Season to season analysis: Where do we go from here?

[Swamprat]

Jim....serious question.

I gather you are hunting farmland which is probably corn, soybeans or wheat in that area.

Do you notice a upswing or downswing in deer movement or sightings based on what types of crops are planted.

 

[Jim Boyd]

Yessir, Swamp, we do.

All of our ag fields are in cotton, peanut and melon rotation.

Melons are worst, the food is gone way too early. Deer give the melons a fit, however - they love them.

Peanuts are #2 in our preference. They are awesome early season but are harvested in mid September. They do create volunteer plants later but are not terribly reliable. Our biggest bucks (by rifle) have come from peanut fields in early season.

Cotton, from a deer standpoint, is our best crop. The deer feed, hide, sleep and travel in the fields from June through the time that the harvested plants are mowed down. They love the leaves and they love the seeds that are exposed after harvest.

We have just about given up on summer plots but we have some luck when there are peanuts on the farm - tends to help keep them off of our peas, buckwheat, etc.

Oh, by the way, I think the humans like it when peanuts are planted the most. Nothing liked fresh boiled peanuts!

 

[Swamprat]

Thanks...I was asking more from your Mid West properties but like you in the South I see the same.

Lots of folks hate cotton but fail to realize how much deer utilize it. In our area the does love hiding their fawns in it and if it is irrigated I have seen deer standing under the mist sprayers during late summer to cool off, get moisture and keep the bugs off.

Peanut fields seem to get utilized more at night but I have seen deer in cotton fields at all times of the day.

 

[Jim Boyd]

Aaaah, I see.

In the Midwest it is a straight corn / bean rotation in the fields that are farmed yearly for summer crops.

On my primary farm, the landowner put in two alfalfa fields in 2017 so we will see how those play out. He runs about 40 head of cattle and will mow these fields 2-3 x per year.

The corn fields, once cut - are a giant draw.

The beans - before they are cut - really hold the deer. They will browse the bean fields after being combined but they are not the draw that a cut corn field is.

He puts the cows on the cut corn but has always waited until after shotgun season # 1.


Thanks !