Deciding on an annual...

[Sam16]

OK, since it's been getting quiet in here, i figured i would ask for some advice. Here's my situation... We have a 250 acre farm that has about 20 acres of alfa alfa and this year will have 10 acres of corn. The alfa alfa is extremely hard to hunt, almost impossible. So anyways, we have decided to put about 2 acres in of clover, trefoil, and chicory mix. We have two stands where we can plant about 1/4 of an annual at each spot. We tried to put a turnip/brassica mix in last year, and half of it got mowed, and the deer just didnt respond to it like we planned. I dont think there was enough of it for them to realize what it was. My question is... should we try turnips again and hope the deer get it figured out, or should we try oats for the first time? The farm is in northwest Illinois. Any ideas of what would be better for our situation? Thanks for any input or advice. We need to liven this room up a bit during the offseason.

[Ravin R10 man]

Did the deer hit it later on after frost? Hard to beat Turnips and Brassica for a fall plot.

[Tominator]

Don't really know, but sounds like your situation is like mine, too much to eat. If there's a magic plant to plant that will draw and hold deer, let me know, cuz' I want some!

[LETMGROW]

I'm not really sure of what you mean by It got half mowed. If someone mowed the plants they surely defeated the turnip-brassica plants. If you meant the deer mowed them down then the plants worked.

Our brassicas never get hit much until after the first couple hard frosts. From there on it is game on for the deer. Some plots actually last only a couple days after the deer start to feed in them. We move our brassica plantings around some to prevent disease but stay near enough to older sites so the deer get used to the location.

We planted Winter Greens, Secret Spot and Shot plot last year all in different locations. The deer hit the Winter Greens first, the Secret Spot secondly and the Shot plot last. This was all in a couple weeks time. We are going to use the same combination this year to confirm some varieties appeal to deer at different times.

Lynn

[wtnhunt]

Deer here just do not seem to care for the brassicas mixes too much. Planted them here again this year, and while my wife and oldest daughter thought they were great, the deer did not hit them too much, even after some good hard frosts on them. Got tons of turnips in the plots sitting there now rotting. Think we will be going with oats and winter wheat, maybe some austrian winter peas for an annual this year, planted early fall.

The clovers, trefoil, and chickory seem to be the best draw here overall year round. Our perennial plots are seeing a lot of activity, and they are looking good too.

[MUDRUNNER]

My brassica plot didn't hardly get touched this year either.I'm not totaly giving up on it though.From what I've read it may take a couple of years for the deer to aquire a taste for them.This year I'm doing about half as much brassica and more winter peas, and I'm mixing in some oats or wheat with them.Between this and a clover/chicory plot I'm putting in hopefully I find something that the deer like.

[PotashRLS]

Got tons of turnips in the plots sitting there now rotting.

Try the Whitetail Institute blends because they don't have turnips. I have found out my deer won't eat the tops off the turnip plants and I too end up with rotting turnips come spring. The deer hammer the Winter Greens, No Plow and Secret Spot. Try these and I think you'll see some better results.

I never buy anything with turnips in it anymore!

[Sam16]

To clarify a few things, we hunted over these plots until the end of November, well after the first few frosts and nothing. Now i havent been back to the farm since, so not sure if they ate them in december, but that doesnt really help us, since we are mostly done hunting by then. As for the mowing part, yes, half our plot got mowed by a lawn mower, which decreased the plot to less than 1/4 acre. It sounds like we have very mixed reviews on the brassicas. I may try something new this year, just to spice it up. Oats most likely.

[dogdoc]

All my brassicas were eaten to the ground by the deer--not one full plant left and now they are actually eating the turnips. However--I've had best luck with planting a mixture of oats and wheat in small hunting plots. The oats will be a great draw early in the season then die out after your first hard freeze then the deer will key in on the wheat. There is a trick though to make them HIGHLY attractive. When planting I broadcast 200# of triple 13 per acre and then lightly disc the seed and the fertilizer in the soil. I then come back 3 weeks later and broadcast 50# of 34-0-0 on top of the wheat/oats. This last high dose of fertilizer really sweetens up the plot. The deer can tell the difference. The oats/wheat will work a lot better in smaller plots than brassicas!!!!

[LETMGROW]

From the responses I have seen here and on other forums it seems as though Brassicas and especially turnip, work better the farther north you go. Up here the turnip gets hammered and winter wheat is usually flattened and unatractive after a couple hard frosts. Almost seems as though we have a geographic line we might all study a bit.