Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

Now that winter is here - What are your deer and other animalseating?

Oursdeer are still pawing for apples. The Turkeys are pawing for apple seeds. Lots of other animals are using the Apples too - the snow here is packed to the ground! The the coyotes are cruising the same apples looking for all kinds of animals here, including deer I would assume.





The overgrown Apple Orchards we have are getting lots of attention, they are also a staging area before the deer go out to the crop fields we have planted. The Soybeans we had are almost all gone now (no winter picture this year) - but they are still getting thouroughly pawed through 1-2 ft of snow. We've come to the realization that Standing Soybeans (pods) are a MAJOR fall food for us - and were were just happy to have it as a Summer Protein source!

Old Picturefrom a couple years ago- but you get the idea:


The real winter draw is the Corn though. We plant 6 acres total approx in 3 different plots- and you'd think it would last a long time, but it really doesn't. If the snow stays deep ( 2-3 feet in the corn right now) - the deer, crows, other birds, squirrels, turkeys, etc. will eat it until is Gone - probably some time in February. Still, our Forest undergrowth gets a HUGE breather until then, then the deer will turn almost exclusively to woody browse - and hopefully not destroy all the new undergrowth like they used to do in years past before plots.

With the snow less than 1 ft deep in the open fields - the deer are still pawing Heavily in the clovers (you can see it in the 1stpicture below - past the corn).





The Brassicas Turnips andRapeseed)are just now getting some use - not my favorite plot - but some use is good.



Our Deer season is done know - So time to think aboutnext years plots. Going to plant alot more soybeans next year, and get a little more stategic with the Corn. We took 10 deer off our 180 acres ( 8 bucks, and 2 does) - we would have like to take more does, but a neighbor took 4 that we know of so that helps some. Still next year, we will target the does harder, its never a good thing to have too many deer when you snows average over 150" per year. We've had at least 50" already this year as of 12/16 (48" so far in Syracuse) - and its not even winter yet.

Post your winter pictures - or at least tell us what your deer are keying in on in Late December - through March.

FH

RE: Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

FH, we did brassicas/turnips and Buck Forage Oats. 1 plot was Full Draw, one plot was maximum, and one plot was BFO. The oats were unbelievable starting last week. We got snow on Thursday, 12/13, and I hunted over the plot with the muzzleloader on Sat, 12/15. The deer had pawed through the entire plot. it was amazing. I was in the stand 30 minutes on Sat when 4 does came litterally running into the plot. I took a big doe w/ the muzzle loader. We saw a lot of deer that day, on the front end of the big storm. the oats were amazing though. I had disced strips w/ the 4 wheeler in a soybean plot and made 5 strips that were about 4 feet wide and 250 yards long through the plot, seeded the BFO, and waited. It greened up pretty good, but was on the edge of a hedgerow, so didn't get a lot of all day sun. We did see a lot of tracks in the plot, but it got really impressive te last cuple of weeks of the season. I had planted the BFO on Labor day. Next year I will be skipping the full draw and putting in BFO and BioMaxx in the other plot. We still have a BIG boy around, so I'm already excited about next year. The pots were a lot of fun to make, and very rewarding when you see the fruits of your labor. I think there were several key steps in my plots this year. (1) soil test (Biologic's was very easy, and they gave fert/lime recommendations that were seed and location specific) (2) spraying before disking (3) liming and fertilizing according to the soil test, and (4) planting close to a rainfall. in the past I did a lot of spreading and praying, and it just doesn't work. The basics must be followed or else you will just be wasting your time. I look forward to more of your posts, and keep us updated.

RE: Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

Dan - Congratulations on the BP Doe -

Tell me a little more abou the BFO you planted. Did you fertilize, roll them in or disk them in?
I'm curious if they'll die off in our winters (it would be good if they did - the plot would be easier to work in the spring).


FH

RE: Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

The deer on my piece are pawing down into the snow eatting the clover yet. Come spring I'll find alot of deer droppings all over in it. They always hit it hardest come winter.

RE: Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

The deer on our places are eating acorns: There is a bumper crop. They are using the oats patches and the feeders but not as muchas in recent years. One feeder is seeing a lot of use since we filled it with deer and elk protein pellets.

RE: Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

FH, I hate to admit it, but I did both (because I had a lot of seed). First I disced it, then spread the seed, then dragged a pallet, then seeded again, then dragged the pallet again, then fertilized. So I cant tell you if seeding after discing but before dragging worked, or if it was the seed that was spread on the dragged seedbed, then topseeded is theseed thatgrew (if you can follow that). I would surmise, however, that it was the seed that was spread on the disced but undragged ground that was then dragged with the pallet, and I say that only because it grew in the strips that were disced within the soybean field, but not outside the disced strips. I know when I broadcast after dragging the first time that there was a lot of seed that made it outside the strips, but it didn;t appear that there were any sprouts outside the strips. I looked like tall grass, and was very green right up to the snowfall. I will try to get pics of it over the winter, and again in the spring. It really worked well as a late season plot. we tend to get more deer later in teh season on our spot anyways because they yard there. All the seeding was done on Labor Day weekend, just before a rainfall. I used generic fertilizer from Home Depot, not the rations that the soil sample recommended. Nest year, I will lime and fertilize according to the specs to make sure everything is in line, but BFO will definately be on the table again.

RE: Winter Plots - What are your deer eating NOW!
 

Around here the deer prefer apples where there are still some left. FH, coyotes will also eat apples if the hunting is slow. Nice pictures by the way.