Texas Deer and Land Management

[huntman933]

They were like SFC Warren on his peas and soy bean. Deer ate um so fast never got a good chance to come up and they were gone! Planted um around my feeder area because the seed is expensive! So I didn't do a big area for them.

[tex4k]

We've been experimenting with different food plots last couple of years, this year we planted about 1/2 acre of alfalfa and it was pretty amazing deer would walk through 2 other plots and by a corn feeder to eat the alfalfa within sight of the house. We were able to water this particular plot which not everyone can do and there is also some maintenance issues that we'll know more about after this summer.

[haligan225]

Check with Turner Seed in Breckenridge, they have alot of different mixes (fall, spring) that are supposed to be suited for this area.

[RedSeal]

This is a great post!

[smokey]

Im gonna look into alflafa, just like PFC Warren said rain is a big part of the picture. I read we may have same weather as last year, hopefully no droughts!

[SFC Warren]

I have bought alot of seed from Turner Seed. They have some good blends. Thats where I got the Mung beans from.

[Death from Above]

I got a couple of questions.

1. With such a wet year (for us anyway) what is best to plant for spring plots?

2. Besides doe harvest, food plots, and controled burn, what other types of land managament is there that is feasable($) and something TPWD will accept in their LMP.

Thanks

[wildaggie]

Other management practices include brush control, proper stocking of livestock and rotational grazing, fallow discing (discing strips to allow forbs to grow), and re-seeding native grass/forb mixes, if needed. In my experience, if you have enough rain to make spring plots do well into the summer months, you don't need the spring plot, because there is enough native vegetation for the deer. Those native forbs are very high in protein content through late May/early June. But, lab lab is a good choice to plant for the spring in the Cross Timbers. It's pretty drought resistant, and deer like it.

[BuckSmasher]

I looking for some information on food plots and natural forage that deer love to eat. I hunt in the cross timbers region of Texas, does anyone have some information on that region or other regions in Texas?

Below is a link to a whitetailed deer native browse use study in East Texas. I found it quite intriguing. A lot of the species of browse, especially the smilax, will be found in the Cross Timbers as well.

I love wildlife and land management and if you are getting into it I highly reccomend "Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold.

In most ecoregions of Texas prescribed fire is an excellent way to improve native browse. If you are interested in having one and are within a couple of hours of where I live I wouldn't mind helping out.


Forgot the link, here it is: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/u...a_halls003.pdf

[lonestar21]

I have been working on one for two years know. For a fall plot I wouldn't do anything but some wheat and oats, thats all you really need to attract deer. I'll post pics after the weekend of mine. As far as a spring plot goes it really depends on what you are looking for, I planted a spring mix from pennington last spring and it came up, but because it was the first time to plant that plot a lot of native dove croton came up and choked out everything else. This year I will be planting Eagle Seed Forage Soybeans which are roundup ready and also very drought tolerant. The thing about planting things like corn or alfalfa is you can buy those at the feed store and supplement them yourself, and probably at a better quality. I have never planted lab lab but heard it is great and drought tolerant. Tecomate's Lab Lab Plus also has some milo and ebony peas in it.

https://www.eagleseed.com

[Tye]

Any type of pea will work great in the Spring. Turner Seed and MBS seed have mixes for both Spring and Fall. I have tried the "expensive" big named seeds and haven't had much luck with them. Plant as much land as possible for a Spring crop. Once the peas come up, the deer will hammer them over night. We have planted WGF Sorgum and it grew but the deer didn't touch it. We are located in Eastland County and have been doing test plots for MBS Seed for many years. They have fine tuned the seed blend. J,at Turner Seed is a very nioce guy and can also help you out. We have bought alot of seed from them until we got hooked up with MBS. Rain will also be a factor. Try getting the plot plowed at least a month before planting. When the weather starts to warm up, also spray the field with Glysophate (Round Up) prior to planting. We did plant some Round up ready peas last year and sprayed them after they came up to try and kill the Johnson Grass. The Spray didn't affect the crop at all.

http://www.mbsseed.com/

Turnips and Rape are also some good plants to add to a Fall mix. Here are some pics from our Fall crop this past year.

10 acre field prior to planting


Good buck eating the whole turnip




Lab Lab from a few years ago


And don't forget to use exclusion cages

[Tye]

Also add a gravity fed protein feeder if you can. Rain won't affect the results of this type program. I would suggest at least 1 protein feeder per 300 acres. We run 6 protein feeders on 670 acres.

[huntman933]

Tye, that is awesome!! What a great looking plot!! And great information!

[smokey]

I got a couple of questions.

1. With such a wet year (for us anyway) what is best to plant for spring plots?

2. Besides doe harvest, food plots, and controled burn, what other types of land managament is there that is feasable($) and something TPWD will accept in their LMP.

Thanks

Without proper food, water, or cover, deer and wildlife cannot survive. Do you have enough water sources? What about beeding areas?

[txtimetravler]

anyone plnat anything around the DeWitt County area in that sandy soil??