Cowpeas are a viny plant that deer love – and often overgraze before it matures. Cowpea, also known as black-eyed pea or iron-and-clay pea, is a viny, warm-season annual legume that provides palatable, high-protein summer nutrition for deer.
What are the best peas to plant for deer?
Winter Forage Peas are highly favored by whitetail deer and will make a great food plot or addition to a plot seed mixture planted in the fall to attract deer and wildlife. These fast growing peas will attract deer to a plot soon after germination making them a favorite for bow hunting.
What is the best forage for deer?
Typical cereals planted for deer would include oats, wheat, triticale and rye. When native green forage becomes less available from fall through spring, these crops will attract large numbers of deer and provide valuable nutrition to help them through this difficult period.
What is the fertilizer application of cowpea?
Cowpea does not require too much nitrogen fertilizer because it fixes its own nitrogen from the air using the nodules in its roots. However, in areas where soils are poor in nitrogen, there is a need to apply a small quantity of about 15 kg of nitrogen as a starter dose for a good crop.
What is the best fertilizer for cowpeas?
Fertilization: N is not required. Cowpea performs best on well-drained sandy loams or sandy soils where soil pH is in the range of 5.5 to 6.5. Excess nitrogen (N) promotes lush vegetative growth and delays maturity. A starter N rate of around 27 lb/acre is recommended for early plant development on low-N soils.
Will deer eat peas?
A problem with planting peas of any type is deer like them so much it’s hard to raise the peas to maturity. Deer relish feeding on tender leaves of young plants. They like eating the pods, and they enjoy eating the peas themselves. One defense strategy is putting a fence around the pea planting.
Are peas good for deer?
Winter peas are highly nutritious and extremely digestible to deer. They carry a protein level between 20 and 30 percent. Both the seed, stem and leaves are browsed by deer.
What food is irresistible to deer?
Food Plots
Plants that typically attract deer include red clover, chicory, and orchard grass. Certain high-protein crops, such as peas, soybeans, turnips, alfalfa, sorghum, kale, or corn, are also attractants that the animals enjoy feeding on. Deer like the nutritious nuts that come from chestnuts and acorns as well.
What is the easiest food plot for deer?
Red clover
Red clover is the Easiest Food Plot for Deer. Spread the seed and spray the grasses to act as a mulch for the clover, or spray in the fall and frost seed in late winter right on top of the snow. The freeze thaw patterns of spring creates cracks the seed falls into to germinate.
What can you plant in December for deer?
Brassica blends such as Maximum, Deer Radish or Winter Bulbs & Sugar Beets, containing plants with staggered maturity and palatability dates are ideal for this task. After your cereal grains and clovers have been browsed down and covered in snow, brassicas are very attractive and highly preferred by whitetails.
How do you increase cowpea yield?
Applying top-dressing when the plants started flowering increased the seed protein content by up to 24.4%. The findings suggested that the cowpea yield can be easily improved, even when farmers have no access to fertilizer.
Is cowpea a deep rooted crop?
The root system of the cowpea is deep rooted with a strong taproot. It also has many lateral roots which spread in surface soil. Root depths of up to 2,4 m have been measured as soon as eight weeks after planting. This means the plant has the ability to access nutrients far deeper than a maize plant can.
Can cowpea grow in winter?
They are not a frost-hardy plant and do better in warmer climates, making them a popular Southern crop. The best time to plant cowpeas is after any chance of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to at least 65°F to 70°F.
Do whitetail deer eat cowpeas?
Cowpeas are a viny plant that deer love – and often overgraze before it matures. Cowpea, also known as black-eyed pea or iron-and-clay pea, is a viny, warm-season annual legume that provides palatable, high-protein summer nutrition for deer.
What month do you plant cowpeas?
Cowpeas can be planted in most of the country from May to August. Later plantings can provide succulent growth to attract deer for an early bow shot. Cowpeas can tolerate a wide range of soil types but do best when planted in well-drained soils that are slightly acidic.
Do cow peas need fertilizer?
Fertilization: N is not required. Cowpea performs best on well-drained sandy loams or sandy soils where soil pH is in the range of 5.5 to 6.5. Excess nitrogen (N) promotes lush vegetative growth and delays maturity. A starter N rate of around 27 lb/acre is recommended for early plant development on low-N soils.
What veggies do deer not eat?
Deer Resistant Vegetables
- Garlic.
- Onions.
- Scallions.
- Leeks.
- Squash.
- Zucchini.
- Pumpkins.
- Cucumbers.
Will peas come back after deer eat them?
It depends a bit on how much plant material is left, but typically they will grow back.
Do deer like peas and beans?
This is my favorite food plot blend. Soybeans are great early and late. Winter peas are good for most of the season and will keep deer coming in during October and November, when beans are less attractive. Winter Peas: These are nutritious for deer and a great draw throughout most of the season.
Do deer like oats and peas?
Cereal grains are highly attractive to deer, and they perform well under a wide range of conditions. With regard to deer preference, oats consistently rank higher than the other cereal grains and most other forages for that matter.
Do deer eat potatoes?
Do deer eat potatoes? Yes, they do, especially the sweet potato variety. They will also eat other potatoes, including toxic potato leaves if hungry enough. Potatoes are equally used in certain areas to feed deer, so they are not deer deterrents.