[Polkahero]

I've got this 150 square foot open corner of a corn field next to a drainage ditch that I want to hunt in the fall and the corn is starting to get too tall to drive my truck back there to haul the rototiller. Going back there tomorrow morning to till the soil and was wondering what would be the best bet to attract the local whitetails. I've got a bag of soy beans that I was thinking might be good as there isn't any nearby but would the leaves still remain green into October if I plant them late enough? Was thinking of mixing those with either some brassicas or clover that I could just spread on the ground after it's tilled. Beans I can plant later by making furrows with a hoe or similar tool.

Is there a such thing as Roundup Ready brassicas or clover so they don't get fried when/if they spray the corn in the next few months? Not worried about the beans as they're already Roundup Ready seed.

What do you guys suggest?

 

[Polkahero]

Work it up and plant soybeans. Do not cultipack. Early August sow with brassica. If you have the ability to cultipack at that point, the beans will pop right back up. Fertilize with triple 19. Good luck, it will work.

No way to get a cultipak back there by August let alone the rototiller. Will the brassicas come up just spreading them over the soil? What about the bean leaves staying green into October, is that possible and when should I plant those?

 

[Polkahero]

I have a low deer population. Deer pretty well mow my beans down as the summer goes on opening up the canopy for the later planted brassica. Beans feed them in the summer but will be turning yellow by mid October if planted right now. From my experience you will need at least a couple acres to get them not maturity but it may require more in a higher deer density area. Brassica is allowed to grow until beans yellow allowing double plotting on the same ground without the plot being vacant.

Yeah, this is pretty open farm country with small woodlots here and there so the deer density is pretty low as well. I've gotten some nice bucks on my cameras in the past though.

 

[Polkahero]

That small of an area and apparent soil conditions you could get away without a rototiller or a cultipacker. If your already willing to use a hoe to plant beans, carry a plain old leaf rake in there to scratch the surface, broadcast and walk a few laps. I'd probably toss in some brassica, clover and wr and spread it back into the standing corn. I'm curious why "they" left a small patch like that unplanted

They use massive equipment (think 36 row planters) and can't get into the corners very well.

 

[Polkahero]

Beans definitely won't make it in a plot that size, brassicas likely won't last long either. For small plots, you need browse tolerance..which narrows it down to clover and cereal grains. For your situation, I'd keep the area sprayed and plant cereal grains Sept 1. No need for equipment, just rake it in. Soil looks sandy, cereal rye and some oats mixed in would be my preference.

I planted a similar size plot of brassicas three years ago and they did just fine. I'm in pretty much open farm country so the deer have all kind of food options available. Not a big deer density area.

 

[Polkahero]

Are you sure there re no residule herbicides in the ground when the corn was planted?

Id go with Crimson clover and cereal grain like oats

Tried crimson clover several years ago and it didn't amount to much.

 

[Polkahero]

Dump /plant your beans.
Instruct those spraying you planted beans and if possible, would they be so kind as not to drift weed killer onto them please? If they do could they let you know so you can get in there to deal with it?

And I'd only be beaning it to have a cover crop until August when seeding rye or wheat. Just leaves the remaining beans alone at rye or wheat planting date. A few brassicas (rape or radish or whatever is on hand or cheap) in the center before August would be fine by me too. If overbrowsed there could still be tubers the deer will smell if planted early enough. Maybe a brief distraction for visitors expecting the cereal shoots they smelled outside the loud smelling corn.

I've got Roundup Ready beans, I don't think those will get fried if they end up spraying there yet.

 

[Polkahero]

walk to it.

Walk? I just rode my bike to it! Took me 5 minutes to get up there.

 

[Polkahero]

whitetail institute No Plow, mixed with wheat and oats and chicory. Id even mix in a little bird seed (just for the millet, milo, sunflowers or sougum-80-90 days to maturity) if you have birds to pull in.

Why would I want to pull in birds? All they do is crap all over my blind. Lol

 

[Polkahero]

Got the area prepared! Getting my brassica mix seed today but there's hardly any rain in the forecast. Probably should wait? I still think it's too early for soybeans. If I have to I can get the rototiller up there later this summer, got a nice trail through the corn.

 

[Polkahero]

we've hit that annual hot dry lull.
In west central Ohio ive not been able to get a dove field planting in, until recently. I should have had it in mid May at the latest for full maturity for start of season and the 2 week gap before the season when you can mow it down. Atleast my dad got a surrounding strip of rye, wheat and oats and theyve fully matured already (seed pods). We've had rain every other day for weeks, as well as heavy flooding rains. So wet with standing water this spring and until recently, could not even get an atv into the field for two months,. our farm renters have lost one planting of corn due to all the rain and finally had to plant the field a second time. Most farms this year wont be picking corn until the last week of november, likely into december. at the earliest.

What brand of brassica's are you using?

Big Buck Brassica Mix from Welter Seed Company.

 

[Polkahero]

I'd wait until about August 1 for brassicas.

What about the soys?

 

[Polkahero]

Is the farmer done spraying for the season? Drift will wipe out your brassica if he has one more spray planned. Wait until after the last threat of herbicide application.

Not sure, at some point the corn will be too high for them to get their spraying rigs in there. Looks like I should wait until August anyway, by then the corn will be 7 feet tall. Not a big deal to get the tiller up there through my corn "path".