corn or soybeans?

B

bamaranger

New member
Rolled past one of my bow hunt spots today and noted that farmer adjacent has planted corn this year. Last year it was soybeans.

Got me to thinkng which would give me more deer sightings? The beans seem to draw deer early, but seem to draw deer less and less after harvest. Corn does not draw the deer really early, but seems to hold deer through the length of our long season.

Despite the attraction of lots of deer early, I'm thinking for the long run, the corn may draw and hold more deer.

Which would you rather hunt near, for a 100 day + season, beans or corn?

Geez, and its only June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I have the same basic dilemma each morning as I go to the garage and have to chose between the Bentley and the Rolls...................!!!!!
 
bswiv said: dilemma each morning as I go to the garage and have to chose between the Bentley and the Rolls...................!!!!!
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Yaw right. You could have mentioned something made here in the good old USA instead. Shame on you. lol __My choice of grain would be corn. I've never had the occasion to hunt around a soybean field yet.

Hey good morning Hardy A. Welcome to TFLF.
 
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I'd have said that soybeans draw them in longer. I've hunted over both for many years, but I never really made notes on which one is better over the whole season. One of my biggest bucks was killed over a big patch of wild onions.
 
Sounds like to me You have it made,Why pick one lf you can hunt both.
I just wish I had problems like that,Your really just bragon a little right? Good for you,Sounds like you & bamma boy will probably have a great season.;):D

Even if it is only June. LOL.
 
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Our hunting land is rotated regularily between corn and soybeans. The crop doesn't seem to matter much to our success, although up here both are usually harvested before our late november gun-deer season.

If I were bowhunting earlier, I think I would wnat beans, since it would make the deer stay to the timber for cover.... And that is where I would have my treestand:cool:
 
If I had to pick one it would probably be beans. My favorite hunting is bow hunting and since deer seem to love the plant of the soybean they seem to feed on them heavier in Ohio's early bow season.
 
+1

Big P thanks for the comment on the boy. He and I had a great spring turkey season BTW. Now that gobbler season is over I'm thinking about deer season (again in JUNE!!!) Lots of hot weather between now and when we hunt again, but a guy can dream and scheme. The ag fields are in rotation, this year it will be corn so no real choice in the matter. I did not see a lot of deer there last year when it was in beans, but there may have been other factors.

Warbird, I'm an acorn hunter first and foremost, but can't seem to count on them season to season. Some years we have white oaks, some not. I found this patch of huntable land next to these ag fields 2 yrs ago, and it has really opened up some options. (I've missed one first year, and passed on another the next year).

I do have it made, blessed, fortunate. Big chunk of public land, a long season, some flex in my job/schedule, patient wife, my health, good boy coming up right. Priority of these items varies w/ the season!!!!!
 
Bamaranger,I have it pretty good also have the hunting rights on 2 large farms,About 3000 acres in all that is hunted very light.Soybeans & corn& hay fields make up about half the property the rest is hardwood & pines. So I have no complaints.But the coyotes & hogs work those fields pretty hard also.This makes Bow hunting a little tuff.And shooting dogs & hogs in the off season is a must.Thats how I got the hunting rights.All the easy hunting the farmers do,most of mine is long range.


But I'm kind of jealous of you & the boy,My grandson is only 5 years old & I have this great place to teach him about hunting & he is just not ready yet.
Great kid just not ready.
 
I've been using a mix, from a local feed store, that consists of 50 % Corn and 50 % soy bean in my feeders for 3 or 4 years. I like it because the corn has very little protein (mostly fat) and the soy bean is 18 to 20 % protein.
They won't hardly eat the soy bean for a few days, but after a while they will eat it just fine. Seems to make quite a bit of difference in the health of the deer I have on the lease, versus corn alone. I see a weight gain of about 10 or 20 pounds on yearlings that are raised on it, and most of the first year racks are generally 4 points instead of spikes.
The mix works well together through a spin feeder or a straight shot feeder, and won't clog up in humid weather.
 
If the corn field is large and doesn't get harvested until later in the season, you may not see many deer early in the bow season. We've been stymied many times by deer living in standing corn and only coming out for water.
Any chance you can pay the farmer to leave a few rows standing near wher you want your stands? That's a gauranteed deer attractant in the later season.
 
Deer definitely like the green sb fields. I've also seen them dig at the ground where beans have been spilt. That being said if there's a pile of corn laying there it's not like they'll pass it up either. They'll even there diet out depending on what they need/crave.
 
I find the same behavior as described in the OP. We lease a piece of property that has had an approximately 75 acre soy bean field for several years. The deer are plentiful and predictable when the crop is standing. As soon as it's cut, they begin to dwindle in both numbers and predictability. By late gun season, it's as if there was never a crop.

My experience is that corn is less attractive to deer but obviously they stick around as long as it's still there.
 
My area is dominated by ag. We are lucky enough to have water everywhere so set up isn't extremely difficult. Just have to get the deer to cooperate! Corn will hold deer even if just for cover until the day its picked. Some of our bucks have almost white racks because they spend the majority of time in the corn. A nice green food plot in between the corn and woods or even on the open side of a corn field will bring the deer in. Beans ar excelent during early bow and once the ground is covered in snow so I have to set up just inside the woods and cut them off. Either way the deer will be there.
 
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