If you could plant Ag Crops for Deer....

[BlountArrow]

what would you think would be most beneficial for deer? I have three different pastures that are separated by hedge rows and total pasture acreage is roughly 6 acres between the three. If there were no limits as to what you could plant what would you choose. I think corn might be a given. And, if you're going to say soy beans let me know what kind/type you prefer. What else; let's hear it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bayou Buck]

I'd go with Eagle Seed Beans. Plenty of forage up till the fall and you can overseed with cereal grains in fall for a winter food source along with the pods. If your fields are small though, I'm not sure how they would take the grazing pressure.

 

[Hollar Hunter]

Everybody's been on the eagle soybeans here lately. I don't know a much better summer time crop. Problem is planting enought to withstand the browse pressure they'll get. Corn is always a given but no benefit for summer growth but a great winter attractant. That's why will do both. The beans are great late season as well if they produced good in the summer..

 

[BlountArrow]

I doubt I have enough deer for over grazing to be a problem. I wondered how many would say Eagle beans. I've never tried them. But, I tried some form of round up ready beans several years ago and I was unimpressed with the foraging - deer didn't seem to be impressed by them but the beans grew great.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Eagle beans or I would consider round up ready alfalfa in my area. You could also turn a profit by leasing it to someone to cut and bale it.

 

[BSK]

Eagle forage beans. Absolutely no doubt in my mind.

 

[Football Hunter]

yeah,soybeans

 

[NBF7240]

Beans

 

[BlountArrow]

Let's talk about Eagle brand beans for a moment.
So, I just got off the phone with my local Coop and the type of Eagle brand bean they usually sale is the "Wildlife Manager's Mix". Does that sound right to you guys? These are round-up ready. Is this what I want if I'm going to do soy beans?

 

[BowGuy84]

beans...and as others said, I'd over seed as they turned yellow.

 

[huntintn]

last 2 years weve had around 300 acres in soybean. great early season but not so much after there picked. This year it all going in corn probaly be the other way around.

 

[muddyboots]

i would do 3 acres in eagle seed beans and 3 acres in corn

 

[Tnwakeboarder]

Alfalfa.

 

[BigGameGuy]

I wouldn't plant anything and just let it go fallow.

 

[Crosshairy]

I wouldn't plant anything and just let it go fallow.

I would do this on half of a field. I've seen several fields that had fallow sections butting up against cultivated crops do great for deer. The fallow parts give the deer security cover to stand in, a wider selection of browse that's more drought resistant, and generally seem to boost daytime sightings. If it grows tall enough, they will come out in it more readily than an open field. Put a stand high enough on a field that size and you'll still have good shot opportunities.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

Eagle beans Large Lad or Big Fellow.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I don't see Milo mentioned ?? The profit margin is not close to corn but deer love it.
http://news.utcrops.com/2012/11/profita ... outlook-7/
http://farmingforwildlife.com/index.php ... 1&Itemid=1

 

[primos32]

Hard to beat some Eagle Seed beans.

 

[BlountArrow]

So is there a difference between "Eagle Seed Beans", "Eagle Large Lad", "Eagle Big Fellow", and the "Eagle Wildlife Manager's Mix"?

I do like the Milo idea as well. I have planted grain sorghum before. I'm not sure the deer took to the sorghum much but I figure the turkeys had to have been all about it, but I wasn't running cameras religiously back then.

 

[BSK]

I don't see Milo mentioned ??

Milo is more of a fall-season food source (deer eat the seedheads). For summer protein and volume of quality food produced, I want a major legume, with beans preferred over peas, although both are good.

 

[BSK]

So is there a difference between "Eagle Seed Beans", "Eagle Large Lad", "Eagle Big Fellow", and the "Eagle Wildlife Manager's Mix"?

Yes, there are differences. To find out the details about each plant, as well as which would be best for your situation, I would talk directly to the people at Eagle Seed.

The "Wildlife Manager's Mix" contains more climbing beans, and is meant to be planted with RR corn (the cornstalks give the climbing beans structure to climb up).

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I don't see Milo mentioned ??

Milo is more of a fall-season food source (deer eat the seedheads). For summer protein and volume of quality food produced, I want a major legume, with beans preferred over peas, although both are good.

Deer have to eat in the fall also right ??When the corn,peas,and beans are gone they will tear those seed heads up.In La. when harvesting the Milo crop we always left the stuff around the edges and corners for deer and other wildlife,Seems like with 3 fields a good fall crop would benefit the deer as well as the hunting.I know it is not as popular in Tn. as other places.I always wondered why ??

 

[BlountArrow]

Yes, there are differences. To find out the details about each plant, as well as which would be best for your situation, I would talk directly to the people at Eagle Seed.

The "Wildlife Manager's Mix" contains more climbing beans, and is meant to be planted with RR corn (the cornstalks give the climbing beans structure to climb up).

Excellent. I will definitely do that. Thanks for all the info guys and anything you want to add is greatly appreciated.

In past years I've shyed away from the Ag crops on the property focusing more on clover, chicory, rye, wheat, and oats. I want to try something different. Other than the chicory I've not been impressed with the results (results = deer foraging, not plant growth).

 

[BSK]

I don't see Milo mentioned ??

Milo is more of a fall-season food source (deer eat the seedheads). For summer protein and volume of quality food produced, I want a major legume, with beans preferred over peas, although both are good.

Deer have to eat in the fall also right ??When the corn,peas,and beans are gone they will tear those seed heads up.In La. when harvesting the Milo crop we always left the stuff around the edges and corners for deer and other wildlife,Seems like with 3 fields a good fall crop would benefit the deer as well as the hunting.I know it is not as popular in Tn. as other places.I always wondered why ??

Absolutely true WestTn Huntin'man. I was just answering the question from the idea of "What one crop could I plant that would make the greatest difference in herd health (body weights, antler growth, and fawn production). The answer to that is summer forage beans.

 

[BSK]

Yes, there are differences. To find out the details about each plant, as well as which would be best for your situation, I would talk directly to the people at Eagle Seed.

The "Wildlife Manager's Mix" contains more climbing beans, and is meant to be planted with RR corn (the cornstalks give the climbing beans structure to climb up).

Excellent. I will definitely do that. Thanks for all the info guys and anything you want to add is greatly appreciated.

In past years I've shyed away from the Ag crops on the property focusing more on clover, chicory, rye, wheat, and oats. I want to try something different. Other than the chicory I've not been impressed with the results (results = deer foraging, not plant growth).

BlountArrow,

Just don't assume that one plant, planted for one season of the year, is the best answer. Deer have different nutritional needs during the different seasons of the year, and no one plant can meet all those needs. To maximize nutritional benefit, you need a mixture of plants that produce what the deer need most for each season.

 

[BlountArrow]

BlountArrow,

Just don't assume that one plant, planted for one season of the year, is the best answer. Deer have different nutritional needs during the different seasons of the year, and no one plant can meet all those needs. To maximize nutritional benefit, you need a mixture of plants that produce what the deer need most for each season.

Indeed, and a good reminder. I hope to be able to stagger/stage planting of different plants throughout the year as resources become available (resources = time and money :) ). I have other areas available for food sources other than the three pastures mentioned, these just happen to be the largest open fields that I would like to experiment with some sort of Ag crop. I'm also cutting into the available pasture land with some hedge row renovation and planting of various trees/shrubs to expand the more natural habitat and browse; this in part thanks to my local TWRA Biologist and local NRCS director - if I could give a shout out.

 

[Bayou Buck]

I hope to be able to stagger/stage planting of different plants throughout the year as resources become available (resources = time and money :) ).

BlountArrow,

Some of the cheapest things you can do is manage native vegetation. If you have mostly mature hardwoods, you might want to look at getting some of it logged. You can also select a few different sites to put on a burning regimate.

 

[BlountArrow]

BlountArrow,

Some of the cheapest things you can do is manage native vegetation. If you have mostly mature hardwoods, you might want to look at getting some of it logged. You can also select a few different sites to put on a burning regimate.

I completely agree and yeah there are several weeds, browse, and forbes that comprise way more of a deer's diet than any food plot ever did (based on what I've read and been told). Like my local TWRA biologist told me, he says that anymore he's convinced food plots are more for the hunter than the animal; more for us guys that still like to play in the dirt. One thing I will be concentrating on this year and further is cultivating the "good" native vegetation, um...rag weed, certain other broad leaf weeds, black berry, broom sedge, etc, just to name a few.

One of my bigger problems on my property is that I don't have much understory. Most of the farm is mature timber and the undergrowth just isn't there. Consequently, the other problem is that there is not too much of the timber that is accessible. One forester I spoke to, when I asked him about how a logger would go about getting trees off some of my ridges, he more/less told me that a logger would not. He said, don't be fooled by what you see on T.V., unless you have A LOT of timber and A LOT of acreage doing something like that is just practically impossible. I take that to mean in those hard to reach spots I'm on my own with the timber because I doubt I can afford to pay someone else to do it. Now, we're getting back into that "time" factor. A shame to leave such good timber on the side of ridge like that though. I should also say he is the only forester I have talked to about it, but he is licensed, etc.

 

[BSK]

I completely agree and yeah there are several weeds, browse, and forbes that comprise way more of a deer's diet than any food plot ever did (based on what I've read and been told). Like my local TWRA biologist told me, he says that anymore he's convinced food plots are more for the hunter than the animal; more for us guys that still like to play in the dirt.

Undoubtedly true. Unless you can plant 5+% of a property in agricultural crops, food plots are far more about attraction than they are improving the nutrition intake of deer. I will always push landowners to meet the food volume requirements of deer with natural forage first, and then worry about food plots. You always want to be able to meet the food volume needs of the deer with natural forage because crops can fail, while natural forage rarely fails.

But once you get close to and start exceeding that 5% of the land figure in food plots, you can make a fairly significant difference in herd performance through high-yield food plot crops.

One forester I spoke to, when I asked him about how a logger would go about getting trees off some of my ridges, he more/less told me that a logger would not.

I'm not so sure of that. If the trees are valuable, they will cut them. Even if they have to drag them out with long cables. I've watched loggers cable out big oaks on hillsides too steep for even a small bulldozer.

 

[blountcountyboy]

Here would be my questions I would ask MYSELF (I have the equipment to do all this already but, you may not).... how much money do I have to work with including fertilizer, lime, soil prep (fuel) and finally the actual seed. Do I have the money to "burn" every year feeding deer if I didn't I would look into what I'm already getting this year Wapsie corn. It is an open pollinated dent corn and I plan on saving enough seed to replant next year saving myself the money that I'd spend in seed. If I had the equipment and the time I would consider R.R. Alfalfa and sell off the bales and make a little money.