Kathwacckkk

Since I trust the opinions and experiences of this forum I have a question for you experts. I am trying to find something to plant (approximately 1.5 acres) that will attract & hold deer, with a high nutritional value for increased racks & body weight, but is extremely durable and an excellent cold weather attractant. I live in Southern Michigan. Also, something I do not have to plant every year would be nice.
I realize 1.5 acres is not a lot of land for a full managementplan on rack and body sizes, butI have to start somewhere. I tried Imperial Extreme last year. Not bad results, but it was very dry for a couple weeks after planting and I feel this may have hurt. The deer hit the clover hard throughoutthe summer, but since the snow has covered the ground there has been very little activity in the plot.
In the fall I love to hunt hard hoping to just glimps a few deer, but the opportunity for a trophy buck.After Thanksgiving when the winter snows and cold hit, I want to see deeralmost every time I sit in the stand (even though I usually do not shoot them)to help keep me warm.
I have always used corn and spin feeders, but I wouldlike to help the deer on a more nutritional level as well. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions and I appreciatein advance the answers.

kevin1

Turnips and/or sugar beets , the tops won't taste good until a decent frost kisses them , and the deer love them once they sweeten . They will also dig up the turnips later when food is more scarce , which would generally be late season for most folks . Cole crops such as late planted broccoli , brussels sprouts , and cauliflower also attract them , if my gardening experience tells me anything . Greens such as kale , turnip , mustard , beet , and collards all taste good to deer after a frost . They taste pretty good to me before one too ...

bspencer

i have so many stories on deer eating turnips.................... have yet to see it actually hapen

a friend of mine planted turnips 4 years ago......said deer never did touch them.......... he just turns them over each season when he plows the food plot and they keep coming back and the deer eat around them but dotn touch them.......

they have only nibbled on mine this year too

farm hunter

If you can plant ever year (sept)- then RYE.

If not - Its hard to beat a really good White Clover plot for year round usage. The deer will PAW through the snow on any good White clover plot.

I like Both on our property - with 4-5 acres of standing corn for when the snow gets really deep.

FH

Criggster

If you are only interested in planting a crop for deer THE best thing to plant is brassicas. The deer won't touch them until a couple of frosts hit them. You plant them in late summer, and won't have to worry about weeds as much as with some other crops. I planted them a couple of years ago, and the deer devoured them.

yeoman

Brassicas are a family which includes Turnips, Kale and Rape, maybe even broccoli and cauliflower and others. What you probably ought to use is Rape, generally planted later, it doesn't appeal to the deer until a frost, and because it's planted later and tolerates the cold, there shouldn't be as much weed competition. I don't know what the Wildlife seed sellers package in their brassicas mix, but I'd guess it's mostly Rape seed.

sean600classic

The past 2 years we have tried different brassicas/turnip type plantings. We currently have Full draw, Green Patch, and Maximum blends. IMO, the deer favor Green Patch by a wide margin over Maximum, then Full Draw. Every day we have double digit(oftentimes over 20)deer sightings in the Green Patch plots. We are already working on new areas for more Green Patch plots, it's that good.

I planted Maximum in the spring behind my house, it grows to over 5 feet tall with a strong stem. Even with the snow, it still stands and the deer consume the large leaves. This past week they really hit it hard.Maximum does not have the turnip that GP has.

The people that hunt neighboring properties are saying there are not that many deer this year, it's because they are residing on the property we manage. The deer bed only 25-50 yards from field edges. I guess when there's good food and decent cover, there's no reason to go anywhere else. We try not to disturb those bedding areas which obviously helps a lot.

We plant Green patch in mid August, so you have plent of time to prep. your field(s). If it's your first time, go with Green Patch, it's easy and has great results.

270sniper

What I have noticed in the last two weeks while hunting in NE Penna, concerning the 3 1/2 ac. of different food plots that I planted this past summer. The deer are pawing through the snow to get to Bio-logic Fall Draw, its a Brassicas.The deer are ripping out the whole plants leaving the tops of the leaves on top of the snow. Many tracks in the snow.

The second plot they are hitting the most is a clover field. The clover was purchased from Agway. The next plot that has some activity is a rye plot.

Another 1 acre plot of brassicas that was Agway brand has not been touched. I will evaluated this in two weeks, If not touched I will not buy Agway Brassics again.

ILL BUCK

Man I have tried turnips and about everything biologig sells and have had no luck at all with deer eating it!! I dont care how many frost it had!!

Cold hardy oats work well for me and when it gets cold and snowy nothing in my part of illinois works like standing beans and corn!!

farm hunter

The deer will dig through 2 feet of snow (and do)- every night on their way to the standing corn plots in the winter - to get to White Clover.

fh