Clover

[Josh Anderson]

Do deer really like clover as much as people say? I have a clover plot and have clover planted on most of my trails but I've never really seen any deer eating it or signs of browse. Does clover just grow back that fast or do my deer just not like clover?

 

[tooln]

It all depends on what else is available. I see more browse on buckwheat than my clover. But it is also easier to see the browse on the BW. I see more browse in spring than summer or fall.

 

[kabic]

I saw a lot of spring use..by the time gun season rolls around in November. ..not so much

 

[scott44]

I have clover in just about evey plot, I plant it in about 10' strips around the outside or a strip somewhere in the plot. Like tooln, kabic and Stu have said they eat clover at different times of the year. SPring time clover and rye will be the first to green up to me it's just a part of the whole package.

 

[Josh Anderson]

No I don't have one out I always mean to but always seem to run out of time

 

[Erik Hendricks]

After seeing how much my deer use it I'm thinking I will plant more. Like Stu said they pound it from September on. My White clover gets pretty tall and mature but right now it's mowed down by the deer. I watched 2 spikes walk through my brassicas, Rye and Beans to get to the clover and that is where they stayed until dark pretty much. Yes they nibbled on everything on their way through the plot but they were on a mission to get to the clover. I have all of those things in one plot so I get to see what is preferred. Brassicas and Beans were getting hit the hardest in July and August and into about the 2nd weekend in September. Soon it will be back to them and the Rye.

 

[Brush Creek]

My clover in Dakota county gets hit all year but last year was hammered starting about mid October to snow.

 

[wiscwhip]

Just wanted to add that I think my clover would get used steadily nearly round if the surrounding area didn't offer other lush, green food. In an area without ag I think having at least an acre of clover (more if possible) should be a foodplotters first goal.

Like on the sand back in J. Co. for instance.;)

 

[chummer]

Just wanted to add that I think my clover would get used steadily nearly round if the surrounding area didn't offer other lush, green food. In an area without ag I think having at least an acre of clover (more if possible) should be a foodplotters first goal.

This fits my place. I have about 2.5 acres of clover and chicory mixed together. It gets browsed all year but will get hammered from September till the snow comes. Just like the bag says it draws deer in from miles away. I had six new deer show up last week and have been in the clover every day since. 3 yearling bucks! And a doe with twins. This more than doubled how many deer I had before last week. If I didn't have that clover I would have a couple deer total.

 

[browndog]

I have a 1/10 of an acre of alfalfa plot and it barely gets hit until the first week of October. I have another plot with alfalfa and clover and it's about the same size, very little action until late in the year. I planted both small enough thinking I would never have to cut them. I cut them 5 times last year and 4 times this year. I hang cams there in early July and the activity is very low until the first of October. It's been like that for 3 years. I have a lot of trails cut and they have a lot of clover in them. I highly doubt that I will ever plant another pure clover/alfalfa plot.

 

[ruskbucks]

I personally think clover is way overrated. I still have a small 1/4 acre clover plot. It gets some use, but not a lot. Everything else I plant gets totally hammered,the clover gets nibbled. I think I could get by with a 1/16 acre plot and not have to worry about being overbrowsed.

 

[rocksnstumps]

I like clover not so much that the deer pound it but that its good for a variety of wildlife like grouse and turkeys too. My plots are all small so has to be able to take browse well too (soybeans get chomped). I would rate WW better than clover on my place for deer preference but something you can plant and have for several years without doing much but mowing is also nice. A bonus is that it shows up as a "weed" in my trails I mow at the same time as clover food plots without me doing anything extra. . I mow mostly to keep the thistles and other weeds down to a tolerable level. During the summer clover gets less use but spring and fall they like

 

[ruskbucks]

What part of the country are you in? What do the deer on your property have available for feed in the spring at greenup? Maybe they use it at other times of the year besides hunting season? If the are not using it year round then there must be other food sources available they like better.

My land is in northern WI. I had years when I had a beautiful weed free clover plot. I have set trail cams over it and just had pics of deer walking thru. While turkey hunting I watched deer take three bites and walk right thru the whole plot. They never seem to concentrate in the clover just take bite if they were going thru the plot. I don't know what they have available in spring, woody browse I suppose. I now plant WR,oats and peas in spring so the clover will probably get used even less. I will most likely always have a small clover plot to be diverse. I have also noticed that clover seems to grow wild all over the place like ditches, on my path to food plots, front yard, maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[Native Hunter]

What I find on my place is that there is no comparison between red and white clover. Red is literally hammered from the time it starts growing in the spring until it quits growing in the fall. White is barely touched except maybe late in the year when lots of other plants have browned out. For me, I think that's just a matter of so much other food available for the number of deer. I always want to have white clover available. And this year with our acorn crop a bust, I may really be glad to have it.

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

What I find on my place is that there is no comparison between red and white clover. Red is literally hammered from the time it starts growing in the spring until it quits growing in the fall. White is barely touched except maybe late in the year when lots of other plants have browned out. For me, I think that's just a matter of so much other food available for the number of deer. I always want to have white clover available. And this year with our acorn crop a bust, I may really be glad to have it.

Is that med red clover?

 

[Native Hunter]

Is that med red clover?

Yes, medium red clover. It's a real winner in my area.

 

[wiscwhip]

Whenever I see deer in mixed med red clover/alfalfa pasture swards, the deer do eat a fair amount of the alfalfa, but hammer the MRC.

 

[wiscwhip]

Medium red can be very persistent and handles frost and cold as good as anything once established. Naturalizes well and will persist if it is left to go to seed. The newer varieties are much improved over older cultivars and run of the mill VNS types, but this is from an agricultural(hay and pasture ground) perspective for long term use in dairy pasture and hay. These types would benefit someone who was looking to set up a longer term perennial plot that would need little maintenance beyond mowing and spraying. If one is looking to use it for a shorter time period and then wishes to terminate it and plant something else in it's place, the older, more common varieties would do just fine.

 

[wiscwhip]

We have an abandoned quarry up on one of the bluffs here that was reclaimed many, many years ago and is now full of hiking/horse trails. Some areas were seeded to red clover and BFT. Red clover is now the most abundant and persistent plant in the whole area around the top rim of the quarry, with no further management at all from humans. We go up there all the time and pick the flower heads as a treat to feed our house bunny. It is so abundant that it takes all of five minutes to fill a small plastic Walmart bag with blooms. It is still making flowers now, even thought it has flowered and went to seed at least twice already this summer, and it will continue to do so until it gets a really heavy frost or two before it goes dormant for the winter.

 

[wiscwhip]

The red clover/grass and red clover/alfalfa mixed pasture around here looks like a minefield during the winter, at least until the snow gets deeper than a foot to foot and a half or crusted over solid due to melting/refreezing or a freezing rain event. Ladino(white clover) pasture, not so much. If you get some timely snowfall, the red clover never really turns brown at all over the winter, just gets a really dark green color. One other key is to not mow it too short after about Labor Day weekend and to let it get as tall as possible before it goes dormant and gets covered with snow.