The 3 Reasons to Plant Switchgrass for Whitetail Deer

You've probably been seeing lots of talk about switchgrass for deer habitat, and its for good reason - Switchgrass can be a great tool! We often prescribe it in a deer property/hunting design ✍️🦌🦌🦌.

Of course it doesn't mean it is always the best tool for the job. If you are considering switchgrass, here is the lowdown on what this plant is, and why we should consider using it - Also when we might not want to use it.

WHAT IS IT?

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is one of many warm-season, perennial grasses native to North America. It is a natural component of the tallgrass prairie, which covered most of the Great Plains.

“Perennial” means it comes back year after year. No need to replant.

“Warm season” means it grows at a kick-ass💪 speed in hot temperatures, like corn 🌽. It uses a specialized C4 method of photosynthesis to grow in the hot weather when cool season grasses such as kentucky bluegrass (your lawn) go dormant.

There are several varieties that have been used for cultivars, wildlife plantings, livestock feed and soil erosion. For deer, we focus on varieties that have been bred for height, fast growth and ability to remain upright through the winter - that way the deer have reliable cover all year round.

THE WHYs

First off, let me tell you why we don’t plant it:

• We don’t plant it as a food source for deer - although deer may eat the young switchgrass, and perhaps some seeds, it will never be a primary food source.

• We don’t plant it for the deer to bed directly in it - We purposely plant the switchgrass thick enough so that the deer have trouble navigating it. Generally, they won’t want to bed in something so thick they don’t know which way out is safe.

SO WHY THE HELL PLANT IT!?

Even though deer don't prefer swimming in a dense stand of switch, it does provide for quick and powerful cover. Mostly commonly, if you have a field - hay, corn, soy, whatever, and you want deer to be living in it as soon as possible, switchgrass is one of the few options that will provide a 3 year to results option. It provides for quick cover - above the sight line of the deer and habitat features can be integrated within it and around it 🦌

👉 We plant switchgrass for deer for 3 main reasons 👈

1. ✅To create a VISUAL SCREENING 👀where deer can’t see beyond. This might be to screen an approach a hunter takes to a stand, or it may be to screen the

boundary of a food plot so the deer feel safe while feeding there.

🌾Switchgrass🌾 varieties like RC Bigrock can grow 7 feet or higher. With a good establishment it will be concealing your entrance within 2 to 3 years !👍

2. ✅To QUICKLY & AFFORDABLY🤸 create a matrix of trails and bedding pockets in an area that was previously a relatively open field that we want to turn into day time deer usage.

Within the switchgrass planting we open up small pockets for clover, dogwood, willow, pollinator forbs, and other plantings. These will serve as feeding areas and bedding areas for the deer within the sea of switchgrass. From these pockets you can create a trail network to bring the deer towards food plots and other ambush sites🦌🦌

3. ✅To discourage deer from traversing an area

A solid stand of switchgrass can be an intimidating cover for deer to traverse with no established trails routes. We can use that to our advantage where we don’t want deer to go in a particular area of our property. For example, when you plan to send your wind to a certain section of the field the last thing you want is deer bedded or walking through your down wind area. Other times it might be to have them walk away from a neighbor’s fence line and stay interior on your property.

When NOT TO PLANT IT

❌ In wetlands or on ground that has poor drainage most of the year - it just won’t thrive if it catches at all.

❌ When you already have lots of old field regeneration going - ie. you have cottonwoods & early successional trees and shrubs already growing in a former pasture or field…these sites might be better left as is, and supplemented with additional tree plantings using fast growing trees.

❌ When you want good habitat for birds, butterflies and other critters. Switchgrass is too dense and doesn't provide structure that many rare and threatened grassland birds. It also crowds out wildflowers that pollinators need.

In Summary:

Remember, the purpose of switchgrass is to get the deer to start using an area during the daytime as quickly as possible such as an open ag field. It provides for good deer cover, but not food. Food and bedding pockets can be made within the switchgrass field.

If you have trees already growing in an old fallow field, you may only need to wait a few years for this same result you’d ultimately get with switchgrass.

🍃Ultimately it’s one tool of many to get habitat fast, and nudge deer movement in your favor! 🦌🦌🦌🍃

Orange is switchgrass blocking the view of deer making them feel safe and secluded in the food plot.