You agree with this statement?

[BlountArrow]

"Natural browse is not going to give them (deer) the quality of food a food plot will give them, but its going to give them the balance."
-Dr. Charles Alsheimer

 

[Boll Weevil]

No...but then again I don't agree with too much Dr. Alsheimer says anyway.

 

[BlountArrow]

No...but then again I don't agree with too much Dr. Alsheimer says anyway.

I hear ya. I'm sure he could whoop me in a battle of wits on the magnificent Whitetail but this is reminiscent to me of his rut moon theories and a few other things I've heard and forgotten fortunately.

 

[woodsman87]

No because Charles Alsheimer said it.

If BSK says it is true I will become a believer. Ready for him to weigh in on that statement.

 

[woodsman87]

I may be wrong or mis-imformed, but I think I remember reading that natural browse was way more important and useful. And that is because we could not plant enough food plots to make a difference. Now I am talking about my small tract of land, not some huge hunting operatation.

Basically in my circumstance, food plots are planted to hunt over, or in my case hunt funnels and trails leading to them. They probably do provide some good food in late winter and late summer, which is IMO the hardest times for whitetails. This winter was so hard on the deer that my food plots got destroyed at night(unfortunatley for me hunting them) and was ate to bare dirt.

 

[BlountArrow]

No because Charles Alsheimer said it.

If BSK says it is true I will become a believer. Ready for him to weigh in on that statement.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised but I can't help but be amazed every time someone of a known status makes claims that just have the essence of crap to them.

 

[Monty]

Wonder in which brand(s) of deer feed/seed he owns stock or gets a "consulting fee?"

 

[pass-thru]

.....he ain't no Dr.

 

[pass-thru]

Deer do fine on native browse as long as there is not drought and there aren't too many deer.

But they can do a lot better on agriculture...too include food plots. That doesn't mean you have to have food plots to have quality deer management. But when I lived in KY, I used to watch bachelor groups feed in ag fields all summer....clover and alfalfa planted for cows not deer. I have never see such deer in my life. One mature buck went 350#'s live weight. They don't get like that nibbling twigs and acorns.

 

[BlountArrow]

.....he ain't no Dr.

:) maybe his advanced degree is in film studies or photography.

 

[Roost 1]

One mature buck went 350#'s live weight. They don't get like that nibbling twigs and acorns.

I have lived in KY my whole life and I haven't ever seen a KY buck that would go 350#... just saying.

 

[Hunter 257W]

I don't think there's any doubt that a well maintained food plot will produce better quality feed. The protein content has to be way higher than your average weeds growing in unfertilized/unlimed soil.

What is hard to quantify is how much that same food plot will help the local deer. It's going to vary all over the country for the simple reason that deer won't eat 100% of their diet from the plot. In places with a large deer population and nothing but mature woods nearby, the foodplot would make a big difference. The plot might make up 50% of their total diet or even more in those places. In more balanced areas with lots of browse and 500 acres of soybeans, a food plot won't make a lot of difference. I am in an area like the latter so I've started putting more emphasis on Winter plots which is the only time of year my deer don't have more than they can dream of to eat.

 

[pass-thru]

One mature buck went 350#'s live weight. They don't get like that nibbling twigs and acorns.

I have lived in KY my whole life and I haven't ever seen a KY buck that would go 350#... just saying.

Check out the cover of the September 2006 KY Game and Fish Magazine, because that is the buck. Mounted by Gunner's Taxidermy, 163 3/8 net 8 point, well over 350# as confirmed by anybody who laid eyes on that buck.

 

[treefarmer]

I read that deer must eat browse each day to maintain their digestive system. It is easier to grow one ton of browse than to grow one ton of crops. I still plant a few small plots so the deer have some dessert foods.

 

[deadeye 77]

what do ya'll think about jeff murray and myles keller theories in moon struck?do ya;ll use the deer hunters moon guide or the deer hunters rut guide?

 

[BSK]

"Natural browse is not going to give them (deer) the quality of food a food plot will give them, but its going to give them the balance."
-Dr. Charles Alsheimer

You do realize that Charlie is a wildlife photographer and not a PhD biologist, right? Now that doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's talking about, but just remember the source.

No, I don't agree with that statement. Although I will say that not all natural browse--or food plot plants for that matter--are high quality. Much also depends on the location and soil quality. It's hard to grow quality browse from poor soil, while liming and fertilization can dramatically improve food plot production in poor soil. Yet I can show you areas of KY where the natural browse will nearly equal a soybean field for nutritional content, digestibility, and tonnage production.

 

[BlountArrow]

You do realize that Charlie is a wildlife photographer and not a PhD biologist, right?

Yes, I do. I just find a lot of absurdity with some of his (and other TV personalities) blanket "catch all" statements. Glad you weighed in on it.

 

[BSK]

BlountArrow,

So much depends on the "intensity" of the food plot program. Sure, someone who is growing 30+ acres of soybeans is DEFINITELY having a profound biological impact on their local deer population. But the number of hunters/managers who food plot at production agricultural levels is few and far between. The average land-owner/manager is usually putting in a couple of 1/2 acre clover plots in a hardwood environment, and those plots are eaten to bare dirt by December. In that situation, natural browse is carrying the deer population, and the food plots are producing little in the way of nutrition.

Everything comes down to intensity of production.

 

[diamond hunter]

Bryan,so there is 40 something acres of soybeans on my place right now.Will that in itself make a difference in the deer in my area or would Ineed to "Buy" so to speak some of those acres to leave out unharvested?How many would be good?And a stupid question,what is an acre of beans worth?

 

[landman]

I don't think there's any doubt that a well maintained food plot will produce better quality feed. The protein content has to be way higher than your average weeds growing in unfertilized/unlimed soil.

What is hard to quantify is how much that same food plot will help the local deer. It's going to vary all over the country for the simple reason that deer won't eat 100% of their diet from the plot. In places with a large deer population and nothing but mature woods nearby, the foodplot would make a big difference. The plot might make up 50% of their total diet or even more in those places. In more balanced areas with lots of browse and 500 acres of soybeans, a food plot won't make a lot of difference. I am in an area like the latter so I've started putting more emphasis on Winter plots which is the only time of year my deer don't have more than they can dream of to eat.

I think you have to look at what that food plot is,
Most fall plots are not proving much protein for the
deer, verse spring and summer browse

 

[Hunter 257W]

I don't think there's any doubt that a well maintained food plot will produce better quality feed. The protein content has to be way higher than your average weeds growing in unfertilized/unlimed soil.

What is hard to quantify is how much that same food plot will help the local deer. It's going to vary all over the country for the simple reason that deer won't eat 100% of their diet from the plot. In places with a large deer population and nothing but mature woods nearby, the foodplot would make a big difference. The plot might make up 50% of their total diet or even more in those places. In more balanced areas with lots of browse and 500 acres of soybeans, a food plot won't make a lot of difference. I am in an area like the latter so I've started putting more emphasis on Winter plots which is the only time of year my deer don't have more than they can dream of to eat.

I think you have to look at what that food plot is,
Most fall plots are not proving much protein for the
deer, verse spring and summer browse

The protein or carbohydrate content of a Winter plot isn't as important as the fact that a Winter plot will provide feed during the time natural browse is almost totally gone. This assumes of course that you plant enough to last through the Winter and I do. I've never had my plots eaten down to dirt by the Spring "green up". This is the goal I have now with my Winter plot.

I have 4 acres of "Alfa Rack" plus a couple of other small plots for the rest of the year.

 

[BSK]

Bryan,so there is 40 something acres of soybeans on my place right now.Will that in itself make a difference in the deer in my area or would Ineed to "Buy" so to speak some of those acres to leave out unharvested?How many would be good?And a stupid question,what is an acre of beans worth?

With all those soybeans, your LOCAL deer's summer nutrition is probably maximized. But two things to consider: some (if not many) of the deer you have to hunt in fall may not live on your property in summer hence are not products of your summer nutrition, and what about fall/winter foods, after the soybeans have seeded out and died? Fall/winter food plots and natural browse will be critical to getting deer through the winter in great shape if there isn't a good acorn crop.

 

[diamond hunter]

Still sawing,hacking and squirtin and sprayin grass and plantin

 

[bassinbrian]

Im a mountain hunter, no food plots where im at. The acorns is what we live or die by during season. Looks like its gonna be a good year!!!