Do Deer like soybeans?

[Hoffer]

Do deer like to graze in Soybeans?

I am pretty sure they do when they are green and tender shoots...but what about this time of year when they are dried and almost ready to be picked?

Our hunting area used to be planted all around with corn - and now this year its soybeans. We seem to be seeing less deer and deer sign this year - so we are wondering?

[picksbigwagon]

Hoffer, I used to think that soybeans didn't keep the deer around, but last year, the berry farm I hunt was all sweet corn and berries and I was looking forward to having the pick of the herd. Well, when i didn't see a thing and I talked with my wife's uncle who has been farming the land for over 30 years, he said matter of factly, " %$#@, there ain't no deer around here, there's no soybeans" He went on to tell me that every year that they have beans, they see deer all year long, this year they have all soybeans and berries and I am hunting in Iowa now. They have been seeing deer though at the farm

[buckx37x]

yep they like soybeans, i farm and deer huntthey will eat beans more so when there green but they eat them also when brown. the first buck i ever shot was eating mature beans as i stalked him along a alfalfa field.

[Archerysniper]

The beans they like early season when the are green,then they won't touch them till they dry they will be hitting the acorns at that time but once the beans are dry and the weather turns cold bring lots of ammo cause this is were the deer will be. Deer look for food that has the highest protien and carbohydrates this is what put the fat on them to make it through the winter. Acorns are #1 for this then beans and corn the only thing about corn is they have cover and food so they will stay in thier untill pitch black then head to a bean field if thier is one close.

[buckhunter21]

Yes. We always plant beans for the sole purpose of being a late winter food source, along with corn and usually some brassicas. I think deer prefer corn, brassicas, then beans in that order from my observations. Last year they had our corn wiped out by the 1st of the year then they hit the beans hard, at times you could go out there and the snow would be packed down solid even with all the snow we had just from deer tracks. They grazed on them until the spring thaw and when we looked in the spring there was hardly a single bean left on the ground, I also found a couple of sheds in the plot as well.

[vister]

deer prefer beans green. then once the beans go to pod, and start maturing they dry, get hard, and deer tend to shy away from them, if there is corn, or acorns around. but other than that they love beans

[LOTWSvirgin]

Been seeing lots in the beans around here

[walleyehunter80]

yes they eat beans!!!!

[Brade4]

Yes they love them. Not as much as corn but still like them

[RosoRiverRat]

A joke I heard tonight at a farmers banquet supper was that a guy's beans were so green and wet recently during harvest that the deer won't even eat them.

This was a joke, I have hunted/farmed for years, the deer eat my beans as soon as they are out of the ground and continue to eat them until they are covered so deep in snow that they can't dig them out anymore.

[Hoffer]

Thanks guys...so not much to worry about with all the beans around I guess. I was just concerned because we have seen fewer deer than normal.

Heres a different question then...when will these beans be harvested? Its around West Central MN. Its been rainy this week - and i cant imagine they will be harvested this weekend - so probably next weekend =

right around deer hunting :-(

[walleyehunter80]

if i hunted there i would pray thet they didnt get picked ever, not many things are better deer food for late season than beans!

[ARROW 1]

Even if it gets picked there is still allot of beans the combine didn't get. With the dry weather we had early in the year it made the beans grow short and low to the ground. The farmer can't keep the bean head that close to the ground all the time. For sure not on a hill side. Unless the ground gets turned over the deer will still feed in that field.

[Musky Buck]

Beans end of august and now again, we left 200 acres of beans through a winter a few years back and had roughly 150 deer eating them and digging them up all winter long. Deer like a variety in their gut so browse/acorn leftovers, some corn and some beans.

[hookset]

I planted 2 acres of soybeans for the deer and as of 2 weeks ago they have eaten everything that grew.Not a bean left in the feild. they are great for seeing deer all summer long as they love them as they are growing.

[BobT]

If they don't like soybeans then I'd say they must really like to be in them.

[deerminator]

Only to eat. I plan on trying to get out there right after work tonight for the last hour and a half of daylight if its not raining in my stand right next to the beans.

[BobT]

That's okay. If this weather keeps up (currently snowing big, wet, heavy flakes with about 2+" on the ground already) they might as well have them because I won't be able to.

[harvey lee]

I see many deer in the bean fields where we hunt. Heck they even bed in them.

[Musky Buck]

I don't think there's been too many years I've seen soybeans still in in November except the year we took a loss on a huge field of em and this year. My observations are August they seem to eat the tops or something, then there's a period of time they avoid them after that, then once ripe they hit them again and will hit them as long as they can get at them. Thing about a bean field if it isn't off the road a ways then they nocturnal them or stage in the woods etc. before coming out because they don't provide a lot of cover but like Harvey said we've seen them bedded in them at times as well. These wet field conditions should make things interesting, the river that runs through my ground(s) is overflowing it's banks as we speak which is limiting some of the usual bedding cover.

[deerminator]

I forgot about the bedding part. Yes, they do that too. My wife called and said its snowing hard now so I may have to get out for the last hour and a half before dark over the beans. We shall see what happens.