Corn vs. Beans

[hugonian1]

In the past the farm fields around my property were planted with corn.

This year they planted beans.

I was curious what, if any, differences I can expect with the deer.

They did not pick last years corn until late March so food was plenty all winter.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

[fire29]

Have you been watching the field in the eve. Or do you have any trail cam pics? Should be decent early season, Bigger bucks usally wait until dark to enter beans so you may have to set up between field and bedding. Start from there

[PerchJerker]

Overall deer will use beans more than corn, but after the beans yellow out and harden up in the fall the deer won't use them until they start eating the actual beans themselves. When they are eating the beans they are a dynamite draw. Of course the corn offers more cover for deer than beans do, but the beans are a great food source.

[buckx37x]

What pj said deer love beans. Two yrs. ago i studied two big bucks coming into a bean field for 4 wks. They came out about 30-45 min. before dark almost every night.hung a stand there for my son to hunt his first night out he took one of them beautiful 10.

[mrklean]

they love the bean stubble to cant go wrong with either

[picksbigwagon]

My wife's uncle, who's farm I have hunted in the past, swears that it is the beans that holds deer to his farm, not the corn....He has been farming that chunch of land for over 40 years so I believe him

[buckhunter21]

I have noticed too that the deer prefer beans to corn, the only thing is that corn provides cover as well as food so deer are more likely to use it during shooting light at least in my experience. Last year we tried a corn and bean plot mixed together and the deer completely wiped out all the beans before the corn. The only problem I see is the beans will more than likely be off by hunting season, they will still probably eat out in the stubble but probably not like they would in standing beans or corn.

[hugonian1]

Thanks for the info.

I have 40 acres adjacent to 800 acres of farm field. (not mine)

My property has some great bedding areas that historically have held the deer.

I just put my trail cams out last weekend and checked them today. A lot of does and smaller bucks but good activity. Last year I did not start seeing any good bucks on the cams until mid October. Then I saw some dandy bucks that I had no idea were around. I passed on some quality deer knowing there were better ones around and ended up taking a nice 10 point which I never had seen on the cameras.

After reading the above posts it sounds like the beans may work to my advantage as they won't have the corn for cover. Hopefully my bedding areas & low land will hold more deer.

I am already getting pumped up for what should be a great season.

[bottom-bouncer]

beans arw the preferred food source above all else. The thing you will notice is that as the beans begin to yellow the deer begin feeding in the corn more than the beans they will still eat the beans they just start hitting the corn more. Now if you can get the farmer to leave some beans standing you will be in the money come late season. There is nothing like standing beans in december nothing.

[hockeybc69]

Beans and corn. Both awesome.

Trouble is that with any crops, once they are harvested, it doesnt do as much good. Some residue is left, but its way different than if its left standing.

Bottom line, if you have crops around you, you will have some benefit regardless of corn or beans. But a lot less beneficial if they get in there and harvest it when they typically should.

[skee0025]

Bottom line, if you have crops around you, you will have some benefit regardless of corn or beans. But a lot less beneficial if they get in there and harvest it when they typically should.

I guess it all depends on where you hunt. My best seasons all have come when the crops are down on time. In a typical year when the crops are down I will see between 60-100 deer over the season. when the crops are standing, like they were where I was last year, I saw less then 10.

[96trigger]

Deer will eat what is close to them. The farm I hunt has no bean fields, just alfalfa and corn. Right now, the deer graze in the alfalfa, and still do a little munching on the corn. The neighbors have bean fields, I drive by on my way home and see plenty of deer in them also. No more, no less really. I think it has alot to do with what they are close to come feeding time. I don't think they are that picky.

[hookset]

Beans,Beans, I mean Soy Beans. At my place they are in the beans from the day they sprout till there is nothing left. IMHO there is not a better plot to plant than soybeans. My whole family gets a long viewing/hunting season when I plant soy beans in my food plots.

[BLACKJACK]

I had a soybean food plot and a corn food plot last year and the deer hammered the soybeans first, then moved onto the corn when we got a 10 inch snow that covered most of the remaining soybeans. They ate on the corn all winter but when March came and the snow melted, they moved back into the soybeans and finished them up. Soybeans will be part of my rotation from now on, cheaper to plant and liked by both deer and pheasants.

[sticknstring]

Soybeans will draw hard except for the few weeks right now when they're transitioning from green to brown. The best draw right now is Acorns. Deer will travel for a hot oak dropping. It's almost cheating when you find that magical tree. Come mid-october when the nuts have been consumed, it's back to any standing crops left, whether it be corn or beans.

[Cheetah]

Corn means the deer can just sit in it all day and I see less of them.

Beans and alfalfa means the deer have to go into the woods for cover, better hunting for me.

I prefer hunting areas near beans so I have more deer in the woods.

[alex1]

Last year we had the best of both worlds. The deer were held up in the corn, but they were coming out in the mornings,and evenings to feed in the bean stubble. What we ended up doing was setting up ground blinds in the propery lines, and waithing till the deer came out to feed in the beans. Got all of our deer doing this last year, and 50-75% in years past using this tactic.

[InTheNorthwoods]

My experience is that beans are usually not as good for hunting reasons as corn is. The beans usually yellow before season starts thereby turning the deer off of them and are then usually harvested before the deer turn back on to them later in the year. Corn also seems to be a bigger draw when it comes to the actual grain during the majority of the fall season. Once cold temps come on, whatever is left of corn or beans will draw deer in numbers. Based on these factors, I'd want corn planted around me if it weren't on my land and was planted for agricultural purposes.

With that said, if a person were to plant one or the other for a food plot, I would likely go with the beans as they are a desireable food source the whole time they are green and again in the late season. They provide a lot of food during the year, whereas only the ears of corn are desireable to the deer.

[kkahmann]

Here is something I got from a biologist once.In spite of modern game management.

Make a graph of soybean production in acres for all of North America over the last 30 years. Then make a graph of estimated Whitetail populations in North America over the last 30 years.

The graphs are not similiar--they are exactly the same.

[B. Amish]

it has more to do with soil than where soybeans are grown. i just read an article on it.