Long time lurker and first time poster. I would like to say that I’ve always been impressed with the knowledge of the folks on here and the willingness to share information, without the arrogance that I find in other forums. For that reason, I thought I would post what I feel is a growing problem that I seem to be having and get some input from some of you as to some changes that I might need to make.
Before I do that I will give you some quick background....
I live in NE Pennsylvania and this year will mark my 20th year of food plotting. Over the years I’ve learned a lot, cussed a lot and even cried a little, but for the most part it’s been fun and definitely provided many good hunting opportunities.
Most years I plant around 10-12 acres of foodplots with about 50% in corn, 25% in brassicas and the other 25% in clover. The corn and brassicas plots are planted in small fields with strips of clover around the edges and I have one on each end of the property.
I also have several hunting plots, which are planted with clover and back away from the destination plots. These clover plots are pretty secluded, surrounded with cover and around 1/3-1/2 ac. each.
I’ve tried to mix it up with some different crops over the years, but this mix has been pretty effective and for the most part it seems to work well. Plus by having all three crops in my destination plots I’m able to rotate, but still insure that there is plenty of food available throughout the year.
Now to my problem....
For about the last 3-4 years I’ve noticed that the deer have developed a taste for brassicas much earlier than in past years. Now it seems that as soon as the plants get up around 6-8 inches tall, they begin to feed on it and they feed so heavily on it that it just never has a chance to grow. It’s to the point where when cold weather hits and I would want/expect them to be feeding on it.....it’s totally wiped out. This year they completely cleaned up around 2 1/2 acres of brassicas by the end of October. Fortunately I do have the corn and although it’s not the greatest food source....at least it’s something to help carry them through the winter. Plus they focused so much time feeding on the brassicas in September and October that I had some clover and tons of corn available going into cold weather.
My observations are....
1. Deer density hasn’t really changed during this time.
2. I can watch deer walk right through thick lush ladino clover to get to the young brassica plants.
3. Inside my utilization cages the brassica plants get up to 18” tall with nice big bulbs and outside it is bare dirt.
4. Before this all started, I could grow brassica plots with tall, thick tops and consistently large bulbs.
5. It hurts my early season hunting plots of clover, because the deer are heading for brassicas.
My thoughts are...
1. Replace brassicas with the Lickcreek blend of WR, Oates, etc.
2. Try a different blend of brassicas. Current blend that I plant is PTT, Daikon Radish and rape.
3. Don’t worry about it and switch hunting plots to brassicas.
So my question would be...do others see a similar problem or does anyone else have ideas/suggestions?
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to provide as much info as possible toward a fix.
Before I do that I will give you some quick background....
I live in NE Pennsylvania and this year will mark my 20th year of food plotting. Over the years I’ve learned a lot, cussed a lot and even cried a little, but for the most part it’s been fun and definitely provided many good hunting opportunities.
Most years I plant around 10-12 acres of foodplots with about 50% in corn, 25% in brassicas and the other 25% in clover. The corn and brassicas plots are planted in small fields with strips of clover around the edges and I have one on each end of the property.
I also have several hunting plots, which are planted with clover and back away from the destination plots. These clover plots are pretty secluded, surrounded with cover and around 1/3-1/2 ac. each.
I’ve tried to mix it up with some different crops over the years, but this mix has been pretty effective and for the most part it seems to work well. Plus by having all three crops in my destination plots I’m able to rotate, but still insure that there is plenty of food available throughout the year.
Now to my problem....
For about the last 3-4 years I’ve noticed that the deer have developed a taste for brassicas much earlier than in past years. Now it seems that as soon as the plants get up around 6-8 inches tall, they begin to feed on it and they feed so heavily on it that it just never has a chance to grow. It’s to the point where when cold weather hits and I would want/expect them to be feeding on it.....it’s totally wiped out. This year they completely cleaned up around 2 1/2 acres of brassicas by the end of October. Fortunately I do have the corn and although it’s not the greatest food source....at least it’s something to help carry them through the winter. Plus they focused so much time feeding on the brassicas in September and October that I had some clover and tons of corn available going into cold weather.
My observations are....
1. Deer density hasn’t really changed during this time.
2. I can watch deer walk right through thick lush ladino clover to get to the young brassica plants.
3. Inside my utilization cages the brassica plants get up to 18” tall with nice big bulbs and outside it is bare dirt.
4. Before this all started, I could grow brassica plots with tall, thick tops and consistently large bulbs.
5. It hurts my early season hunting plots of clover, because the deer are heading for brassicas.
My thoughts are...
1. Replace brassicas with the Lickcreek blend of WR, Oates, etc.
2. Try a different blend of brassicas. Current blend that I plant is PTT, Daikon Radish and rape.
3. Don’t worry about it and switch hunting plots to brassicas.
So my question would be...do others see a similar problem or does anyone else have ideas/suggestions?
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to provide as much info as possible toward a fix.