strong until late Dec in my area. Deer use the clover strong in the late winter months, and then again in late May - Aug, when the does and fawns need it and the bucks are growing their antlers. There is not ag to speak of in my area. I would not doubt that deer use beans in the summer heavier than they do clover - but I can no longer grow beans due to deer and hog use - so it doesn't really matter. Hogs will graze clover - just like deer - but they don't kill it out. Forage beans used to cost me $100 per acre - per year. I have clover that has been going for four or five years now. Probably saves me a couple thousand dollars a year in planting costs - and upkeep of the clover plots is less, also. But again, this is specific to my area.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Maybe it's based on the food sources around our area (mostly corn and some beans this year), but deer have a clear preference for alfalfa over clover. We have multiple species of clover in mixed stands and an adjacent alfalfa plot that sees triple the browse. For what it's worth, we really don't see bucks using it at all from May to October. I added a few microplots of alfalfa this spring and plan on adding some more mixed with chicory next spring.
BuckSutherland
5 year old buck +
Doe factories are REAL and they can wreck your hunting if you are chasing the largest bucks in your area. Our northern big woods bucks absolutely dont tolerate the social pressure. The first year of owning the property my brother in law and I shot 2 decent 8 pts WITHOUT food. Then for 5 years, I wasted time with stupid food plots and not one damn time in 5 years did I see a buck, not even a tiny basket or fork. In those same 5 years, I saw hundreds of does and fawns. All the best bucks would come, but it would be in the middle of the night. My property acted EXACTLY like Sturgis describes so you guys dont need to throw him under the bus.
2 years ago I decided the hell with plots and food and started to focus on cover and browse. I want the deer on my land during the daylight and moving to the 70 acres of alfalfa across the road after nightfall. Magically all the best bucks in the area started appearing again, and the last two years I have 7 buck encounters as opposed to 0 in the previous 5. My father in law shot a nice 8 pt last year the night before rifle with the bow. Every property is different. Some are gonna be way better off with food plots, and some are gonna turn to complete shit with food plots like mine did. I hunt primarily rifle so cover is king. You dont need some shitty food plot to have an awesome deer hunting parcel. My brother in law hunts 3 miles down the road in the middle of the Chippewa forest far away from any food plots and has had more buck encounters then anyone else in our group. Sometimes its difficult for people to accept the obvious that is smacking them right in the face.
2 years ago I decided the hell with plots and food and started to focus on cover and browse. I want the deer on my land during the daylight and moving to the 70 acres of alfalfa across the road after nightfall. Magically all the best bucks in the area started appearing again, and the last two years I have 7 buck encounters as opposed to 0 in the previous 5. My father in law shot a nice 8 pt last year the night before rifle with the bow. Every property is different. Some are gonna be way better off with food plots, and some are gonna turn to complete shit with food plots like mine did. I hunt primarily rifle so cover is king. You dont need some shitty food plot to have an awesome deer hunting parcel. My brother in law hunts 3 miles down the road in the middle of the Chippewa forest far away from any food plots and has had more buck encounters then anyone else in our group. Sometimes its difficult for people to accept the obvious that is smacking them right in the face.
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
In my experiences when the rut kicks in here the food doesn't matter and the boys seek out the girls so if I find a group of does I just figure I have several live decoys.
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
......mature bucks were practicing social distancing before it was cool......
bill
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Three bucks walk into a bar after visiting a doe factory...………...the first buck says, "Did you see that beautiful clover?" The second buck answers and says, "No I had my eye on that hot doe with the double throat patch. They turned toward the third buck to see what he had to say, but he was not there anymore - he got them into the bar and then he ran off with the doe.
Doe factories (if there are such things) are good news where I hunt bucks, because you know where they are going to be when the time is right.
Doe factories (if there are such things) are good news where I hunt bucks, because you know where they are going to be when the time is right.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Maybe "Doe Factory" simply means "Poor Management".... Well balanced management includes habitat that support both sexes and a healthy social structure. I just find it amusing. Where do bucks come from? (Does) What do bucks seek during hunting season? (Sex & Security, and lastly food).
