Paul Ranft here: We have been hit with tons of snow and below normal temperatures this winter! This type of weather hits our wildlife hard! What I do is try and get out with a snow plow and plow some lanes in the fields so the animals have some place to forage for food. Check with your farmer before but I’m sure all of them will be fine with doing this. The animals that get hit the hardest are the older bucks.
I often see guys leaving the trade shows with a bag of magic food plot seed under their arm. They have been sold the idea that they can plant something that deer will prefer over corn, beans, alfalfa and acorns. Usually it doesn’t work this way.
Paul is right on about the over winter stress. We would be better managers if we put our acreage and efforts into plots intended to help our deer make it through the hard winters. Last year was very tough winter and this one looks to be a hard one as well.
Milo is a good choice. Deer will leave it alone until Dec and it will stay above the snow. It is high energy and easy for a deer to eat, better than standing corn. Any other ideas?