Question regarding food plots

[agross]

I had a question for you guys that are into planting your own plots.

2011 was the first year i put in a plot smallish 1/4 acre not planted with green patch plus, oats and wheat and some clover did fine, brassicas not so good.

I am planning on adding another plot about the same size next year.

I guess my question is after each year of having a food plot does deer activity increase to a point?

that is after 1 year some deer use the plot but then after each year the plot is around will more and more deer use it after they learn where it is and whats in it as a new food source?

thanks

[5.9cummins]

I have had a brassica plot for three seasons and i have noticed increase use as time passes.

[growalot]

Yes....and they will also utilize it differently...ie....clovers will get hit regularly....turnips and braccs...when first planted will either be ignored till late season or rarely used the first year...then hammered the following year after frost...I've had them in several years now(rotations)and this year they hit them some before the frost and have topped the greens after frost but are taking bites out of the bigger ones and leaving alot of smaller ones ...going for the corn and I planted oats a bit too early and they have eaten all seed heads and eating the red clovers underneath....I think they are leaving the turnips as a heavy snow food source...it's a learning curve for them....They have finally discovered the sorghum and are hitting those seed heads....We had a bear come through and flatten most of the corn and a lot of the sorghum....looks like a roller zig zagged though it....tons of big dried corn cobs laying out there

[agross]

Thanks

[crs740]

I am going to give brassicas a try again next year. I should have put them in at the end of July rather than mid august. Since this is the first year, the deer have not really hit them that hard. I believe if you have a perennial plot and annual plots and continue to have them year after year deer will get accustomed to coming to them more often. My problem now is all the corn left in the field after it was picked a couple weeks ago. the farmer has some really old equipment that leaves about half the corn in the field. The deer are hitting that hard right now rather than my foodplots

[dave6x6]

The answer to your question is yes. Deer do take some time to warm up to some plots but there may be other factors coming into play. The location and lay-out of your plot may have something to do with it as well. Contrary to what some might think, if the plot is not fairly close to cover or in an area that deer are used to being in, you can put out filet mignon and they're not going to eat it . Especially during daylight hrs. Not sure if that is coming into play with your situation but try to keep that in mind for future sites. I really just think they are finding other food sources right now that are more appealing to them. It's aweful hard to compete with corn but once they get that cleaned up they may start hitting yours next.

[G-Man]

yes, imagine yourself finding a new resturant and then bringing back your friends a few days weeks later... same happens in the deer world, next year,or months go by and they look for that food source again and bring offspring / other herd members... bear do the samething remembering the food location for next years feed fest before hibernation

[tughillhunter]

i use oats as a cover plot, and brassicas. havent had great lck with the brassicas yet, but i think the colder the weather gets, the more they hit them up. i wanna try corn and clover next year for an expirement.

[crs740]

Both spots where the brassicas are located are surrounded by cover. One field is ~2 acres that is split half with clover/chicory (which has been hit good) and brassicas/oats. The other is in a corner right by an apple orchard, where there was an insane apple crop this year. Unfortunately, south winds have kept me out of there and my trail cameras has shown some decent bucks in there. We will see what happens late season, but at least the deer have plenty to eat and hoepfully some of their freinds find the new buffet for next year

[hb270deermanager]

You will see an increase in deer activity yr after yr.

I have several plots of a variety clovers,alfa rack plus,

brassicas,chicory /clover mix and some no plow.

Brassicas were hurt buy all the rains this fall but the

deer are killing my clover plots.I have no problem

every yr getting my deer.Next season I am planting new

plots of whitetail institute double cross and power plant

and some soybeans.

[crs740]

Sounds like you have a great layout hb270. I expect that over the next few years the population should increase significantly since we have so much more food for them. I am also planning on doing quite a bit of hinge cutting this winter to allow more sunlight to the ground in some areas that are too open. I hope that this will eventually create some real thick areas that deer will use for bedding. Additionally, i plan on doing some cutting around field edges to create funnels for entrys into the fields. This way deer will be forced to go where I want them rather than entering the field where ever they want to. it is a work in progress, but it is just about as fun as hunting.