Hide your wives…hide your kids….Throw n Mow is back! It’s that thread that 257 loves to hate.

With deer season coming to an end and warmer temps just around the corner, many folks are ready to start focusing on off season plans. We’re going to go ahead and get this thread started now for anyone who wants to participate and it’ll take us through the spring and summer. Everyone feel free to judge, criticize or debate but please just keep it constructive and semi-civil. It doesn’t bother me a bit to disagree with someone but there’s no need in calling each other idiots and morons, etc.

This will mostly be a question and answer thread for those of you who are interested in continuing to build on your throw and mow plots from last fall or others who are trying it for the first time. Don’t feel like this is just my thread. I’ll post some updates from time to time on what I have going on with my test field but anyone who wants to post pics of their plots or tell their stories go ahead and jump right in. The thread may go in all kinds of directions before its over but don’t sweat it too much if conversations go a little astray…..I’ll right the ship if need be.

Welcome to Throw n' Mow Q & A………..

Can I come and kill that piebald?

just dropped off some soil samples.

Has anybody done this on wet areas? I don't mean wet after a rain and then dry again. I mean wet from November until about April/May? And on areas smaller than an acre? If so, has it been able to keep up with the browsing? If not, what month did it start not being able to keep up?

She’s already dead I believe. I watched her grow up from a fawn, born to the big doe on the right. Something or someone finally caught up with her as a 2 ½ year old.



Good deal. Post up the results if you have any questions.

All of my plots are under an acre, but either our deer density or plot use hasn't been nearly as high as other areas. I am going to try and plant some higher quality seed this year and see if plot usage increases. This was year 2 of "spray, throw, and drag". We are going to put out some exclusion cages as well as cameras after season to determine usage.

I've got a couple 1 acre plots, where both were planted by discing in some areas and more of a throw-and-mow approach in other spots. In one of the plots I have clover coming in quite well (thanks to 70-degree temps half the winter). My thoughts were to just let that field go all summer and then address planting for the fall when the time comes. May not even spray for weeds in the clover since the intent will not be to keep it there for years. If I do anything in terms of summer planting, it would be in the other field. May try to lime both fields though. Sound like a reasonable approach?

Why are 4 eating and 5 staring ?
Is your Ph right and who threw the paint on that doe ?

Sorry couldnt resist ...

I enjoy the throw and mow discussion and education it really
saves tractor and field time .

I'd pull a soil sample first Joe and go from there.

I think the more moisture a plot holds then the better this method will work. I can't see where a no-till approach such as this would have a negative effect.

Because I'm yelling at them to pose for the picture.

Have you done it on plots like described?

Our biggest field at the hunting club stays fairly wet and its been one of our best plots…..the clover does especially well there. I don’t know if its wet to the point you are dealing with but when my buddy use to hunt the land years ago he would have years when it was too wet to plant in this field. We planted it last year in the rain using throw and mow. Had you been trying to till that day it would have been a mud bog.

It's usually dry enough to get a tractor on in September. It's usually muddy from November through about May. We've been able to stock pile enough tonnage to get us through the hunting season. However, with the number of deer using it and the small size of the plots, it's struggling by January. We try to keep them out until mid-October to bank the tonnage and it's worked. They start hammering the plots mid-October throughout the season.

How much nitrogen are you applying to the fields during the fall/winter?

I believe it calls for 50 or 100 lbs per acre.

Those soil tests recommendations for nitrogen are given for a set “yield” from the standpoint of producing an ag crop. We’re not really worried about that. Our concern is producing winter forage for deer to eat. That means keeping the cereal grains lush and growing during the fall/winter months. Not all, but nearly every plot I’ve seen during the last month has been nitrogen deficient. Your field can’t run all season just on what is put out at planting. With the soil that most of us are dealing with we’ll go N deficient after about 6 weeks depending on the rain. We want the field actively growing…….not struggling and turning colors (yellow, purple, red).

I would recommend to try some cereal rye next year. It grows faster and at lower temps than other cereal grains. I’m going to a mix of cereal rye and oats for my cereal grains. Add 50 lbs of 33-0-0 at planting and 100 lbs of 33-0-0 at 6 weeks after planting. I added 50 and then 75 this year. To just completely maximize my growth, I could have really added another dusting here toward the end of the season. I’m starting to see some yellows in the field. We've had a chit load of rain though so some leaching is to be expected. Deer like it best when its lush and deep green.

I tried some cereal rye this year and it didn't do hardly anything. Our plots stay green, they just stay browsed down.

What's the go to throw and grow mix for spring? I have a small patch of hillside here at the house currently in wheat and oats. I typically just weed eat the hillside late Fall and throw seeds out. It does pretty well. Never tried a spring planting and would like to try something.

Buckwheat seems to be about the best option but I wouldn’t even spend the money on it in a small plot. Its not going to make a hill of beans difference in the end and the deer will likely just wipe it out. Fill your fall mix full of clover and spend your money in the spring on improving the soil nutrients through lime and fert. Using the throw and mow method has its basis rooted in building the soil through adding lots of plant matter (biomass) and having it turn to decomposed organic matter….like potting soil. This greatly improves the soil fertility. The summer growing months are when we produce this tonnage of biomass. Most of my biomass in the summer has been produced through crabgrass and weeds. The field is still very lush in the summer though so the fertilized “weeds” are very attractive to the deer along with the clover that grows amongst them. You have to produce the biomass in order to make progress in building the soil and to have ample thatch to cover the fall seed mix that we’ll plant.

I have found through experimenting last year that you can grow a quick crop of spring turnips early on before the summer weeds and grasses take over. This just helps to add more organic matter to the soil and feed the soil microbes as the turnips rot over the summer.


Early crop of spring turnips grown in April and May……..



Spring turnips mowed down to decompose………….



Weeds and grasses eventually take over and more biomass is produced…….



Biomass is used to cover fall seed mix. All of this thatch is now about gone due to decomposing and being incorporated into the soil by the microbial community.