# Has anyone tried Biologic Maximum



## buckman99 (Nov 19, 2003)

Our land is in the Central U.P. We have been planting clover with Good results. Our problem is the deer seem to wipe it out by the first of November. Good Bow Hunting Late October but poor Rifle Hunting come the 15th of November. I heard that Biologic Maximum will grow more pounds of food. Has anyone tried this product or know of another product that will grow Knee high/ waist high food plots? I just want something that can make it to the Rifle season and still have deer coming out to the foodplots.
Our soil is sandy and fast draining. We have added the proper Lime and always fertilize. We just need more food. Any advise would be great.

Buckman99


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## ThumbBum (Oct 13, 2003)

I have been doing a lot of research on the Bio-Logic product line and have come up with the following plan. 

Bio-Logic Maximum is an annual brassisca mix, if you have read Ed Spins book then you know he loves brassiscas, especialy for later in the season after a good frost. I have never planted any myself, but he claims that brassiscas last well into winter and that the deer love it. Everything else I have tried from his book has worked, so I beleive this is true. He also states that it can take a while for deer to get used to the brassiscas but once they do thier addicted. 

If you look at the Bio-Logic website for their Priemum Fall Perennial mix is is a combination of clovers and the same brassisca mix as Maximum. The brassisca part of the mix is an annual, that means it will not regro itself for the second season, but the perennial part of the mix should last up to 5-years. Bio-Logic reccomends that you maintain the plot by broadcasting 
Maximum onto the existing plot late every summer after the first growing season. 

I plan on establishing a plot of the Priemum Perennial this spring then following the maintenance plan and re-broadcasting the
Maximum blend every fall after the first year. ( I may re-seed it that first summer also if the deer have eaten it down too far) I'm hoping that tis will get the deer used to the brassiscas faster and allow me to use the same foodplot without haveing to do a dedicated brassisca planting every summer. I also get the benifit of the clovers in case the deer dont take to the brassiscas the first year.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

I planted Maximum in the middle of August with great results. I have a couple of pictures of it in my gallery. It would have been better if I had planted it at the end of July. I think that it would have doubled in size given another 3 weeks of growth.

The deer really hammered it but the seed costs about 10 times more than Dwarf Essex rape does per acre of planting. Just guessing, I would say that I got 2-3 times the leaf material as DE rape.

Another good producer was tyfon turnips, also have pictures. Lots of leafy material that lasted longer than both the Maximum and DE rape. Your results may differ since I planted it in clay loam soil.

I will be planting all three seeds again in 2004. They will be mixed together for a more diverse plot. On a side note when they started hitting the brassica they laid off my clover plots. This was at a time when the clover growth was slowing so it benefited the clover.

As of 12/7/03 I still have lots of tracks and feeding going on in the snow covered plots. There's not much left but the deer are still showing up to feed every day.


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## Lew (Jun 8, 2003)

Buckman99, Maximum is a great product but you need to plant enough so some is left late in the season. I mixed turnips with my brassicas and the turnips were the last to survive the deer. Next year I plan on greatly expanding the amount of food I plant and hope that there will be enough to last into the winter. I am in the WUP and with no agriculture close by any food I put out is hit hard. Best of luck, Lew


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## brokenarrow (Oct 6, 2003)

I too planted a clover mixed with rape and turnips, I also added anouther half pound of turnip seeds. The "fall Blend" I used I got from my co-op. Excellent results with the deer not eating till well after the first frost and they are still in there picking at what is left of the 2 acres. The co-op mix was around $60. for 2 acres and I will bet you it is not much different than any name brand on the market, (there are only so many clovers and rape seeds out there) 
I have been doing alot of research on my own recently and have found out a few things. First of all you are not going to plant turnips year in and year out with out running the ground a muck! A rotation of the 4 different classes of plants that should be rotated, in and out. A turnip grows very fast and very large in a short time period using alot of the soils nutrients. I am planning to rotate the plot by cutting it in half and moving in and out these plants.
Also, I had just found out a new fact that I need to research more. It seams that I hear the same thing all the time, " the turnips and rape need to go thru a frost to sweeten them up before the deer will eat them" I was just reading that the tops of these plants are actually toxic to rumen animals and dipending on what they are foraging on before eating this it could kill them. I am starting to believe that the frost has nothing to do with the taste (or sweetening them up) but more to do with the toxicity of the plants. The information say's that after the frost they become less toxic and more digestable? I will do alot more research on this in the coming winter months.
I would say that a good crop rotation is a good bet for your plots.

Good luck


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## buckman99 (Nov 19, 2003)

Thank You! 
To everyone with advice. I may try and "broadcast" the Maximum (or another similar seed) in with the clover. I do agree that Late July in my neck of the woods might be best planting time provided there will be adequate moisture. I just love seeing deer! I don't necessarily have to harvest any to have a great day. My 8 year-old son and I watched 6 bucks (small) and many does on numerous evenings in late october. He is now hooked. When I told him I saw 3 deer total on opening day 11/15, he couldn't believe it. 
I will give this a try. It sounds like a winner.

Thanks again,

Buckman99


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## AFTERSHOCK (Nov 27, 2003)

buckwheat works great if ya can keep the deer out of it until hunting season. once the deer found the buckwheat on my plot they lawnmowed it down to the ground!! I will replant it again next year but plan on fencing it off until bow season


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## Blackeagle (Jun 8, 2002)

After shock, 

Better make it one real tall fence. Cheaper to expand the plot size, and I know that isn't cheap or easy.

And buckwheat is great cover & food & cover for pheasants as well.

I've planted buckwheat mixed with red wheat, and a couple types of sorghum for upland birds. The deer just showed up on thier own. And this was with the planting being just in strips along fencelines, and only 10-12 ft. wide, that was NOT joined, or next to a woods.

Anyone in good pheasant areas of the state should give this a try.

Pheasants can, and do, use clover/alfalfa/orchard grass mixes for nesting. And deer will use them for food as well. But a mix of sorghums & buckwheat provides food & cover for deer & pheasants well into winter.


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## AFTERSHOCK (Nov 27, 2003)

my dad was telling me tht someone makes a fence to keep deer away that consists of some type of scent line that gets refreshed every week or so to keep the deer out till hunting time.


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## buckman99 (Nov 19, 2003)

Aftershock,

It is called "PLOT SAVER" it is a thin strip of material that you spray periodically and it is supposed to keep the deer out. I have not tried it. I have seen it advertised in the hunting magazines.

Buckman99


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## marty (Jan 17, 2000)

Plot saver?? So much for that theory of a year round food source then. Maybe they can set it up so the deer won't touch it till oct 1 or nov 15 What will they think of next?........marty


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## Swamp Ghost (Feb 5, 2003)

> So much for that theory of a year round food source then


Doesn't do the deer much good if they eat all the seedlings out of a perennial or annual plot before they get established.


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## AFTERSHOCK (Nov 27, 2003)

Same goes for honeysuckle, if you dont fence it off around the bottom, the deer will destroy it before it establishes itself.


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## Ekel Noiro (Dec 3, 2003)

> _Originally posted by AFTERSHOCK _
> *Same goes for honeysuckle, if you dont fence it off around the bottom, the deer will destroy it before it establishes itself. *



Have you had any experience with honeysuckle? I am 
interested in this myself.

Thanks


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## marty (Jan 17, 2000)

> _Originally posted by Swamp Ghost _
> *Doesn't do the deer much good if they eat all the seedlings out of a perennial or annual plot before they get established. *


Yea then we could hunt over it oct 1 or nov 15. We could call it a bait plot LOL Btw what have we done for years with deer eating the seedlings we still have bunches of food plots all over the state right?? Hey we could even shoot a deer over it and put out more of the stuff and keep them out till you wanted to hunt it again Modern technology where will it end? hey maybe something like astro turf we could roll it out a week before the season started ........marty


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## buckman99 (Nov 19, 2003)

As crazy as it sounds, that is what plot savor advertises! Put up the "Fence", the deer won't hit it until you take it down. It is designed to let the plot grow then when it's hunting season take it down and start shooting.

Buckman99


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## marty (Jan 17, 2000)

If it could keep the turkeys out I'd buy a case of it Here the turkeys do more damage to my plots than the deer every could. Hopefully this winter ma nature will thin out a few.......marty


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## AFTERSHOCK (Nov 27, 2003)

my neighbor planted honeysuckle and apple trees and the deer destoyed both before they got started. he put chicken wire over the patch of honeysuckle and it did very good the deer like the stuff. make a fence row out of it.


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