Different types of food plot seed

[Tap]

Man, our deer destroy sunflowers. The only part they don't eat is the stalk, and even then, they do eat the very top of the stalk. They devour the leaves, the seeds, and even the rest of the head. Sunflowers produce an amazing amount of tonnage.
I've watched them picking at the dry stalk in the middle of winter and I've also watched bucks rubbing stalks.

I love the stuff. I just wish it would stop raining so I could prep the plot.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I have NEVER had deer destroy a plot.....EVER! The shear amount of food we have vs the number of deer is just astounding! I can plant a 1/4 acre plot of unprotected ag soybeans and they will produce tons of pods in the fall.....

I live in a sea of corn or soybeans...... 100's of acres (like 400 to 500) of just like this for square mile (640 acres) after square mile..... I would have to pull up the actual figures but like roughly 75% of the land use in my area is corn or soybean production!
View attachment 18461

I added these sunflowers (the yellow in the distance) to my beans and corn to see how they would work out...... I ended up mowing them down a few weekends ago and not a single sign of use by deer..... I could till this plot and more than likely have enough volunteer growth to not need to replant it. In fact I may just try...... This was a small 3/4 acre plot.
View attachment 18462

I can even plant small 1/4 plots like this with ZERO protection..... The deer finally stripped all the grain in the plot in Jan/feb. Most folks would never be able to do that....I have no reason to fear it.
View attachment 18463

Most people tell me, "Plant something the deer can only get at your place". Funny thing is, I plant something for diversity and the deer pretty much ignore it and would prefer to pick over a harvested bean or corn field.....

How is the native browse in your area?
I've always wondered what deer eat after the corn and beans are picked. Some ag areas seem to be 90% crops.

Modern ag equipment doesn't leave much waste in the fields. At least not enough to carry a decent DPSM all the way until the following spring of new bean growth.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[H20fwler]

I'm in the same boat as j-bird, a sea of corn and soybeans in my area. Sugar beets/chicory/mixed clovers get eaten well here after first freeze...just to many "other" things for deer to graze on everywhere until later in the year.

 

[Wild Thing]

All I can say J-Bird is....it must be nice! I have been wiped out a number of times...

 

[mikmaze]

I tried sainfoin, expensive, gave it three years, and tilled it in, too much clay for it at my spot. Alfalfa, I found the sandiest plot and tried, gave up on that as well, just never took over or could compete. I want to get a hold of giant mangels, basically a fodder beat at a price I can justify. corn does well, cow peas get wiped out, soy gets wiped out, pumpkins, sunflower both wiped out. my go to are clovers pure stand or mixed,, turnip , groundhog radish crimson clover, and ww. wgf sorghum did great, but got ignored, not even seed heads touched. sun hemp does great, deer like it, but it is GONE at first frost. Buckwheat? sure, deer hammer it till that is gone as well. Tried a high sugar grass, seemed to do well, just didn't see it utilized/ eaten. as for austrian peas, I used another variety supposed to be even hardier, interesting, eaten, but not quite vigorous enough. I even tried lentil, tremendous seed count per lb, again though, not vigorous enough.

 

[Tap]

pumpkins, sunflower both wiped out.

Did they eat the plants before gourds were produced?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I am also lucky enough to get plenty of pods out of a 1/4 acre soy plot.
My spring planted sunflowers didn't get touched. The sunflowers I planted in the fall were an entirely different story. Lets just say I will be adding sunflowers to my fall plantings for many years to come.
Radishes get eaten, Rape usually goes un noticed, Turnips are hit and miss.
Clover is so so but chicory gets hammered at all times of the season. (even the tops that bolt and turn brown are eaten in the winter)
Sugar beets were eaten enough for me to try them for another year or two.
Cereals are also just so so.
I dont plant corn only for the reason of not having a drill but I did talk to someone recently and he gave me the go ahead to use his.
I have had ok results with fall planted peas and came across a new variety that I will be trying this fall.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I have NEVER had deer destroy a plot.....EVER! The shear amount of food we have vs the number of deer is just astounding! I can plant a 1/4 acre plot of unprotected ag soybeans and they will produce tons of pods in the fall.....

I live in a sea of corn or soybeans...... 100's of acres (like 400 to 500) of just like this for square mile (640 acres) after square mile..... I would have to pull up the actual figures but like roughly 75% of the land use in my area is corn or soybean production!
View attachment 18461

I added these sunflowers (the yellow in the distance) to my beans and corn to see how they would work out...... I ended up mowing them down a few weekends ago and not a single sign of use by deer..... I could till this plot and more than likely have enough volunteer growth to not need to replant it. In fact I may just try...... This was a small 3/4 acre plot.
View attachment 18462

I can even plant small 1/4 plots like this with ZERO protection..... The deer finally stripped all the grain in the plot in Jan/feb. Most folks would never be able to do that....I have no reason to fear it.
View attachment 18463

Most people tell me, "Plant something the deer can only get at your place". Funny thing is, I plant something for diversity and the deer pretty much ignore it and would prefer to pick over a harvested bean or corn field.....

That’s crazy. How are your doe numbers J? Are you passing does to build up the herd? You would think with all that Ag you would have a pile of them

 

[mikmaze]

they eat the plants as soon as they find them, prickly stems and leaves and all, even when hidden in with wgf sorghum, corn, planted 3 lbs of seed one year and did not get one flower let alone fruit.

 

[j-bird]

That’s crazy. How are your doe numbers J? Are you passing does to build up the herd? You would think with all that Ag you would have a pile of them

We have always had low deer numbers simply because we lack a decent amount of actual habitat. My DNR released a report a few years ago based on 2009 data. My entire county is 373 square miles. My DNR estimates that only 24% of the entire county is considered deer habitat......89 square miles. That is an average of the entire county! The study also claims that the most crop damage claims we have had in a single year since 2005 was......wait for it..... wait for it...... TWO! The highest deer/vehicle accidents reported in that time.....was 100, two different years.

So I have the 180 degree opposite of the big woods issues many other property owners have. I have way too much food and way too little cover. My area in particular is better than the county average, but you still get the idea. We do harvest does....in some cases a few a year, but until last year we had seen no negative affects of doing so. Cover is the name of the game in my area. My biggest issue is the financial struggle between deer cover and the value of the tillable acres and the income it provides. I would love to turn all the fields fallow and into deer cover.....however I would have to take about $20K a year out of my household income......that's not so easy to do. So I work with the limitations I have and we take a doe or two a year for the freezer and keep the numbers pretty stable. In some areas of the country hunters will see as many or more deer in one day hunting than I will see in an entire hunting season.

 

[j-bird]

All I can say J-Bird is....it must be nice! I have been wiped out a number of times...

All things in moderation. See my reply post to Jordan. Yes I can get away with small plots, but that is because I don't have the deer to put that sort of demand on the food sources either. My place is better than the county average and I think my place is 30% roughly cover vs tillable ground. That doesn't give the deer a lot of places to hide.

 

[Tap]

That’s crazy. How are your doe numbers J? Are you passing does to build up the herd? You would think with all that Ag you would have a pile of them

We have always had low deer numbers simply because we lack a decent amount of actual habitat. My DNR released a report a few years ago based on 2009 data. My entire county is 373 square miles. My DNR estimates that only 24% of the entire county is considered deer habitat......89 square miles. That is an average of the entire county! The study also claims that the most crop damage claims we have had in a single year since 2005 was......wait for it..... wait for it...... TWO! The highest deer/vehicle accidents reported in that time.....was 100, two different years.

So I have the 180 degree opposite of the big woods issues many other property owners have. I have way too much food and way too little cover. My area in particular is better than the county average, but you still get the idea. We do harvest does....in some cases a few a year, but until last year we had seen no negative affects of doing so. Cover is the name of the game in my area. My biggest issue is the financial struggle between deer cover and the value of the tillable acres and the income it provides. I would love to turn all the fields fallow and into deer cover.....however I would have to take about $20K a year out of my household income......that's not so easy to do. So I work with the limitations I have and we take a doe or two a year for the freezer and keep the numbers pretty stable. In some areas of the country hunters will see as many or more deer in one day hunting than I will see in an entire hunting season.

How much will CRP pay?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[j-bird]

How is the native browse in your area?
I've always wondered what deer eat after the corn and beans are picked. Some ag areas seem to be 90% crops.

Modern ag equipment doesn't leave much waste in the fields. At least not enough to carry a decent DPSM all the way until the following spring of new bean growth.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Tap - my issue isn't the quality of the habitat or food supply.....it's the amount. Harvest equipment is very efficient now and I essentially have 100 acres of parking lot after harvest is complete. Spread around the other 50 acres to small wood lots and narrow tree lines and the like and it's simply difficult to hold deer of any significant number.

 

[j-bird]

We seem to have high-jacked this thread and I apologize for it. For those that want to continue this discussion about my place and the like please lets move this over to my property thread. We are getting off on a tangent.

 

[ksgobbler]

All I plant anymore is Millets, Milo, and buckwheat. Little egyptian wheat along the road.

 

[WTNUT]

Always chicory in the mix for me.

Deer are interesting creatures. My deer would eat a number 6 limestone gravel before eating a chicory plant :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WTNUT]

[

I live in a sea of corn or soybeans...... 100's of acres (like 400 to 500) of just like this for square mile (640 acres) after square mile..... I would have to pull up the actual figures but like roughly 75% of the land use in my area is corn or soybean production!
View attachment 18461

So what you are trying to say is you do NOT spend a lot of money on Gallagher fencing to protect you plots :)




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Wild Thing]

[

I live in a sea of corn or soybeans...... 100's of acres (like 400 to 500) of just like this for square mile (640 acres) after square mile..... I would have to pull up the actual figures but like roughly 75% of the land use in my area is corn or soybean production!
View attachment 18461

So what you are trying to say is you do NOT spend a lot of money on Gallagher fencing to protect you plots :)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ha Ha - Yep - that is a lot of beans WTNUT....and no E-Fence!!

 

[Tap]

Always chicory in the mix for me.

Deer are interesting creatures. My deer would eat a number 6 limestone gravel before eating a chicory plant :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Have you ever tasted a chicory leaf?
Wow, they're nasty.
Clover is pretty tasty.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Catscratch]

Deer on my place love the little leaflets on the flower stems of chicory.

They love clover too!

And stripping wheat heads seems to be a popular meal also.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[RedSoxFan22]

I may have missed this in the thread but wanted to get thoughts on this system. I plant about an acre food plot (pretty limited options) and I tend to plant in August because the deer and weeds generally crush whatever I plant too early and its a waste. Just curious if this actually works or is beneficial:

https://www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com/blog/winter-rye-layered-food-plot-progression
https://www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com/blog/layered-food-plots-for-whitetails