Can't beat corn.

[whiskeybent]

I know the value of corn as a food plot can be argued til the days end, but in my opinion for sheer numbers of deer in a food plot at one time, nothing can compare to corn. This year I planted 15 acres of soybeans and 10 acres of corn. You won't sit on either without seeing deer but you'll see 3 times as many in the corn as you will the beans, at least on my place you will.

Corn is hard to grow and very expensive to plant, but it is what it is and unless pigs move onto my place I'll be planting it again next year.

As a side-note, we had some strong winds back in September that knocked down 90% of my corn. The deer never showed any interest in it until I took a bushhog to it for a late dove shoot in early December. Then you couldn't run them out.

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[Smallplot]

We have a very different opinion of corn for a food plots. Also just pointing out in my state what you are describing is considered baiting of deer as doing anything not usually done during regular Ag activities pushes it to the criminal side. Hence once you ran the bush hog through, at least in my state, makes this area baited same as if someone dumped bags of shelled corn into piles.


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[cutman]

Pretty sure a farmer would have bush hogged the corn once it was knocked down by wind. You’ve got to do something with it. I’ve had to mow mine the last two years after hurricanes.

 

[j-bird]

Same here Smallplot.......mowing that corn down is a big no-no here as well! I will agree in that corn can be a great food source for deer. However it isn't a magic bullet. It requires fertile soil, proper fertilization, proper planting depth and spacing, proper weed control and you need mother nature to cooperate as well.....any it seems like everything in the woods will eat it as well. When it all works, it's great, but when it doesn't, you have an expensive plot of stalks and nothing else. Soybeans are far more forgiving AND provide forage as well as grain. I'm glad you had a positive experience with corn, but in my opinion it has to be the most expensive in terms of costs and time of any food plot that I have messed with so far. Corn also brings an aspect of cover to it as well. This is think really helps with it's attractiveness as well. I think keeping a balance between corn and beans is a good approach as well.

 

[whiskeybent]

We're lucky here in the fact that bushhogging is an acceptable practice for doves and deer. And as posted above, corn is a highly expensive crop to plant and has to be planted right.

 

[DrDirtNap]

I agree with you whiskeybent. Corn is king. I have not found it difficult to grow at all. It can be no-till planted easily. It is expensive and does require a good dose of nitrogen fertilizer but the food and cover it provides for Deer, turkey and all the other critters are worth it. For years I have been rotating my corn and clover plots. After 5 years of Durana clover i rotate to corn. Unfortunately, as you have pointed out it is also a magnet for hogs. Looks like the hogs might make me move away from corn for next year.


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[Baker]

I know of nothing that beats corn as an attractant!

 

[OkieKubota]

I know of nothing that beats corn as an attractant!

Acorns...

 

[swat1018]

We have a very different opinion of corn for a food plots. Also just pointing out in my state what you are describing is considered baiting of deer as doing anything not usually done during regular Ag activities pushes it to the criminal side. Hence once you ran the bush hog through, at least in my state, makes this area baited same as if someone dumped bags of shelled corn into piles.


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Legal in Missouri, as well.

 

[Smallplot]

Pretty sure a farmer would have bush hogged the corn once it was knocked down by wind. You’ve got to do something with it. I’ve had to mow mine the last two years after hurricanes.

There are plenty of acres of corn harvested after it goes down. It is a slow process and many farmers attach a large reel with steel rods creating “pickup fingers” to drag the downed corn into the platform where most can still be harvested. No farmer likes to see downed corn but it does happen and there are ways to deal with it if it does. Depending on how bad it is down the snouts on a corn head still function very well on harvesting unless the corn is all the way down. Corn costs too much to grow for a farmer to mow it down unless yields are drastically reduced and harvesting cost would be higher than any monetary gain from harvesting. Just coming at this from a farmer standpoint here.

On a side note if corn went down in September it sounds like someone has a problem with corn borer or they need to address some real problems with soil health/nutrition or pick a better variety based on location. I understand some weather patterns can effect corn growth/stand ability but the problem many times is a combination of all three with one or two being more the culprit.

I would assume a good portion of food plotters would not be able to identify some of the more common insect related issues or know the life cycles of the pests. Corn borer for instance can have generations in one harvest year but the larva can over winter in thatch found on the ground to compound the problem the following year. One of the main issues with corn for a food plot addressed is dealing with the debris the following year. Sometimes what food plotters consider a problem, dealing with plant debris, can be an incubator for additional unseen problems.


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[Smallplot]

Legal in Missouri, as well.

A quick search of MO hunting regs gives me this. (I don’t hunt in MO and by no means consider myself an authority on MO regulations but due to my regular job I am considered by employment to be an authority in IL). I just know with all the CWD talk there are pieces of regulations which one may have to dig into the actual statutes to find. Also having intimate knowledge of the criminal investigations side there are some questions that need to be addressed by speaking to those enforcing the regulations. Just saying.

Prohibited. Use of bait — which includes grain or other feed placed or scattered so as to attract deer or turkeys — while hunting is illegal. ... It is illegal to place bait in a way that causes others to be in violation of the baiting rule. Mineral and salt blocks are not allowed on conservation areas. This copied from MO Dept of Conservation website.




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[SIL hunter]

Small plot you might check again on that, the game warden that did my son's hunter safety course said for deer, turkey and dove as long as it's grown there it can be manipulated anyway you want, but not for water fowl. But like most answers you get in IL it's up to the warden.

 

[swat1018]

A quick search of MO hunting regs gives me this. (I don’t hunt in MO and by no means consider myself an authority on MO regulations but due to my regular job I am considered by employment to be an authority in IL). I just know with all the CWD talk there are pieces of regulations which one may have to dig into the actual statutes to find. Also having intimate knowledge of the criminal investigations side there are some questions that need to be addressed by speaking to those enforcing the regulations. Just saying.

Prohibited. Use of bait — which includes grain or other feed placed or scattered so as to attract deer or turkeys — while hunting is illegal. ... It is illegal to place bait in a way that causes others to be in violation of the baiting rule. Mineral and salt blocks are not allowed on conservation areas. This copied from MO Dept of Conservation website.




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You are correct, and that is nothing new. They don't consider bush hogging standing corn "placing bait." If you supplement what is grown by scattering more you bring in, you are baiting. It seems insane, I know. Same with IA, watch Lee / Tiffany, and legal there too.

 

[whiskeybent]

This is from MO regulations.

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[Smallplot]

Small plot you might check again on that, the game warden that did my son's hunter safety course said for deer, turkey and dove as long as it's grown there it can be manipulated anyway you want, but not for water fowl. But like most answers you get in IL it's up to the warden.

I can only tell you from the legal side food plots are ok as long as they are left standing (and this is IL description not mine and can be found in the hunting regulations) Anything other than usual Ag practices for harvesting is considered baiting. There is an exception for doves but I would not get caught hunting deer over it. Maybe you need to check with the actual game warden in your area. Many times it is not the game warden, excuse me conservation officer, who teaches these hunter safety classes.


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[whiskeybent]

This was from page 15 & 16 of the 2017 Illinois e-Regs.

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[whiskeybent]

Maybe this is a little more readable.

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[Smallplot]

Maybe this is a little more readable.

Or this taken from the Administrative Rules section accompanying the IL wildlife codes and also referred to within the codes specifically.


Section 635.40 Feeding or Baiting of Wildlife
It shall be illegal to make available food, salt, mineral blocks or other products for ingestion by wild deer or other wildlife in areas where wild deer are present. Exempted from this Section are the following:
a) elevated bird/squirrel feeders providing seed, grain, fruit, worms, or suet for birds or squirrels located within 100 feet of a dwelling devoted to human occupancy;
b) incidental feeding of wildlife within active livestock operations;
c) feeding of wild animals, other than wild deer, by hand as long as a reasonable attempt is made to clean up unconsumed food;
d) feeders for wildlife other than deer so long as deer are excluded from the feed in and around the feeder by fencing or other barriers;
e) standing crops planted and left standing as food plots for wildlife;
f) grain or other feed scattered or distributed solely as a result of normal agricultural, gardening, or soil stabilization practices;
g) standing, flooded, or manipulated natural vegetation or food/seed deposited by natural vegetation;
h) grain or other feed distributed or scattered solely as the result of manipulation of an agricultural crop or other feed on the land where grown, for purposes of dove hunting;
I) food material placed for capturing or killing wildlife pursuant to 520 ILCS 5/2.37, 2.30, and 1.3;
j) scientific permits issued pursuant to 17 Ill. Adm. Code 520 that allow food to attract wildlife;
k) any other permits issued by the Department of Natural Resources that require the attraction of wildlife for purposes of management, research or control.


There is a specific allowance for dove (H), none for deer. As can be seen here food plots are mentioned specifically (E) and the ability to hunt around regularly harvested fields or maintained food plots in (F). Nothing in this allows one to mow down corn stalks for the purpose of hunting anything but doves specifically.









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[Smallplot]

Now let’s go on a bit further with the corn as a food plot conundrum. In my opinion food plot placement is dictated by the animals themselves. In speaking with the persons running combines it becomes clear where the areas of highest draw are to deer/wildlife and the best places to plant food plots. These areas are generally almost void of grain at harvest time so in my opinion the best selection is something that will handle the browse pressure in those areas. If 100 acres of grain surrounding a 5 acre patch of corn will not allow grain for late season in the 5 acre, my deduction is corn is not the the best selection.

I have said many times and will keep saying cover will attract and hold deer whereas food plots may get a deer’s attention for brief periods of time. Food plots are a good supplement if you also have good natural cover. I think this applies about anywhere and not area specific like so much is with food plots.


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[Chainsaw]

Good and specific info on your post Smallplot.I asked our local NY game warden if I could hunt over mowed corn fields. He replied with the question; Is mowing cornfields a normal agricultural practice? I said no and he said "there is your answer". It is not legal to mow corn and then hunt over it. Note; I did not ask if it was legal to mow if one did not hunt over it. However even hunting a trail 500 yards away is hunting over it the way I interpret the NY law intention.