Food Plots Corn

[buckaroo]

I have 2 places only 1/4 each I thought of growing sweet corn, would need to keep out traps for coons, has anyone grown small corn plots? Is it worth fooling with? I thought if it made it till winter would be good, also thought of growing sunflowers mixed in and have a small personal dove field

 

[MickThompson]

If you have many deer you'll probably need an electric fence to grow either one and have anything left by hunting season. You could also do millet for dove over the summer then follow it with an annual cool season plot.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Haven't planted any smaller corn plots but do have a few areas I'd like to try it.....I have mixed in sunflower with soybeans and peas before....beans and peas got knee high....sunflower jumped up and flowered....but once deer found them they stripped ever leaf off...ate the tops....nothing left but the stalk....made great food for late summer but not much left in the fall......been studying on the 3 strand solar electric fence option.

 

[Grainger]

Haven't planted any smaller corn plots but do have a few areas I'd like to try it.....I have mixed in sunflower with soybeans and peas before....beans and peas got knee high....sunflower jumped up and flowered....but once deer found them they stripped ever leaf off...ate the tops....nothing left but the stalk....made great food for late summer but not much left in the fall......been studying on the 3 strand solar electric fence option.

Wouldn't the birds eat the ripened Sunflowers long before the Fall?

I grow Sunflowers every year along the side of my house, I'll cut the tops off about half of them to save for the birds in the Winter. The ones I don't cut are ravaged before Sept even starts.

 

[wildlifefarmer]

I have 2 places only 1/4 each I thought of growing sweet corn, would need to keep out traps for coons, has anyone grown small corn plots? Is it worth fooling with? I thought if it made it till winter would be good, also thought of growing sunflowers mixed in and have a small personal dove field

I had the same thought as you do several years ago. 3 acres of sunflowers to have that little dove hunt. all went well, looked great and did well for the first couple years. year 3 the deer found them. most all plants stripped for next 2 years. NO MORE SUNFLOWERS!! We changed to 6 ac of corn, same thing is happening. The last 3 years NO corn. Small plots are great for a year or maybe two, but the deer find it and get a taste they come back year after year. By the way, we are trying to help the quail and turkeys and other small critters first and foremost. All I can say is try it. Your results may suprise you one way or the other. The main thing is do something and enjoy.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Wouldn't the birds eat the ripened Sunflowers long before the Fall?

Yes....most likely......We only added sunflower to our beans and peas to create our own warm season summer blend....I just mentioned what the deer did to them because you mentioned possibly having a dove shoot....our sunflower became bare stalks soon after the flower opened.....but the deer also hammered our beans and peas....which is why we have considered the electric fence to maybe keep some food around for later in the season.

Buddy of mine planted ½ acre of sunflower for his wife who wanted to use them for a photography backdrop....none of them got over knee high....deer destroyed them.....he's going with the 3 strand electric fence method this summer.

 

[DoubleRidge]

I had the same thought as you do several years ago. 3 acres of sunflowers to have that little dove hunt. all went well, looked great and did well for the first couple years. year 3 the deer found them. most all plants stripped for next 2 years. NO MORE SUNFLOWERS!! We changed to 6 ac of corn, same thing is happening. The last 3 years NO corn. Small plots are great for a year or maybe two, but the deer find it and get a taste they come back year after year. By the way, we are trying to help the quail and turkeys and other small critters first and foremost. All I can say is try it. Your results may suprise you one way or the other. The main thing is do something and enjoy.

Great point....try.....no matter what happens it will benefit wildlife of some type.....what we did once the deer hammered our sunflower, beans and peas....in late September we sowed a cool season blend into what was left standing then bush hogged it...got a good rain and it greened up nice....so there has been food available for a variety of wildlife for many months......and I will say that after we bush hogged the plots the dove we're hitting them hard......and the turkeys we're in there every day I went to check on the plots.

 

[bigjohn]

If I was you I'd plant field corn instead of sweet corn . Coyotes usually will destroy a small sweet corn patch.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

We planted several 1 acre plots of corn a few years ago. It didn't last very long. Between the deer, squirrels and coons, they tore it up before season. Mostly by coons. That was field corn - if you did sweet corn, I imagine it would be much worse. I like what MickThompson mentioned - planting millet/sorghum. The deer won't touch it until the heads are mature and that's what they may or may not try to eat. Should attract a lot of birds. Then follow it with a cool season annual for fall/winter. Sorghum will also create a lot of organic matter to help improve the soil

 

[MickThompson]

Wouldn't the birds eat the ripened Sunflowers long before the Fall?

Plant them later.

 

[buckaroo]

A few years ago I would worry about the deer eating it up, but last couple years numbers are way down, plus we walk our german shepards regularly around our place and their scent may keep them away in daylight hours

 

[PickettSFHunter]

You have mentioned having bears come through occasionally. If they find it in roastnear stage, they will go out in the middle and start rolling around until they knock it all down. May not eat it all but they will destroy it all.

 

[Safari Hunt]

My uncle had a farm in central Ohio. He was picking corn and found about an acre cleared out in the middle of the field. Deer would sneak in and stay hidden while eating the corn. It seems that deer, etc., will find something to feed on no matter what you plant.

 

[wildlifefarmer]

My uncle had a farm in central Ohio. He was picking corn and found about an acre cleared out in the middle of the field. Deer would sneak in and stay hidden while eating the corn. It seems that deer, etc., will find something to feed on no matter what you plant.

that is a very true statement that the deer will find it. it's just a matter of time.