Is alfalfa a good food plot for deer?

Alfalfa is an excellent spring, summer, and early fall food plot choice for white-tailed deer. Alfalfa is a cool-season perennial legume that contains 16% to 26% of highly digestible protein. Whitetail will flock to a well-established alfalfa field.

When should you plant alfalfa for deer?

When to Plant. You may seed alfalfa in either the spring or fall. In the spring, plant April 15 to 30. In the fall, plant August 1 to 15.

Can you plant alfalfa and clover together?

ADDED NUTRITION: Overseeding an alfalfa field with frosty berseem clover can increase the nutritional value and yield of hay. Frosty berseem clover mixed with alfalfa can boost yields of hay by almost 30%.

What do deer like better clover or alfalfa?

They are also more resistant to insects and if you have plenty of deer, they take overgrazing pressure better and rebound faster. Alfalfa is another good clover option. It's also a perennial and offers many of the advantages of red and white clover, but alfalfa is hardier and more drought resistant.

Does alfalfa attract deer?

Food plots can be tailored for turkeys and other game birds, but they're most commonly used to attract big game, especially deer. If you hunt areas with mule deer or black-tailed deer, you might try planting alfalfa and prairie grasses.

Food Plot Q

How late will deer eat alfalfa?

They will eat it pretty much all year long but prefer it when it is green and tender.

What is the cheapest thing to feed deer?

An inexpensive way to feed deer is with corn. Deer love corn and many hunters rely on it for supplemental feeding. That being said, corn is not an excellent source of protein, which is essential for antler growth and the nursing of fawns.

What is the easiest food plot for deer?

Red clover is the Easiest Food Plot for Deer. Spread the seed and spray the grasses to act as a mulch for the clover, or spray in the fall and frost seed in late winter right on top of the snow. The freeze thaw patterns of spring creates cracks the seed falls into to germinate.

Can you mix red clover and alfalfa?

Overall, 50:50 was the optimal mixing ratio of alfalfa with red clover, showing good fermentation quality with lower pH and higher lactic acid concentration, reduced protease activities and proteolysis compared with pure alfalfa silage, and also more total N content than pure red clover silage.

Do whitetail deer like to eat alfalfa?

Concluding Thoughts. Do deer eat alfalfa? Yes, they do. Alfalfa is a great foraging crop and sometimes used for deer food plots.

Does alfalfa grow back every year?

A: Yes, alfalfa is a perennial and will grow back every year as long as it receives the proper care. Overall, it is an easy crop to grow.

Do you have to mow alfalfa?

If it stays dry those new shoots could die off. Once your alfalfa does receive enough rain for regrowth it might regrow a little faster if it's cut, but it also will regrow following sufficient rain without cutting. In most cases, it's not worth the cost and time involved to shred, clip, or harvest low-yielding hay.

What is the best thing to plant to attract deer?

Plants that typically attract deer include red clover, chicory, and orchard grass. Certain high-protein crops, such as peas, soybeans, turnips, alfalfa, sorghum, kale, or corn, are also attractants that the animals enjoy feeding on. Deer like the nutritious nuts that come from chestnuts and acorns as well.

What is the best food plot for whitetail deer?

Clover such as Imperial Whitetail Clover is probably the single best food plot seed, but there are many others that serve important roles for the food plotter. Brassicas are a strong second choice, such as Plant Biologic's Maximum.

What do you plant after alfalfa?

The best rotational crops following alfalfa are cereal crops and annual forage grasses. Small grains can benefit from nitrogen released after alfalfa is plowed. Corn and sorghum could also follow alfalfa in those areas where rainfall is adequate or where irrigation is available.

Is alfalfa hard to grow?

Easily grown and propagated, alfalfa adapts well to nearly any garden, tolerating a wide range of growing conditions. It makes a good drought-resistant plant too, as it doesn't like wet feet. In fact, too much moisture can lead to mold growth. When growing alfalfa, choose an area with plenty of full sun.

When should you plant alfalfa?

If you have land available for alfalfa in late summer, optimal seeding dates are July 15 through August in the Upper Midwest and closer to July 15 for northernmost regions. For growers in warmer climates, seeding into early September is acceptable.

Does alfalfa deplete soil?

Alfalfa has long been noted as a soil builder. Its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and improve soil structure is well known. However, as shown in table 1, alfalfa can rapidly deplete the soil of phosphorus, potassium, and other nutri- ents.

How many deer will a 1 acre food plot support?

Both Fort Perry and Gary Schwarz's El Tecomate support 3.5 deer per acre of food plot, but both programs intensively farm and include a supplemental “safety net.” A reasonable across-the-board rule of thumb with a bit of a cushion is, an acre of food plot will support about three deer.

What is the best no-till food plot seed?

“But buckwheat is the only one I've found that allows you to create really good no-till beans plots. Once you have 50-percent soil exposure (and assuming there's enough time), you can simply broadcast 50 pounds per acre of buckwheat right on the ground with a hand spreader.

What grain do deer like best?

Deer feed mixes are usually a mix of alfalfa, oats, soybeans, molasses and several vitamins and minerals. This type of food is easiest for deer to digest, which is what makes it ideal for supplemental feeding.

Is alfalfa good for deer in the winter?

“The worst thing we can do for deer in a tough winter is shock their system by providing a new food, particularly a high-energy food such as corn or high-protein food such as alfalfa hay that they are not used to,” said Kip. “In most cases, it ends up being worse for the deer than if they had not been fed.

What do deer like more than corn?

Peanut butter has physical properties that will help deer hang around in front of your trail cameras better than corn. It tends to leave a longer-lasting residue than corn, so whitetails stick around wherever you smear it.

Is it OK to feed deer corn in the winter?

Although corn has poor protein, it has high carbohydrates. Whether it's planted in a food plot, or fed at a feeding site, corn can be a great benefit to whitetails during winter. Most deer managers are more than willing to plant their plots in the spring and summer.