So the farm where i hunt just planted winter wheat in the field where i hunt. its about 1 inch tall at the moment. i was wondering if anyone knows when the deer may start munching on this. will they wait for it to be fully grown? and how long does it take to grow? never hunter over wheat before.
I would imagine once their preferred food source starts getting depleted, whatever that may be. Around here usually mid to late November they start hitting the fields more frequently. That being said, they will probably still hit the fields before then. With acorns, standing/recently harvested ag fields and other green browse still available it is hard to say for certain.
Yeah, they'll utilize it as a food source at will from the time it emerges. They generally love young tender wheat. As Mr. cls pointed out though, they may not hit it as hard if there are other more favorable (ie, higher protein, higher carb, higher fat) food sources available. Deer love diverse diets though so it's pretty likely they will still use wheat to some extent from the time it emerges clear through it's life.
there are beans on the field over and it is packed during the night there. im hoping the farmer cuts them soon as the deer dont need to cross my woods to access them.
Well they harvested the soy beans last night. now the only big food source will be the wheat when it starts to come up, and some corn that is about 2000 ft away. hopefully that will spark some movement into my neck of the woods. there are also a lot of red oaks throughout property not many white though.
The deer will hit the Winter Wheat now, unless their is a better food source close. I planted a replacement food plot in Winter Wheat on September 16th, and 9 days later I had deer feeding in it, and every day since. We have tons of red acorns this year, but the white oaks are bare. I imagine this winter wheat plot of mine will get great usage from now until December.
