PrairieShadow
5 year old buck +
My mix contains: New Zealand Brassicas, Forage Collards, Forage Turnips, Forage Radish, Rape and Rutabaga
Maybe this is the difference any why they eat your bulbs but never mine?
Split plots for monocultures or mix all in one plot
- Thread starter WeedyJ
- Start date
Maybe this is the difference any why they eat your bulbs but never mine?
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I think forage, tillage, groundhog, etc are all types of daikon radishes. Not sure about purple top vs "forage" turnips.
There could be something about your varieties they don't like but probably just as likely has to do with what else is available for them to eat? Being in the dakotas, i'd guess your deer yard up and focus on certain food sources in the winter?
PrairieShadow
5 year old buck +
Yep, They head to feed lots and hang out with cattle eating silage all winter normally. This year we've had such an easy winter with no to minimal snow cover that they are congregated in small groups of 20 or so spread out. Some winters a feelot ends up with a few hundred deer.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
The turnips in the pictures look like apin forage turnips to me. My deer are picky I have tried them and didn't get good usage either. The deer usually only hammer my radishes and lightly use the purple tops. I havent been to the propety in quite a while but the last time I was there the deer didn't even hit the radish tops. They are usually pretty well eaten up by the end of october most years.
Bassattackr
5 year old buck +
That mix is an all forage variety, so I would expect less bulb development and use.
Compare that to a groundhog/tillage radish or purple top turnip, which are bred primarily for root/tuber development.
They should be hitting them, they are all in the brassica family. Although I have seen them prefer one over another at certain times of the year, I have not ever had a brassica that wasn't eaten to dirt. When I planted in mid July- August my ptt only got about the size of a 50 cent piece but the deer were pulling them out and eating the top and bottom together. Did you notice any rutabagas growing in your mix? I tried them once and I don't think I had a single one grow just weeds. The only reason I can think they are not hitting bulbs is they are spoiled and have a different preferred winter food source.
PrairieShadow
5 year old buck +
They’re hitting the shattered soybeans form harvest hard and the neighbors alfalfa bales currently.
I honestly wouldn’t know a rutabaga if I saw one.
I honestly wouldn’t know a rutabaga if I saw one.
CarolinaDawg
A good 3 year old buck
Why so little browse?
First year I plated about 1/10 th acre and had a great crop. Then the deer became educated/present the next year. Tried planting in a spring mix over 4-5 acres of plots. Never made it past 6 inches. Last couple of years I planted late August in a mix with heavy grain sorghum that seemed to hide it, and had some survival. Also doubled or tripled the rate. Had some success, but couldn't repeat it this year. Never saw pods. Still small acreage at 125 with 4-5 acres of food and no surrounding ag land. Counted 20 deer in a 5 acre area one early morning, so that explains my struggles.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It is funny how some folks worry about the specific variety of things like turnips, radish, cereal, and the like when planting for a stress period. The reality is that if deer are not eating our planted crops, it speaks very well to our habitat and population management. During the season deer will certainly avoid some fields during shooting hours due to pressure, but other than that, if they are not ravaging our food plots it is because they have found a better food source.
This too speaks to favoring soil health over yield. When populations are well balanced with the habitat as long as you have sufficient volume (vs yield) during your stress period, deer won't ravage food plots. When deer do ravage plots, it generally means there are bigger habitat/herd management issues.
Having said that, there are definitely some north/south differences. Yarding in the north affects the distribution of deer versus available food. Through most of the country that is not the case.
Thanks,
Jack
This too speaks to favoring soil health over yield. When populations are well balanced with the habitat as long as you have sufficient volume (vs yield) during your stress period, deer won't ravage food plots. When deer do ravage plots, it generally means there are bigger habitat/herd management issues.
Having said that, there are definitely some north/south differences. Yarding in the north affects the distribution of deer versus available food. Through most of the country that is not the case.
Thanks,
Jack
PrairieShadow
5 year old buck +
You have my attention....Continue.
Nightvision
5 year old buck +
I posted a link somewhere on this forum a few weeks ago that claimed frost did not make brassicas any sweeter. They had a chart showing all of the results from the lab test.
Not arguing but just pointing out that there may be some proof that disputes what we all have long believed.
Nightvision
5 year old buck +
About the easiest and arguably the best food plot for people in the south. Could substitute oats for the wheat if someone wanted.
Our winters are just not a stress period like up north. My clover/oat plots are grazed down to the ground right now.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Yes, I don't think it is the frost itself that makes a difference. I think it is coincidental timing in some places. About the time we get a frost, other quality food sources become less available. There may, in fact, be a sugar transfer at some point in the life of a turnip that make increase its palatability that corresponds to time a frost comes, but I don't think the frost itself causes it. What deer choose to eat has a lot to do with the availability of alternatives.
Deer hit my GHR as soon as it develops leaves, but they ignore PTT tops....unless...we get a mast crop failure that year. In that case they will eat tops, bulbs and whatever we plant. In average or better mast crop years, they do hit the leaves after a frost (but as I say, the timing may be coincidental). They usually let the bulbs alone until after our season and use them a lot in Jan and Feb.
Bassattackr
5 year old buck +
+1. Dr. Craig Harper debunked this myth apparently. He was talking about it on one of the Huntr podcasts I believe. Interesting topic..
Nightvision
5 year old buck +
It's Settled: Brassicas Do Not Get Significantly Sweeter After a Frost
Do late-season deer love turnips and beets because brassicas get significantly sweeter with cold weather? A University of Tennessee say, no.
www.fieldandstream.com
I've always used oats and annual clover because I like to plant warm plots in late July.
