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Tecomate Ultra ForageUltra Forage is a mix of peas, vetch, clovers, chicory and a hybrid rape/turnip that is an annual that can be planted in both the spring and fall. From March 4th through May 13th we applied 250 pound of lime, sprayed Round-Up to kill any vegetation and fertilized with 19-19-19. This amount of lime added up to about 1 and a half tons of lime per acre on this small food plot. We had tested the PH in this plot and got a reading of about 6.75. On May 13th we dragged the plot with old bed springs behind our ATV, sowed the Ultra Forage and dragged the plot again. The Ultra Forage grew real thick, well above knee height, but we don't see some of the seed varieties growing that are in the blend. It looks like the hybrid rape/turnip took over. The deer spent little time in this plot and ate very little of it until late August. Sometime in the last two weeks of August the deer came in and practically cleared the plot out. They also devoured the neighboring plot of Biologic Maximum. Obviously the rape and turnips matured to the point where the deer found them tasty. This leaves us with some thoughts on planting Ultra Forage in the spring. The deer didn't eat in the plot during the antler growing weeks and they've pretty much cleaned it up about eight weeks before the start of bow season. Although I'm sure it provided the deer with some good nutrition in late August that wasn't the target that I was shooting for. We'll continue to monitor the plot to see how much activity there is here over the coming weeks. On Labor Day we planted Ultra Forage in part of the oldhouse food plot. The ground worked up so good that we just used our ATV's to push the seed into contact with the soil. We applied lime and fertilizer similar to the spring planting. The Ultra Forage jumped up real nice and grew to about one foot in height. The deer started eating it in October and had pretty much cleaned it all out by mid-November. For an early season bow hunting plot Ultra Forage would have been good, but for the Thanksgiving week buck season there wasn't enough forage left to draw deer any longer. My final thoughts on Ultra Forage are that it is a seed blend that grows well and is well liked by deer at certain times. For hunting purposes it would be a good early season attractant but doesn't last long enough for the latter parts of the season. Planting more acreage may help but how much would have to be planted to continue to draw deer into the late season is hard to determine.
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