Plans For 2023

deer patch

Well-Known Member
What’s everybody’s plans for the planting season for the upcoming 2023 foodplot planting? My plans are planting soybeans but I haven’t decided if I’m going to plant ag beans or forage beans yet. To get beans for the fall hunting season I already know I’ll have to e-fence them.
 
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How many acres of beans are you planning on? And how is your deer density? Gonna try beans myself this year for the first time. Hope 3 acres is big enough to withstand the browse and actually make beans.


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I am gonna try for clover again...the drought totally decimated it this year and my wheat laid in the dust so long that cool season grasses and Forbes pretty much took over my plot so I am thinking of attempting to frost seed because I still have a lot of bare dirt and then using Clethodim on the grasses once it warms up a bit...
 
How many acres of beans are you planning on? And how is your deer density? Gonna try beans myself this year for the first time. Hope 3 acres is big enough to withstand the browse and actually make beans.


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Planting 8 acres total. They break down to one each of 3 acres, 2 acres and then three 1 acre plots. I have a high deer density population and it doesn’t matter how many I kill because they just keep replenishing from the neighbors. I’ve tried soybeans for 3 years and I can get a few pods but the deer keep them so low to the ground that I always plant something for fall/winter. That’s why I’m going to efence one of my bigger plots and try to get good pods for winter. I hope your planting does better than my past plantings did without a fence. What’s your deer density like?
 
I am gonna try for clover again...the drought totally decimated it this year and my wheat laid in the dust so long that cool season grasses and Forbes pretty much took over my plot so I am thinking of attempting to frost seed because I still have a lot of bare dirt and then using Clethodim on the grasses once it warms up a bit...

I’ve noticed our weather patterns are pretty much identical with the exception of when the rain splits around your area, I usually get a rain. That being said, temps are just a couple degrees difference between the both of us. I’m going to try frost seeding this winter as well for the first time but I just don’t know if that is a favorable approach with our dry and hot summers as of lately but I’m still going to use some ladino, white dutch and durana mix. Only time will tell.
 
At home I’ll probably plant IC peas in my 3/4 acre plot, they won’t last over a month but it will be a critical month. After that, with any moisture I’ll plant buckwheat just to keep it from being bare dirt.


On our lease I’m the only one who wants to spring for summer plots, but I have a half acre plot that has pigweed. I’ve been fighting it three years now and I plan to plant RR beans so I can kill the pigweed once and for all. I sprayed it twice last year and that had to have helped but I want to get it while it’s small, before it seeds. The beans won’t last long there either but will have served their purpose……I hope. Again, providing there’s moisture, I may go back with buckwheat.
 
Planting 8 acres total. They break down to one each of 3 acres, 2 acres and then three 1 acre plots. I have a high deer density population and it doesn’t matter how many I kill because they just keep replenishing from the neighbors. I’ve tried soybeans for 3 years and I can get a few pods but the deer keep them so low to the ground that I always plant something for fall/winter. That’s why I’m going to efence one of my bigger plots and try to get good pods for winter. I hope your planting does better than my past plantings did without a fence. What’s your deer density like?

Not super high, but we have never planted something for attraction. Curious to see what all gets drawn in. Either way I plan to overseed something later in the fall.


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How many acres of beans are you planning on? And how is your deer density? Gonna try beans myself this year for the first time. Hope 3 acres is big enough to withstand the browse and actually make beans.


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For a 3 acre plot I'd plant forage beans and seed them double density, 2 bags per acre.

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Logger will be finished. Will work to make some deer access points around new growth and leftover slash. . Not much other than that.


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Planning on expanding my 1 acre plot by 1/3-1/2 acre.
In the picture the highlighted green is what I’m clearing out for new ground and the orange line will be a row of apple trees.(probably 8 trees) I will be setting the row of apple trees up so I can see down each side from the stand. This should also help the deer feel comfortable as it breaks up the distance across.
The original plot will be planted half white clover / chicory mix and half soy beans and peas.
The new ground will be winter rye and possibly oats if I can get the ph up a bit by fall. The soil is usually around a ph of 4.5 on new ground I open up so it takes some work to get anything besides weeds to grow lol.
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I'm going to continue on my work of trying to smother my perennial clover with as much non-legume diversity as possible in an attempt to ward off the uncontrollable and unintended plants.
 
For a 3 acre plot I'd plant forage beans and seed them double density, 2 bags per acre.

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Are you getting any bean pods with forage beans or are you just feeding the deer during the summer? I was actually thinking about planting some type of RR ag bean at the double planting rate. You think that might work with higher deer density without a efence and still get pods?
 
Are you getting any bean pods with forage beans or are you just feeding the deer during the summer? I was actually thinking about planting some type of RR ag bean at the double planting rate. You think that might work with higher deer density without a efence and still get pods?


No doubt that there are more knowledgeable guys on here than me, but in my experience it just depends on your deer density. I had no trouble the first time I planted beans on three different properties, but when they discovered beans were good, the second year they ate them twice as fast. On one place I owned, I had a rather low deer density and beans would last much longer, even got pods. On the other two places, one owned, the other leased, they lasted about 6 weeks to two months and were gone.
 
Are you getting any bean pods with forage beans or are you just feeding the deer during the summer? I was actually thinking about planting some type of RR ag bean at the double planting rate. You think that might work with higher deer density without a efence and still get pods?
I'm getting a good crop of pods off of forage beans, usually more pods but smaller sized than ag beans. The deer never complain about the size of the pods, they eat them all, including the ones that drop on the ground.

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We will have the usual mix in our plots, except we will add corn to one. It will have to be fenced to keep the bears out.

The thing I'm excited about is having about 65 acres of timber sprayed and cut. This should generate some cover and food over time. That side of the hill is almost wide open.
 
I'm getting a good crop of pods off of forage beans, usually more pods but smaller sized than ag beans. The deer never complain about the size of the pods, they eat them all, including the ones that drop on the ground.

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What is the likely outcome if I plant double the rate and don’t get the browsing pressure? Would that high of a population then hinder growth due to competition?


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In the established plots, we'll be going with a mix of milo, sunflowers, millets, buckwheat, forage soybeans, cowpea, and sunhemp smogasborg. Anything the deer eat is fine by me, but we are trying to get the turkeys to move back onto the farm. My cousin purchased a drill last year, and is letting us borrow for spring and fall planting this year (he plants earlier and later than we do, so the timing works out).

We are going to try and establish 2-3 more plots totaling between 1-2 acres of plots (if my uncle jumps on board). One of these plots will need another stand placed alongside - i think we are going to rebuild a quadpod we have laying off behind the barn - build a rudimentary "box" blind from it until we get another blind welded.

The rest will be chainsaw/logging, water sources, and waging war on fescue. (just realized this was planting season specific, so reduced the non-planting plans)
 
In the established plots, we'll be going with a mix of milo, sunflowers, millets, buckwheat, forage soybeans, cowpea, and sunhemp smogasborg. Anything the deer eat is fine by me, but we are trying to get the turkeys to move back onto the farm. My cousin purchased a drill last year, and is letting us borrow for spring and fall planting this year (he plants earlier and later than we do, so the timing works out).

We are going to try and establish 2-3 more plots totaling between 1-2 acres of plots (if my uncle jumps on board). One of these plots will need another stand placed alongside - i think we are going to rebuild a quadpod we have laying off behind the barn - build a rudimentary "box" blind from it until we get another blind welded.

The rest will be chainsaw/logging, water sources, and waging war on fescue. (just realized this was planting season specific, so reduced the non-planting plans)

Even though I started this as a planting season thread, feel free to discuss any habitat plans as well.
 
Well I plan to start to continue what I started 2 years ago and rework the area with Lots of Lime and then plant a mix of Oats, Rye, Clover, and Peas. Then in the Fall go over it again with mostly the same- once I see how the first round did in our Chit Soil.
 
What is the likely outcome if I plant double the rate and don’t get the browsing pressure? Would that high of a population then hinder growth due to competition?


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I have had good success with planting double rates with forage soybeans, the forage growth has always been good, but the bean pods are smaller, which is the penalty for planting double.

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