Spraying grasses in clover food plots for deer
Spraying grasses in clover food plots for deer is necessary
Spraying grasses in clover food plots for deer will need to be done after a couple of years to keep your clover food plots healthy and producing. The only grasses deer heavily utilize are strains that are used for bedding and cover such as switchgrass, and corn is actually a grass with a seed head we all know deer love. Whitetail deer will eat grasses if nothing else is available or when they are tender and new in the spring, but grasses are not a preferred food source for deer. Grasses will not be controlled by annual mowing like broadleaf weeds will so we need to spray grasses in clover food plots for deer with herbicides when they are actively growing. If you don’t control the grasses in your clover food plots for deer, they will take over and choke out your plot. By mowing twice a year for broadleaf weed control, spraying the grasses in clover food plots for deer with a selective herbicide, and over seeding every few years, you can maintain and sustain a perennial clover food plot for deer forever.
Spraying grasses in clover food plots for deer is best done early summer
Give the grass a chance to stat growing so there is enough live leaf matter to effectively absorb chemical for a complete kill. Arrow brand herbicide is but one of a family of selective grass killers that will not affect you clovers, alfalfas, and chicory perennials. Applied at label rates with proper surfacant added, the cost is about $18 per acre, and the shelf life of the product is indefinite when store in the right environment. A true bargain price to control grasses in clover food plots for deer.
Some will suggest spraying the grasses in your clover food plots for deer after the first mowing, and some will say to do it before. It does not really matter as long as the grasses are actively growing, so if you can pick as stretch of nice warm weather after a good rain, your grasses will readily absorb the chemical and you will experience the best kill.
Killing grasses in clover food plots for deer takes some time
Clover food plots for deer are a spring and summer draw. The herd will taper off after the first frost, but we still find whitetails digging through the snow in early winter to grabs some of these favored greens. Maintaing the plot os a real key to keeping it attractive, and grasses are actually the easiest to control when you use a selective herbicide like Arrow.
The chemical basically stops the grasses from growing leading to their demise. The grasses themselves will appear to be alive, but are no 
longer feeding the roots, killing the plant from the bottom up instead of the leaves down. You will notice the grasses outside the plot will be much taller after a couple weeks than the ones you sprayed in the plot. This gives you visual affirmation that the grasses in your clover food plots for deer are indeed dying.
Grasses in clover food plots for deer going fallow
I love a mix of old field habitat in my open areas for fawning, bedding and security cover. Many parts of some of my former 1 acre clover plots are no longer maintained by mowing, and the forbes and broadleafs the deer love for both food and cover thrive when I spray for grasses in them every other year. In my lower deer density areas, changing these bigger clover food plots for deer into 90% grass free old field, and 10% maintained clover has resulted in more deer utilization, and concentrated feeding activity meaning better shot opportunities. If your deer herd can not keep up with the clover acreage you have planted, you may consider letting some of those clover food plots for deer go fallow, only spraying for grasses every other year. It may prove to be a dynamite tactic for you as well, and spraying grasses in clover food plots for deer is the inexpensive key.