Pumpkin food plot

[NYBuckHunter27]

Anyone have any experience growing pumpkins? whats it take? Are pumpkins a viable food source for deer?

 

I have had great success with brassicas in the past but had a bad year this past year and i think its time to try something new, so other than clover i was thinking of trying pumpkins just for something different than whats in the surrounding area.... Thanks for any input guys!

[G-Man]

I had pumpkins the deer will step on them and eat them. They are sucesseptible to powdery mildew, and uncles you spray cultivate you will probably have problems. I still grow some mixed into edge of corn fields ...if they grow great if not no big loss. I wouldn't recomment growing them just for deer.

[dbHunterNY]

not much to growing them but I wouldn't waste your time doing it for deer either.  way better off with brassicas.

[Hardcore]

not much to growing them but I wouldn't waste your time doing it for deer either. way better off with brassicas.

Very easy to establish and grow, but most will rot before deer finish them. Don't know what your brassica issues were but I would definitely give it another go with the leafy greens. If your still bent on no brassicas, maybe sweet potatoes, deer will murder them.

[NYBuckHunter27]

Very easy to establish and grow, but most will rot before deer finish them. Don't know what your brassica issues were but I would definitely give it another go with the leafy greens. If your still bent on no brassicas, maybe sweet potatoes, deer will murder them.

 

i've just read and heard about the 3 year rule with brasscias and wonder if my soil needs a year to rest and build up its levels again, i tried frost seeding clover and am yet to see any clover heads popping....

[Ford]

Brassicas will suck up all the N that's for sure. (plus the disease and pest problem of them being planted over and over.)

 

You might want to try Winter Rye for late season. The deer ate the heck out of mine, stays green long, greens up early, and easy to grow.

[G-Man]

sunflowers are great and deer love em and you get something nice to look at.

[NYBuckHunter27]

sunflowers are great and deer love em and you get something nice to look at.

 

pretty easy to grow?

[NYBuckHunter27]

Brassicas will suck up all the N that's for sure. (plus the disease and pest problem of them being planted over and over.)

 

You might want to try Winter Rye for late season. The deer ate the heck out of mine, stays green long, greens up early, and easy to grow.

 

when do you plant the winter rye? pretty easy to grow?

[G-Man]

yes. just buy a bag of sunflower seed for your birds.. i prefer the black oil as they have multiple heads... broadcast and disc in about an inch or so.. deer eat the heads when they are developing and seeds heads when ripe. turkey grouse songbirds and squirrels also love em.. nice thing with black if deer eat leader they will floer from side beanches below where cut off.

[Ford]

when do you plant the winter rye? pretty easy to grow?

 

Very easy, grows late too. Mid September is good. I plant clover in the spring.

[NYBuckHunter27]

thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[NYBuckHunter27]

Very easy, grows late too. Mid September is good. I plant clover in the spring.

 

where do you get your winter rye seed from?

[Doc]

I remember seeing where a guy fed his excess pumpkins to his sheep, and they ate them right down. I have a feeling that deer might go for them too. Is it the best thing to put in for a food plot? ..... probably not.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Try planting pumpkins for a few years and see how it goes. Maybe even try some butternut squash. They do require N to do well.  I dig hills about 10 feet apart, digging down 5", spread some fert., add soil over, then 4 seeds on each corner, one in the middle for the crow. Cover. Hoeing around the plants help, and I'll even hill them, once the plants get some size.

 

The nice part about pumpkins, the whole field need not be worked. An area,  size of a trash can is all they need.

Edited April 23, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[burmjohn]

We planted a few when we did corn, I was able to take about 6 home that were not smashed by the deer/bear for the kids.  I would say only about 30 pumpkins came out of the seeds we planted but we were not expecting much.