I figured I would throw this out there to see what you guys think. We have planted our food plots at different times over the last few years. Just curious what you guys were doing.
Soy Beans - Calhoun & Orangeburg Counties - We plan to plant around 6/19. is that too early?
Have you guys had success keeping deer off soy beans until season? If so, what did you do?
No, I have land in Lone Star and if you plant beans there, they won’t make it. Every few years the guy that rents the land to farm will plant soybeans. By the time the season rolls around in August the first 30 rows off the woods will be mower down flat and the deer will come into the field like clockwork right at dusk. A small food plot would never get up unless you wait until 3 weeks before the season.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
Last season was the first year for food plots for me. Planted 4 acres of clay peas and I’m doing it again this year. Planted at the end of June last year and we’ll do the same again. As far as keeping the deer off of it, I don’t try to. I try to have something in the ground for them year round if I can. When the peas first pop, the deer love to nip the tops, eventually there’s enough of it planted that it’ll grow up a little bit, like 12-20", and they browse on it through the season. I supplement with corn.
I think it all depends on what the resident herd size is and how much you plant. I’ve read dozens of articles that have varying opinions. Some say 5% of your land should be food plots, some say a lot more. It depends on your situation and your goals for utilizing your land.
The hunting section on CF.com rarely gets used to its full potential. If I have a question like this, I usually ask it here: https://www.qdma.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=10
Its a wealth of information and you can read for days and still not learn everything. Be sure to check out the individual land management strategies of the guys there. Some of them really have their stuff together and its amazing the amount of effort that goes into some of these guys’ “hobbies”
May all your favorite bands stay together…
I learned all my lessons last season. I plant Egyptian wheat for cover and Iron Clay Peas for the deer to eat. The deer seem to leave the Iron Clay Peas alone until they are bigger, and mine survived very well last season…then they started wearing them out. However, once they are established, the deer could not kill them. I tried milorganite in my garden. The deer ate that too. It does NOT work…I don’t care what people say. Once a deer determines something is not a threat, they are going to eat it anyway unless you are standing there running them off. My neighbor put up an electric fence, lights, a radio blasting country music all night long, and milorganite. Guess what, they ate his garden down to the ground while line dancing to the music. If they want it, they are gonna get it. Soy beans have been tough to find this year. The feed and seed stores I have visited only have the expensive round up beans so far. I’m planting Iron Clay Peas around the same time 23 is planting.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
They eat the dang cotton at my place. Beans don’t stand a chance.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
quote:
Originally posted by tigerfinThey eat the dang cotton at my place. Beans don’t stand a chance.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
X2. I was hunting over a huge cotton field last season. I watched up to 20 head of deer walking along stripping cotton plants. I think they will even eat dirt if they are hungry enough.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
What kind of mix do you use with the peas/wheat? Since the seed is so much smaller, I’m sure it would be easy to mix in too much wheat.
quote:
Originally posted by gar-heartWhat kind of mix do you use with the peas/wheat? Since the seed is so much smaller, I’m sure it would be easy to mix in too much wheat.
I think that is for me with the mention of “wheat.” I plant Egyptian Wheat (EW). It is not a winter wheat, and although the deer pick at it, they generally don’t eat it. EW grows 10-12 feet tall and it looks like a corn stalk with no corn on it. I plant it in rows just like corn. This year, I’m planting several rows of EW on either side of an 18 foot lane that is 150 yards long. After the EW is around a foot tall, I’ll go back and plant the Iron Clay Peas in the 18ft X 150 Yard long lane. The EW is only there to make the deer comfortable enough to come out early so I can lower the boom on them dirt bags.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
Do any of you guys spray Glyphosate before you plant to kill weeds? Any luck with it? How long do you have to give it after spraying before it dissipates?
quote:
Originally posted by gar-heartDo any of you guys spray Glyphosate before you plant to kill weeds? Any luck with it? How long do you have to give it after spraying before it dissipates?
I don’t know what that is. I plow it and turn it into powder. Lime it. Fertilize it. Plant it. It grows. I think the things I plant like the EW and Iron Clay Peas grows faster than the weeds and shades them out. I have not had a problem with weeds at all.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
quote:
Originally posted by Skeeter22quote:
Originally posted by gar-heartDo any of you guys spray Glyphosate before you plant to kill weeds? Any luck with it? How long do you have to give it after spraying before it dissipates?
I don’t know what that is. I plow it and turn it into powder. Lime it. Fertilize it. Plant it. It grows. I think the things I plant like the EW and Iron Clay Peas grows faster than the weeds and shades them out. I have not had a problem with weeds at all.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
Yep.
I would only spend the money/effort on gly if you want it to look purdy…the deer don’t care about the plots looking good.
I have used roundup for small food plots areas and I give it about two weeks to disapate before I attempt to plant.
May all your favorite bands stay together…
gar-heart,
I think, perhaps, you are over thinking this deer food plot thing a little bit. Stuff like EW, Soy beans or Iron Clay Peas, and oats does not need much help to grow. In the case of the beans/peas and oats, it really don’t even need to be covered up as long as it makes contact with the soil…it will grow and grow fast. The Bean/peas usually don’t even need fertilizer unless you have seriously poor dirt quality. Beans/peas produce their own nitrogen and actually help fertilize the soil. That is why farmers rotate crops. One or two seasons they will plant soybeans in a field, and then they will plant corn or cotton after the beans because it takes far less fertilizer for the corn to grow properly. Then, the farmer just comes back and sprays the corn with nitrogen when the corn is around 18-24 inches tall…done as long as it gets enough rain.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
quote:Yes, its part of the no-till operation that many land managers are using today, extremely effective on undesireable weeds. Glyph and 2-4D applied early season will burn off any weeds in plot, then you are left with a clean planting/drilling area. Every time you disc, you burn more fuel, release valuable soil moisture, and more importantly, you turn over new weed seed that may have been dormant for many seasons. The luxury of glyph is it has no residual , you can spray and same day come back and plant. Atrazine however, is a strong herbicide that will leave a residual up to 30 days after application. I only use atrazine on my corn ,kills off any weeds that have sprouted ,and acts as a pre-emergent for any existing weed seeds that may end up in the plot.
Originally posted by gar-heartDo any of you guys spray Glyphosate before you plant to kill weeds? Any luck with it? How long do you have to give it after spraying before it dissipates?
I suggest you pull a soil sample and have it tested, some areas of the state are fertile and need little to no adjustments. It is not rocket science, but if you follow a few steps early in the game, your results will pay off in the long haul. A plot weed free will make the job much easier ,and in some cases make the plot perform better. Don’t play around with nutsedge either, it can become extremely invasive, and the waxy tough foliage doesn’t allow herbicide to penetrate.
Back to the original question , never too early to plant soybeans , I started drilling them second/third week of April. I want the deer to eat the beans, soybean is high in protein. Aeschynomene is another forage that grows well here, and is loaded with protein too, very easy to get established.
Hope this helps.
…And understand that Polyball is on an entirely different playing field than most when it comes to wildlife management… I’m merely a weekend warrior. He’s in the majors…
May all your favorite bands stay together…
Exactly…because, after all, the deer food plot must be the prettiest food plot in the WHOLE world. Otherwise, you won’t kill any deer with out spending hundreds of dollars on stuff you don’t need just to shoot a woods goat.
quote:
Originally posted by 23Sailfish…And understand that Polyball is on an entirely different playing field than most when it comes to wildlife management… I’m merely a weekend warrior. He’s in the majors…
May all your favorite bands stay together…
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
Thanks for the info. My big thing is I don’t want to spend the time doing what I’m doing and end up with a mess because I overlooked something.
We’ve planted around 8 acres the last two years on a row crop farm we lease with mixed results. A couple spots were looking great and then weeds took over. On my land nearby, I’m trying to convert and old loading dock into a food plot(1 acre +/-) along with a 30’ wide lane that’s about 400 yards long. This will be the first time these two spots are planted and I want to do everything I can to make them as good as possible this year understanding that there is only so much I can do year one.
If your soil is like mine, and I’m sure it’s similar, it requires a lot of lime to get the PH right for most crops. These piney wood have a very acid soil. Without lime, fertilizer is a waste of money. I had a soil sample done, several of them actually, and they recommended 2 tons of lime per acre to get it where it needed to be. I wouldn’t do anything until after a soil sample.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
Well, They have been in the ground for two weeks and I’m impressed with the results so far. Maybe the PH wasn’t as bad as I had assumed. Maybe it was just the right amount of rain? I really don’t know but I’m grateful for how they are doing so far. At least all that work getting them ready wasn’t for nothing. Thanks for all the discussion and advice. Hopefully the deer will let them get up a little!
.JPG)
.JPG)
Good deal! I hope they don’t get mowed down either, but if you have a high deer population, it certainly is possible.
2012 Skeeter ZX22 Bay
Yamaha 250 hp SHO
Minnkota Riptide 101
My man Skeeter plowed and planted clay peas for me this weekend.
He is a machine. Once you turn him on he never stops working. I hope he brings me the luck that he had last year. I am adding 4 new stands this year.
Thanks Skeeter. You the man:smiley:
Hunting, fishing, and poker are my sports. Work when necessary.