DeerHunter3
Member
When does everyone pull their fences down from protected bean food plots? When they yellow? Or wait for season to start?
Bean Food Plots & Electric Fences
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I don't cause I just leave some ag fields standing but in your case, would greatly depend on: size of the plot and your goals. When do you want em in there???? Do you want to hunt or protect the the deer from neighbors in shotgun season? Do you want to hunt later Nov or late ML on them? No matter the case, if it's 2 acres or less, you better really think about what your goals are and when you take em down cause small size plots can really get pummeled fast if it desirable location with lots of deer. So, again, how big are we talking? When you hunting it or deer near it and what's your goals/timeframes on hunting beans?
DeerHunter3
Member
The plot is right about an acre, I plan on going in and broadcasting brassicas in August to help provide more food. I am pretty set on bowhunting it and would love to late ml it as well.
turtlshell
PMA Member
deer move off beans as soon as they start to yellow...so unless you've waited to plant or have some kind of longer-season bean, it's likely you'll need to readjust your goals a bit.
Well, no option then but pulling the fence around a week or so before you are gonna bowhunt it and then just see what happens. Baby & spray those beans as needed so they really produce. Heck, if you REALLY wanna get fussy, you can add some P&K Foliant feed to your spray & broadcast more pelletized lime to give them an extra boost for production. It likely will be gone before late ML but that's the way it goes. Might get lucky and have some left. If you broudcast half into winter rye when the beans yellow - you may have some insurance for late ML attraction. Good luck, hope it goes well!
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
In my experience, deer eat beans at two distinctly different times. They devour the green leaves and stems early on and unless there are other bean fields in the vicinity, they will wipe out a small plot before it ever gets a chance to set pods. Once the leaves start to yellow they seem to look elsewhere for food. That is until the weather really gets crappy & cold and then they return in droves to eat the beans themselves. Almost like they know the high oil content of the mature bean has the extra calories that cold weather calls for. Unless you are bow hunting late season, I would add something green (like winter rye) for bow season & hope for really cold nasty weather during late muzzy. At least that's what works around here. Last year my neighbor didn't get his 100 acre bean field planted until mid-July and I was afraid my little two acre plot would never make maturity. They had the beans mowed to about 6". I even disked up a portion of the field & put in some turnip, radish, brassica mix and over seeded rye in the rest. I eventually got a modest crop of beans to maturity such that my wife was able to harvest a decent buck (the one I was after all bow season 
) over the plot during late muzzy. They never did touch the turnips but that was only the second year of offering turnips & I guess the local deer have not yet learned to eat them. At least my dogs enjoyed eating all the rotten turnips this spring. Yuck!
) over the plot during late muzzy. They never did touch the turnips but that was only the second year of offering turnips & I guess the local deer have not yet learned to eat them. At least my dogs enjoyed eating all the rotten turnips this spring. Yuck!
DeerHunter3
Member
Thanks guys! Ill keep my fingers crossed and see what happens, this is year one of food plotting for me and there will definitely be room for improvement next year.
