Deer love tall grass.
It may be a bit of a secret to some hunters, but deer love tall grass. Recently moving to the farmland of central Illinois from the forested hills of western Pennsylvania, this is a new concept to me. After hearing about it, though, I flipped through my hunting memories of the past few years here in Illinois, and was surprised that my memories agreed-deer love tall grass.
Little Bluestem
In the fall of 2009, several friends and relatives of mine bow hunted some public land nearby. As the group split up to do some scouting, three of us stuck together and decided to scout an area near some standing corn. Tall grasses, goldenrod, and small trees littered this area. After we made our way down a hillside adjacent to the corn field, we jumped a nice buck in the grass, which took off up the hillside we just came down. Two doe leapt from the same area, but went another direction. At that point, the three of us split up and I decided to still-hunt a large circle around the area. After meeting back up with my friends, I learned that one had actually spotted a bedded buck in the grass about 150 yards from where we jumped the first one. At about 40 yards, my friend was getting ready to draw his bow when the buck sensed something wasn’t right and jumped out of his bed, quickly bounding out of bow range.
This past year, we returned to the same public land, and my wife’s cousin got some video footage of a 160 class buck the first afternoon we were there. Guess where? In a CRP field with tall grass and golden rod. He also put a stalk on another buck two days later that bedded in the same field. Similar to last year, just as he was about to draw his bow, the buck’s 6th sense told him to get out of dodge.
Last November, I was bow hunting in Fulton County when I happened to spot a buck breeding a doe. Where? You guessed it. Tall grass. I could list several other examples, but hopefully the point is clear by now. Deer love tall grass! People who spend a lot of time in pursuing deer will tell you that deer often prefer tall grasses and CRP fields over the forest for bedding and travelling.
Big Bluestem
If you own land, or have the freedom to do some land management on your lease, consider planting some of these grasses. Big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indian grass are all good choices. Each has its own merits. Big bluestem grows up to 7 feet tall, which offers total concealment for deer. It also offers quality forage. Little bluestem tops out around 3 feet. This is tall enough to conceal a bedded deer, but still offer the hunter some visibility when a deer is moving through. Indian grass can grow to 6 feet tall, and is very tolerant of poor soils. Planting a mixture of these grasses can give deer a feeling of security, some food for browsing, and a great field of view for a hunter.
Grasses can be planted a few different ways to be most effective. A large, several acre patch of native grasses can be a real haven for deer to bed in and travel through. Another application is planting a 30-50 foot swath on the edge of mature timber, or the transition zone from a bedding area to a food source, so as to create edge habitat where deer will travel through and congregate in before entering fields at dusk.
Indian Grass
A lot more could be said about tall grasses, but since this is only a blog and not a book; I’ll leave it at this: if you don’t have any tall grass on your hunting ground, it is definitely worth your time to plant some. You will not be disappointed with the results. If you’re interested in creating some of this deer-magnet habitat, give us a call or drop us a line. We can get virtually any type of tall grass, and can even plant it for you if you don’t have the time!