Pumpkins for deer plots?

[BLACKJACK]

Somebody was telling me over the weekend that they grow lots of pumpkins in their food plots and that the deer love them! Has anybody else heard of this or tried this?

[jlm]

I have tried them before and they work ok in my area. If you are in an agricultural area with lots of browse for the deer to choose from, it is not worth the effort. If you live in a wooded area, they probably work much better. You are better off planting late season browse such as rye. that has worked the best for me across the board!

[BLACKJACK]

Swamp Scooter, you are correct, baiting is not allowed in MN, but you can plant a food plot and hunt on or near it. The law states something about following 'nomal agricultural practices'. Now dumping a pile of corn (or pumpkins) would be a different story, it would be illegal to hunt over the pile. The grey area is how far do you have to be way from the pile to hunt? Anybody know?

The guy I talked to said that they actually harvested some of the pumpkins and kept them til deer hunting time so that they'd have some left, or else the deer would clean them up before season.

I was just thinking about planting a few hills of pumpkins at the edge of my clover food plots, theres a pond nearby where I could haul a few buckets of water if necessary. Then if the deer liked them, plant more in '06'. Too late for this year though.

[jlm]

I say go for it and give it a try, it can't hurt. It will be cheap as well so if it is a bust, you are out nothing. Be sure to put them in a n area with adequate sunlight. I had some that did not mature because they were shaded most of the day. They should grow well in a food plot as they love to vine out all over the place. Careful when you mow though! Good luck!

[Swamp Scooter]

I have had a good amount of success with pumpkins, in the woods expecially. You can get a great haul after Halloween and drop a few in the woods... Of WI. MN it is not legal right?

[Swamp Scooter]

Ah yes agricultural practice dumping. As to how far from a pile you need to be I was reading a year or so ago that it cannot be visible from your stand. I always wondered if you could throw out a pile of bait and then cover it up when you hunt with leaves. I know wishful thinking.

[outdoor ran]

I threw the kids pumpkins in the deer feeder last year after halloween. The deer would come in and remove them with their noses to get to the apples and corn. They wanted nothing to do with them.

[PerchJerker]

I usually take our pumpkins after Halloween and toss them out in a food plot. They don't last long before the deer devour them.

I don't think they'd be great as a food plot planting. Takes a long time for them to grow, and once the deer start eating them they probably don't last long. I don't know if they'd be a "preferred food" or not.

Since I know from your other posts that you have other food plot plantings, I'd say give some pumpkins it a shot -- maybe it will be a great attractant. A variety of food sources in the fall is always a plus.

Good luck and let us know if you do it and how it works. And if the deer steaks taste like pumpkin pie

[bigbucks]

My neighbor has a small field on the opposite side of his woods from me that's been in about 5 acres of pumpkins twice in the last 4-5 years. The first year I watched deer go to those pumpkins in December & kick holes in them to eat out the insides. Two years ago they never touched them & there were the same amount of deer around, I just think there was more corn close by & they hit that instead. I even took my axe out & split a bunch to make it easier for them & they never touched them.

I'd say they like them, but they're pretty far down their list of favorite foods.