Food Plots for Deer, Moose, Grouse

[carpediem4570]

Hello All:

I just stumbled on to this website.

A couple of questions regarding food plots;

My wife and I own 70 acres of land, covered with deciduous, (mostly poplar), and coniferous trees with a small river running through the plot. Lots of red willow running through the land.

Several years ago we had the land selectively logged, taking out coniferous trees over 12 inches in diameter.

As a result of the logging, we have several wonderful walking trails and two landing areas that were cleared to load the logs. The landings are roughly 50 feet by 50 feet.

This year I am planning to till these fields and plant some food plots. What I want to attract are deer moose and grouse.

My plan is to plant the trails with alsike clover and the two fields with a mixture of timothy hay, alsike clover and alfalfa.

We have geese and ducks nesting on the river and my wife thinks we should plant the fields with peas; as geese as well as deer like the peas.

My desire is to assist the wildlife in receiving excellent additional nutrients as well as a greater opportunity for our game cameras to capture some great pictures.

To date we have many photos of does with their fawns, mostly twins. Not a lot of bucks, a few coyotes and many, many grand standing, photogenic rabbits. We have one picture of a calf moose.

I was also thinking of throwing wild rice on to the banks of the river in an effort to attract the moose. I hear moose love wild rice.

We see grouse bobbing along in the bush but never has one of our cameras captured a picture.

Suggestions, comments, criticisms are welcome.

Kindest regards,

Carpediem

Sounds pretty good, the clover, hay, and alfalfa will definitely bring deer into the area. Grouse love clover as well but they seem to find enough to eat just about anywhere. For moose you should be set, they love dogwood (red willow) and its a very important winter food for them. You don't have very much land to play with there either but mowing poplars down and letting them regenerate (sucker) will also bring moose in.

[lucky_magic_stick]

I always remember my uncle saying that if you have peas around, the horns on the animals will grow more cause of something in the peas. Keep that in mind if its true.

[nube]

I always remember my uncle saying that if you have peas around, the horns on the animals will grow more cause of something in the peas. Keep that in mind if its true.

It's the protein in the Peas. i also have been putting Mineral blocks out with Selium and other minerals in it. The selieum I thin it is called helps the fetus in unborn animals and promotes good health for the animal.

[Albertadiver]

Carpediem,

Wow, do I envy you sir. I wish I was smart enough to one day have a place like yours.

Sounds like you're set for attracting the wildlife you're looking for.

P.S. Welcome to the board.

[NCC]

Timothy is okay for hay but it is not very good for forage as it ripens fast and is no longer palatable by the middle of July. I would try meadow brome, orchard grass, or fescue mixed with a legume such as alsike clover, alfalfa, or cicer milk vetch.

[duffy4]

I would stick to the clover, alfalfa and maybe some peas. A lot of native plants will "invade" the openings. Grasses are not a big draw for moose and deer.

Once in awhile some deer will come in our yard and go into our garden. They seem to like our Swiss Chard a lot (so do I).

Grouse as mentioned will eat clover leaves at times but other than that they like wild berries and rose hips and such.

Sowing some sunflower seed may be an interesting option. They look nce and will be used by birds in winter. Deer like to eat them too.

One thing you can do to benifit moose is to cut down some of the willow that has grown up to a "tree stage". When willow gets real big it no longer supplies much for moose brouse. If you cut some (not all) of the big thick stems, the root ball will send up lots of suckers and the moose will love eating up this new growth. If you cut all the stems from the same root, there may not be enough leaves to put energy back into the roots and in awhile the root ball will die out.

[carpediem4570]

Hey Guys:

Thanks for all the advice. It looks like we are going to go with the peas, alfalfa and alsike clover.

Regarding the salt blocks, I have been putting out water softener for the deer to lick. We get lots of rabbits, some deer and a few coyotes to the lick. We have seen no moose yet. Is this stuff any good for the animals or should I be buying the blocks that are used for cattle? The nice thing about water softener is it comes in the form of chips rather than one solid block.

Someone mentioned planting fall rye to put nutrients into the ground. I'm still looking into this one.

Someone suggested planting Alberta wild roses. Apperantly the grouse love these flowers.

I will let you guys know how things go. We have four trail cameras and I will post picks as they become available.

[carpediem4570]

bump

[huntinstuff]

Cracked wheat is good for grouse. James and I spread nearly 300 lbs of it around last season. cost less than $50.

[Whiskey Wish]

Grouse will eat clover like we eat moose steak and beer but what they need most is natural habitat and food sources. Open the crops of a few birds you get this fall and list the foods you find there then you will have an idea what they require. They love the fringe areas of trails and fields and a water source is required as well.
The commercial protein blocks for cattle supply both protein and vital minerals. Selenium is a trace element required by all mammals and most of Alberta is selenium deficient. This mineral is similar to most other trace element nutrients in that too little causes problems as well as too much can cause trouble so most protein blocks use salt both as an attractant as well as an intake limiter. Insufficient selenium causes "white muscle disease"
(usually fatal) in mammals and too much causes poisoning, also usually fatal.
Calcium is one of the trace elements that are in short supply in nature and one that is required to grow both healthy bone structures and those big racks us hunters drool over however, as in most nutrients, uptake of calcium is tied to the balance of other minerals such as magnesium. A shortage of one can limit the uptake of the other even if it is in plentiful supply. The point of all this is to look for BALANCE both in buying protein blocks as well as in planting wildlife plots. Man cannot live by bread alone and deer cannot live by alfalfa alone. I encourage you to think in terms of a "healthy diet" more so than simply what deer, moose or grouse love to eat. Build a healthy population of animals that will be there to provide both hunting and viewing pleasure for yourself AND the next generation.
Just my viewpoint mind you.

Keep Your Powder Dry,
Dave.

[carpediem4570]

Oh Wow:

Thanks Dave. That is what I am aiming at, no pun intended.

We have all sorts of neat and interesting creatures running around our place and we enjoy seeing all of them.

You sound like you have a great deal of knowledge regarding habitat generation. That is exactly what I am looking for. Are there any books, periodicals, etc you can recommend?

[Whiskey Wish]

Originally Posted by carpediem4570

Oh Wow:

Thanks Dave. That is what I am aiming at, no pun intended.

We have all sorts of neat and interesting creatures running around our place and we enjoy seeing all of them.

You sound like you have a great deal of knowledge regarding habitat generation. That is exactly what I am looking for. Are there any books, periodicals, etc you can recommend?

The knowledge I have about growing "things" is garnered from a lifetime of growing things....lol...and an open inquisitive mind. I'm sorry I don't know of any books or periodicals but I can give you some sources. I use the Internet extensively and there is tons of info on wildlife plots available on line. I find most of it is American so sometimes you have to tailor the suggested plant species to Alberta conditions. Most of the agricultural seed dealers have either a "Forestry mix" or have their own mixes designed for wildlife plots. I would suggest trying UFA to start with as they also have protein blocks, salt blocks and sell some of the equipment required to apply seed etc.
To clarify some of my earlier comments; Grouse are very difficult to figure out. Asking the local Fish & Wildlife might give you some insight but even the biologists scratch their heads over grouse at times. I once drank beer and listened to two F&W biologists go at it hammer and tong over their different ideas of what causes the cyclical populations in grouse.
I don't want to over complicate things for you. Simply planting some alfalfa or peas will draw various animals in without a doubt and could give you all the viewing pleasure you desire. Monoculture presents difficulties over time both for the plant species and for the animals but the animals have the ability to move on and find a different restaurant. You can simply rotate to a different crop now and then to avoid plant disease problems. One thing I would caution you about it what I call "messing with Mother Nature". By establishing a food source you are, to some degree, creating a dependency by the animals on your providing food. If you decide to stop you could leave them "holding the bag", so to speak, on a cold blizzarding December day while they wander around seeking the food source that is no longer there. Over time you could also cause an increase in the number of prey animals which Mother Nature will compensate for by creating an increase in the number of predators. If/when for whatever reason there is a drop in the number of prey animals ( ie. you stop seeding your food plot ) then that hungry cougar could be standing at your back doorstep munching on your pet "Fluffy".
Having said all that I don't think your 70 acres will have anywhere near the impact the nearest farmers section of alfalfa hay already has on the local deer population other than to draw some of them to your place for Sunday brunch. If the deer/moose/bear/grouse populations get out of hand for any period of time Mother Nature will hit the "reset" switch and the problem will be resolved. Disease, pestulance, genetics, famine and predators are Mother Natures reset tools and she uses them without mercy.

Well now...ain't I just the big windbag !!?? Sorry for writing a book as a reply.
Enjoy your food plot and post some of your pics sometime.

Keep Your Powder Dry
Dave.