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food plots

bjkpharmd

bjkpharmd

New Member
Didn't know whether to post this for whitetail or longbeard board. Food plots this year were great success except for egyptian wheat was planted a little deep & didn't do well. Had beans, rye, sunflowers over about 7 acres. Everything is gone though now. This year I thought about corn, beans, sorghum, & experiment with chufa. I have tried to provide a protein source for all seasons. Other opinions? And is there something specific for turkeys? Deer ate the sunflowers off in July.
 
I have been using something called Buck Forage Oats, it is like a winter wheat. I usually plant it the first week of September in small strips along side of the beans and corn. The deer absolutely love a combo dinner. They go for the oats first every time. It is good for the entire season. By late November it looks like someone took a lawn mower to it! Try it you, wont be dissapointed.
 
Last year I got some seed through www.cooperseeds.com I used peredovik(sp) sunflower seed, had about an acre that started to flower out real nice, came back a week later to take another photo but deer had eaten all the heads off. Also bought millet & egyptian wheat through them. Beans were bin run, they were grazed as fast at they grew but still put some pods on the lowest portion of the stalk. I was just looking for suggestions that may be turkey specific for carrying them through late winter. My winter wheat/rye field looks like a golf green it is grazed so short.
 
pharmer - just curious where you get your seeds from. I am a new landowner with similar interests in putting in food plots of various kinds. Mostly small food plots since I don't have the "real" equipment. When you refer to sunflowers, are you talking the "classic" tall full yellow sunflower? or is it something else.
 
FOOD PLOT

Have been helping manage a privitely owned family hunting establishment for about 10 years, and tried various food sources. I guess the wheat and a little moe exotic grains are good if your competing with other food plots in your area. If not, I think sticking with the basics is what you should do. Corn and beans have grown Iowa wildlife for years. If you notice most deer spent the mojority of their time in corn fields during the cold months of winter. With that in mind, using corn as a plot source is just increasing the food amount for the deer population. Corn is good for several reasons, per acre it produces more nutrition than anyother type of grain. plus its usage for all other wildlife. Turkey squirels. when you start planting specific grains you tend to isoloate species and usage. corn stands also provide decent coverage for cold weather. I not an expert but, corn has done well for us. and we manage about 250 acres. Just some info.
As far as Turkey goes their number one food I think is acorns, but are also opportunistic with other food sources. So plant a lot of Oaks.
 
Pharmer,

That's interesting to me that the deer ate up your sunflower heads. The property that is next to my hunting grounds here in Michigan usually plants 40-80 acres of sunflowers every year. I can count on one hand how many times in the 15 years I've hunted there, do I remember seeing a deer in them, no matter what time of year. However it attracks plenty of starlings.

Nonres
 
I agree that corn may be the best food plot grain you can provide for all wildlife.

A type or corn you may be interested in planting is High Oil Corn. I've noticed on our farm that deer prefer it over conventional corn. I've seen a field of high oil corn and conventional corn split by a tractor lane and the high oil corn was butchered and the conventional corn across the lane wasn't touched by deer! HOC has nearly twice as much protien as normal yellow dent corn. For more information about high oil corn check out this website: wyffels.com
They have the best HOC on the market.
 
SHOOTER, Is it your suggestion then to plant winter wheat if there are corn food plots all around you? That is the situation I have. I am currently leaning toward (sorgum?) and some clover mix from the NWTF. I want to offer something different in my area but I also want to have deer there in the winter time.
 
I don't have any food plot experience to share but would like some education.

I have bowhunted deer in Iowa for 30 years with many hours in the field. I have always felt that Iowa was just one large food plot, as I have seen deer and turkey eat literally about everything.

The deer and turkeys seem to thrive in all the areas I have hunted without any specially introduced food sources.

So, what would be the benefit of planting a special food plot in Iowa with our typical vegetation and row crops?

Is it a personal pleasure thing like me feeding songbirds, squirrels, etc..?

Thanks
 
Imperial whitetail clover and buckforge oats planted in Aug. (depending on the rain) attracts deer like nothing I've ever seen. Deer have plenty of corn and beans to eat but they seem to come to these fields 1st before they head out to feed. Gives them some variety in their food. Works good for my friends and me in our hunting. Plus I don't have to plant the clover every year, lasts up to 6 years. Turkeys also love it. Good luck.
 
I had a guy suggest to me to plant turnips in food plots. It sure sounded unusual but I was amazed at the results for late fall deer attraction.
Turnips are both cold-hardy and drought-tolerant. They can be planted late-even as a second crop. I found that turnips planted in July will provide excellent forageing September to November. The most vigorous root growth takes place during periods of low temperature (40 to 60¡F) in the fall. The leaves maintain their nutritional quality even after repeated exposure to frost. Turnips are biennials so they'll be on your food plot menu for two seasons.
Deer love them!
Goodluck...
 
BW- Most of the heavy ag areas are like a buffet to the deer but only have a choice of 2-3 selections. I'm in an area where the closest row crop grown for profit is a good 1&1/2 miles away. I started about 3 years ago planting 10% of CRP acres as the contract allows. Having a brother-in-law like Raven helps alot as I lean on him for research & plant knowledge, so between us we have learned & got better as we went along. I had a 3 acre bean field that never got over 6" high at any time this year because of the grazing pressure. We knew it may not grow a ton of beans but was providing protein at critical development stages. We plant a mix of winter wheat & rye that just gets pounded because of the local conditions. The more exotic stuff is just because I like to play & experiment with what wildlife will utilize at different seasons and try to attract & keep them there. If anyone as the secret combo, let us know. This will be a first attempt to raise corn- I like the high oil content suggestion. Thanks for all the input.
 
Waukon1

Sounds like you could try and mix it up a little. If your going to use sorgum, make sure it's a heavy grain breed and not a cane or forage hybred. We've used sorgum in the past and it seemed to work fairly well but when it came time to butchering deer or cleaning pheasants we only saw that the phesants were using the sorgum as food source. The deer were also using it, but had been feeding more on corn that was on the ground rather than an abundant source of sorgum. That's my experience. Clover is very important, never underestimate clover. It's a pattern builder for bucks growing of antlers in the spring and summer seasons. In my opinion with your situation would be this. If you can afford it go with "bioligic",

Check this site out..

"http://www.mossyoakbiologic.com/buy/"

but don't tell your neihbors about it, biologic is a very good forage base for the warm seasons, probable the best, if not use a good clover. Next you need a high fat food source for cold months being either sorgum or CORN, Keep in mind if you build confidence in your plots through the summer months they will come back, Give them a reason to stop at your plot maybe mineral supplement blocks, just be sure they are gone well before the season starts. Or even an apple tree, the fruits are usally gone before the season starts, but your preparing for a harvest. Building confidence in your area is important, last of all stay out for long periods of time, plant it and don't come back for awhile. Often our curiousity tends to overun the deer. Last of all give them a bedding area, some sort of tall native grass such as a switch grass or blue stem species.

I hope that helps. Your up in hill town, Is there a lot of clover in that area, with the dairy industry in that region? That could be key in making a food source selection.

Just make sure to use a combo, and it'll work..

Good luck.
 
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