caza

Are some of us getting almost as much enjoyment from farming our food plots as hunting
I really get a kick out of seeing deer in my plots eating my hard workand thinking how much I have learnd about deer/food farming knowing I have been ably to help them through hard times. But are we creating a false carring capacity and do we need to keep our numbers at or below our preplot numbers

USFWC

You should try to keep your deer numbers within the natural carrying capacity of the land and not let the food plots artificially inflate the carrying capacity. They should be used to supplement the deer's diet, not to increase total numbers.

pikecofoodplotter

I agree, if you allow the numbers to increase much after planting plots, what will happen if you have a bad year and those plots fail. You will have a significant decrease from disease and starvation across the foodchain. Then you will have to start over trying to get your herd back in order.

caza

more and more plots are being planted in my areamaking more food available numbers are up ad everyone enjoys seeing more deer, I am just a bitworried if a drouth sets in. In late summer our plant conunity is at its lowest nutrition.

answerguy

Explain please, I would think that winter would be the worst. Late summer has crops maturing.

caza

I live on the central gulf coast area of texas our growing season starts in march corn and sorgum is harvested by late summer and our farmers turn under the stalks as soon as they can, not many forbs live in our heat and brows is starting to get old, The deer really star hitting my corn and protien feeders hard. Last year in august they ate 450# of protien pellets from one feeder in 10 days

MK M GOBL

I see no problem with increasing the herd numbers if you grow food plots every year. Sure a drought may wipe out your plots, but it would have reduced the normal habitat as well and likely had a negative impact on the herd. I think it would be tough in most areas to artificially inflate the number of deer to a point that health is an issue, but I haven't seen everyones hunting land either.

nchawkeye

You guys are over thinking the situation...

I grew up farming, dad was a John Deere dealer...We raise corn, soybeans, wheat and peanuts...We are talking, hundreds of acres and have been doing so for over 40 years.....We don't see deer dieing after we harvest our crops...Deer are like goats, they won't go hungry...