Food Plot Species Profile: Iron Clay Cowpeas

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Iron-clay cowpeas are one of my all-time favorite summer forages for deer. I have probably planted more acres in cowpeas during summer than any other species. Cowpeas are relatively inexpensive, easy to establish and manage, grow well under just about any condition, produce a tremendous amount of protein-packed and digestible forage, and deer are extremely …

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Food Plot Species Profile: Soybeans

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Soybeans (Glycine max) are a warm-season annual legume and perhaps the most preferred summer forage for white-tailed deer. They are extremely nutritious, containing upwards of 25 to 30 percent crude protein in fields with good soil fertility, well above the amounts required by deer for optimal body and antler development. Soybeans are adapted to a …

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Food Plot Species Profile: Crimson Clover

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Chances are if you’ve ever bought a commercial cool-season food plot blend, you have probably planted crimson clover. Crimson clover is a cool-season annual (in southern states) that is relatively easy to grow and is more tolerant of poor soils than other clovers. For that reason, this clover is often thrown in the mix when …

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Food Plot Species Profile: Austrian Winter Peas

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Austrian winter peas are a cool-season annual legume that can produce a great food plot on their own or as an addition to a seed mixture planted in the fall to attract deer. Easy to grow and quick to germinate, winter peas are closely related to garden peas and have the same nitrogen-fixing abilities than …

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