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Going to try a different plan for my food plot this season

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    Going to try a different plan for my food plot this season

    Using a recommended process from the T A&M Agri Center in Overton Texas I will plant cowpeas, Apache Clover and Forage Oats all at the same time in late August or first week of September. My plot is only 1/2 AC so it will be necessary to put up an electric 3-D fence to keep the deer off the peas until early October when I will remove the fence. The peas grow fast but will die off at first freeze usually mid November in NE Texas. Oats should be in good shape before the peas die and the clover will take off in March. The clover should last until I repeat the process next season unless I decide to plant to crops of peas (early summer, late summer)

    The small patch of peas should be a great attractant in early October and should provide good forage until they die.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Sounds like a solid plan. Look forward to reading the results.

    -john

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      #3
      Best of luck!

      3 things to consider with that Plan

      1. Rain. Usually very dry And HOT then (don’t waste time and money if it’s dry and no chance of rain)

      2. ARMY WORMS that’s usually their peak

      3. ARMY WORMS...

      That was my plot mix for years and did great (minus clover, not a big fan)... but I can irrigate and have spray equipment ready at all times. The peas are lightning in a bottle as nobody plants them late season.

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        #4
        Tip: order pea seeds NOW and store them. Nobody will have them in fall, and when you order they will get winter peas instead... because you don’t know what you really want and deer LOVE winter peas... except mine. Never seen a deer eat one

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          #5
          Originally posted by Low Fence View Post
          Tip: order pea seeds NOW and store them. Nobody will have them in fall, and when you order they will get winter peas instead... because you don’t know what you really want and deer LOVE winter peas... except mine. Never seen a deer eat one
          Good advise and luckily I've already received the Red Ripper pea seeds from Hancock already. They were hard to find over a month ago. Rain is the big question mark and if I'm not seeing a possibility of rain near the last week of August or first week of September I may hold off a bit. Ag guy tells me the peas will jump out of the ground quickly with a rain. Just have to keep the deer off them until they get established and archery season starts. I've been capturing some camera footage and plan to put together a short video on start to finish.

          I've seen mention or Army Worms but no experience with them.

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            #6
            Any hogs in your area? On the fence, are you just running a few strands of hotwire?

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              #7
              Originally posted by sweldo73 View Post
              Any hogs in your area? On the fence, are you just running a few strands of hotwire?
              Hogs are hit and miss. I'm going to try the 3D electric fence the Agri Center claims works really well. I've done a bit of research and it seems to work for most people. You basically go around your plot with single strand of electric polytape, move out 3 feet and go around the plot again with two strands of polyrope and move out another 3 feet and run another single strand of polytape. There is specific spacing. Outside tape is 18 inches off the ground, next fence is 24 inch and 42 inches and third fence is 18 inches. All hot. Apparently it screws up their depth perception. I'll have a camera on it to see how it works out. Some only go around twice but others recommend 3 times.
              Attached Files

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                #8
                They will definitely love the peas. In fact they will love them to death. The fence is a good idea !
                Attached Files

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Texbow View Post
                  Hogs are hit and miss. I'm going to try the 3D electric fence the Agri Center claims works really well. I've done a bit of research and it seems to work for most people. You basically go around your plot with single strand of electric polytape, move out 3 feet and go around the plot again with two strands of polyrope and move out another 3 feet and run another single strand of polytape. There is specific spacing. Outside tape is 18 inches off the ground, next fence is 24 inch and 42 inches and third fence is 18 inches. All hot. Apparently it screws up their depth perception. I'll have a camera on it to see how it works out. Some only go around twice but others recommend 3 times.
                  I saw a similar setup when I looked into that option, as well. Unfortunately, I have a bigger area, so electric fencing wasn't in the budget. I'll be curious to see if that setup stops the hogs. Last year, without fencing, my cowpeas grew for about 4 weeks and made it to 10 inches tall, and then the deer and hogs discovered them. Within 2 days, nothing but stalks were left so that was the end of that.

                  This year, we tried planting earlier hoping other natural springtime food sources would keep the critters off of the peas long enough for them to establish. Within 72 hours, the hogs had rooted almost all of the seed out of the ground, so very few plants made it. Those that did were immediately demolished by the deer and hogs. I didn't know they had done that and went back a couple of weeks after we planted to put Milorganite on the plots as a deterrent, but there wasn't really anything left to fertilize.

                  If that fencing works for you, I may have to try that next year, but reduce the area I plant to reduce the cost of fencing. Good luck!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by sweldo73 View Post
                    I saw a similar setup when I looked into that option, as well. Unfortunately, I have a bigger area, so electric fencing wasn't in the budget. I'll be curious to see if that setup stops the hogs. Last year, without fencing, my cowpeas grew for about 4 weeks and made it to 10 inches tall, and then the deer and hogs discovered them. Within 2 days, nothing but stalks were left so that was the end of that.

                    This year, we tried planting earlier hoping other natural springtime food sources would keep the critters off of the peas long enough for them to establish. Within 72 hours, the hogs had rooted almost all of the seed out of the ground, so very few plants made it. Those that did were immediately demolished by the deer and hogs. I didn't know they had done that and went back a couple of weeks after we planted to put Milorganite on the plots as a deterrent, but there wasn't really anything left to fertilize.

                    If that fencing works for you, I may have to try that next year, but reduce the area I plant to reduce the cost of fencing. Good luck!
                    This is certainly going to be an experiment. I'm only planting a 1/2 AC this year just to see how it works out. I've been told that the ONLY way to keep the peas from being hammered is with the fence. My goal is just to get them established enough so that I can take the fence down in early to mid October so hopefully they will last until through the pre rut in our area at the beginning of November. I've been told that I can place tabs on the electric fence with peanut butter to intentionally entice the deer in for a shock but not sure about that.

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                      #11
                      watching and learning!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Texbow View Post
                        This is certainly going to be an experiment. I'm only planting a 1/2 AC this year just to see how it works out. I've been told that the ONLY way to keep the peas from being hammered is with the fence. My goal is just to get them established enough so that I can take the fence down in early to mid October so hopefully they will last until through the pre rut in our area at the beginning of November. I've been told that I can place tabs on the electric fence with peanut butter to intentionally entice the deer in for a shock but not sure about that.
                        Interesting point about enticing them to get popped by the wire, just might work to teach them a lesson! The Milorganite has been shown to keep the grazing to a minimum for a few weeks, so more than one application would probably be needed. But the best option is still the fence for sure. The hogs are the biggest wildcard for me, so if it wouldn't stop them then cowpeas just aren't an option for my area.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Build that exact fence around “Rocky’s” garden last year. His yards ridiculous with 20+ deer a day in it. It stopped 100% of deer. Once removed I think he said 3-5 days and the deer ate the garden down. The peas need to get to a 3 leaf stage minimum.

                          But I’ll just tell ya now, when the first deer enters a 1/2 plot of MIXED peas... you will have about 2.145 days of peas.. lol

                          The no plow method I used this year let me sneak planting past them since I didn’t draw them in with plowed dirt. I had peas boot too high in no time and got ahead of them. I’ll weigh mass first of sept but I expect it to be 5.5-6 tons per acre of forage. And there is a deer in them most of the time

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Low Fence View Post
                            Build that exact fence around “Rocky’s” garden last year. His yards ridiculous with 20+ deer a day in it. It stopped 100% of deer. Once removed I think he said 3-5 days and the deer ate the garden down. The peas need to get to a 3 leaf stage minimum.

                            But I’ll just tell ya now, when the first deer enters a 1/2 plot of MIXED peas... you will have about 2.145 days of peas.. lol

                            The no plow method I used this year let me sneak planting past them since I didn’t draw them in with plowed dirt. I had peas boot too high in no time and got ahead of them. I’ll weigh mass first of sept but I expect it to be 5.5-6 tons per acre of forage. And there is a deer in them most of the time
                            I'm not surprised that the peas get hammered so quickly. I may wait until mid October to remove the fence. Give them as much time as possible to get some growth. This year will be a learning experience. If all goes well I will increase the size of the plot next season.

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                              #15
                              Where are y’all getting the seed?

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