Cow Pasture/Food Plots

smilliganqb

Eight Pointer
Does anyone have any experience with setting up a food plot in cow pasture? Small micro food plots, planning on fencing it in, but I was curious to see if anyone had any pictures that they could share with the group. Thanks!
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Why? I have no trouble attracting deer into my pastures. Really pointless to remove forage from cattle to appease a vagrant. However like those co-exist bumper stickers, I have a strong mix of grasses and legumes. There are 3 pastures that have more clover than grass. I 'over produce' and essential carry a cow/calf and 2 deer for every 2 acres.

Focus on producing the best pasture in the area and the deer will come. Plant persimmon trees along your fencelines. Cows will eat the persimmons too but that won't sway the deer. You can prevent the cows from getting them if you timely rotate them out of the pasture.
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
LADINO Clover, chicory, annual ryegrass and crimson clover MIXED in with your existing pasture. Fall aerate and overseed will produce the results you want. The deer will mow it down.
 
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jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The deer eat it down to the nubs by January
 

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JJWise

Twelve Pointer
Not sure what your operation looks like, but I always see deer grazing in the hayfield more than in the pastures and have never seen much of a reason to need a food plot. I’ve heard a lot of different opinions, but I’ve personally never seen deer in the same field as the cows. If I was to make a plot just for deer I’d try to find a secluded area the cows don’t visit often, based on my experiences I doubt they’d use a plot in the middle of a pasture the cows were currently in.
 

smilliganqb

Eight Pointer
Not sure what your operation looks like, but I always see deer grazing in the hayfield more than in the pastures and have never seen much of a reason to need a food plot. I’ve heard a lot of different opinions, but I’ve personally never seen deer in the same field as the cows. If I was to make a plot just for deer I’d try to find a secluded area the cows don’t visit often, based on my experiences I doubt they’d use a plot in the middle of a pasture the cows were currently in.

The club I'm with has a lease that is part cow pasture, my 2 stands are both in the cow pasture and what I'm wanting to do is make 2 "kill plots" near my stands to at least draw deer in. Plots themselves will not cover much area, .5 acre tops, but I'm going to need to fence it in to keep cows off it. Any fencing suggestions that make it accessible for deer but keep cattle out.
 

stilker

Old Mossy Horns
The club I'm with has a lease that is part cow pasture, my 2 stands are both in the cow pasture and what I'm wanting to do is make 2 "kill plots" near my stands to at least draw deer in. Plots themselves will not cover much area, .5 acre tops, but I'm going to need to fence it in to keep cows off it. Any fencing suggestions that make it accessible for deer but keep cattle out.
Barbed wire....
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
The club I'm with has a lease that is part cow pasture, my 2 stands are both in the cow pasture and what I'm wanting to do is make 2 "kill plots" near my stands to at least draw deer in.

Does this have prior approval from the farmer? Even if the farmer leases the pasture, they may still hold 'first rights'.
 

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
The club I'm with has a lease that is part cow pasture, my 2 stands are both in the cow pasture and what I'm wanting to do is make 2 "kill plots" near my stands to at least draw deer in. Plots themselves will not cover much area, .5 acre tops, but I'm going to need to fence it in to keep cows off it. Any fencing suggestions that make it accessible for deer but keep cattle out.

Almost anything that’s put up right will work. Deer have no trouble jumping or crawling under most fences for cattle. Barb wire is fairly cheap and will keep cattle from leaning on it. Galvanized panels and field wire will work as well if they’re sturdy. I would avoid electric tape as deer seem to avoid that stuff.
 
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