If the deer treat them like they do soy beans around here in Missouri they will pretty much leave them alone until the end of the season and then hit them hard but the soil building should be accomplished by then.

If the deer treat them like they do unprotected bush green beans in my garden then the cowpeas don't stand a chance!

I cannot guess what your deer will do because, as Lone Jack pointed out, their behavior is highly variable. At our house? The deer would eat every plant down to the ground. Well, really, deer are not gentle eaters that nibble things down to the ground. They sort of grab the plant and yank, so often they pull up young plants out of the ground, roots and all, if they are eating in a hurry, They do that with our winter rye grass every year that we overseed with it.

I wouldn't even be worried about deer. Here at our house, all beans and peas are cottontail rabbit chow. With an acre, the rabbits wouldn't put a dent in it as they are small and don't eat vast amounts. The deer might or might not. It depends on whether small herds are coming through and browsing as they travel or whether they are throwing wild parties and holding huge family reunions in your acre of peas.

Animal behavior varies with their degree of hunger. In a drought year when the deer are hungry, no plants are safe. In a wetter year or a year with an abundant mast crop, they sometimes don't bother garden plants until late in the season when they run out of whatever they've been feeding on. It also depends on how many deer come through the area and find that field. Some years I grow southern peas and pole beans on the back garden fence, using it like a trellis, and nothing nibbles on the foliage that is on the outside of the fence. Other years, they strip the plants as much as they can, so we have naked plants outside the fence and pretty ones on the inside of the fence.

All,

We'll go ahead and plant them and cross our fingers. The seed isn't very expensive and we already have the inoculant. Building soil is a major goal in that acre. Future generations may benefit greatly. We'll also plant hairy vetch and rye there this Fall.

We have about 400 feet of PEPH peas up and growing inside the wire. We will be planting much more soon.

Johnny