Sunflower plot fall draw

[4wanderingeyes]

I have planted sunflower a couple times now, but I have never let them mature. I know when they are young, the deer pretty much nail it. But do deer eat it when it is mature as well? Do they eat the heads(seeds) ? If I were to spring plant them, will it still be an attractant in the fall?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I think what you are going to hear is yes and no. I planted them this spring as screening cover to a plot and the deer didn't touch them. I also planted them over labor day in a cereal plot and the deer haven't touched them. That could change as time goes by but I have my doubts. Others will have the exact opposite and they cant get them to grow because the deer hammer them. I hope the deer on my place will eventually eat the spring and fall planted sunflowers but I have my doubts.

The only thing I have found to be a sure bet for all season use is soybeans. Everything else I plant gets eaten to some degree but I could and may just plant all my plots to soybeans If my deer don't start eating the other stuff I am planting. I like to plant other offerings for multiple years in a row before writing them off though so as always time will tell.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have planted sunflower in the spring, and the deer were in there rather steady, but I disced them up mid summer and planted something else. I have added them to fall plots and the deer didn’t let them grow. So I know they eat them for me when they are young, I just don’t know about how much they will eat them in the fall if I let them grow from spring. The deer have a tendency to pound anything I plant for them. They are now hammering my brassica plot. And they have been in my clover plot pretty heavy as well.

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[nitro27]

I plant them every fall, the deer devour the young sunflower plants. I mix a bag in with my rye and plant. Sunflowers are usually gone within a month or less.

 

[scott44]

I have never seen sunflowers get more than 8-10", I've planted them spring, summer and fall and had the same results. This is not a bad thing as I guess I'm using them as a draw.

My LC cereal grain mix tweaked with sunflowers.

A couple pics from last fall first in Sept and the second Dec

 

[homegrownbucks]

Usually they hammer ours that we plant in the fall, last year our fall stuff actually got up enough to head out and yes they eventually cleaned them up after that, heads and all.

 

[ToddG]

I spring planted sunflowers and the deer didn't touch them.

 

[jsasker007]

I also spring planted sunflowers this year and they let them grow to maturity and now they are on them pretty regular----does not make any sense to me. Every other year sunflowers,beans or peas were eaten as soon as the deer found them. This year they haven't touched the beans,peas or oats---yet. Deer have been after the mature sunflowers and young winter rye now.

 

[nitro27]

I don't like to plant sunflowers in the spring, they do well if I plant enough. But in the fall the blackbirds swoop in and clean several acres out in a few days. Sky turns black as they fly in and out of the field.

Nothing but stalks and empty heads for the deer, which they don't eat.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

The reason for the question is I have been planting radish and turnips every July, and adding winter rye every September for 4 years. I wanted to rotate the plot for a year, and was thinking of sunflowers.


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[S.T.Fanatic]

I think sunflowers are somewhat hard on your soil and dealing with them the next spring might not be to fun.

Going by your description of plantings I'd go with a legume.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

This plot is my main hunting spot, and it is only 3/4 of an acre, so I am kind of limited on options. I would love to plant soy beans, or winter peas, but the deer come in there pretty thick throughout the year because it is a good source of food, in the middle of a large woods, about a 1/4 mile from any road or structure, so they feel safe. I already have a clover plot about 100 yards away, and after October, they rarely go in there.

I dont exactly hunt over the food plot, my stand is about 30 yards back in the woods, watching over a few main trails, and I can see in most of the food plot. I will usually not shoot a deer in the food plot, unless I really want that deer. I thought about planting corn, but then I wouldnt have a shot into it at all. I would like something that would still be an attractant during the late November rifle season. I am open to any suggestions.

 

[Tap]

I've been planting sunflowers for about 6 years now. Here's what I do and the results...
I usually plant them in early June or late May and I have to protect them with an E fence or the deer will eat them to death before they mature.
When the heads have developed seed, I take the fence down and let the gorging begin. My deer eat every last leaf and most every head (seeds AND the entire head). I usually broadcast brassica and/or clover into the sunflowers when the deer start to thin them out. Hoof traffic helps work the seed into the soil. I don't normally worry about the stalks until the following year. They eventually get knocked over and rot. Any stalks still standing get mowed when I cut the clover in the following spring.
I've watched deer pick at the standing, dead stalks in the middle of winter. Not really sure what they're eating, but I think they are eating some tiny shred on the outside of the stalk. BTW, they will eat a fresh stalk when the plants are starting to be eaten bare...usually by late September.
I've also watched small bucks rub and scent mark stalks. My deer love and utilize sunflowers completely.
And sunflowers are not hard on the soil. They produce a deep root system and tons of OM. They do suck up a lot of water, though.
I've seen no downside to growing sunflowers. Wildlife of all kinds love 'em. My wife likes them too. It's the one plot that she urges me to plant.

 

[j-bird]

to be honest my fear is that 3/4 acre plot in a normal spring planted may get hammered to the ground. So with that in mind if it was mine here is what I would do..... Come spring I would plant a mixture of soybeans and corn or even your sunflowers. My intent with the sun flowers and corn would be to simply add some vertical cover to the plot while the soybeans can proved forage and hopefully a hard grain for that November time you talk about. I would mix about 1/3 corn/sunflowers to 2/3 soybeans by weight and apply roughly 100 to 150 lbs per acre. Disc, or till broadcast the seed, lightly disc of drag in the seed and pack. Now - being realistic I also then plan for the worst and that means I have everything ready to go to replant or overseed brassica (turnip and radish) in late summer as well as doing the same with oats/rye/ww when the time is right as well. To overseed I get as big a manual broadcaster as I can find and I walk the entire plot broadcasting seed into whatever else is standing. If there isn't any value to what is standing then till it all under and start from scratch if you want. This does 2 things. It provides an insurance policy against the deer just destroying your plot AND it provides some diversity of food for your deer in those colder temps that you are looking for. This may not be ideal for you and I understand that, BUT having a viable food source after a hard frost is very difficult without cereal grains and brassica. The ONLY other options I know of are corn and soybeans and we know the limitations with those as well.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

to be honest my fear is that 3/4 acre plot in a normal spring planted may get hammered to the ground. So with that in mind if it was mine here is what I would do..... Come spring I would plant a mixture of soybeans and corn or even your sunflowers. My intent with the sun flowers and corn would be to simply add some vertical cover to the plot while the soybeans can proved forage and hopefully a hard grain for that November time you talk about. I would mix about 1/3 corn/sunflowers to 2/3 soybeans by weight and apply roughly 100 to 150 lbs per acre. Disc, or till broadcast the seed, lightly disc of drag in the seed and pack. Now - being realistic I also then plan for the worst and that means I have everything ready to go to replant or overseed brassica (turnip and radish) in late summer as well as doing the same with oats/rye/ww when the time is right as well. To overseed I get as big a manual broadcaster as I can find and I walk the entire plot broadcasting seed into whatever else is standing. If there isn't any value to what is standing then till it all under and start from scratch if you want. This does 2 things. It provides an insurance policy against the deer just destroying your plot AND it provides some diversity of food for your deer in those colder temps that you are looking for. This may not be ideal for you and I understand that, BUT having a viable food source after a hard frost is very difficult without cereal grains and brassica. The ONLY other options I know of are corn and soybeans and we know the limitations with those as well.

This has my attention. What are you using for weed control if anything?

 

[j-bird]

This has my attention. What are you using for weed control if anything?

Ok - here are the details. I have a plot that had a lot of corn left over this spring. And one that didn't. I mowed them down and used a tiller. I then broadcast RR soybeans (2/3) and RR corn (1/3). I then got my hands on some "wild critter" food that was going bad that had corn and sunflowers in it. So I simply tossed it down the middle of the plot that had the volunteer corn issue. So other than the sunflowers the plot is RR. So when I saw the need I simply sprayed what I could of the plot that didn't have a decent density of sunflowers in it with gly and simply left he rest alone. The sunflowers must have been a shorter variety because they only got about 4 feet tall but produced heads and seed. The corn....being volunteer is just for cover and isn't producing grain (I didn't really expect it to) and the beans have done well. The one plot without the volunteer corn the deer have attacked the corn so the corn has a much weaker presence, but it's only a 1/4 plot so I am not concerned. The larger plot is about an acre in size and has far more corn than I really anticipated, but the beans have still done just fine.

So I'm armed with my turnips (don't remember if I got 3 or 4 lbs) and winter wheat (100 lbs) just waiting for the beans to start to yellow. Keep in mind I'm not working the soil so some of it won;t germinate. The ag beans have all produce pods so they have provided summer forage and will provide a great fall/winter grain source in a fair volume as well. The corn was pretty much just for cover anyway, but the deer did eat some of it this summer as well. What I get from the turnips and wheat will simply be "bonus" food. The turnips won't get real big but who cares and the wheat will survive my winter and will provide food as well. I will simply walk the plots with a spreader and broadcast as best I can....it won't be perfect, it won't be "pretty" but it will provide food and some cover for the deer from now until the temps get cold enough that the turnip and wheat stop growing and then some, because the beans won't shatter until an actual freeze. I use these plots to hold the does and thus then attract the bucks come our general firearms season which tends to be the last 2 weeks in november.

Consider I live in farm country - I am surrounded buy 100's and 100's of acres of corn and bean fields and I have a fairly low deer population as well. So what works for me may not work for you. I tried to share most of this in my property tour thread so if you want more info or just some pics of how things have went thus far come check it out.