What's on the menu,

[DDT]

Checked out the food plots today. Looks like deer are back to munchin on the Whitetail institute oats. Still 50% green and we'll mowed off.

 

They were hammering the tall tine turnips before snow.  Seems to have slacked off and switched to the oats. Some turnips and winter greens we're eaten though,

It's interesting to watch the progression of what's on the menu today.

[goosifer]

I did over 3 acres of first time food plots on my property this year. I'd say about 60% of the food plot acreage grew, including some nice turnip growth in a couple of the food plots. But didn't really see any sign of the deer eating them. I need to go back out and remove seat cushions, etc. next week.  Maybe the deer will have figured out by then that the crops are there for them to eat.

[turkeyfeathers]

Was fully expecting pics of Christmas Eve food on this thread. But in case you’re curious. Ham , corn , perogi , mashed taters , rolls n butter , fish , asparagus, and triple chocolate pie. 

[LET EM GROW]

goos.. It may take a year or 2 for your deer to eat them if they have never had them before. OR if there is alot of Ag around you. IdK why some herds do not eat them in heavy Ag areas vs others. Even if the Ag has been plowed under. my property in 8F and the other in 8P are like night and day when it comes to plots and preference to deer.. 

[DDT]

On 12/24/2017 at 6:33 PM, goosifer said:

I did over 3 acres of first time food plots on my property this year. I'd say about 60% of the food plot acreage grew, including some nice turnip growth in a couple of the food plots. But didn't really see any sign of the deer eating them. I need to go back out and remove seat cushions, etc. next week.  Maybe the deer will have figured out by then that the crops are there for them to eat.

Maybe dig up a couple turnips here or there, and chop it open. Help give them the idea. The deer took to ours right away the first year.

[G-Man]

After 1st year my turnips are now eaten in october.. damn things don't read when they Re suppose to eat them

[corydd7]

How did the first year go? I've heard people say radishes and turnips don't get touched the first year.

[goosifer]

5 minutes ago, corydd7 said:

How did the first year go? I've heard people say radishes and turnips don't get touched the first year.

I can vouch for that statement. As of a week ago, they were untouched. Any idea how long they are edible for? I might dig some up to take home next week.

[corydd7]

Goosifer, with this experience will you try again next year? 

[goosifer]

33 minutes ago, corydd7 said:

Goosifer, with this experience will you try again next year? 

You know, I was going to do a post soliciting feedback on what to do. I'm really not sure at this point.

[stubborn1VT]

I planted turnips and radishes at my house.  There is alot of ag around me.  The first year the deer ignored them.  The second year they ignored them until late winter.  This past year, they decided they liked them.  They like soybeans better, but they finished up with both turnips and beans about a week ago.  

My best recommendation is to offer a variety.

[corydd7]

22 minutes ago, goosifer said:

You know, I was going to do a post soliciting feedback on what to do. I'm really not sure at this point.

Right. For me I see very few people who have luck the first year (unless the deer have another source of them close). I think I might be forcing deer to eat them more then drawing them to my property. More risk reward then I would like for all the effort I put in. I was going to try them this year and a friend who knows by failure told me to go another route.

Somebody would really need to sell me on the upside for me to try them.

[stubborn1VT]

My house is in the Champlain Valley and there is tons of farmland.  Where I hunt in Central Vermont there is less food.  The deer there flock to any kind of brassica.  My buddy planted 3 plots on 100 acres, a total of 1.5 acres of just brassicas.  They loved them, and he shot a 120" buck, and had dozens of bucks on camera throughout the year.  

There is no formula, or instruction book.  Each property seems to be a case by case scenario.  If I saw his results, I would swear by them.  I'm not saying they will work for you, but they do work in some places.

[E J]

The deer on my property are fussy. They only like corn, clover and whitetail institute oats. There is too much ag and orchard around for them to eat any sort of brassica. I've tried for five years now with no progress. Back when I had a camp in Steuben county a big field of brassica was the hot ticket all winter long.

[LetEmGrow]

Good to know on them Oats.  Thanks!

[LET EM GROW]

Don't give up goos.. Do a blend for next year, Turnips, Radish and maybe Rutabaga... clovers and grains also if youd like. give them something you know they like and they'll consume it. Same thing happened when i first tried radish instead of turnip. They didnt touch a thing, waste of 1.5 acres. Following year i put them in a blend and they ate everything, tops in fall and bulbs after cold weather and snow set in. It just may take a year or 3. Which kind of sucks. If you have the size, Soybeans are great too.

[LET EM GROW]

14 hours ago, LetEmGrow said:

Good to know on them Oats.  Thanks!

Plant them first week of September. Just make sure you get forage oat and or winter wheat. Regular oats rot after frost.

[gjs4]

Oddly they pounded a mix of ghr and ptt before the snow fall but have left it alone since that first snow. Basically a month sitting dormant. Beyond baffled and not the first yr for brassicas or either of those.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[stubborn1VT]

My best guess (just a guess) is that they switched to woody browse, and the bugs in the rumen are different than they were earlier.

[sailinghudson25]

1st year doing any sort of food plots in columbia county.  I cultivated a poor soil spot with a spring cultivator during the warm spell in febuary.  Added lime, fertilizer, and a hodge podge mix of red, ladino, and dutch white clover.   Deer loved it in the spring and summer.   Over the spring, I rototilled a spot of lawn and made a ladino clover plot with some oats mixed in.  Then in the fall, I sprayed with glyphosate, added more clover and turnips.  The deer are loving that right now.  Although they did take a break mid rifle until a week or two ago.  Might be me moving the dogs to the house at that time though.....

I can't shoot at any angle in this spot.  I screwed up by planting a small spot of red clover in september.  This spot is prepping for a vegetable garden.  The deer loved that little spot during rifle season.......

Did my muzzleloader trick again......   last few days of rifle season, cut down two nice maple trees.  Then add a nice flintlock and a canister full of coffee.   Drink coffee, shoot flintlock, then drag deer..........   A week after you cut them down, then cut the higher branches lower.   If I can't completely chunk the tree, then I cut them into 6ft sections to let them dry quicker.....

I usually need 6 good sized maples for a winter's worth of wood.  I cut 2 in december, 2 in january, and 2 in febuary.  I generally wait until a cold snap to help out the deer.

Edited December 29, 2017 by sailinghudson25