Spring and Summer ONLY Food Plot Suggestions Please

[tlh2865]

Hi all,
My family has just acquired an addiction to our farm over the winter. I have been hunting the land for five years now. However, since we now own it I have really been working like crazy all summer to make some serious improvements. I have found myself with about 3/4 of an acre of very nice open ground that I would like to plant a good Spring/Summer food source on. BUT I won't be able to hunt over it during the fall, and I don't want it to split my deer between my killing plots and another plot that I won't be able to see.
So, are there any viable options for a good off-season food source for my resident deer?
Thanks in advance,
Thomas

 

[Crimson850]

Whitetail institute imperial power plant or pennington rack master spring/summer mix. Very similar mixes

 

[dogdoc]

So you want to provide a good warm season plot that doesn't provide anything during the fall/winter so it won't compete with your kill plots?

You can always plant a warm season annual legume such as cowpeas. May get wiped out on a 3/4 acre plot depending on your deer numbers. If the cowpeas make it they might still be producing during early bow season but should be slowing down and will die with the first good frost.

Buckwheat would be another option. Some people see heavy browsing on BW-I do not. Planted mid spring it will mature out way before deer season. You might get some volunteer plants from seeds produced but BW shouldn't compete much with better tasting cool season plantings. BW is very susceptible to early frosts.

Or you could lightly disc the area releasing a lot of seeds that are natural browse. Toss down a little fertilizer to sweeten the native forbs that pop up.

Todd

 

[E_308]

Buckwheat was going to be my answer as well. Great for turkeys too.

 

[H80Hunter]

I planted a mix of 15lbs buckwheat, 30 lbs cowpeas and 5 lbs sunflowers per acre. All should be killed by frost and it grew great. Just mowed and tilled it in to plant LC rye mix.