# Buck Forage oats



## Dstocking (Mar 5, 2003)

Has anyone had any luck with this product, And how long does it take to sprout?
Ds


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

DS

I've tried it and it germinated real fast. I planted it at camp which I only visit when I take time off or if I'm not working weekends or certain week days. So with this said I don't monitor it daily so my statement is only via the best guess theory. With proper moisture I would say some of it sprouted inside a week most of it in two weeks.

I feel that I planted it too late in the year because growth seemed real slow once it got to 3" and it was gone within 5-6 weeks. I did not use an exclusion cage to monitor growth rates.

Yes I will plant it again but I'm not sure if it will be this year. I think that I may try triticale before I try BF oats again.


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## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

Dstocking, I've planted Buck Forage oats twice during the past 2 years. The deer love them. My property is in southern Michigan, and I plant the oats around September 1st. If they get rain, they should germinate within about a week. If you have lots of deer, plant lots pof oats or they might eat them to the ground.


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## Jeff Sturgis (Mar 28, 2002)

Luv2,

My friends who planted BF oats next to wheat and MI oats never had them get above 3" either. The deer walked right over the other 2 to get to the BF oats, and the MI oats, although 7 to 8" high, didn't even seem to be used. They also stayed green for almost 2 months longer.

Also, what date did you plant them?? I'm thinking of combining them with Biologics Full Draw for a first week of August planting. Although I'm real curious about the BF oats, I still can't stand the thought of planting a fall plot without brassicas. They might be an excellant mix.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

NorthJeff

I planted bf oats last year Labor Day weekend. We got plenty of rain so germination was not a problem. The plot remained full of tracks all fall. They hit the rape a few weeks later and the clover died out for some reason, maybe too late of a planting.

The year before I planted it early August but I got very little rain. It could not out grow the deer utilization due to no rain. When we did get rain in mid September it never stopped. We got about a foot of rain in 4 weeks and I had water laying everywhere in the plots.

I agree with you on the mix of annuals with brassicas and clover. There is always something that is in a prefered stage of growth. When it's gone the deer seem to switch to the next favorite item. Frost and freeze will either stop. slow or kill portions of your seed mix so plant on the heavy side. If everything goes well I'm left with a beautiful plot of clover the following spring.

Until I find something that will out draw brassica I'll include it in the mix of all my late summer plantings. I feel you should always leave some food plot areas open for experimentation. Dwarf essex rape is a good example. If I spring plant it, results are ho hum at best. If I late summer plant it, I'm always mad at myself for not planting enough. It would be easy to conclude that de rape is of little or no value if I based my decision on spring planting results alone. 

I really enjoy and get great personal satisfaction from land stewardship. That's what keeps me expanding and planting every year.


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