Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Cabbage and Deer

I have had a garden for the past two years and the deer seem to really like the Brassicas. Mainly the cabbage, but broccoli as well.

They dont gorge themselves, but only nibble on them, like they are getting some sort of supplement in their diet, and treat it as well. Smart Deer!

Could that be the case?

I would not mind throwing in a 3000 sq foot Cabbage (Brassica) patch for the deer next year.

I already know that they dont like Spinach and Lettuce, but absolutely love Bush Bean Plants

Learn as you go!

I plant brassica food plots every year. Radishes, rape, turnips, kale several different varieties. There is a new variety of kale I really like. I have seen deer totally ignore the plots, I have seen deer devour them before they ever matured but what I usually see is after the first really solid freeze, the bitterness in the brassicas goes away and they become sweet and then the deer go nuts. My deer up in PA are so used to them now they'll even paw up the bulbs and eat them late into the winter. I've had a lot of luck just over seeding them into a white clover plot.

I add turnips and rape to clovers , rye , oats and peas. Deer (and many other animals) can smell the ripeness (sugar levels) in plants and know when they are best for them.

I have seen late winter last year that they Paw (dig) them out of the ground, roots and all! Totally not intended, but I know that Brassicas go sweet after a good freeze and the deer really enjoy their options for a snack, or nutrient/vitamin supplement.

They Know!

Thank You Very Much CJ, Much Appreciated

I have often planted a couple of acres of turnips for the deer. I have never been able to harvest a turnip. The deer get them all.

Thanks Ewest and DD1, I'll plant some Kale and Turnips also.

Travis:

I've had really good luck planting Oats around Sept. 1. The deer at my place ignore the brassicas, even in Winter. What Kale do you like? I'll try it next year. I plantes some Oil Seed Radish over the Oats this year and I'll see what the deer do with them after it gets cold out.

I like the Siberian kale, purple top turnips and Athena rape. I over seed into a clover chickory plot at about 2 pounds per acre. Anymore and you can crowd out the clover. If I am doing a straight brassica plot, I like 8-10 pounds per acre.

I have two food plots in PA. One is about 1.3 acres and the other is .25 acres. The .25 acre plot is solely annual and is my straight up kill plot. I plant it in buckwheat in the late spring and then till the buckwheat into the soil in late August and then plant it in a oats, triticale, winter peas, crimson clover mix. The deer can't stay out of it... The larger 1.3 acre plot is half white clover(Durana cultivar), forage chickory and a small percentage of birdsfoot trefoil. The other half I play around with annually.

I planted all my logging/skidder roads in an orchard grass, dutch white clover and birdsfoot trefoil mix that has worked well.

Now that my father and I have a couple of longer term leases around his place in Virginia, we will have the chance to put some food plots in there as well. Several more acres to experiment with... I can tell you if I was going to plant one species that deer can't resist in the fall it would be winter peas. Brassicas are very hit or miss... Either the deer love them or hate them for the most part. I like them because they are a great late season draw for deer. Nothing like watching deer in day light working a food plot in December digging for turnip bulbs and eating the frosted leaves.