Let's Talk Food Plots

[338 dude]

Yes, they love the leafy tops when green. Also , they will hit the beans when the cold weather sets in. The part that puzzles me here is why they would gather late afternoon and eat the stems that are empty of beans after going through the combine? I'm saying why eat those when I have a lush brassica plot standing ready to eat? I'm not seeing that brassicas are much of a draw, other than they have been eating the white radish tops. Even then it's typically one to four deer and there are a half dozen out eating bean stems. I would love for someone that has had great success with brassicas to chime in. The food plot sales rep will sometimes exaggerate a tad to sell seed, or so it seems.

In Tennessee the deer wipeout purple top turnips and are just relentless I plant antler king products and I’ve had great success

 

[timeout]

In Tennessee the deer wipeout purple top turnips and are just relentless I plant antler king products and I’ve had great successView attachment 1224336

Are you in an agricultural area?

 

[338 dude]

Are you in an agricultural area?

There are thousands of acres all around me it is a mix of cattle country and agriculture the biggest field just happens to be the closest one is about 3 miles away

 

[okie]

Rode around my place in Georgia yesterday. I have 5 different food plots and “took” all my deer earlier on three of them. Well yesterday, after many freezing days lately, the check was interesting.

The two plots with lots of planted radish were torn apart by deer. The others did not show much sign.

I plant trit. and oats for cows---some of the "noxious" weed seed in the bags are turnips and beets--deer eat them --dig em out of the ground (the cows do too)--radish probably the same. my kid wants me to plant a ten acre patch just to see...

 

[okie]

In Tennessee the deer wipeout purple top turnips and are just relentless I plant antler king products and I’ve had great successView attachment 1224336

are those expensive?

 

[338 dude]

are those expensive?

Not really it’s kind of the middle of the road I can get cheaper seed but there’s also much more expensive the bag will say it’ll plan a quarter acre for about 20 bucks but I usually seed heavier

 

[okie]

yeah thats not too bad-costs me around 40 an acre for really good cow fodder--Im gonna try something like that so the boys will quit griping about it---lol

 

[338 dude]

Honey Hole - Antler King

Our #1 selling food plot product, Honey Hole is a fabulous northern hunt plot that grows even in tough conditions and deer love it! Features multiple varieties of rape and turnips Treated with Ultra Coat Orange for higher germination rates, increased forage yield Cool weather tends to...

antlerking.com

 

[LHSmith]

Update on my end here. We have had snow, then bare ground and back to snow again. Still zero interest in the Brassicas. Now I don't have 60 or even 30 deer on my plots ever. Lots of hunting pressure around me. I planted two small patches of chicory on steep and somewhat stony areas last year and much to my dismay, the weeds overtook it. Did some research on herbicides to combat the weed problem in the chicory and the only thing I could come up with was extremely expensive. I'm very interested to know how you controlled the weeds in your chicory. Any tips greatly appreciated!

The best method I know of to minimize weeds is to lightly disc the soil as soon as you can in spring, plant (broadcast) buckwheat once soil warms to >50' @ 75 #/ Acre. If you see weeds growing en-masse before the soil warms enough to plant- then disc again. Buckwheat will germinate in 3-4 days, blooms quickly and reaches maturity in 70-90 days. It tolerates poor soils, is a an excellent weed suppressor, has a dense root cluster in top 10" of soil making the soil easier to till, and releases phosphorus and calcium into soil for future crops. After flowering, the buckwheat can be cut down, and clovers or chicory can be planted. The cut buckwheat breaks down quickly.
Oats is another crop that can be planted as soon as soil warms to 50'. Oats does not offer all the benefits to the soil that buckwheat does, but it is cheaper initially-but you will have to replace the Nitrogen that oats used up for the follow-up crop.
The trick is to keep some type of forage growing (filling in bare spots when necessary) and not let the plot go fallow.

 

[msalm]

I have had what look like grasses/weeds overtake a 3 year old plot of Chicory. In the late summer when the grasses start to dry out a bit, late July I think it was, I mowed it all off pretty tight to the ground. In 2-3 weeks I went back and it was a solid plot of fresh chicory as full as it had ever been. Regular mowing does help. This plot was mowed twice this year.

 

[LHSmith]

I have had what look like grasses/weeds overtake a 3 year old plot of Chicory. In the late summer when the grasses start to dry out a bit, late July I think it was, I mowed it all off pretty tight to the ground. In 2-3 weeks I went back and it was a solid plot of fresh chicory as full as it had ever been. Regular mowing does help. This plot was mowed twice this year.View attachment 1224677

Good point. Mow in spring when it reaches 6 to 8 "-down to 4", and again if necessary. Likewise some clover varieties should be mowed before the weeds develop a seedhead. The normal stand life for chicory is 2 years, but up to 5 years is possible with cutting and fertilizing. If your chicory plants are too sparse in the spring, you can very lightly disc over the existing plot (a single pass) and overseed new chicory seed (or a clover- but I don't like mixtures). Do this before a heavy spring rain. Frost-seeding chicory did not work for me. It is slow to establish and will not re-seed itself or spread out. So you have to keep filling in bare spots as they appear.

 

[LHSmith]

I planted two small patches of chicory on steep and somewhat stony areas last year and much to my dismay, the weeds overtook it.

Chicory has a high water requirement and thrives in sandy soils. Perhaps that plot cannot retain enough moisture due to runoff. Another consideration since Chicory is slow-growing (allowing the weeds to gain on it) is to plant it with a fast growing annual clover like crimson.

 

[LHSmith]

So my brassica plot consisted of Winfried brassica, purple top turnips, and a white radish sugar beets mix. The sugar beets did not germinate however.

Tried WTI Beets & Greens. Had the same results as you- nothing resembling beet leaves came up ( I grow them in my garden). Then I read that beets do not fare well as a companion crop. That is what started turning me off to the big name brands and mixes. I am sticking with what the local farmers grow because it allows me to keep something green growing most of the year and I see results without spending a lot of money on seed. I prefer to put that money into lime and fertilizer and gas and tractor parts and disc replacements.
Can you tell that I got cabin fever? Can't wait to start playing in the dirt again.

 

[CaptainMal]

Talked about the radish I had in my food plots in Georgia. Well drove back to Florida yesterday and stopped at the Walmart in Americus, Ga. The were selling the same seed I used to supplement the 150 lbs of "Whitetail Mix" I got at the local feed store there. It was reduced to a $1 per pound. bought two 10# bags and will see if it keeps well for next year inside my climate-controlled house.



Couple pictures of what likes radish from the literally "tens" of nice bucks I had to choose from for the two I "took". One of these is now now on my wall from a kill I did early December. Surely you can tell which one I let walk multiple times and which one took two full coolers to hold all the meat I brought home yesterday.



Planted my food plots in late August.

 

[msalm]

With all this talk of food plots, yesterday afternoon I walked up to mine (behind the house) to check it out. ALL the brassicas are chewed down to the stalk and it looks as if they have it pretty cleaned up, although there are heavy trails coming into it with fresh sign yet. The deer are pawing through the snow yet in patches and they may be coming in for awhile yet. Was hoping to find a shed or two so followed a few trails into the woods and to the adjoining field where they jump a fence, but no luck.

As a side note, my garden is 100 yds below this plot and I have a row of collard greens that is 2’ high with very green leaves still attached...they haven’t touched it but did clean all the green off the broccoli plants...guess I’m the only one that likes the collard greens...that includes the wife and 3 kids that won’t touch them!

 

[timeout]

This morning I saw 4 deer heading around back. About 45 minutes later I went on foot to see where they were going. The snow is knee deep and in some places deeper. Despite my snow camo they saw me before I saw them. They were down along the creek in the treeline and I was looking straight ahead. They took off and let out a couple of warning screams. I stood still and they disappeared towards the brassica food plot. I slipped forward just enough to observe them. They started to dig and paw through the snow in the food plot. I watched them about 30 minutes until one by one they left the food plot and entered the sanctuary. Long story short, this is the first time all winter that any deer have attempted to eat the brassicas. I will be keeping an eye on things to see if they continue to use the brassicas as a food source. I am going to attach a picture to show how they have been digging in the harvested soybean fields to look for food. They have ignored the brassicas and ate soybean stalks all over my fields all winter. The turkey population is scratching in the spots where the deer dig down and enlarging those looking for food as well. They are predicting 6-8" more snow here on Thursday along with some freezing rain. Following that the forecast is predicting 5 days of arctic cold. The wildlife here is hungry and it's looking to get even worse.

Sorry about the extra duplicate photo. I can't seem to delete it. In the 2nd photo you can see my wife's hunting blind. Beyond it is where the food plot is. There is 23 acres of sanctuary to the right and 20 acres to the left.

 

[TrapperBR549]

I think once the deer learn to eat them they will become one of your favorite food plots. Down here in Missouri purple top turnips are cheap, easy, and the deer love them.

 

[338 dude]

I think once the deer learn to eat them they will become one of your favorite food plots. Down here in Missouri purple top turnips are cheap, easy, and the deer love them.

I always use turnips they love them here in Tennessee as well