GMMAT

Another thread got me thinking........about crop rotation. I know I have farmers on each side of the land I hunt......and I also know they both had soy beans, last year. About a mile and a half away......the farmer grew corn, last year. He'll do soy beans, this year, and JUST when I think I have their patterns down.....I come to the realization that they're likely going to change them (based on the crops available to them).

I'm beginning to wonder if the sheer numbers of deer I saw last year were the result of which crops were planted. Do any of you see a LARGE discrepancy in deer sightings based on crop rotation?

Thanks, in advance, for your responses.

Dr Andy

Go talk to the farmers. They generally rotate crops to replenish the soil. Corn uses up a lot of nitrogen and beans fix nitrogen in their roots replenishing the soil with it. The farmers may tell you their rotation and you can plan accordingly(although deer eat corn and beans)

Corn may be left standing longer than the beans,beans may be better early and right after harvest.

Rick James

Yes. Last year the farmer to the northwest of my place had a LOT of corn where there was normally alfalfa. He didn't get it cut until almost the end of October. That's when we started seeing deer. When he has alfalfa in those fields that patch of woods is a hotspot in early season.

Hotburn76

I like it when the corn is around me the best. When they plant soybeans they usually come off about the time deer season starts and then the deer will spend alot of there time wandering out of range and roaming the fields feeding. When the corn is up they seem to be harder to hunt while it is still standing, but when it comes down they don't seem to roam the fields as much as they do the beans. Sometimes if alot of the corn in my area is down and my spot is left up I can see more deer in my area coming to bed in my corn. Corn and beans can be a good thing, but when it out numbers the woods 20 to 1 it does not help IMO.

pigiron

You might get lucky if you'd rather be near corn fields. Although many crops need to be rotated, corn can be planted(especially seed corn) in the same field, year after year. It doesn't need to be rotated.

GR8atta2d

YES, In 2005 I had so much corn around my areas, my sightings where way down. They started harvesting on Thanksgiving day. So it was up a long time!! The deer had so much cover it was a verytough year at that location. I'm talking a good 500 acres of corn in and on the fringes of my hunting area.

GMMAT

I think I'll be fine when the acorns hit the ground.....but I may have my work cut out for me for a while. I'm beginning to think I might not see as many deer, this year.

I guess I'll have to shoot more often.....

huntingson

I found the responses interesting b/c I am the exact opposite... I love standing corn. The deer seem to move more during daylight and I see more of them. I think they just feel more comfortable, but then I am not a deer psychotherapist. My fields will be in corn this year, and I am pumped about it. I also talk to the farmer who leases my land and ask him to take my fields last, which helps because all the deer will come to my place to feed when all the other fields are picked. In return he pays less for the lease so we are both happy.

buckeye

I tend to see more "good" deer when corn is planted locally. I believe it gives them security to come to the fileds earlier in theevenings and return into the timberlater in themorningsbecause they are not exposing themselves in open fields like soy beans and clovers.

However this also means you have to sit tight longer to take advantage of this patternwhen hunting back in the timber.

il coyote

We have so much corn and beans around here that deer don't change their patterns very much. They do change, but not like they would if they had to walk a mile and a half to find corn. My county is more tillable acres than huntable acres, so available food is plentiful.