Hello guys - I haven't been around much - sorry if I missed a couple resonses, I'll look through and see what I missed soon.

The Sunflowers were interesting - but the were no where near enough cover to hold and hide deer - and the deer knew it. Not that we didn't see a few deer in and around the sunflowers - we did - but mostly I think because they were flanked by 1-1/2 acres of corn. We got about 50" of snow this December - and lost almost all of it by Christmas. The Grasses in the feild went flat and while the Sunflowers stood (many of them anyhow) - they dropped their leaves and offered very little overhead cover - at least compared to corn.

I have no pictures to post - but if I get up to the Farm this weekend - I'll snap a couple shots.

I will say though that the sunflowers were excellent for Turkeys, songbirds, and attracting predators like Coyotes and Fox. The Seeds stayed in the heads until about Mid December - the birds really had a field day. I never did see any evidence of deer eating the sunflower heads. Of course just because I didn't observe it - doesn't mean they didn't.

My opinion is that Sunflowers offer a cheap cover solution, and offer great Early Fall forage and cover - especially for small game. I would not plant them instead of corn again - though they could make a good companion crop to corn (like a border - or separating blocks of corn) - but care would have to be taken not to spray them.