Do Deer Have a Learning Curve

By GrowingDeer,

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Question
What do you know of the relationship between deer utilization of a food plot planted in a common local ag crop vs. a crop not grown in the area.  Are there observed delays in deer utilizing the foreign crop?  For example, I planted Iron Clay Cowpeas in a three acre plot and got zero utilization. With the exception of winter wheat there are no ag crops anywhere close to me.  I assume that the food source was foreign to the deer and that contributed to the lack of deer browsing.  Have you ever seen a delay in deer utilizing a crop that is not a common food source?  Will deer eventually figure it out after multiple seasons of planting?  Although I plan to plant Eagle Seed beans this year, local seed stores are baffled when I tell them that the deer did not eat the Iron Clay Cowpeas.  Thanks for any insight!

Jamie

Jamie,

I had the same experience when I first planted soybeans at The Proving Grounds!  There are no soybeans within a couple of counties in any direction of me, and during the first two years I planted soybeans I couldn’t tell that a single leaf had been removed by deer.  Now they readily consume them.  Deer certainly can and will learn to consume new forage types.  It’s up to the landowner to decide if the variety of forage he is planting has enough benefit to weather the duration of the learning process.  I felt (and still do) that Eagle Seed Forage Soybeans were so productive and high in nutritive value that weathering the learning process was well worth the wait!

Growing Deer together,

Grant