Choosing a Game Crop

[EddieWalker]

Did I miss something? Is the farm in question in PA? Is it illegal in PA to farm something that wildlife will enjoy eating, regardless if you hunt or not?

 

[clemsonfor]

i did a small plot, maybe about an acre. We have found a local farmer that sells bags of winter wheat and Oats fore $7 a 50 pound bag. I went cheap this year and put out 2 bags of oats and one of wheat. No fertilizer. i caught the rain at the right time and it has come up amazing and the deer have been going crazy in it. So that's $21 for seed. I don't figure my time or the gallon of diesel or so that i used to prepare the seed bed.

 

[oosik]

Eddie - there MUST be more to the laws of PA than that. What about a home garden or a cover crop to produce green fertilizer. Has PA become a Communist state?

 

[EddieWalker]

Here in Texas, you can do anything you want on your land, and baiting is legal too. I have three corn feeders out to bait the deer, a food plot to lure them in, and a mineral lick that they really love. The season is two months long and we have not seen a legal buck during shooting hours yet. But that's just me, and what it's like here. I do know that in a lot of states, where food plots and baiting is illegal, the best hunting is on a farm that grows crops to sell, like alfalfa, corn, peas, or probably just about anything. So the question then becomes is it baiting if you sell what you grow, but also hunt over that crop?

 

[oosik]

NO - the question becomes - is this just one further step that the government is taking - telling you how you can/can not run your life. Hey - If I want to grow bamboo out here on the hopes of attracting Pandas and watching them - I sure don't need the government telling me I can't.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

The deer are everywhere here...probably more than any time in history. During the 30', 40's and 50's they were almost hunted to extinction. Now they are everywhere...especially at night. They don't last long on the interstate. Saw a nice buck that had been hit by a car, about a mile from my house about a month ago.

 

[DrRod]

i did a small plot, maybe about an acre. We have found a local farmer that sells bags of winter wheat and Oats fore $7 a 50 pound bag. I went cheap this year and put out 2 bags of oats and one of wheat. No fertilizer. i caught the rain at the right time and it has come up amazing and the deer have been going crazy in it. So that's $21 for seed. I don't figure my time or the gallon of diesel or so that i used to prepare the seed bed.

How much prep did you put into it? And did you use a drill to plant it or just sow it?

 

[DrRod]

In PA you can use bait of all sorts up to a month before hunting season.
But if you use corn or a feeder you tend to get more ears than deer.

 

[fried1765]

Deer and turkey love buckwheat and is also good for the soil. You need to eliminate the weeds before planting by either spraying or cultivating and than broadcast or till the seeds into the ground.

Will buckwheat grow in very sandy loam that does not retain moisture well?

 

[dnw64]

In PA you can use bait of all sorts up to a month before hunting season.
But if you use corn or a feeder you tend to get more ears than deer.

:laughing:

 

[teejk]

In PA you can use bait of all sorts up to a month before hunting season.
But if you use corn or a feeder you tend to get more ears than deer.

Guess that CWD thing hasn't hit PA yet. Our biologists are looking like Keystone Kops trying to address it and one of their solutions is to ban ANY deer feeding if the disease has been found in the county or an adjacent one. They would like to ban it statewide but some people like to look at deer. The "prions" will apparently live in the soil for several years and the thinking is that feeding tends to concentrate deer in a small area where they are more likely to pick it up.

 

[DrRod]

:laughing:

eh, that probably should have read "more bears than deer" but either way might be correct.

 

[shooterdon]

Baiting was illegal in CWD counties but next year, it will be illegal throughout the state. Food plots have been, and will continue to be, legal

Our rye and wheat plots did not perform well this year. Crop grew but the deer were not hitting not them as in the past. Been thinking about chicory or alfalfa. Soil is sandy and acidic. On some plots we add lime.

Any thoughts?

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Baiting was illegal in CWD counties but next year, it will be illegal throughout the state. Food plots have been, and will continue to be, legal

Our rye and wheat plots did not perform well this year. Crop grew but the deer were not hitting not them as in the past. Been thinking about chicory or alfalfa. Soil is sandy and acidic. On some plots we add lime.

Any thoughts?

Lots of stuff on the internet:

Food plots for acidic soils

 

[DrRod]

I'm less interested in feeding game [which does quite well on its own here] and more interested in something that:
a) can be planted easily without a lot of soil prep [i.e. sow it]
b) will be aggressive [i.e. push out weeds, especially Japanese stilt grass]
c) might even be perennial [i.e. turn my weed field into something marginally useful]

Thanks

 

[oosik]

Dr Rod - - in our area here where wheat and cattle are king - we have, at least, two major seed producing companies. One is located in a rural town about 40 mile west of me. I've contacted then about fast growing, easy germinating cover crops. Without exception they recommend a type of clover.

I tried the clover - first I rough up the ground with my home made - tow behind my ATV -"drag". Sow the seed and drag again. It has come up fairly well and has continued to spread on my small - half acre - plot. Planted in the spring when the ground is damp - this clover is quite drought resistant.

Contact your local Ag Extension and see what they will recommend.

 

[GregbkH]

I've tried a lot of different things here in Wisconsin. Clover, chicory, brasicas, oats, winter rye, sun flowers, pumpkins, corn and soybeans. The bang for my buck has been the soybeans. The deer can browse on it all summer long. The turkeys will go after the grasshoppers when they show up. The rabbits can hide in them. Then the deer will eat them until they are gone all winter. Draws them in better than corn.