For a 5 acre food plot for deer is there an advantage that makes one better than the other one better that the other?

Feed co-op always recommended forage oats. Another good thing is elbon rye. Deer and turkey loved it on my place.

I've always had good luck with the forage (feedstore) whole oats coming up (IF there is enough moisture) just fine - sure are pricey this year though.

Easy enough to 'test' germination - buy a bag, and put 20 or so seeds into a wet folded papertowel - and place that in a gallon ziploc bag (don't ziplock it though).
should be able to count germination percent in 7-10 days or so....

Austrian winter peas are good if you have poor soils, especially if you inoculate them before planting (no fertilizer needed when inoculated) - https://justinseed.com/product/winter-peas-austrian/

I plant the cheapest the feed store has and they grow just fine as long as it rains.

Thanks yall, forage are $16 for 50lb and seed are $26 so I'm going forage.

shooting from memory, forage oats are typically later maturing and are taller than seed oats. They also can produce quite a bit more forage growth and can produce more crude proteins. but there again, shooting from memory.

depending on pricing, I will go with either feed oats or seed oats ... feed oats don't typically have as high of germination as seed oats but can be considerably cheaper ... just depends on the year.

I've always just done the feed oats and they have worked fine for me and the 5-7 acres I plant. I usually mix a bag of wheat in for every two of oats and deer seem fine. Was thinking some rye grass this year like someone mentioned as well

Bob oats are $30 a 50lb bag in De Queen, Ark at a feed store. I think they were $21 last year. It sucks because I
tripled the size of my food plots this year with the addition of two more. I throw 2 bags per acre along with one
bag of Austrian winter peas at (last years price) $35 per bag.

You should get a better germination rate from seed oats than forage, so any money saved might not be actual savings in the end.