If not, it may be time for a change that not only benefits your whitetail dreams, but for all wildlife. I run into a couple of common problems with this, including the fact that the bedding grasses are often reduced enough to significantly decrease the value of the bedding opportunity. To order full pallets, please contact your local dealer found here (CLICK HERE FOR DEALER LOCATOR) or Real Worlds corporate office at 217-994-3721, _____________________________________________________________. Properly cutting down a tree in a manner that leaves the trunk partially intact to the stump will keep it alive for a couple of years. Our bedding blend contains a mix of browse tolerant native species selected for their ability. For example, some properties should have them on a property line and other properties shouldnt. To help the seed flow through a broadcast seeder, mix the seed with pelleted lime. This one has a really broad distribution that varies in color and height based on where its planted. Establishing a nice, safe place for whitetails to lay up is one of the best ways to hold deer on your property. This blend, our most popular blend, offers a multitude of benefits to wildlife: Bunchgrasses for nesting cover for ground nesting birds (upland species and others) Cool-season grasses provide winter forage for all animals (deer, turkey . 4. Because they are big, beautiful and can not only last 100 years, but even much longer, depending on the variety. This is another key factor. Make sure to click that link and read that article before deciding where to put your bedding area. Do you need to screen something this year? This crop grew so tall and thick and did exactly what we wanted it to do. The one thing to remember create an escape. There has been an explosion of deer screening cover products throughout the last several years, even to the extent of various proprietary blends, where companies combine the old stand-bys of deer cover products, into their own "secret" blends. Bonus Read: 3 Ways to Hold More Deer on Your Land. You should make sure you plant this one with other tall grasses and shrubs to give the deer optimal cover. Hot, heavy burns can also kill trees, too, if thats your goal. Imperial Whitetail Conceal is an annual planting specifically developed by the Whitetail Institute to rapidly produce tall, thick cover right where you and/or your deer need it! Bonus Read:The Ultimate Deer Hunting Property. It also provides coverage spread of 5 to 9ft. *Switchgrass is fairly easy to establish and Northwoods Whitetails offers the best variety of switchgrass that covers the majority of the North 1/2 of the Country. Do not use 2-4D until these grasses have at least 4 leaves per plant. Be sure to check with your local NRCS/USDA office before using this mix on a CRP project or your funding could be in jeopardy. We also noticed a lot of deer bedding in the barricade through the season! All areas less than 8,000 ft. elevation. Strategically plant Barricade so the buck will travel past your stand or blind. You can designate four or five acres as a sanctuary and get very similar results. But if youre in an area where the whitetails need a little help, or youre simply wanting to increase the quality of the ground you hunt, these 10 tips will help create more attractive bedding cover to the ground you hunt on. In others, theyre increasing. Location is also important for hunters who dont have the ability to make habitat improvements on the lands where they hunt. We will be planting it again next summer and enlarging some of the Conceal. Comprised of carefully selected native grass varieties designed to provide superior bedding and escape cover for whitetail deer Mixture of perennial warm season native grasses Those same conditions that repelled deer within the setting, were actually the same conditions that could make a switchgrass planting great for other uses on the land. Bedding Shop All Bedding Bed . This plant is only 3 ft tall and has a width of 3ft too. The best part about this is in most cases, if going through a government agency, there will be little to no cost when getting their advice. While there is no one perfect variety that you should buy, their is one very important strategy: You need to hide deer from you and you need to hide deer from each other. It helps to choose a location deer already use or where there is already at least a little cover. Variety is also critical for mature buck bedding habitat! Just as the name implies, its a bush that grows high. BARRICADE, by Antler King, is a fast-growing, easy-to-plant mix of annual sorghums which grow quickly and grow tall! Well, Im here to tell everyone that this product is the real deal. The problem with hunting from a blind is that deer recognize it as out of place, especially soon after you set it up. In a situation like this you will want to have a food source nearby to keep deer using the bedding area on a regular basis. Antler King Peas are best planted in late summer or early fall and will be an immediate draw for your deer herd. 8-foot high!! The use of chemicals will greatly improve the quality of the stand through reduced weed competition. Fill in around the roots to provide good soil contact. Do not attempt to establish these grasses unless the planting site is completely free of live vegetation! Bonus Read:Declining Deer Numbers Lead to Public Land Hunting Reduction. In most cases, creating deer beds is necessary when habitat is subpar or you dont have the ability or permission to make big-scale changes. Leave a small hole in the bend of the bed so deer can run out the backside. It usually grows as much as 10 ft and in some parts of the country, they are known to be as tall as 16 feet. This is plenty of seed when a properly adjusted native grass planting drill is used. Just a stick in the mud hopefully it's a couple feet tall the next time we see it. While some conifers such as Red or Scotch Pine can lose their lower branches early in life, effective long term screening plantings do not. Mature buck hunting, herd and habitat techniques. Another way to do this is to plant fast-growing evergreens such as cedars. Click here for more deer hunting articles, galleries and videos. On the flip side, bucks during the rut will be looking for does to breed, so a good bedroom will offer enough room for both bucks and does to coexist at all times of year. The switchgrass seed should be placed in the small seeds box and it should be set at 1.75# per acre. But this is in this list because the moment it blooms, it extends another 2 to 3 feet and provide excellent cover for deers. Advertisement If you want to learn more about my strategies for accessing a deer bedding area, read my article called Should you enter a deer sanctuary. Switchgrass, as well as most native grass blends, contains zero food. They will do whatever they need to do in order to stay safe. In order to decipher which bedding areas are better than others, use the rest of the traits below to help you determine if deer prefer one bedding area over another. A good bedding area will provide deer with a sense of security so that they can escape and hide from predators. Get with a forestry biologist, technician or specialist and get his or her opinion on how you should approach this method. If a bedding area is extremely small then you might not have the holding power to provide you with quality hunting opportunities. In many situations it is a good idea to plant a firebreak around the edge of fields planted to these grasses. Required fields are marked *. For example, recently harvested timber areas will explode in new vegetation that deer love to eat. Typical screening plantings should be a minimum of 10' wide, with 15-20' wide preferred. Hey there Hunting Bow Fans! (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[3]='ADDRESS';ftypes[3]='address';fnames[4]='PHONE';ftypes[4]='phone';fnames[5]='BIRTHDAY';ftypes[5]='birthday';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); link to Tips for hanging your bow in the stand, link to How to get your bow into the tree. Pictured here is the Quality Deer Management Associations Lindsay Thomas conducting a little hinge cutting. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Although the importance of using deer screening cover for whitetails hasn't changed throughout the last decade, the availability and marketing of the various forms of screening plantings, surely has. If you can discover places where humans arent pressuring deer, or pressuring them less frequently, you will have better odds of success hunting those locations. The northern MI client's switchgrass offered a fairly quick solution: Take the tractor with a disc attached, and create the desired maze and pocket effect within the planting. Im planting some for screening and a thick dense patch as a late season food plot. Barricade allows you to plant a wall of sorghum that blocks the view of your entry to and exit from your stand. When you combine Switchgrass with the other forms of viable whitetail cover not only can you create outstanding diversity, but you can create outstanding year round cover diversity, that can be used to attract, hold and expand wildlife populations. This one has a varying height aspect, it could grow from 2 to 8ft. The best part about this? Find those unique bedding areas that are different from the majority of bedding areas on the landscape and focus on hunting there. Furthermore, planting tall native grasses will also help provide that buffer that deer love. This is plenty of seed when a properly adjusted native grass planting drill is used. Switchgrass offers excellent winter cover, even in high snow and wind conditions for all wildlife. Species Amount / Acre; Indiangrass (VNS) 3.00000 Pounds: Switchgrass (Alamo) 1.00000 Pounds: . But when you can make it happen, the hunting quality of that location skyrockets. Varieties: Blackwell, Cave-in-Rock, Dacotah, Forestburg, Sunburst, Nebraska 28, RC Big Rock. Become a fan on Facebook for news, contests and specials. 1. Site by Gray Loon. In all honesty, its a Band-Aide for a much bigger problem. This blend contains a total of 6.25# per acre. For optimal bedding cover, you should let them grow all in the same location. Shop all Landscaping Grass Seed Mulch Soil Pavers, Rocks & Stepping Stones Landscape Lighting Lawn Sprinklers Lawn Edging Wheelbarrows. A good bedding area will be different from every other bedding area in the neighborhood. Keep this in mind when planning your planting. -will it grow in mountainous terrain or on the side of hills or in bottoms? In some areas, populations have tanked. Deer will love the tender winter wheat as it grows. Photo credit: Michael Tatman/Shutterstock. It is easy to find and purchase online, an it is quite possible that your local feed mill will carry it. -Like mid and long term deer screens, short term plantings come in many shapes and sizes. On the Issue:7 Ways to Practice Quality Deer Management|8 Bedding Habits of Mature Deer, April 17, 2023 |The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory, March 21, 2018 |Brow Tines and Backstrap. Using prescribed fire can be done every year or on a three-year rotation. Establishing a sanctuary (an area no human ever goes except for when shed hunting and post-season scouting) will increase the number of deer that inhabit a given property. Your email address will not be published. Hunters definitely can scout those green fields within a month and define the trails the deer are taking to and leaving their food to move to their bedding areas. Do NOT use more than 4 oz of Plateau per acre! Best Shrubs for Deer Cover Witch Alder This one is a south-eastern shrub and is known for growing very slowly. The key to this blends success is not the species of grasses that are included but instead the specificvariety of each grass species. Species in this mix. As summer turns to fall, most states are opening up their hunting seasons for deer hunting. *Some type of combination can be outstanding, even if it includes the early successful growth varieties such as Gold Rod and Ragweed. Get in touch with me by filling out your info below. This isnt always easy to do. Our Real World Wildlife Seed "Bedding in a Bag" blend includes select varieties of warm season native grasses which grow up to 8-feet tall. They love areas where different types of habitat meet. -The list of potential mid term deer screening varities is very long, and includes many forms of grasses, shrubs and conifers. Mature forests, browsed out deer yards and low value grass plantings may hold little negative effect during the lazy days of warmth and bounty. When deer feel safe it will increase our opportunities of seeing them move around during daylight hours. In fact, deer rarely choose to bed within native grass plantings unless forced to do so because of the lack of cover, or if there is a quality daytime forage available within or adjacent to the grass. However, turkeys will especially benefit from the seeds created by the winter wheat when it reaches maturity. Your entire screening goal should be to keep the deer from seeing you, and the deer from seeing each other. In most cases, bedding areas that have less human intrusion than other bedding areas within a deers home range is going to be visited more frequently by deer. Get the latest food plot information, promotions & deals from Whitetail Institute. The switchgrass planting was recommended to my client by someone who has had great luck in a large agricultural settings located in Southern MI, where switchgrass can sometimes be an adequate bedding option. Yes, and no. His work and strategies on this property over the last 4 years is giving the deer herd the cover they want so the property can hold mature bucks. Most filler seed types would include any potential deer forage plantings, as well as potential screening products that do not hold up to typical Fall weather patterns. (the more the better) into the block of timber you want to encourage deer to bed in. We will only be offering this product in one and three acre bags. There are several methods for Im Joel Gher, the Whitetail Advisor. Plant a line of Barricade in an open area to establish a travel corridor and to bring deer close to a blind or stand. Very pleased. Deer naturally gravitate to native grasslands. Creating as many of these as you can in a small area will lead more deer to bed there. Be sure to check back often to view my review articles where I review all of the latest and greatest crossbows and accessories. Make sure to check out how the WHS Team of Dylan, Ross and Jeff, can turn your dream parcel into reality. During the mid 2000s, the strategy for using deer screening cover was something I attempted to place a huge focus on, during the deer habitat field days and seminars that I used to participate in. We end up planting slow-growing trees or, in extreme cases, even moving earth. Thanks Antler King. Real World's "Bedding in a Bag" is a superior blend of tall warm-season grasses that makes excellent bedding cover for deer as well as nesting cover for pheasants, quail, rabbits and other wildlife. But the two types are good for bedding. The mix of big bluestem and Indian grass should be used in the native grass box which should be set ata seeding rate of 4.5# per acre. Switchgrass, as well as most native grass blends, contains zero food. Deer have a natural ability to seek out the low human pressure areas and spend the majority of their time there. This herbicide application is extremely important for getting your grass stand established quickly. Sometimes bedding areas have lots of food for deer within them, and some bedding areas offer no food at all. Please click Accept Cookies to continue to use the site. If you do not have a chemical applicators license, than Simazine can be purchased online. In fact, I think that hunting a sanctuary bedding area will increase your odds of tagging more mature bucks than if you didnt. This even allows you to do same day set-ups with portable blinds so you dont have to leave them out to get weathered, destroyed or stolen. For example, a switchgrass field can be an excellent bedroom for deer, but its not preferred deer food. This will only help both the deer and deer hunting. These grasses were selected for their ability to remain standing during extreme weather conditions such as snow and high winds. That is where Real World Bedding In A Bag comes in. RWWP Bedding In A Bag is a blend of special varieties of Big Bluestem, Indian Grass, and Switchgrass. But whenever its dry or warmer days, deers would feed less. If you only have tall grasses then thats just adequate coverage. You want tall grasses to grow in between shrubs and tall grasses. * Economy Mixes Include Introduced Clovers. Our #1 selling food plot product, Honey Hole is a fabulous northern hunt plot that grows even in tough conditions and deer love it! Over the past several years Real World customers have planted thousands of acres of this special blend containing Indian Grass, Big Bluestem and Switchgrass. But even if you cant get enrolled in a program, its worth it to do this at least on some level. Now, whenever shrubs and tall grasses grow in the right area they turn into cover and bedding areas. As hunters and landowners, we need to try and make deer feel safe. 3. However, they take 10 years or longer to fully establish, creating the need for sometimes both short and mid term plantings to fill the gap. *My client with 40 acres in lower MI, has used his switchgrass plantings to offer an incredible bedding compliment to his large, destination food sources, as well as for screening along the county road. While mid term screenings may last 5-10 years or more after the initial planting, their life is not nearly as lengthy as long term forms of screening cover. Now when you grow tall grasses and shrubs to hide you from the deer, you should be aware that these covers should be there in different seasons and weathers. Plants are 10 feet tall and standing up to our winter in Wisconsin with several inches of snow on the ground. It is important to keep in mind exactly how your deer screening cover will appear during the months of the hunting season. Shorter grass to eat and longer grass that provides the coverage they need to sleep. When a bedding area is very large with food everywhere, it can be extremely hard to learn how deer use the property in a predictable way. Read more about our process to create the world's most carefully tested and objective outdoor gear reviews on our About page. To avoid making mistakes when installing screens make sure to read this article. And when it is finally time to plant, here is a recipe that can provide you with outstanding results, with a minimum amount of expense or equipment. Whitetail Institute Conceal Deer Food Plot Seed for Spring Planting - Provides Tall, Thick Cover for You and/or Your Deer - Create Bedding Areas, Screens, Funnels, Boundaries, Etc, 7 lbs (.25 Acre) Add to Cart If deer have been bedded all day during warm and dry conditions, or if they have a fever, they will want to drink water to cool down their body temperatures. In a flat, Northern Ohio ag region you may be able to stuff 40 deer into a 10 acre field of switchgrass plantings because they have no other bedding choice. per acre. Bedding should also be supported by a variety of foods and a water source within the bedding area itself or close to it. When its planted in hedgerow it becomes a more ideal deer cover. It grows best on sandy to clay loam soils. If you keep in mind that deer need to feed twice during the daylight hours, you will be well on your way to matching the local conditions to your planting. Matt in Iowa The hard part is recognizing the signs and clues that deer and other people leave behind and use that information to your advantage. Also, due to the slow growth in the area, I recommended that he had pockets of white spruce (light sandy soil) and red osier dogwood to the open, disced pockets to speed-up the process. Does the cover on your land offer true, year-round diversity? The habitat that surrounded my client's land featured 100s of more of potential bedding areas, than actual deer. When deer are cold, they want exposure to direct sunlight and an escape from harsh winds to conserve their energy. When the mid term planting takes shape, you can convert the EW area into additional food plot space, and you may elect to do the same when the spruce planting begins to offer enough screening cover, to be effective. This mix satisfies requirements for the following programs: IA CP42 20-20 Mix IA CP43 Prairie Buffer Mix IA CP25 20-20 Mix. Then, create small U-shapes (large enough for one or two deer to lay in by strategically piling brush. You can also check the, Whenever you plant these, the goal is to make the deer feel comfortable while they are on your land, you also want them to feel secure and be able to roam around freely. Here at TPO we firmly believe the number one factor that decreases your odds of shooting a mature whitetail is hunting pressure. Would you like to find out where an old monarch typically likes to hide? Like any plant, these grasses will grow better in more fertile soils. The number of potential uses for Conceal deer cover seeds are limited only by your imagination. Thanks to Whitetail Institute for another great product. When looking for a good bedding area, look at the bigger picture and understand why one bedding area might be better than the next. Managing for predators will significantly increase how comfortable deer are inhabiting a given area. Our club has planted Whitetail Institute products for 16 years and we've always had great luck. I also encourage your to try the easy, low-resource, but highly effective method of frost seeding your next switchgrass planting; it may end up being a much easier process than you think! After hours of researching and using all the models on the market, we find the best deer grass seed of 2023. For other planting methods such as broadcast seeding you may need to plant at a higher rate per acre. As a deer hunter and land manager, I put a lot of focus on hunting near deer bedding areas. To hunt and create predictable movements, your odds will improve over time as you observe and make adjustments to your plan and strategy. Youre helping the deer herd and some of these options might even help make you a little cash. Editor's Note: This was originally published on April 27, 2017. Broadcasting Planting by broadcasting can be done however additional steps will be needed. Unlike all other forms of native grasses used in the north 1/2 of the country, including Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem and Indian grass, Switchgrass has the ability to withstand some of the harshest Fall and Winter weather that mother nature can unleash. Although the % of conifers were a little light, the area was still a fairly decent form of Northern MI daytime habitat mix, while being the preferred bedding acres for a handful of deer. 2. (verified owner) March 14, 2021. Without structure, cover for wildlife lacks the level of consistent quality to build and maintain viable populations. When the cover that you create fails when all critters need it the most -including deer- it's time to find something else. Proper Planting Time RWWS Whitetail Bedding Mix should be planted in mid to late spring when soil temperatures approach 60 degrees. By keeping your highest quality food sources on the outside and away from the bedding area, you will place yourself into position to enjoy highly defined afternoon deer movements, from preferred daytime bedding areas, to evening food sources. It also grows in rocky upland forests as well. What we have noticed is the deer are showing up about an 45 minutes earlier in our food plots. All trademarks property of their respective owners, When you plan to go hunting on your own property, its important to have a good cover so you can hunt well. 6. Deer Bedding Cover Failures This blend contains a total of 6.25# PLS (pure live seed) per acre. canopy? It grows as tall as 12 feet and is ideal to be grown with other tall grasses and shrubs for optimum coverage. This was first cultivated in 1874 and it has been very popular for deer cover. For immediate screening cover I love to plant Egyptian Wheat as seen in the picture below. Deer need to feed 5 times in a 24 hour period, and that includes twice within their daytime bedding areas. By planting switchgrass at a rate of 10#s, you can create a nearly impassable structure of tangled grasses, by both you and the local deer herd! But in the area of Northern MI where I was visiting with my client, switchgrass had proven to be a very poor choice due to several reasons: What that means is that as the acres of cover and numbers of predators increase, deer prefer to bed withing areas of higher visibility, which directly relates to how far that they can see in any one direction while bedding. Cover is one of the main three components of a healthy wildlife habitat. It never hurts to implement a little quality deer management (QDM) on the ground you hunt, eh?