*Discussion*: Winter food source - Corn vs. Brassicas

heres the BOTTOM LINE!!.
i've lived in the red river valley of MN all my life.

you can have standing cornfield/soybean ANYWHERE, even close to good winter thermal cover but push come to shove, most EVERY SINGLE deer will migrate to the closest sugarbeet field to winter. as long as it has close thermal cover.

 

I wish that I could convince my local deer here to develop the taste for brassicas/beets. Every year that I have planted them, I always seem to just till the entire plot under in the spring. I did see one spike with a brassica plant in his mouth once but usually I only see them or their tracks walking right across the plot without even slowing down.

 

What other food sources do you have at your property? They must not be stressed for food would be my thoughts

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While that may be true where you are, there are no sugar beets where I am so that would be kind of a mute point, plus we don't have soil for growing sugar beets

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When I bait in MI (which is rare,) it's always sugar beets with some pears or apples to get them in the area and looking for food. Once the soft fruit is gone they hammer those beets for days or weeks. Straight sweet carbs so it makes sense.

 

How will they grow on sub perfect soils?

 

Sorry missed the questions Moose.

Neighboring competition varies between our 3 main spots.

New Property has alfalfa less than mile north, and a 100 acre corn field to the SE.....other than that developments and small chopped wood lots speckled throughout.

Swamp Prop...is surrounded by ag and even has ag on it. Corn/Beans/Alfalfa a plenty.

Homestead is similar to the Swamp....


Now none of those properties have crops left standing on a typical year entering December....


BIGGEST FACTOR: I don't try to compete with large destinational sized ag fields. If someone leaves acres and acres of corn standing you will have a hard time keeping deer from visiting it. However, giving them the security cover they desire and thermal cover late season along with food I think is the key! Solid cover and security is going to win out for the mature deer everytime so long as a food source is close (brassicas, corn, beans, cereal grains).

 

I would agree, we have 60-80 acres of dense willow swamp and cattails which would serve as good thermal cover, but the deer deplete our food sources by winter each year so they don't really use it

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Sugar beets should grow most anywhere provided they get lots of fertilizer and adequate water! I like purple top turnips better, they produce in 60 days can be planted later and once deer acquire the taste for them its crazy! One risk for corn is coon and turkey. If you have high populations of those they can majorly ruin a corn field. I have seen corn ruin 4 acre corn fields before. Thats a problem I have never had with brassicas mixes!

 

Next year there will be AG corn on and surrounding our property, so hopefully that would take pressure off our corn, we also might fence some corn in for the pheasants

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I kinda have the same problem of brassicas and such getting hit in Virginia. The dairy farmers have acres and acres of corn in summer. Once the corn gets cut in September/October they plant winter wheat, so there is acres and acres of that.

 

Ok I know this is a food thread and I am ignorant on the topic so I have to ask what is thermal cover? I get geist of it, but what would be a good example of thermal cover, thick pines?

 

Yeah, many evergreens, and many conifers (there are some deciduous conifers, though). Spruces, pines, cedar, etc.

 

But be careful with Pines, mature Pines may be horrible thermal cover if the bottom 6 ft or so are open due to lack of sunlight. Then the wind can blow through and no sun can reach the deer, which is a double negative.

Great sources of thermal cover are those that block the wind and allow sure light to reach the deer. Walking your property in January and February will show you what your deer are using as thermal cover with their beds. Deer on our property use young Pines, willows, thick native grasses, and cattails for thermal cover.

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But good summer thermal cover

 

Right, a nice cool place in the summer!

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