Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire overgrazed food plots

We have several food plots that the deer never give a chance to. Corn and especially soybeans. Eaten before they get a few inches tall. We want especially the corn to survive to the fall and make corn for the late season. Nice if the soybeans would too. We have tried planting both together, hoping the deer would eat the soybeans and leave the corn. No joy. Sprayed with a liquid that supposedly kept the deer from eating. No joy. We put in a lot of acres already, using most of the tillable land. Adding more is not really an option. Thought of planting something they might not like as much but would still eat in the fall??? Do not know what would work. Any ideas most appreciated. This is on the line between Tenn/Ala so something for the temps/seasons down here please.

Thanks

You must be covered up in deer, I plant winter wheat for cattle and deer, we have a lot of deer here and no problem with any of wheat not making it up and to full size all winter. I would like you probably 😄

Planted soybeans last spring and they were wiped out quickly. Corn, too.

Planted Iron Clay peas (Cow Peas) this year. The deer are hitting them hard but they seem to be constantly regenerating unlike the soybeans failed to do.

Didn’t go with any corn this year.

depending on how big of area your planting, it sounds like your over ran with deer. How many does are you taking off the property a year?

Tennesse has a 3 doe a day limit over a 3 month season. 3 bucks all year, I believe, but take all the does you want! Not sure about the Bama side, except we have a terrible problem with poachers up here on the north side of the state line.

clay peas or ashenome are good summer foods and are able to withstand hard grazing. Wait until End of august and broadcast purple top turnips into the standing peas... run over with a drag to knock peas down and then spray gly on top of all at 2 qts per ac. Wait two weeks and then broadcast wheat in with the greens... thank me later. ALWAYS plant just before or during a good rain of at least 1/2 inch.

how big are the plots? Sounds like they are too small...

Same thoughts here.

I’d axe the beans and plant clover

Yep... clover is an awesome option. I have one plot that is about two acres that I planted in Durana Clover. It has been in the dirt for 5 years and all I do is spray it a couple of times a year... It is expensive for the seeds, but after you get past that, it will last 8-12 years with minimal maintenance. It will feed your herd all year and Durana is VERY tolerant of HEAVY grazing. If your plots are less than an acre, this is your best option.

Plot size, deer numbers, local food availability, and type of soybean you're planting will make a big difference IMO. If you are wanting late season, winter attraction there are ways to get there other than corn/soybeans. I'd likely try a cereal grain. They withstand grazing pressure better and down that far south, most anything should over winter.

Planting the corn and soybeans together, likely did the corn no favors. The deer were attracted to the young beans and ate on the corn while they were there.

A friend put up an electric fence on a lot of his plots in Alabama

I agree with what others have said, your plots are likely too small.
If they are hitting them that hard year round why does it matter if the corn matures? Sounds like they are on the plot so it must be working. Just keep replanting with cheap stuff.

Another option is pumpkins. Once they mature smash one open and the deer will learn really fast they taste good. I prefer to plant multiple species food plus, I have one going in this weekend that has 6 or 7 species in it. Imagine an all you can eat buffet vs all you can eat mashed potatoes. Which would you prefer to eat at? Just my .02

Short of fencing them out I'd make my plot bigger, or accept that you'll need to replant constantly and it will never mature.

Also recommend clover as others have posted. You can add chicory.

I do strips of different crops that are rotated. For instance; plant buckwheat after threat of frost and that gets tilled in later in the summer and replanted with winter peas, turnips, winter rye, ground hog forage radishes and brassicas mix. The deer will hammer the buckwheat till tilled in. The peas will be the first thing the deer hit. The turnips and brassicas will get you through the winter and the rye will be the spring crop the following year. Brassicas should not be planted in the same plot consecutive years. Additional benefits will be the turnips and radishes sending down deep tap roots to breakup the hard pan and improve the soil.

Another strip or two would have the clover and chicory. That can last for years if kept mowed on high. It can be frost overseeded to keep it dense. This is one of their favorite foods and takes some of the pressure off the other crops and is your constant. Clover is a nitrogen fixer and will help the soil for crops in later years when it is time to rotate that strip.

Winter wheat could be another strip and tilled in to start another crop of beans if you still want that in the mix. Or buckwheat the following year and on and on.

Corn depletes the soil more than almost any other crop. Again if you have the space, it can be another strip and rotated in the overall plan.

The strip method helps to build the soil and uses less fertilizer. It provides a year round food source and takes the pressure off any one particular crop.

Apples are another good idea to plant in places along the perimeter and good ambush points in hunting season. Plant them in groups spaced adequately and cage them with enough cage to protect them from browsing and rubbing. Pears, persimmons and chestnuts are others.

It sounds like you need to do a big reduction of does and cull bucks. The land can only carry so many deer. They will over browse everything if not reduced.

This may be more than you are willing to invest, but it is a longer term plan and it can be enjoyable and rewarding.

Clover would be a must as the first step on any plan.

Good luck.

My foodplot experience with clover is just about the time you get it looking good- my niece-in-law decides that God has told her that is a great place to set up a used 12x60 trailer and raise 3 white trash dumbass out of wedlock choorlruns

Roll Tide !!!!!

Nothing says Alabama like planting food plots and then fencing the deer out.

Oats & clover. Late summer, early fall. I appreciate what folks have said about wheat but deer will step over wheat to eat oats. The clover deer don’t eat will regenerate to a degree for warm weather forage. You’ll also have turkey coming in the spring. I personally wouldn’t try corn on less than an acre and that’s probably way too little. Even if it stands you’ll have squirrels and coons tearing into the ears before maturity. You just need to plant more than varmits and deer can eat. Good luck.

We planted 3 side by side strips of rye, wheat and oats. The deer hardly touched the wheat and fed mostly on the oats. The rye looked untouched.

To answer some of the questions. Yes, we have LOTS of deer and we do hammer them. Average 60 to 70 per year with 4 or 5 bucks. Clover is about 25% of the food plots. We do come back with oats/clover in plots that are eaten to the ground but it does not attract/hold deer like the soybeans and/or corn. Plots are from 1/2 acre to 7 acres. We have tried most of the things mentioned but will suggest to the owner that we try some of the iron clay peas. Do not think we have done that. Appreciate all the input guys.

Clover!