Cow peas

[Doe Shooter]

Some years ago I asked do deer eat the cow pea seed pod? There was no specific experience either way. I plant cow peas alone and in mixes with soybeans as the give you a real early season meat hunt boost. In the purple flowering stage my hot wired plots are setting pods like crazy. A week after a killing frost ,I can't find a pod. I think they eat the pods green. In the soybean mix plots they clean up the soybeans first, then clean up the cow peas. Anybody else got any experiences

 

[THE LLC]

No clue. Peas never last that long at my place but I would bet they eat them green. And that’s probably high protein.

 

[cutman]

I’m confused. Do you have cowpeas flowering now?

 

[BenAllgood]

My experience with cowpeas is they eat everything at all stages. Only thing left is air and dirt.

 

[Drycreek]

My experience with cowpeas is they eat everything at all stages. Only thing left is air and dirt.

Maybe some thick vine close to the ground. I’ve never fenced peas or beans because I never intended to hunt over them. Rainfall is usually my limiting factor on spring/summer plots and nothing survives through August here. I usually plant IC peas though even though I know 8/9 weeks is all I’ll get out of them. I feel that the time frame justifies the expense and labor.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I’m confused. Do you have cowpeas flowering now?

It must be warmer in Illinois than in PA if the I/C peas have pods. We've still got snow piles on our parking lot from the winter, and we have a competition going on in our office as to the last day we have snow left in the parking lot. It'll be another week at least.

 

[Doe Shooter]

I’m confused. Do you have cowpeas flowering now?

I don't . Just observations from years past

 

[Doe Shooter]

It must be warmer in Illinois than in PA if the I/C peas have pods. We've still got snow piles on our parking lot from the winter, and we have a competition going on in our office as to the last day we have snow left in the parking lot. It'll be another week at least.

They will sprout here late may=june. In the soybean /cowpea mix they will only eat the soybeans first and only when thay is gone go to the cow peas. Mono culture cow peas the don't need a fence. They got plenty to eat around here. I planted Austrian winter peas last fall PTT. Have not touched it. Go figure,

 

[Mennoniteman]

They will sprout here late may=june. In the soybean /cowpea mix they will only eat the soybeans first and only when thay is gone go to the cow peas. Mono culture cow peas the don't need a fence. They got plenty to eat around here. I planted Austrian winter peas last fall PTT. Have not touched it. Go figure,

That's exactly what I've found deer to like and dislike. Soybeans go first, cowpeas get eaten ok, but not fast, AWP gets mixed results in the fall, and deer only eat PTT if they're really hungry. I'm done wasting time, money, and acres on PTT if I can plant a more appealing crop. I'm done with cowpeas because they are a dependable warm season crop, but I don't really need summer feed and have much better options for warm season.

 

[Triple C]

That's exactly what I've found deer to like and dislike. Soybeans go first, cowpeas get eaten ok, but not fast, AWP gets mixed results in the fall, and deer only eat PTT if they're really hungry. I'm done wasting time, money, and acres on PTT if I can plant a more appealing crop. I'm done with cowpeas because they are a dependable warm season crop, but I don't really need summer feed and have much better options for warm season.

Each year I say I'm going to plant peas/beans/sunflowers for summer but never do. I did years ago and deer loved it. Over the years, with no competing ag around me, I've discontinued summer plots. We have more browse than the deer can consume during the summer. Keep my powder dry for the fall mixes. But...nothing like watching deer fill up a bean field at end of summer.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Each year I say I'm going to plant peas/beans/sunflowers for summer but never do. I did years ago and deer loved it. Over the years, with no competing ag around me, I've discontinued summer plots. We have more browse than the deer can consume during the summer. Keep my powder dry for the fall mixes. But...nothing like watching deer fill up a bean field at end of summer.

I agree, watching bucks in a soybean field on a summer evening is worth every penny I put into my yearly 4 acre forage soybean planting.