Qustion for the Raddish Gurus

[Native Hunter]

I threatened to quit planting brassica altogether. I did quit planting turnips because I never saw one touched but put out some daikon radish this time because I had seen the deer take to them a little bit last year.

Finally this year I am seeing radishes browsed hard - at least about 5 inches of the tips. It's hard to find a plant that hasn't been browsed.

Two questions:

First, now that they are eating the tips, do you think they will eventually eat more of the plants, or is this all I'm going to see?

Second, I have found some of the actual radishes eaten on, but I have no idea if its deer or something else. See the last picture below and tell me if you think deer are eating these or something else.......

Example of tip browsing:








Example of radish eating. Deer or something else?????

 

[dogdoc]

Once they start eating the greens you should see foraging on them every year now. Took my deer 3 years to "learn" to eat them. That does look like deer bites on the radish.

 

[Native Hunter]

Once they start eating the greens you should see foraging on them every year now. Took my deer 3 years to "learn" to eat them. That does look like deer bites on the radish.

Thanks Todd. Do you see them eating more of the leaves than the tips? Later on?

How much of the actual radish do you see eaten? More later?

PS: I also thought it looked like deer bites but wanted to see if everyone agreed..........

 

[dogdoc]

I get very lititle tuber eating. If we don't have a mast crop and a bad winter then the tubers will get eaten. Otherwise they just rot in the soil-which I am fine with. My deer will eat the turnips and radish greens to the ground late winter. I'm seeing no foraging on them right now. Oats, clover, and fall planted sunflowers are the big draw right now for the does.

 

[Native Hunter]

I get very lititle tuber eating. If we don't have a mast crop and a bad winter then the tubers will get eaten. Otherwise they just rot in the soil-which I am fine with. My deer will eat the turnips and radish greens to the ground late winter. I'm seeing no foraging on them right now. Oats, clover, and fall planted sunflowers are the big draw right now for the does.

Thanks. I'm still trying to figure out why my plots are seeing so much use right now despite loads of acorns everywhere. Over 800 pics per day on a single camera with less than 20 different deer.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'd crank up the delay between pics if you're getting that many per day. Also, I'd do a buffet plot (many smaller patches with single species in each) until you figure out what their fall preferences are. The other thing to consider may be you're drowning in food right now, and they don't need it.

I've never had to do a buffet plot because our big limiter is winter food. The only thing I ever wondered is when they'd turn onto my fall plots and how long they'd last.

 

[Native Hunter]

I'd crank up the delay between pics if you're getting that many per day. Also, I'd do a buffet plot (many smaller patches with single species in each) until you figure out what their fall preferences are. The other thing to consider may be you're drowning in food right now, and they don't need it.

I've never had to do a buffet plot because our big limiter is winter food. The only thing I ever wondered is when they'd turn onto my fall plots and how long they'd last.

Yes, I need to set that camera the same as the one at the mineral lick to cut down on pictures (Reconyx Feeder mode would cut it down a lot).

It's easy to see what they are eating the most - chicory and cereal grains. Those are slam dunks every year. I actually don't have a camera where radishes are planted, except at the edge, but I can see the radish tops being eaten well.

I've got this figured out pretty well except for brassicas. It's good to see the use finally increasing to where it seems worthwhile. They will pull the cereal grains up by the roots all winter long based on past experience, and I have more than they can possibly eat.

Thanks - Steve

 

[Brokenbear]

No doubt about it .....Beaver ....he thinks it's a log he felled and forgot about doing it!

Bear

 

[Native Hunter]

No doubt about it .....Beaver ....he thinks it's a log he felled and forgot about doing it!

Bear

LOL, and that with no fertilizer and in a drought.

 

[deer patch]

Deer use for sure. It took a few years planting turnips to see any eating here also. Now they will eat the leaves first even before a frost but when it frosts they will hit them heavy during November. Then come December they will eat leaves and turnips leaving nothing at all. It's actually fun to watch them eat. Very good draw for late season. Since they are eating the radishes now I would try turnips one more time if it was me. You might be surprised in the results.

 

[Native Hunter]

Deer use for sure. It took a few years planting turnips to see any eating here also. Now they will eat the leaves first even before a frost but when it frosts they will hit them heavy during November. Then come December they will eat leaves and turnips leaving nothing at all. It's actually fun to watch them eat. Very good draw for late season. Since they are eating the radishes now I would try turnips one more time if it was me. You might be surprised in the results.

Thanks deer patch. I need a few turnips anyway so I can give some to the in-laws. I should do like you said and put a few out next time..

Those radishes may be just right this year for December ML season if we are still hunting at that time. The second rut is when I get the most new bucks arriving here (per cameras) but we generally have used our buck tags before that and aren't hunting. It will be interesting to see how much they use the radishes through the rest of the season whether we are hunting or not by then.

Take Care - Steve

 

[dogghr]

Heck Native, maybe you quite planting so much of that chicory, your deer could learn to eat at the other end of the table! Yep that is deer browse and for whatever reason they eat those tubers just like you show, then come back later for a few more bites. Not sure why they don't finish all in one sitting. Here, I think the ground freeze pushes more out of the ground. They really hit the tubers mid Dec thru heart of winter. Smells nasty by spring. Now the problem I've got, is they have learned to ilke them so much that they browse them as they grow before chance of tuber especially in this dry weather. And the dang farmers use them for cover crops in the harvested corn fields and now the deer stay parked there. Tough competition for me. Good job.

 

[Native Hunter]

Heck Native, maybe you quite planting so much of that chicory, your deer could learn to eat at the other end of the table! Yep that is deer browse and for whatever reason they eat those tubers just like you show, then come back later for a few more bites. Not sure why they don't finish all in one sitting. Here, I think the ground freeze pushes more out of the ground. They really hit the tubers mid Dec thru heart of winter. Smells nasty by spring. Now the problem I've got, is they have learned to ilke them so much that they browse them as they grow before chance of tuber especially in this dry weather. And the dang farmers use them for cover crops in the harvested corn fields and now the deer stay parked there. Tough competition for me. Good job.

Great information dogghr - so now I don't have to be on the lookout for a rouge, brassica eating beaver.

I've probably got the only radishes in a 3 mile circle, so I won't have the cover crop problem you are having. Two bad that I bushhogged down about half of them a few weeks ago trying to keep fall weeds from seeding...Maybe that's why they like them now - they had never had anyone to slice them up......

 

[buckdeer1]

My deer really start hitting the daikon radishes when it gets cold,they never hit the turnips so I also quit planting them

 

[Scott44]

I guess they either like them or they don't, I don't have that problem every type of brassica I've planted they eat. I've watched them eat the tops the last couple sits I've had, then they'll leave the bulbs till later. Like others have said I believe that is deer eating on your radishes. Here's a pic of one of my plots, the cereal grains in front had some radishes in it and the brassicas in back are just starting to get hit, by the looks of it I should have hit the brassicas with a little more N but they'll be ok now.

 

[Native Hunter]

Great pictures Scott and good info too. Looks like a lot of food.

 

[Fish]

I had a few radishes out last year, but this year they are a part of the entire cereal grain plot. They are definitely browsing them. Can't say they are seeking them out though.







They ate the actual radish on this one....

 

[Native Hunter]

Fish, the way they are browsing your tips looks similar to mine. As a general rule, what do you see later on in the year?

 

[Fish]

They definitely ate some last year in cold weather. They didnt pound them or anything though. The plot is much more attractive this year so it'll be interesting to see if they grub them down. Ive planted DERape and they dont touch it.
I dont have turnips to speak of this year, but last year they started eating them in January when it was nasty cold and they were hungry. And then a guy ten miles down the road said he planted turnips for the first time last year and they devoured them before December.

 

[Elkaddict]

NH, for what it's worth, my Winfred and Rutabagas are seeing far greater use than my GHR. Don't know what it will mean tuber wise, only time will tell.