PRM-You should think about getting that ground ripped up asap and putting some winter rye cereal grain . It will last all winter and into the late spring. Once late spring comes plow it under as a green mulch and soil builder. Then plant buck wheat let it come up a little them mow it once and let it go to town for the rest of the summer. Buck wheat is a scavenger and will add phosphorus to your soil which can be hard to pick up. It is also a weed suppressant and adds organic matter to the soil and decomposes very well. After you turn the buckwheat into the ground around Labor day come back and put in a mix of winter rye, crimson clover, and forage radishes. Clover will come in first and help suppress any still present weed while giving a chance for the rye to come in. Lat fall the clover will slow down and the rye will catch up as well as the radishes. The radishes will provide late season forage during the gun season after the temps drop and you get a good frost the sugars will rise in the radishes and the deer will start to dig them up. The radish tops will die off in the winter and here the rye will stay green all winter and into late spring.
If you want a sudo set it and forget it plot do the buckwheat thing and then put a clover in and keep it mowed. The deer like it in its immature stages when its tender as opposed to the 2 foot tall stuff.
You can experiment with other crops on trial basis in small sections to see if the deer in your area like it before you do the whole plot with it. I would always leave something like the rye in the ground so you have something to compare with.
Most of all of the above can be done with minimal equipment.
Good luck
