Wanting to plant a screen around this plot (Blue Box is pointing to the area), so I thought corn would be good..as not only a screen but an attractant as well.... Is that a good idea, or is there something that would work better...... Idea's suggestions.....appreciated!! Thanks Creeks
Corn would probably work well. Just make sure you give it plenty of nitrogen or it will be stunted. Corn is technically a grass. To get tall enough to be an effective screen it needs lots of nitrogen...
Corn will be more steady that the other covers you can grow. I have tried egyptian wheat but there is usually a windstorm that comes up and blows it over.
Long term this stuff is awesome. We will be doing some Sorghum/Egyptian Wheat blend this year...if I find a good deal on Giganteus I'll grab some too.
is this stuff Miscanthus Giganteus just a cover screen, is it any benefit to the deer at all.... Thanks Creeks
Corn is always a good addition to any food plot as a screen or just as a food source. When I plant corn feed plots, a couple of days before the season, I will go through and bush hog some of the corn as it makes it easier for the deer to feed on it and easier to see the deer before I shoot them.
This stuff looks like it could turn invasive pretty easily (Miscanthus Giganteus). It spreads each direction up to 4" per year, has no disease, pests and grows about anywhere. If it lives 15+ years it'll spread about 5' in every direction and the 15 years would be the original planted root stock which would probably be replaced by the naturally growing rhizomes. It's also pretty pricey and a little challenging to plant on any scale without a tree planter. I'd look at sun hemp, it will add N rather than eat it and doesn't seed further north than Texas. Sudan Grass might work also. I have a bunch of E.Wheat and I'm going to try Sun Hemp this year. The problem with corn is it needs spaced fairly far apart to do well and then the screen is thin so you need about 6-8 rows to be effective as a traffic screen. Thinner screens may alleviate the deer's nervous tendencies though.
I have used corn in the past as a screen around food plots and just recently had an article published in this months' Deer&Deer Hunting Magazine that touched on using corn as a screen. My favorite thing to use when the objective is to add cover to a property is native prairie grasses and forbs. Tall-grass species such as switchgrass and Indian grass work best for deer cover. Having a seed mix with forbs (wildflowers) also gives the deer a food source. Actually the fobs have rigid stems which allows them to hold up against thick snow and ice. Hope this helps. If you need any further assistance, check out my website and feel free to get a hold of me. bleuswildlife
We have native grass buffers around all our fields. It helps but often isn't thick and tall enough to do what we need here. I just ordered ten complete hives and bees to stock them, about 45 acres worth of food plot/bee forage and another small fortune for native forbe, legume mix to supplement the native grass to make them more bee and wildlife friendly. $500+ dollars an acre for the forbe/legume flower mix for the grass...crazy expensive crap.
