Corn Plot is struggling

[roymunson]

I have an island filed that I have about 2 acres of corn on. The deer have eaten some when it was small, but I have frigging groundhogs wrecking the plot. Other than edge and cover, I'm not sure the plot will be worth anything, food wise.

I broadcasted just a little bit of hunter rape this morning, and have had good success with throwing something into the corn and having it grow. What do you guys recommend? A brassica mix, or shold I go cereal grains (planning on mid to late season hunting, Not my early season spot, per say)

 

[Bill]

I’d split it up. 1 acre of brassicas and 1 of rye or wheat

 

[roymunson]

That doesn't sound like a bad plan.

you talking mixing it? or separate stands of each?

Also, have you heard of groundhogs wrecking corn? Like, tearing down mature stalks. Thought it was coons, but it was definitely groundhogs.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

The groundhogs/woodchucks are thick here in MN this year as well. I had a strip of soybeans that was wiped out by them this spring. I had my dad sit out there to try to kill the crop raiding woodchuck and he ended up killing 5. I would recommend killing them as soon as you can since it won't matter what you plant there next if they eat it!

Brassicas, rye, oats should work for a plan B. If your ground is pretty sandy though it might struggle a bit if it is only broadcast, but you have nothing to lose.

 

[Bill]

I go separate brassicas and grains.
I also would have blamed raccoons. We don’t have many groundhogs and I shoot them when I see them.

 

[roymunson]

I do have some extra oats that i overbought. Will probably run some of that, but a rye wheat mix may be good too. We hold a lot of deer over winter and it'd be good to have something for them on the other side of the cold.

 

[scott44]

I would try splitting it with the brassicas and cereal grains.

 

[j-bird]

Broadcast a mix, or not, of brassica and cereal grains and be done with it. The corn will serve as some cover in the plot if nothing else. If you got a bigger budget and plan on working the ground a mix of soybeans and AWP is a great mix as well as long as the critters don't destroy it before season.

 

[Telemark]

Shoot those groundhogs and eat them. They are literally giant squirrels. Try the limbs and saddle in a slow cooker with whatever sauce or gravy you like with squirrel meat.

 

[roymunson]

Shoot those groundhogs and eat them. They are literally giant squirrels. Try the limbs and saddle in a slow cooker with whatever sauce or gravy you like with squirrel meat.

The spot they're terrorizing doesn't lend itself to hunting very well. tall corn surrounded by woods and weeds. and No real vantage point to get up above and shoot down on em.

I'll probably end up with some wheat or oats in the corn.

 

[Bill]

The spot they're terrorizing doesn't lend itself to hunting very well. tall corn surrounded by woods and weeds. and No real vantage point to get up above and shoot down on em.

I'll probably end up with some wheat or oats in the corn.

You could take a two step approach. Box trap with apple slices followed by lead to the head...straight down is a pretty good vantage point.

 

[roymunson]

You could take a two step approach. Box trap with apple slices followed by lead to the head...straight down is a pretty good vantage point.

Right you are, but as long as I'm making excuses, i'd tell you I'm 50 minutes away and work 55-60 hours a week.

Looks like we'll try to out-plant them and get them next year?

Starting to see the value in a forage plot as opposed to the sexiness of a bean pod/corn plot.
I'm slow, but I'm coming around.

 

[Telemark]

Maybe go on a chuck safari after deer season?

 

[Peplin Creek]

Right you are, but as long as I'm making excuses, i'd tell you I'm 50 minutes away and work 55-60 hours a week.

Looks like we'll try to out-plant them and get them next year?

Starting to see the value in a forage plot as opposed to the sexiness of a bean pod/corn plot.
I'm slow, but I'm coming around.

Beans and corn are killer if you have the acreage for it and get them established.... but don’t overestimate diversity in an overall area. if there are a lot of beans and corn, Brassicas and grains might be even more deadly at certain times of the year than what everyone else has. I’ve gone to a more “green” approach... have something green for them when everything else dries up and dies or is harvested. It’s worked wonderful vs trying to compete with Ag fields.

 

[Bill]

Right you are, but as long as I'm making excuses, i'd tell you I'm 50 minutes away and work 55-60 hours a week

Oh I get that. My son was with me at the farm one fall when he was about 10. He loved setting coon traps. Two days before we pulled out I started telling him to pull the traps. Then I got busy closing shop and forgot to follow up that last time. About an hour and a half into the trip home I remembered and asked. Wouldn’t you know he didn’t pull them and we had to drive back.

Mostly, went back to teach him not to let an animal suffer. If it was me alone??? I may have just said a prayer for them.....

 

[roymunson]

Oh I get that. My son was with me at the farm one fall when he was about 10. He loved setting coon traps. Two days before we pulled out I started telling him to pull the traps. Then I got busy closing shop and forgot to follow up that last time. About an hour and a half into the trip home I remembered and asked. Wouldn’t you know he didn’t pull them and we had to drive back.

Mostly, went back to teach him not to let an animal suffer. If it was me alone??? I may have just said a prayer for them.....

As a father of 3 boys, 2 of which are old enough to be taught lessons like this, I can totally relate to keeping on driving and just praying for the health or possible escape of those varmints. lol