phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
I planted crimson clover at the very end of April. Some parts of the plot came in very nicely and others no so much. That i can live with and was pretty much what i expected. What i am really wondering about is the lack of usage by the deer. I have an exclusion cage that i placed just after germination....and the clover in the cage is the same size as the clover outside of the cage. I also have a cam on a tee post in the plot...which has shown far more deer passing through than browsing around....in fact i think i have one pic of a deer with its head down in the plot.
I know deer everywhere take to different plantings...differently, but what is everyone else's experience with crimson clover? I planted it with hopes of it feeding deer as well as helping my soils out.
Secondarily and mostly anecdotal....
I also planted some Medium Red Clover along the margins of plot that i attempted soybeans in last year (i came across some free beans...i knew the plot was too small for beans but i wanted to see what would happen, couldn't help myself.) the MRC is doing very well...I do not have an exclusion cage in them...but I see literally zero nipped stems. I have had other clover plantings in the past WI's Imperial and a Ladino/MRC mix, and none of them have really shown a whole lot of deer usage according to the exclusion cages. Typically June and September have been the months that seemed to get the most usage. I have plenty of agriculture in the area....a good mix of corn, grass/clover hayfields, and some alfalfa.
Anyone else seem to have deer that aren't too hot to trot over clover?
I know deer everywhere take to different plantings...differently, but what is everyone else's experience with crimson clover? I planted it with hopes of it feeding deer as well as helping my soils out.
Secondarily and mostly anecdotal....
I also planted some Medium Red Clover along the margins of plot that i attempted soybeans in last year (i came across some free beans...i knew the plot was too small for beans but i wanted to see what would happen, couldn't help myself.) the MRC is doing very well...I do not have an exclusion cage in them...but I see literally zero nipped stems. I have had other clover plantings in the past WI's Imperial and a Ladino/MRC mix, and none of them have really shown a whole lot of deer usage according to the exclusion cages. Typically June and September have been the months that seemed to get the most usage. I have plenty of agriculture in the area....a good mix of corn, grass/clover hayfields, and some alfalfa.
Anyone else seem to have deer that aren't too hot to trot over clover?
