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A little concerned

T

turkeyriver

PMA Member
I sprayed my RR corn and soy plots yesterday and was surprised by how LITTLE feeding on the beans there was. I knew numbers were down a bit but in past years there was a lot more feeding going on. I'm in NE Iowa. Anyone else seeing this?
 
Its early, they will eat the beans before the actual beans pods show up, but once there is more mast they will be there
 
Ive heard NE #'s are down, obviously depends on your neighborhood. That's probably not a great sign. Mine are getting POUNDED. At least you'll suck the deer in late season when you have lots of bean pods!
*Seems like a lot of areas in IA where does don't need to be shot - not where I'm at but I seem to be hearing more and more of this.
 
My experience has been that the beans get hit hardest when they are 1-2 in. tall. I also plant some plots for the DNR on state land, several miles from my place. The plots also look great there, meaning nothing is eating them. If there had been some changes on neighboring land as far as crop rotation or something, I could understand, but that's not the case. In my mind, this is the hardest evidence to date that numbers are down.
 
turkeyriver said:
My experience has been that the beans get hit hardest when they are 1-2 in. tall. I also plant some plots for the DNR on state land, several miles from my place. The plots also look great there, meaning nothing is eating them. If there had been some changes on neighboring land as far as crop rotation or something, I could understand, but that's not the case. In my mind, this is the hardest evidence to date that numbers are down.
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I have to agree with you completely! My beans aren't being hit either. Also a drive around near dark will show numbers are way down in fields.
 
That's too bad. Seems like it's feast or famine as far as #'s go. I have places I hunt where I see 50-60 deer in a night and then my buddy 40 miles away claims he doesn't even see a deer on several hunts.
Sounding more and more like there's a lot of areas that surely don't need does shot. Can guys still buy doe tags in these counties? I know a lot of this is neighborhood dependant but man, I hope these low # neighborhoods get the folks waking up that maybe they need to let the #'s get back up. then there's other places where guys are not shooting near what they should. Such extremes on both sides. Seems like I hear most the complaining from NE and Northern IA. I would say, almost all the guys I know in NE make it sound like the deer #'s are nothing like down south.
 
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I've driven around Clayton/Allamkee counties about 7-8 nights over the last two weeks, noticing the same thing. a lot less deer. I mean, we killed like 19 does off of our farm during the season, but we always get mad reload from Effigy Mounds. I'm noticing it everywhere, where I used to see 30-40 deer in a field, im lucky if i see a dozen. A lot of corn though isn't helping either, they're not going to be out in the cornfields right now.
 
Extremely wet springs bring alot of natural browse and forage for deer. There is more food in the timber and thickets right now, than most herds can eat.

My experience with beans are, when they are in the R1-R4 stage, that is when deer hit them the most. Alot of beans are getting past that stage and are growing rapidly, which in turn makes them a bit bitter this time of year. Let the sun shine and the plant growth slow down, and I'm willing to bet that you will see deer in the beans hard again.
 
turkeyriver said:
My experience has been that the beans get hit hardest when they are 1-2 in. tall. I also plant some plots for the DNR on state land, several miles from my place. The plots also look great there, meaning nothing is eating them. If there had been some changes on neighboring land as far as crop rotation or something, I could understand, but that's not the case. In my mind, this is the hardest evidence to date that numbers are down.
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We are having the same concerns as you a few miles south.We dont have beans in this year but the neighbor has about 200 acres.There have been huge trails in the past leading out to the beans.... but not this year.I talked to him the other day and he was surprised (and happy) that the deer browse damage was so low.
I spend alot of time out at this farm and others in Clayton County and it is painfullly obvious to me that the numbers are down...quite drastically in fact.
I know I'm not the only one to notice this.
I hope the DNR takes notice and reduces the anterless quota and gets rid of the the 'Thanksgiving season'.
 
To answer Nanny, these beans were planted later than surrounding beans and are in that small "candy" stage now. They should be drawing them in. On another note, blackcap raspberries are already ripening in the woods. A good ten days ahead of normal. But then, what is "normal" anymore?
 
Ya shouldn't a pissed in yer planter boxes. The deers can smell it.

I would hope that nanny is right. But the guys drivin around make it sound like the numbers are down this year or maybe they are just staying in the timber. Are there other fields around that they could be browsing in? Clover, alfalfa etc?

The 'Bonker
 
I talked to 5 or 6 people today in the Postville and Lansing area and everyone of them said they haven't seen much deer activity anywhere. All these guys hunt too and are looking. I personally haven't even driven around yet to comment....
 
Liv I'm right in the middle of Postville and Lansing. Haven't driven around to much maybe a handful of times. I do believe overall the #'s are down a bit but there are still quite a few places where there's a lot of deer. Drove by the farm I hunt last night and saw 15-20 deer in two different fields.

Alot of people still don't have their first crop of hay cut (this farm included). Seems like once second crop starts to thicken up you'll see a lot more deer. I'm seeing a few in the beans and just as many in the corn. I have a feeling we'll see more deer in a few weeks or so.

I agree there is a lot of browse in the timber right now but at the same time the bugs will drive these deer into the fields also. It's definitely not like there's no deer around. I probably seen 100 or so deer last night on a 45 minute drive.
 
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