I was looking at Hallb's corn thread and he was asking about Nitrogen application, but anyway, wow, did he have a nice stand of corn!! Great job Hallb.

However, my question has more to do about choices in planting as well as food plot utilization.

From a nutritional and hunting standpoint, which is better? Or, it may be that both are good choices... here goes:

Is it better to plant corn (GIVEN that Hallb has zero hogs!) and, I suppose, to hunt over it during the fall/winter. Or, utilize that food plot space, costs, time, etc... to plant legumes for summer browsing for antler growth and general health? IDK!!! If you plant corn in that location, you aren't going to be able to plant a fall/winter food plot (unless you knock the corn down planting and then the corn will be on the ground to rot, I suppose).

There are several points to consider on both choices. I think I'd rather provide higher protein during the spring/summer and plant a fall/winter attractant than having the carbs and deer attraction in the fall/winter. However, I'm open to all considerations and what makes the most sense.

Discuss the pluses and minus of both and if given the choice, which is better? I'm not supporting either choice, but I like to open my mind up to new considerations and ideas. Thanks!

I mix 8 lbs of corn with 50 lbs Eagle Beans and get the best of both worlds.Someone will be along shortly to point out the yield for both will be reduced when mixed but I am not planting for yield, I plant enough they cannot eat it all.I plant the beans to feed them all summer and the corn to provide vertical cover and a late year attraction.I have broadcast rye and or oats before a rain in late summer/fall as Soybean leaves are dropping and it made fine.So you can get a fall/winter plot out of it. I do not actually hunt my bean/corn field because of its location along my main north/south road.Because of the activity that goes with that they seldom use that field during daylight.This was last year.

Me personally I'd rather plant a legume with (sunflower/sorghum/something vertical for it to climb) so they can eat it all summer for protein/antler growth and then come back and broadcast a cool season mix into it. Broadcast either directly on top of or even disturb the seedbed a little. Of course only works if you have enough acres and deer density not too high.

Diversity that provides continual browse with few gaps in order to reduce social stress amongst doe groups and hold them in as neat and orderly a fashion as possible

Well, that's been my position as given the choice, give me legumes for health and antlers and a food plot to plant in the fall. But I'm open to new ideas as to why to plant corn and not legumes. Not knocking the idea of planting corn instead of legumes as there may be things I haven't thought about.

Make your plots bigger and plant a strip of beans a strip of corn and a strip of green in the fall. Or plant corn and beans and broadcast winter cereal grains into it sometime during the fall before a big rain event.

Thanks fluke. So this is my first time planting corn, it was really more of a "hey I'd like to see if I can get a decent stand of corn to grow" than anything for me. Plus I bought the 2 row planter and did a lot of rebuild work on it. It was more of a project than anything and the corn is the fruits of my labors I suppose. I'd be lying if I said everything I do on my property was for the deer, I'm going to do things that I enjoy messing with.

I've always done the legume/sorghum/sunflower mix, but the deer don't give the sunflower a chance, the peas barely get a chance and it always just seems to end up very weedy. We did do WMS Pea patch in our other fields this summer, which is basically that mix. I've never planted beans, but I have the bean meters for my planter, so I may try it out next year.

As far as hogs, nope, we are lucky enough we don't have any. My plan on this field for the fall is this - it's a biggish field with two sections to it, what I'll call an upper and a lower. We plan on at some point after the corn has matured mowing down the lower section and planting whatever we do for the fall plots and leave the upper section standing all season long.

Edit: I'll also add, by just planting a few acres of beans or legumes or whatever, you really aren't doing much in the way of antler growth/nutrition, etc b/c the deer are going to get the large majority of their nutrition from natural browse and vegetation. Truth is we are probably all throwing our money away doing them. I do it b/c I enjoy it - so in short, do whatever the hell makes you feel good about it

I'm gonna see what's left of this come fall and then either leave it all or plant green fields in half of it.

hallb, I read your above reply and laughed with mutual appreciation regarding plantings and just general wildlife mgmt!!! Man, we do love to see our efforts product results don't we?! So, I get what you're saying. I've never come up with an idea that hasn't been already attempted and I love this site because you can learn something on here every time you log on. Hearing different perspectives from different ppl is great. If I had millions, I'd have enough acreage to plant a corn field as well as a soybean field.

Anyway, great luck hunting your corn field this fall. I really have faith that it'll produce results! Thumbs-up!

Is there a possibility that by stretching the beans out vertically, they get more air and sunlight and therefore, produce more forage AND beans? Just thinkin'! NTL, wow, man those Eagle Brand Soybeans PRODUCE some forage!!!! I planted them one year and I was impressed. Anyway, it's all looking good brother!!!! Your entire deer herd will benefit!

Most folks should be more concerned with taking care of their doe herd (groups) as opposed to worrying about "growing antlers"

Take care of the does, keep them healthy and happy and where you want them. When the time comes for the big boys to be looking for does, you know where they'll be

I agree, sometimes it's hard for us to look at it that way. The does are doing the majority of the eating. Even still, you can only add an insignificant amount to what's naturally there only so much, you know this as well as anyone with all of those weeds you nurture It's funny and I know you'll like this, but the only camera I have still out sending pictures back to me right now is in a field that we did nothing to for the summer. It was just oats/crimson clover/brassicas in the fall and we just let it grow. I've had pics of 8-10 deer every evening the last week or so, mostly does with a few bucks. I'd assume they are in the other fields pretty good also with how the tops of everything looks.

I plant and habitat manage and lime and burn and... you name it, for the betterment of the my deer "herd" (2500 acs and yes, I know that my deer herd is my neighbors' deer herd but I do what I can to keep them on my acreage) but I make no "bones" (pun intended! ) about it... I love and set my goals to produce high scoring mature bucks and high scoring bucks are a bi-product of a healthy deer herd which comes from a healthy doe herd for implementing an overall deer mgmt plan, for obvious reasons. I manage for ANTLERS!! But in doing so, my doe herd HAS to benefit too.

I'd rather fertilize my natural browse and prescribe burn than supplemental feed at a feeder. I'd rather plant than supplemental feed at a feeder. I'd rather benefit my "deer herd" organically than supplemental feed and I do all this for bone or antlers and I make no apologies for desiring big antlers. I'd rather kill a 130" free-range buck than a 190" pen-raised. However, I do what I do for one reason and I do love big antlers. Do I kill a lot of BIG antlered bucks? No, but I don't hunt'em like some people might. I'd be happy if you killed 140" on my lease at my club, cause I would know that I had a lot to do with growing him and that's satisfaction for me! I have five P&Y's on the wall... all free-range most killed during the rut and I do love bone. But, hey, I feel just as good about killing a 115" six year old!

It's kinda like this: If you put God first in your marriage, everything else takes care of itself. So, in my managing my deer herd, I put the deer herd, in general, first, but I know that by doing this, the big mature bucks... well, yes, they will happen! As the song goes... I love big bucks and I will not lie!!! But I don't get all bent out of shape if a mature hunter makes a mistake and kills a 3.5 yr basket rack. A mistake is one thing... a lack of discipline and a lack of desire to manage a deer herd? Nope, you're not hunting with me.

If I had total control over 2500 acres and wanted to produce high scoring bucks then I'd probably concentrate on identifying the bucks in the 2-4 year old age range that showed the potential to produce a high scoring rack. I'd be sure to protect those deer and I'd green light all of the ones 3 years and older who showed inferior potential in order to reduce the competition on the "trophy bucks" I was trying to grow....You could call this culling if you wish but it has nothing to do with altering genetics. This is probably not something you'll ever be able to do with a "hunting club"

I subscribe to the Mississippi State Deer Lab study that came out maybe two years ago, that suggests that antler scores, in general, have more to do with nutrition, or "sustained" high nutrition for two - four generations of does and fawns rather than genetics. You won't do a lot for a buck in providing high nutrition for one spring/summer, although I'm sure it helps. You get your best results for nutrition when it's sustained over a period of time and such sustained, 365 nutrition produces healthy fawns and healthy deer in general which manifest the nutrition in antler scores and weight.

I think humans have proven such even over the last 40 years. We are producing some very big people today and if you're a lineman and not over 300 lbs, you're probably not going to play D1 and certainly not in the NFL. That wasn't the case even back in the mid 80's. Sustained nutrition over time... it obviously makes sense!

I completely agree with that way of thinking. The problem though is that buck dispersion sends most of those healthy buck fawns with high potential to someone else's property to call home. Your good nutrition 365 days is likely having a far greater impact on your doe herd than the quality of bucks you're producing due to sustained generational nutrition.

Mainly for the 3 year olds but lets say 2-4 anyways……..