# problem please help



## ducknoff (May 30, 2013)

Well as many know last year I purchased 15 acres with 5 acres woods. Last year was our first year and had lots of deer in and through the woods and this year well not so good. 
THe farmer acrosss the road has planted a raddish crop of sorts he tells me to help the soil and I an constantly seeing deer in his field back by the woods.

I got a funny feeling the deer are staying on that side due to the ever ending supplie of big raddishes for them to eat. 

I planted REd turnips in about a 1/2acre lot on my property but very little use or pictures on the cameras. Seeing no rubs or scraps in the woods this year at all. 

While speaking with farmers son today he showed me pics of all kinds of deer and 3 Super bucks but he doesnt hunt except during gun season. 

I asked to buy some corn and they are going to sell me some Then Im gonna as if they would allow me to bow hunt back there as well to see if I can get in on some of the action. Its my only hope except for the rut I believe this year. 

Thoughts and anything I can do to get them back across the road this year?


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Are you saying the grass is greener on the other side?

The deer will be and probably are in your woods if they were there last year, unless something has changed with your land or your activity on it.

Why did you have "lots of deer" last year, your first year, and this year not so many? What in your woods last year attracted them to your woods? Thick cover, water, acorns, only woods around for miles, secluded with no intrusions, etc, etc?

Sounds like a short walk for the deer to travel from your woods to the radish fields. They don't easily change core areas unless they have a good reason. What else has changed besides the perceived radish reason?


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## ducknoff (May 30, 2013)

Honestly not one thing has changed from last winter other than crop rotating around us. And Me adding a clover plot and a turnip plot. 

Thats it. I havent been nosing around the whole area looking for sign as i would have expected it to be in the same places as last year. And we didnt take possession until this exact time last year so maybe I should take a walk and look around. Its really thick in the woods like almost unpassable without major work. LOL


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## Big Chief (Dec 16, 2005)

Are you seeing does?? If you have them the bucks will come. I did not have a buck on camera until last week and the camera was out for a month. Bucks will cruise through, just have to be there when they are&#128540;


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## dwmikemx (Mar 22, 2008)

Guy across the road from me plants turnips in his food plot. He told me the deer won't hit them hard until there is a good hard frost or two. .


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> Guy across the road from me plants turnips in his food plot. He told me the deer won't hit them hard until there is a good hard frost or two. .


Have planted turnips in the past. And yes, your neighbor is right. The leafy greens are bitter until after a good frost. They will then sweeten up as more frost comes. Too, the turnips will hold deer through the winter months. They will pawl and eat the turnips throughout the winter.

Excellent in Ohio in late bow and ml season.

If you want early browse in your plot you'll have to mix an early season mix in with your turnips. I mixed ladino clover in mine that did well.


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

That is a common misconception. I plant purple top turnips every year. I have three fields in turnips this year. The deer do not wait for a frost to start eating them. They start eating them as soon as they emerge. I have a 2 acre field that had over 50% of the tops ate down to the bulb by October18, and 25% of the bulbs had been ate by then. I had over 20 deer in the field that night eating turnips including 3 mature bucks. The other 2 fields are seeing the same amount of pressure. I have been planting turnips for 8 or 10 years now. Every year they get eaten sooner and sooner. They don't last until winter time anymore.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> I plant purple top turnips every year. I have three fields in turnips this year. The deer do not wait for a frost to start eating them.


May be possible that the ladino clover that was mixed in with the turnips was more attractive to the deer in the summer and early fall. They sure tore the clover up. Don't know? The deer really didn't seem to hit my turnips until it got colder and the clover started dissipating. 

When they did start on the turnips, they really browsed heavily.

*supercanoe*, 
Next year I plan on plowing and replanting that same field. Will try turnips only and see how it goes. Do you know what variety of purple tops you planted?


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## Hoss5355 (Apr 9, 2004)

Your deer will get used to them, and will eat them earlier every year, just as the above poster stated. Once they figure out it is a food source, they will be more comfortable. I used to think planting them was a waste, but every year they hit them better and better. Tops early, bulbs later. 
If it is that thick, I would use it as little as possible, hunt where you can without bumping them out. Chances are they are still bedding around your area, even if the food is over there. 
Also, when the guns are a blazing, there is a good chance they are coming back your way. Especially if it is as thick as you say. 
Don't get discouraged. Tough it out, and keep a good attitude. Sit long, and slip in and out without disturbing much. Feeders and etc. will bring in some deer, but your older mature bucks aren't normally as easily swayed. 


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Hoss5355 said:


> Your deer will get used to them, and will eat them earlier every year, just as the above poster stated. Once they figure out it is a food source, they will be more comfortable. I used to think planting them was a waste, but every year they hit them better and better. Tops early, bulbs later.
> If it is that thick, I would use it as little as possible, hunt where you can without bumping them out. Chances are they are still bedding around your area, even if the food is over there.
> Also, when the guns are a blazing, there is a good chance they are coming back your way. Especially if it is as thick as you say.
> Don't get discouraged. Tough it out, and keep a good attitude. Sit long, and slip in and out without disturbing much. Feeders and etc. will bring in some deer, but your older mature bucks aren't normally as easily swayed.
> ...


That's a good point. I once read an article on food plots where the guy maintained that something new won't necessarily get browsed until the deer get used to it. The deer don't "automatically" know what's good to eat and what's not if they haven't eaten if before. If you plant corn where it's never been planted before, hard to imagine in Ohio I know, they won't start eating it right away. Especially until the older does start eating it and "teach" the young'uns that it's good.


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

I think that purple tops are all the same. I buy from a wholesaler, the seed is just in a feed sack sack. I get mine from The Seed Center in Ostrander. You have to walk in for the best prices. Internet orders cost more. Many farm supply centers sell turnips. I put in turnips, jumbo ladino clover, and cereal rye. I don't usually mix crops except for rye and clover in fall plantings. Everything else is planted in monocultures. Putting in multiple crops of different species gives our deer diverse browse through out the year.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> I think that purple tops are all the same.


 Royal Crown, Royal Globe and Purple Top White Globe are 3 of the purple top varieties I know of. I just don't recall if all of them mature at the same time or not.

Depending on the already existing food sources around the OP's property he might do just as well sit back and watch the traffic flow to and from the food source and set his stands up according leaving his property for thick bedding areas. If there is a lot of farm ground close by with acres of corn or beans it's gonna be hard to compete with that planting a food source every year on 15acres. You may want to strategically plant switch grass or something the deer can use your property to hide/bed on. 

If there are no ponds close by, that would be something else to consider.


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## ducknoff (May 30, 2013)

fastwater said:


> Royal Crown, Royal Globe and Purple Top White Globe are 3 of the purple top varieties I know of. I just don't recall if all of them mature at the same time or not.
> 
> Depending on the already existing food sources around the OP's property he might do just as well sit back and watch the traffic flow to and from the food source and set his stands up according leaving his property for thick bedding areas. If there is a lot of farm ground close by with acres of corn or beans it's gonna be hard to compete with that planting a food source every year on 15acres. You may want to strategically plant switch grass or something the deer can use your property to hide/bed on.
> 
> If there are no ponds close by, that would be something else to consider.


We are surrounded by crops and standing corn right now. which doesnt help I know.

A creek through the neighbors property and we have a small pond on ours but the deer believe it or not do not use the pond at all. Never seen a deer track around the edge of it ever. Our property was logged about 15yrs ago and is littered with tree tops and heavy growth of bushes. The main corridor for deer appears to be the old railroad tracks and You got me thinking now so I am going to go put up a trail camera along the old railroad tracks as this is the corridor the deer are using. But its so dang thick Im not sure how I can even hunt it. and generally they will walk down the neighbors field edge instead of though the thick dense railroad property. I know once rut gets going good we will have bucks coming through no doubt. Spoke with the neighbor farmer and his son hunts there woods and he had 5 different shooter bucks on camera and I have only seen one of them on our cameras this year. So we have deer close. Rut will be the time to be out and waiting. So starting this tonight Im grabbing the horns and calls and going to see if I can catch one browsing.


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

I did some research, it looks like those are other types of purple tops are all hybrids developed for either specific top or bulb traits. They are a lot more expensive to buy. I would stick with regular purple tops for $2.50-$3.00 a pound, they work just fine.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> I did some research, it looks like those are other types of purple tops are all hybrids developed for either specific top or bulb traits. They are a lot more expensive to buy. I would stick with regular purple tops for $2.50-$3.00 a pound, they work just fine.


Thanks for the info *supercanoe*. 
As I stated earlier, I think I will plant at least a portion(maybe an acre) of the 4acre plot in strictly turnips. Will probably take the other portion and plant it as I did before with clover and turnips. Have also considered planting a mix of clover and sugar beets as well. I know an area up in the U.P. in Mich. that plants beets and they swear by them.



> We are surrounded by crops and standing corn right now. which doesnt help I know.


Most likely the majority of your deer are hanging out in the standing corn. They will even bed in the corn at times. Wait till the farmers get the crops off and you should see a bit of a turn around. 
Again, with 15acres,being surrounded by cropland that has water closer to the cropland then your pond apparently is, I think I would concentrate on using the strategy of making that land the best bedding area I could rather then planting food plots. Your just not going to be able to compete with the massive existing food sources provided by the existing farmers. 
Don't know the layout of your land but a thought for your pond area would be to plant switch grass or something that provides heavy cover around the pond and run/funnel(deer love funnels) that cover to where the existing heavy cover is on the property. This will give the deer that are bedding on your property a closer more secure path to water during the time they are bedded. 
I would also look at the surrounding farm lands and create funnels of heavy cover from those fields to your existing heavy cover.
Soon as winter is here full blown and all the foliage is down, after deer season I'd look close at the existing really thick stuff and inspect it for existing deer runs and try to figure out if the area is being used for bedding. 

Whatever you do, I wouldn't do it this year as it's too late in the season.


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