There are deer, Ive got pics of tons of does and small bucks. They must still be eating acorns, they just aren’t coming into the fields. The one thing I left out is hogs. Ive not seen any but have them on camera. Ive never hunted a area with hogs so I dont know how bad they effect deer.

A side note, last year a 130-140 class deer was taken off this property.

What is the combined acreage of the green fields? I have 2 plots near my house, that are about 3 acres combined. I have acorns out the ying yang and the green fields did exceptionally well but they look like you've taken a weed eater to them. I have a lot of deer, had 14 deer on a 2 acre plot yesterday afternoon. Have seen near 20 on the field at one time this year. You ain't got many deer

It really doesn't take much to keep an 1 acre plot grazed down. 1 doe and 2 fawns for 2 hours a day 7 days a week could keep it in check.

More "data" will fix this problem

Plant something different next year.

34/0/0

100 lbs per acre right before a rain

Got any piddlers? I ask because I hunt a 160 acre tract that only I hunt. Well, my boys will go with me but they are still young and sit with me. I've been hunting this property for years. It's surrounded by large, unhunted woods, pastures and a neighborhood so it's almost like a sanctuary. Except for last year, I can count on maybe one hand the number of times I've gone hunting and NOT seen a deer. It wasn't uncommon to see anywhere from 5-12 per 3 hour sit.

Last year the timber got cut which I knew would affect them some. I had out a camera and corn right after the timber cut and was still getting 8-13 does and small bucks on camera during late summer, so I was hopeful. The cutting also opened up the timber for the neighbor to ride a side by side onto the property. I had to remove one of his feeders that he had the nerve to put up. I saw exactly 4 does, a mama and triplets, on two or three hunts and that was it. Nothing else. I haven't been this year so we'll see.

Ph could be off, may be better food source closer to bedding areas, neighbor has unlimited corn funds or a better field if it's a new field they could just be in the habit of grazing in another area. Put the corn to them heavy a couple months before season to get them coming in the fields next year.

I'm in the same situation camper. It looks like deer will walk through the plot to go elsewhere-
I think 1. piddlers 2.neighbor has unlimited corn pile 3. too much native browse

Shouldn't be lack of deer if you have tracks and notable deer on camera.

Did the deer eat in your food plots last year? If they did ask yourself some questions; Did you plant earlier this year, Is your acorn crop much bigger this year, did you plant something different? My suggestion is take a bush hog in there and cut it down pretty low. Deer like young tender growth I imagine this would help that's what I would do anyway.

If my wheat gets 3-4 inches they slack off eating it. 5-6 inches its over. Rape over at about 6inches. Clover still OK 3-6 inches. The reason for planting a mix. Just what I've seen through trial and error with a lot of error

I've tried cutting it low and did not get favorable results.

Interesting comments...I would put a trail cam on your fields to see if there is anything, but, agree, tracks will be the tell tale sign. If this is your first time with what you planted, might try something different next year. I have trail cam on my small farm. Deer pounding it. Not uncommon to have 8-10 deer feeding at once. Still at night, a few during the day, so we will see...

I may have to do this if they don't hit my plots soon.

I have a farm near Auburn that we plant every year the first of September. Some years the deer don't eat in them much and they will be 8-10" tall come the beginning of November. we go in bush hog them back down to about 3-4" and the deer burn them down the rest of the season it is just my opinion that the deer love new tender growth. I am not a biologist by any stretch but we have done it several times over the years. Also all we plant is wheat and have great success with it.

Im having a similar problem on our lease in Autauga county. We did not secure the lease until August and were not able to get to work on it until September, so we committed the cardinal sin of not doing a soil test before planting.
We used WMS triticOats in most of the plots and a general 3 way blend in the 3 others. Early bow season they were up and doing well and the deer were on them pretty heavy. Over the last several weeks however the use has cut down a lot on most of the fields. There are several that are still being used heavily however. I figure this is due to either 1) we've had a really good acorn drop over the last couple weeks 2) Ph was not good in those certain fields so they are less palatable.
Oats and wheat all look great, no discoloration or anything.
The ones that are not getting used are growing and they too are around 7-8 inches tall all throughout. HowTall is too tall before they become less palatable?
Ive heard of mowing clover but would a mowing of these fields help?

No doubt about it. Through the years I've learned what to do on different tracts foodplots. Planting later, for me Oct15-Nov15, helps keeping it young and tender through the season. Heavily grazed plots are planted the earliest and seeded heavier. Less heavily grazed just the opposite. I also have a crazy obsession with Crimson Clover. I put it everywhere and I'm not just talking in foodplots. I put it everywhere I think it may grow.

[quote=SouthernRoots]Im having a similar problem on our lease in Autauga county. We did not secure the lease until August and were not able to get to work on it until September, so we committed the cardinal sin of not doing a soil test before planting.
We used WMS triticOats in most of the plots and a general 3 way blend in the 3 others. Early bow season they were up and doing well and the deer were on them pretty heavy. Over the last several weeks however the use has cut down a lot on most of the fields. There are several that are still being used heavily however. I figure this is due to either 1) we've had a really good acorn drop over the last couple weeks 2) Ph was not good in those certain fields so they are less palatable.
Oats and wheat all look great, no discoloration or anything.
The ones that are not getting used are growing and they too are around 7-8 inches tall all throughout. HowTall is too tall before they become less palatable?
Ive heard of mowing clover but would a mowing of these fields help? [/quote

I don't mow clover until after it goes to seed...summer time. What part of Autauga as in North, South, East, West, NE,Nw, etc.?

probably needs some rain

Keep in mind that up until a couple days ago we really didn't have any killing frost. There is a tremendous amount of browse still alive in the woods. I've got honeysuckle and greenbrier that's still doing well.

The deer are not having to travel far to eat. The luck I've had on plots are ones where a good trail crosses them. They are traveling and stop to nibble from point a to b