Small plots with E Fence and Corn

[sandbur]

Art, I observed something that interested me during season.

Before firearm season started, deer would be in the beans during low light conditions and would remain feeding when vehicles went past...that continued through opener evening. Starting first Sunday a.m.....deer would not go very far into the bean field until wellllllll after dark. They'd hug the edges (like right across from my box blind) and when they heard a vehicle coming they'd watch. Once it was apparent (to the deer) the vehicle was coming their way, they'd haul ass back across the road onto my place (cover).

I don't think anybody was shooting at them from the road..they were just responding to the increase of human pressure IMHO. Deer had not been pressured at all on my place, but all the shooting, additional vehicles around, and new smells in the woods must impact them pretty quickly. Those are my assumptions anyway.

Diane and I were discussing deer reaction this morning. For 3 years or so, any deer we see from a car bolts for cover. We have tried to lay off the does and she said a doe and fawns that were in the corn during season would just watch the cars go by. Corn and the rows of conifers at the end of the driveway are somewhat hiding them. I'll bet on a bean field they would be gone.

Still in zone 1, does and fawns were standing around in mid field. Very few doe tags and I'll bet those that had a doe tag took one careful shot. Dead deer has no memory of pressure. Missed shots or multiple shots trains deer. And the deer do react to pressure and more road traffic.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

The deer in SE MN seem to be drawn to be beans more than corn, but they also really like a picked corn field that has not been plowed. The farmer renting my tillable land planted corn this year and I told him he can't plow it up until spring and that really works. It also helps that his combine is old and leaves plenty of scattered kernels everywhere. I also had him leave a few strips of standing corn to give the deer and turkeys a few extra bushels of food for late winter, but right now the deer are only hitting my strip of standing beans and the picked corn.

 

[bat man]

When I hunted with a pretty knowledgeable guy in IL he said late season:

#1 is corn on the ground
#2 was standing beans
#3 standing corn

Snow was not much of a factor where he was.

 

[sandbur]

There are no fields of standing beans in my neighborhood to make any comparison. I've got to say that I like standing corn when the snow reaches 3 feet deep.

from a nutrition aspect, some studies have shown that beef cattle on a poor ration during winter do best with added protein and not grain. Beans = protein. Grain=energy= corn. Maybe the deer have this figured out and go for the beans. Maybe they just like them!

 

[bat man]

Verdict still out here. Beans now, corn later, brassica and rye if the snow stays away. Still have muzzleloader and late archery. Right now I wish I had beans but that can change with one pull of the trigger end of November. Weather is a huge factor here in MN. In years with a great acorn crop my standing beans don't get much attention until the snow flies. I remember a few years back the ground was not white until March, and the beans I had left were gone in a hurry after one big storm. The deer knew they were there and waited till they could not get to the acorns.

 

[sandbur]

Maybe winter of '11-'12? I remember looking at properties that winter and not needing to wear tall boots to keep the snow out...I could go for a handful of winters like that

We arranged that so you would buy into this Mn. hunting.;)

They say this has been the warmest year on record. Sure can't prove it by what I have seen. I think the north pole has moved towards Mn.