Food Plots Plots or natural growth?

[BSK]

As I've pointed out many times before, in stomach content analyses done around the country--even in high agricultural areas--more than 50% of a deer's diet will be natural browse.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

You won't see much use of turnips and rape in the Spring or Summer unless you have some very odd deer. Your soybeans would be the most attractive plant in that at this time.

 

[landman]

I planted a little over an acre of food plot blend back in April. Its done very well and is made up of turnips, red/white clover, soybeans, rape, and at least 2 others i csnt think of right now. Its in the field behind my house so I watch it regularly. The deer feed on it occasionally but there's another thing I noticed that's got me wondering. I bush hog mow the remaining 2 acres of this field and the deer seem to browse more on it than the food plot. I see them in the plot only once or twice a week and they're feeding in the field at least once or twice daily.

It seems they (does both with and without fawns and young bucks) prefer the natural variety over what I planted. Have you guys noticed this before?

I let a lot of the areas go back to nature and clear them on a 3-4 year rotation. Next year I may skip the plot altogether and just fertilize after I bush hog.

If my hunting tract was more open I'd have half the open ground
in Warm Season Grasses of some type...

I have started letting parts of some fields grow up on for 2 years before bush hogging, it seems to be helping...

 

[Boll Weevil]

While I also have established food plots, I do invest considerable effort "cultivating" native foods...way more than fooling with plots. I periodically disk hard edges, burn, mow to knock back woody stuff and encourage new growth of forbs and grasses, manage undesirable invasives so the good stuff can grow etc. As well, I don't worry as much as other folks about having perfectly pristine weed-free plots...deer eat the weeds as much as the clover.

 

[Hunter 257W]

This discussion sheds light on a question I've always had about trying to feed deer.

Why is it that a plant is referred to by the lowly name "weed" when it come up uninvited in a food plot but is called a "forb" if it sprouts along the same field edge?