When do brassica plots turn on?

[Derek Reese 29]

I'll be hunting above the house tomorrow morning so I will see what shows up and how the plot is holding up...hoping to get a crack at one of the bucks that have been frequenting the scrape 130 yards below the plot (6 in 1 night last week)....here's to a cold and cloudy morning tomorrow!!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Good luck on those bucks, Derek !!!

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Good luck on those bucks, Derek !!!

thanks bows! the plot is on fire right now! they are definitely hitting the brassicas and there are 4 new fresh, stinky scrapes along the edges..saw 2 bucks this morning, a spike and a 6 point that i have seen before, who both hit one of the scrapes then ran off in search of a friend...then i checked the cam...and as is usually the case..I shoulda been there yesterday...he's a fairly regular 8, but he was heading right at my stand, during daylight.....this late in the archery season, I don't know if he woulda gotten a pass..I will definitely be back at it tomorrow for a couple hours

 

[Derek Reese 29]

upon further review of this video (finally switched the cam from 20s -1 min video length) it appears this buck is not doing well.
his cheeks are all swollen, though he is still eating..he was running around the plot last night chasing so it isnt affecting that part of his life..
just feel bad and wonder if anyone else has ever seen anything like it (and no he was not just munching on a mouth full of brassicas as I had initially thought).
I suspect a run in with a car or a bigger buck....

 

[Bassattackr]

I'd say neither, looks more like an infection of some sort..

 

[PrairieShadow]

Brassicas have been a strange one for me. Some years they start getting hammered as soon as the soybean turn. Other years like this one, Deer have yet to touch my brassica plots and soybeans have been gone for over a month. I've yet to ever have a deer dig the bulbs. But they eat the tops off when they are using them.

I think it has to do with how much moisture we end up getting during their growing season. I plant them the 2nd week of Aug. We had a lot of fall moisture this year and the plants grew bigger than normal. I think this creates a palability issue for them when the plants get to big.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

The brassica plot is turned on.....now to see if any of these 8 will hit it in daylight (there were none there this morning anyway..)

 

[Bowsnbucks]

R E A L hunters would be out there at 3:10 AM !!!!! C'mon Derek .......
Your time stamp is like some of ours - our big bucks show up between 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM. I think they lay out there and wait for the last light to go out in the cabin. T H E N they come to the food plots. Dumb animals ....... ???

Looks like they're digging through that bit of snow to feast on your greens. That's the goal. Nice job !!!

 

[Derek Reese 29]

R E A L hunters would be out there at 3:10 AM !!!!! C'mon Derek .......
Your time stamp is like some of ours - our big bucks show up between 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM. I think they lay out there and wait for the last light to go out in the cabin. T H E N they come to the food plots. Dumb animals ....... ???

Looks like they're digging through that bit of snow to feast on your greens. That's the goal. Nice job !!!

if there was a legal way to hunt at 310 AM...I would definitely be in the stand that's 15 yards from that camera....as nuts as this seems..this plot still looks unaffected by the grazing..i think the deer around my house (50 yards from this plot) do the same thing, waiting for the lights and movement to cease then come out to play...they are definitely not dumb and certainly have me patterned....only need them to slip up once though and poke their heads out in daylight....this was the goal of this plot all long though, be there when the ag is gone and the pressure gets ramped up...it seems, if nothing else to be feeding them well and if it lasts till the late archery season (for all the non-PA guys, that starts 12/27) it could be really really good

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Agreed - they sure do pattern US. If your brassicas hang on and don't get eaten to oblivion by late bow season - you might be in for a real good time. Nice to be the best / only food supply in the area!! if nothing else, you'll condition your deer to want to check your plots out again next spring & summer. They know where the "gettin's good."

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

When it’s only 35 at 3 am there isn’t much of a reason to come out during shooting light


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[Derek Reese 29]

When it’s only 35 at 3 am there isn’t much of a reason to come out during shooting light


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yes crazy weather..gonna be 50+ today then drop this weekend....wish it was in the teens for lows and 20s for highs...then they would have to move

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

yes crazy weather..gonna be 50+ today then drop this weekend....wish it was in the teens for lows and 20s for highs...then they would have to move

I haven't bought a late season license yet. I haven't hunted since Oct. 23 for that matter. Work and other things just have me way to busy. We are looking at a big temp drop on Monday afternoon but I can't get out. I may go out on Tuesday evening but not sure it's worth it. We will be having two, 2 day CWD hunts at the end of the month and into early 2022. I think it may be best to just wait until that time and hopefully the temps will fall and we will have a few inches of snow on the ground to turn the daylight activity on in the food plots. The other thing is, I'm not sure I even want to shoot my "target" buck or try to get him to make it through the season. I would love to see what he would be next year as a 6 1/2 year old.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I haven't bought a late season license yet. I haven't hunted since Oct. 23 for that matter. Work and other things just have me way to busy. We are looking at a big temp drop on Monday afternoon but I can't get out. I may go out on Tuesday evening but not sure it's worth it. We will be having two, 2 day CWD hunts at the end of the month and into early 2022. I think it may be best to just wait until that time and hopefully the temps will fall and we will have a few inches of snow on the ground to turn the daylight activity on in the food plots. The other thing is, I'm not sure I even want to shoot my "target" buck or try to get him to make it through the season. I would love to see what he would be next year as a 6 1/2 year old.

I think it took about 2" of snow for the deer to find and use that plot well. I think it scared them into "Oh crap there's no food left but here's something green" state of existence. The 150 acre hunt club that borders me has only shot 1 doe so far (since Saturday) so I am hoping a fair number of the bucks near me survive (there are already some good deer and if they make it another year they will be real special).

 

[TimberHawk]

Well, my brassica plot started getting hit regularly a few weeks ago. Some daylight activity but the warm weather has them moving late.

Patience is something I definitely need to work on. Thanks for everyone chiming in.

 

[Thetrooper]

Zone 6b- in a stand alone plot usage gets heavy by November. When I use a clover brassica mix they start mid September. I think if they have there face down on some clover they'll work the brassica too.

 

[roymunson]

I think mine are just now starting to light up. But it's our first quasi extended cold snap.

Time to start drawing in big boys. Here's hoping

 

[Derek Reese 29]

A few days and some snow has all but wiped out my small brassica plot..there were 5-10 deer (including some decent bucks) in the half acre every night..

 

[Wind Gypsy]

They are digging through a foot of snow to get to mine every time it warms up to near or above freezing. When colder it's not seeing much use. I can only guess it's easer to get down to them when it's warmer? Hard to say..

 

[roymunson]

we got about 7-8" sunday into monday. I sat my brassicas last night thinking, "they'll not be able to resist the turnips"

jerks went and ate greens off the rape and kale...