It seems the conventional wisdom I see posted on threads here as well as other sources is that food plots provide only a ' fraction' of a deers diet. I want to challenge that convention.
Certainly if plots are only an acre or two of small grains and maybe some clover primarily for hunting then agreed that will not have much impact on a deers diet. However many folks plant both winter and summer plots, certainly here in the south. I propose that food plots can provide a significant portion of a deers diet and profoundly improve the nutritional plane. This being true even with the best managed timber and habitat in conjunction with the plots.
I believe this supposition holds true when plots are large enough to handle grazing and both summer and fall cultivars are planted. When these circumstances are in place my experience is that the plots can provide a significant amount of a deers diet over the course of a year. Granted with spring green up and fall acorns, plots are used less but still not abandoned. Much of the rest of the year deer will spend a significant amount of time in the plots. Put an exclusion cage in a quality clover or summer bean or pea field and extrapolate the tonnage removed. Or run a 100 foot transit thru a summer plot and measure browse pressure. Then run a transit thru the highest quality managed timber and measure the browse pressure. Then consider how many acres of woodland it takes to equal modest acreage of productive crops. Walk out in a clover field first thing in the morning and observe deer beds. Deer frequently may loiter all night in these fields.
I am not diminishing the value of well managed timber. Absolutely it provides quality nutrition and cover. I am proposing that a well designed year round planting program greatly enhances the nutritional plane irrespective of the quality of local soils and provides a significant portion of a deers diet regardless of the surrounding habitat. What percentage of the diet I cant measure. But I do believe it is significant enough to materially improve the health of the herd.
Taking it a step farther. Summer plots can be designed such that deer will spend much of their time both daytime as well as night in the plots . We are now planting plots that include such cultivars as sunn hemp, sorghum sudan grass, milo etc. These plants in combination with cow peas, climbing soy beans, or other climbing peas create a literal jungle such that deer are comfortable hanging out in the fields unobserved even in the daytime. The same thing happens in large corn fields.
Many folks hunting territory is around commercial ag. Ask farmers if they get significant pressure on their beans or alfalfa or anything deer eat. I realize ag is different from our food plots but the results are the same. Deer are going to gravitate to the easy meal and I believe get much more of their dietary needs met there than elsewhere .
The significance of this to us as habitat and wildlife managers is to realize we can materially improve the deers diet thru our plantings. And as scale increases the benefits increase. And I do appreciate that in many cases the scale of property in the south is larger than that in the north. But the principles don't change.
Certainly if plots are only an acre or two of small grains and maybe some clover primarily for hunting then agreed that will not have much impact on a deers diet. However many folks plant both winter and summer plots, certainly here in the south. I propose that food plots can provide a significant portion of a deers diet and profoundly improve the nutritional plane. This being true even with the best managed timber and habitat in conjunction with the plots.
I believe this supposition holds true when plots are large enough to handle grazing and both summer and fall cultivars are planted. When these circumstances are in place my experience is that the plots can provide a significant amount of a deers diet over the course of a year. Granted with spring green up and fall acorns, plots are used less but still not abandoned. Much of the rest of the year deer will spend a significant amount of time in the plots. Put an exclusion cage in a quality clover or summer bean or pea field and extrapolate the tonnage removed. Or run a 100 foot transit thru a summer plot and measure browse pressure. Then run a transit thru the highest quality managed timber and measure the browse pressure. Then consider how many acres of woodland it takes to equal modest acreage of productive crops. Walk out in a clover field first thing in the morning and observe deer beds. Deer frequently may loiter all night in these fields.
I am not diminishing the value of well managed timber. Absolutely it provides quality nutrition and cover. I am proposing that a well designed year round planting program greatly enhances the nutritional plane irrespective of the quality of local soils and provides a significant portion of a deers diet regardless of the surrounding habitat. What percentage of the diet I cant measure. But I do believe it is significant enough to materially improve the health of the herd.
Taking it a step farther. Summer plots can be designed such that deer will spend much of their time both daytime as well as night in the plots . We are now planting plots that include such cultivars as sunn hemp, sorghum sudan grass, milo etc. These plants in combination with cow peas, climbing soy beans, or other climbing peas create a literal jungle such that deer are comfortable hanging out in the fields unobserved even in the daytime. The same thing happens in large corn fields.
Many folks hunting territory is around commercial ag. Ask farmers if they get significant pressure on their beans or alfalfa or anything deer eat. I realize ag is different from our food plots but the results are the same. Deer are going to gravitate to the easy meal and I believe get much more of their dietary needs met there than elsewhere .
The significance of this to us as habitat and wildlife managers is to realize we can materially improve the deers diet thru our plantings. And as scale increases the benefits increase. And I do appreciate that in many cases the scale of property in the south is larger than that in the north. But the principles don't change.