Winter feeding: beyond the corn

Cereal rye, winter wheat, and winter peas. I still put out some corn here and there as well.

 

We raise an acre of corn to feed pigs each year. This year we put out a wheat/pea cover crop after we picked it. Alot of crop fields around here with wheat.

 

ive still beans in the filed next to were I hunt was hoping he would get them out before gun season was over . ill over it in muzzle season maybe he will have them out by then..

 

Cereal rye , what’s that?

 

Similar to winter wheat but will grow better in mediocre soil. It is not Ryegrass which is useless for wildlife. I have some spots i need to lime and fertilize but didnt get it done this year. Even more hardy than winter wheat in the cold months.

 

We raise and leave 5 acres of feed corn, approx 4 acres of 7 card stud which is mostly turnips and winter peas, about 3 acres of winter wheat. Im glad to see some others on here who do a little more than throw a feeder up run corn until Nov 29th then leave the deer to fend for themselves through the winter when they need it the most. I dont fault anyone running a feeder I run several also along with my food plots, and I know many people either dont have suitable conditions for crops or the clear areas etc. but it kills my soul to spend a couple thousand dollars each year on food plots, fertilizer etc,etc then hear all the feeders start going off on neighboring farms the week before gun season. Then wont hear them from now till next November!!! Pretty sure Iheard something about being good stewards of the land and resources sometime Im almost sure of it! Sorry off the soap box LOL

 

I have about 5 acres of cereal rye and winter oats mixed. We also run two feeders on each end of the property, neither of which are hunted.

 

The deer make due with or without our plots. With that said i love seeing meaty healthy deer before spring greenup lol. I dont have nearly as much tillable land as you but i can still tell the difference between years i have nice plots and years i do not.

 

Lol “tillable land” I totally destroyed 2 sets of plows this spring! I’m on a rock farm for sure. Yeah I know they will make it one way or the other, I just think it’s an out of sight out of mind for so many people to pack up everything at the end of season. I live where I hunt and watch the deer pile in during the cold snaps and bad weather. To each his own I’m merely stating I’m glad other guys out there also do what they can thinking beyond nov.

 

Trick is to fatten them up before the 29th.

 

Kentucky winters aint nothin.

 

4 food plots winter wheat turnips winter peas and soybeans. 2 feeders of corn till spring. Even tho i quit hunting Deer after gun season. Its Ducks from here on. I keep the food to them.

 

Soybeans as a winter plot?

 

I got a clover plot, winter wheat and a few turnips for them. 6 week drought killed my turnips for the most part