The Importance of Edge Habitat

   OK, everyone who has hunted for over a food source should be able to relate to this scenario: 30 minutes of shooting light left, and a doe eases out into the field (or food plot). A few minutes later another doe and a small fork-horn begin feeding their way out into the field. With shooting light fading fast, you hear some movement mere feet from the field’s edge, but can’t get a visual. Minute after agonizing minute, you wait for the deer to emerge, but it never does- at least not until shooting light is gone. Sure enough, you can barely make out the shadowy form of a mature buck walking out into the field.

                          A strip of Rye Grass around a client's food plot

   What if there was a way to coax that buck out into the open? Well there just might be… Something to think about as you’re planting and tending your food plots this summer is planting some edge habitat.  I made a brief reference to edge habitat in my last post, but it bears a little further explanation. The concept is simple, really- give deer a buffer zone between the forest and the food plot.  As deer get up from their beds and begin to move to feeding areas in the late afternoon, the most wary ones (often mature bucks) will wait until dark to enter food plots.

   By planting 20-50 feet of edge habitat around the perimeter of a food plot, you can offer deer a sense of security because the edge habitat is tall enough to offer them some concealment from any trouble at ground level. With good edge habitat, wary deer still think they are protected, so they will be more likely to come out of the timber a few minutes sooner-before you run out of shooting light.  As long as you are in a treestand, you will still have a clear view of the buck's vitals even as the slink around in the edge habitat.

   Grasses are a cheap, easy way to develop some edge habitat.  They may take a year to grow to maturity, but could pay serious dividends.  Drop us a line to get some quotes on your desired grass seed.  We carry many popular varieties and are have very competitive prices.