I have been planting food plots in my same handful of spots for quite a few years with great success. However last year I had a farmer spread cow manure on my food plots and it seems like ever since then the deer don’t want to eat the crop as much. I had corn, soybeans, brassica blend and winter rye and they didn’t seem to want to spend much time in any of my food plots this year. 5-6 acres total. I have been rotating these same crops for quite a few years. My question is, do you think it’s possible that spreading that manure heavily on there changed the ph of the soil and made the food less palatable to the deer? The crops turned out great with large bulbs, a lot of pods on the beans and a lot of corn. I plan to ph test in the spring. Thanks
Soil PH
- Thread starter Buckman
- Start date
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Cow manure is highly alkaline, and it can raise soil PH. However, if the crops "turned out great" as you said, I doubt that is why you saw less use by deer. In years when acorns are plentiful, you will generally see food plots used much less than normal. Also, baiting or plantings done by neighbors can have an impact on how much your plots are used.
PS - My main plot is where cattle were fed (and robustly pooped) for over 30 years. Once the cows were gone and I started plotting, the deer immediately started using the plots. But we had an incredible acorn crop this year, and mine were not used much either. Good luck.
PS - My main plot is where cattle were fed (and robustly pooped) for over 30 years. Once the cows were gone and I started plotting, the deer immediately started using the plots. But we had an incredible acorn crop this year, and mine were not used much either. Good luck.
T-Max
Well-Known Member
Another thing to keep in mind. I have done it. When you have a plot that turns out incredible, you may have a tendency to overhunt it hoping the draw to such an incredible buffet will outweigh any impact you may have on it. That is not necessarily the case. I'm not sure of your exact situation, but it happened to me once.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Other thoughts on the subject:
1) It is easy to do something different and think that is the culprit. There are lots of variables. Plot use varies with both hunting pressure as stated above, and the availability of native foods, and significant habitat changes in the area.
2) Unless you are using an exclusion cage, it is hard to tell how much deer are actually using the crop. Reduced observations or cam pics can be caused by many things. An exclusion cage gives a better picture of actual food usage. More available native foods make deer more sensitive to pressure. You may be seeing more nighttime useage.
1) It is easy to do something different and think that is the culprit. There are lots of variables. Plot use varies with both hunting pressure as stated above, and the availability of native foods, and significant habitat changes in the area.
2) Unless you are using an exclusion cage, it is hard to tell how much deer are actually using the crop. Reduced observations or cam pics can be caused by many things. An exclusion cage gives a better picture of actual food usage. More available native foods make deer more sensitive to pressure. You may be seeing more nighttime useage.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
My plots were completely ignored this year due to massive hard mast drop. Also with an over abundant crop the browse may seem insignificant. You might be surprised what an exclusion cage can show on supposedly ignored or apparent poor corps
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i appreciate all the replies. As far as hunting pressure goes, I believe I hunted less this year than ever because I was waiting on a huge deer to show up that I was expecting in October due to historical patterns and wanted as little human intrusion as possible. It just seemed like even in my camera pictures that the deer were never head down and just kept moving through. I have 2 acres of standing soybeans and an acre of standing corn right next to it and it is all still loaded with food. It just seems very odd to me that in January the deer aren’t devouring the beans and corn and that’s what made me think that it wasn’t as palatable to them this year possibly? Again, I appreciate your replies and will consider it all. Thanks!
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
Ditto. I bet the timing was shifted back at least 6 weeks due to acorns. Things that should have never seen October 1st were there November 10th.
I never knew that manure raises your PH, I thought people used it instead of liming their plots. I always denied my neighbor when he asked if I wanted some on my plots. My thought was it would have cause more weed growth in my plots.
Jsteinke5188
New Member
There was times hunting in the oaks you couldn't hear a deer coming in. Acorns falling like rain, it was "nuts"! Good God that was dumb... but yeah, mast year. Be another 5 to 7 years before it happens again!
