Cotton question

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JVNKY

JVNKY

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
14
City & State/Province
Versailles, KY
My favorite property on my lease features alternating woods and fields. The woods are full of oaks. In recent years, the fields have been milo and beans. This year is cotton. In the past, after the crops were harvested, the deer moved in predictable patterns from woods through fields to woods. In previous years, this has been a hot place to be during rifle season. I'm wondering whether cotton will reduce the amount of activity from mid Nov thru Dec. Other properties on the lease have beans this year. I don't have much experience hunting around cotton. Any thoughts? I really like this property, but I want to maximize my time in the field. I'd especially love to hear from folks who have hunted near cotton.
 
Never have seen a lot of deer in a cotton field after it's picked and bush hogged ...I have seen deer hide and eat cotton before it's picked , but that was years ago with very little mast crop...
 
Iv filmed over 40 at one time in picked cotton . Seen monsters use it as travel corridors because it's waist high cover if not bushogged. I never had a problem with cotton. They still use it but not as a food source once it's ppicked
 
Everything is situational. And if they don't bush hog cotton stocks they can be great but tough to see deer.

Under some circumstances they will feed on the green growing between rows late seaso.
 
If the normal green vegetation comes back by rifle season I'd think it would be good as any cut field.


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Picked cotton won't be an attractant or a deterrent.

If the stalks are left standing they will use it for cover. Amazing how they can hide in cut stalks. They'll also go into the fields when the new green growth starts to emerge.
 
I just prepped a tree for rifle hunting in the cove of a cotton field. By the time I'll be hunting it rifle season will be open, the stalks will have been cut, and I still fully expect to see and kill a deer and possibly see a chase or two. Unless you possibly have super large fields where they have to cross 1/2 mile stretches the deer should maintain their basic travel patterns.
 
It is interesting to read the responses to your question, because cotton fields have always intrigued me. I hunted a farm for many years with a cotton field slap in the middle of it. We would always see deer in it, so we said heck with it and hung a double millennium ladder stand on it. That stand was surprisingly productive with three bucks harvested out of it off the top of my head. I don't have a reason for it or even an answer for you, but I couldn't help but click on your thread and share my past experiences when I saw the title. Good luck either way!
 
Our place has cotton and its already been picked. Seeing deer in the evenings in the fields already. I'd say it could depend on when its picked. A few years ago I hunted a place with cotton. It got picked really late and as a result nothing was growing in the fields. Nothing in it for the deer to eat.
 
You might also see if there's plans for a winter cover crop; wheat or rye. Back when we planted cotton we'd often put in a cover crop and as one of the only green food sources the deer would absolutely pound it.
 
catman529":35lqsu30 said:
If the normal green vegetation comes back by rifle season I'd think it would be good as any cut field.


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Click to expand...

That's what I would think.
 
If it's a travel corridor then it's a travel corridor. Doesn't matter what's planted there. That's the case in my favorite spot. Even when the field is in cotton the deer use it like crazy because it's a bottleneck.
 

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