Can't beat corn.

I'm not sure what else to say, smallplot. I posted the wording straight from the Illinois regulations that specifically allows the manipulation of corn for hunting, by mowing, but you're not acknowledging it.

I live in GA anyways, so it's up to Illinoisians whether they use it to their advantage or not I guess.

Corn plots have been a proven performer here during hunting season. Expensive and some work but it pays off come November and December here. Yet to see a better draw for a hunting plot at that time of year. Never mowed corn to feed deer, they do just fine eating it off the stalk. No difference between a brassica plot or clover plot or mowed corn plot if all three were planted to hunt over. Dumb law. If mowed corn is different then I guess we have our answer, Corn is the best!

whiskeybent said:

I'm not sure what else to say, smallplot. I posted the wording straight from the Illinois regulations that specifically allows the manipulation of corn for hunting, by mowing, but you're not acknowledging it.

I live in GA anyways, so it's up to Illinoisians whether they use it to their advantage or not I guess.

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Just to be on the safe side I did make contact with one of the Conservation Officers covering my County. He affirmed that my understanding of the statute was correct. I am known to make some mistakes but was 99.9 percent sure this was not one of those times. Just to be sure, I did get a second opinion from a college.


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Smallplot said:

Just to be on the safe side I did make contact with one of the Conservation Officers covering my County. He affirmed that my understanding of the statute was correct. I am known to make some mistakes but was 99.9 percent sure this was not one of those times. Just to be sure, I did get a second opinion from a college.


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So their wording is intentionally worded to decieve? Is that what you and he are saying? And what about MO laws that I posted? Is it illegal there too by your interpretation?

whiskeybent said:

So their wording is intentionally worded to decieve? Is that what you and he are saying? And what about MO laws that I posted? Is it illegal there too by your interpretation?

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I can’t say anything about MO, I have no knowledge of their laws and also don’t hunt there.

I believe I laid everything out in my previous posts but maybe I need to put it another way. There is a specific exemption for mowing corn for the purpose of dove hunting not deer hunting. There are exemptions in place to cover someone hunting in or near a harvested field (this is where the term common agricultural practice comes into play). The wording common agricultural practice is what possibly is giving you the hang up. It is not common for corn to be mowed (there also would not need an exemption for mowing corn for dove hunting if this was common agricultural practice). There are still some acres of corn mowed after harvesting but this is known as shredding stalks to jumpstart the breakdown process for management of debris and to aid in erosion control of soil from wind and water over the winter when nothing is growing.

I can’t say that there is any type of ruling by the IL Supreme Court to base this off like many criminal laws have. Meanings can change from year to year based on these types of rulings but I am not aware of any rulings of this nature to even research. You also can’t just look at one section of law without considering other sections dealing with similar circumstances as well.


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Smallplot - I interpret your IL laws same as you, and I think the MO law would allow one to hunt over cut corn.
so - states are different - we know that.

Like Chainsaw said NY is more like IL - except NY seems to try to be evasive in their wording - which we all find very frustrating here. If mowing corn is illegal to hunt over it - they should just say so! We can't hunt doves here - they are sacred, like white deer in MN - LOL. Reminds me of when I was a kid -the farmer we worked for let us shoot pigeons - but never white ones, he said that was illegal (no white birds in NY could be shot legally he told us).

We've taken the laws in NY to read that standing food plots are just fine - as long as they are not knocked down or mowed on purpose (during hunting season). So when we want to have a shooting lane in corn (late late season hunts for us) - we plant a turnip or soybean lane now before season Corn is a great screen - but it can also block a view from a late season hunting blind - so we try to plan ahead for that - and stay within the law.

That said I see people mowing corn for deer all the time - and I've never seen someone fined for baiting deer in my area doing this. Could be it happens, i may not just not know. Chainsaw and Elk - you ever hear of baiting fines for mowing corn in NY?

After reading your post I have to agree with you small plot, but it was an in uniform game warden that told me that. It was 6 years ago so the law may have changed. I'm done planting corn anyway, 3 acres this year and couldn't find an ear come October, definitely a draw while it had corn.

farmhunter said:

Smallplot - I interpret your IL laws same as you, and I think the MO law would allow one to hunt over cut corn.
so - states are different - we know that.

Like Chainsaw said NY is more like IL - except NY seems to try to be evasive in their wording - which we all find very frustrating here. If mowing corn is illegal to hunt over it - they should just say so! We can't hunt doves here - they are sacred, like white deer in MN - LOL. Reminds me of when I was a kid -the farmer we worked for let us shoot pigeons - but never white ones, he said that was illegal (no white birds in NY could be shot legally he told us).

We've taken the laws in NY to read that standing food plots are just fine - as long as they are not knocked down or mowed on purpose (during hunting season). So when we want to have a shooting lane in corn (late late season hunts for us) - we plant a turnip or soybean lane now before season Corn is a great screen - but it can also block a view from a late season hunting blind - so we try to plan ahead for that - and stay within the law.

That said I see people mowing corn for deer all the time - and I've never seen someone fined for baiting deer in my area doing this. Could be it happens, i may not just not know. Chainsaw and Elk - you ever hear of baiting fines for mowing corn in NY?

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I know our DNR came down on an outfitter here in our county. The DNR closed off a bunch of their hunting ground over first shotgun weekend as no one could hunt for 10 days due to baiting. I know for a fact the in-laws had property entrance taped off to one section being leased to the outfitter.

I will not mention the outfitters name but doing a small search can get anyone the info. When I was trying to find statutes and administrative pages articles came up several times. First round there were 80 citations issued from baiting to non resident having a resident tag. In the articles I read the baiting was everything from using trophy rocks to scattering corn in food plots (they weren’t specific on how the corn was scattered either so who knows).







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During the enforcement detail, Conservation Police officers confirmed approximately 6,400 acres were baited and unlawful to hunt in Pike and Adams counties. Bait is defined as any material, whether liquid or solid, including food, salt, mineral, and other products that can be ingested, placed, or scattered in such a manner as to attract or lure white-tailed deer. The illegal areas were baited with trophy rocks, mineral licks, piled corn, and corn scattered among food plots.

Hadley Creek

farmhunter said:

Smallplot - I interpret your IL laws same as you, and I think the MO law would allow one to hunt over cut corn.
so - states are different - we know that.

Like Chainsaw said NY is more like IL - except NY seems to try to be evasive in their wording - which we all find very frustrating here. If mowing corn is illegal to hunt over it - they should just say so! We can't hunt doves here - they are sacred, like white deer in MN - LOL. Reminds me of when I was a kid -the farmer we worked for let us shoot pigeons - but never white ones, he said that was illegal (no white birds in NY could be shot legally he told us).

We've taken the laws in NY to read that standing food plots are just fine - as long as they are not knocked down or mowed on purpose (during hunting season). So when we want to have a shooting lane in corn (late late season hunts for us) - we plant a turnip or soybean lane now before season Corn is a great screen - but it can also block a view from a late season hunting blind - so we try to plan ahead for that - and stay within the law.

That said I see people mowing corn for deer all the time - and I've never seen someone fined for baiting deer in my area doing this. Could be it happens, i may not just not know. Chainsaw and Elk - you ever hear of baiting fines for mowing corn in NY?

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Farmhunter, I have not heard of anyone being ticketed for mowing corn; however it is not something that I would likely hear about either unless I asked the local judge or game warden specifically. And as you said it is difficult to understand why the DEC rules simply state that hunting over cut corn is legal or illegal rather than leave it up to interpretation so much? I can understand that even if it is actually illegal though that the majority of an areas landowners could be doing it without DEC action taken; It is likely a very difficult thing for a DEC officer to know whether corn is being mowed or not on private lands. Short of an actual complaint, it is about impossible for them to monitor everyone's agricultural activity on private land especially out of view of the road.

I personally will take standing beans over corn. If looking for a late season food source in my area the deer prefer beans to corn. If looking for a mid-season / rut food source the corn is better in my area. For an all year food source soybeans have been great for me. For sheer number of deer using my bean plots an example is I saw 29 on my last sit on a little 2 acre bean plot I have on a farm I rarely see 10 or more deer on during early season.

Blizzard, how do the beans do with 2-3' of snow on them for months at a time. I think this is where the corn real shines.

Blizzard Ridge said:

I personally will take standing beans over corn. If looking for a late season food source in my area the deer prefer beans to corn. If looking for a mid-season / rut food source the corn is better in my area. For an all year food source soybeans have been great for me. For sheer number of deer using my bean plots an example is I saw 29 on my last sit on a little 2 acre bean plot I have on a farm I rarely see 10 or more deer on during early season.

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agree - our deer will go through 75% of standing beans before taking corn too serious.

Elkaddict said:

Blizzard, how do the beans do with 2-3' of snow on them for months at a time. I think this is where the corn real shines.

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Have you ever tried grain sorghum, aka milo?


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Corn is king. And, for me, has been easy, and relatively cheap, to grow. We use chicken litter for fertilizer and retain our own seed (an heirloom white field corn). I just don't like to tie up much room to corn so it is easily wiped out soon as it is dry.

As for manipulation of corn for foodplots it IS legal to mow it and hunt over it in all the states mentioned. Bushhogging standing corn IS a normal agricultural practice. Otherwise, how would you ever get rid of the stalks to plant another crop. Trying to make the simple complicated we are.

THE LLC said:

Corn is king. And, for me, has been easy, and relatively cheap, to grow. We use chicken litter for fertilizer and retain our own seed (an heirloom white field corn). I just don't like to tie up much room to corn so it is easily wiped out soon as it is dry.

As for manipulation of corn for foodplots it IS legal to mow it and hunt over it in all the states mentioned. Bushhogging standing corn IS a normal agricultural practice. Otherwise, how would you ever get rid of the stalks to plant another crop. Trying to make the simple complicated we are.

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I live in farm country. Corn stubble isn't mowed, it's chisel plowed or disced, some just no-till beans right into it. I know it looks like a lot of residue, but modern farm equipment deals with it easily.

I'm reading that it can be mowed in Illinois too. That's just what I am getting out of the rule and the way it reads. I know that Tennessee allows you to mow down food plots and crops to hunt over as long as you do not add any more to it. ie: I cannot mow down my corn and then go buy 200lbs and scatter it on top of what has already been mowed. I emailed the IL DNR and posted what is below and asked them to explain if it is legal to mow corn and then deer hunt over it. I will let you know the response I get back.

It is illegal to feed deer at any time and/or take deer by the use or aid of bait or baiting of any kind. Despite their widespread availability, deer baits and attractants commonly sold in stores are also illegal to use at any time except for use by properly licensed owners of captive cervids while feeding captive animals. For the purpose of this section, “bait” means any material, whether liquid or solid, including food, salt, minerals and other products that can be ingested, placed or scattered in such a manner as to attract or lure white-tailed deer. “Baiting” means the placement or scattering of bait to attract deer. For the purposes of taking white-tailed deer, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the manipulation, including mowing or cutting, of standing crops as a normal agricultural or soil stabilization practice, food plots or normal agricultural practices, including planting, harvesting and maintenance, such as cultivating..."

swat1018 said:

I live in farm country. Corn stubble isn't mowed, it's chisel plowed or disced, some just no-till beans right into it. I know it looks like a lot of residue, but modern farm equipment deals with it easily.

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How you get stubble? Corn not harvested, or layed down by wind/hail has to be dealt with someway. Has to be normal agricultural practice--not smart or efficient.

Here is what I wrote to the Illinois DNR....

Question/comment:
Is it considered baiting if standing corn is mowed down, to be hunted over, whether it is in a food plot or crop field? In your 2017-18 regulation book, it appears to be that you can mow it down and as long as you don't add any more corn to it(my interpretation), it is legal. Below is quoted from your 2017-18 regulations book.

"It is illegal to feed deer at any time and/or take deer by the use or aid of bait or baiting of any kind. Despite their widespread availability, deer baits and attractants commonly sold in stores are also illegal to use at any time except for use by properly licensed owners of captive cervids while feeding captive animals. For the purpose of this section, “bait” means any material, whether liquid or solid, including food, salt, minerals and other products that can be ingested, placed or scattered in such a manner as to attract or lure white-tailed deer. “Baiting” means the placement or scattering of bait to attract deer. For the purposes of taking white-tailed deer, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the manipulation, including mowing or cutting, of standing crops as a normal agricultural or soil stabilization practice, food plots or normal agricultural practices, including planting, harvesting and maintenance, such as cultivating..."


Here is their response...

You are correct. You can mow it, but you can’t supplement.


From: Bulinski, Lisa On Behalf Of DNR.Wildlifereceptionist
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2018 1:05 PM
To: Rollins, Eric <Eric.Rollins@Illinois.gov>
Subject: FW: Contact DNR: Confirmation ID 289072 (Wildlife)