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Do Deer Love Soybeans?
- By Albie Berk
- Published 29th December, 2008
- Recreation
- Unrated
Albie Berk
Albie Berk enjoys hunting and sharing what he has learned and any successful tips he can with others. He enjoys South Carolina hunting and usually stays at Carolina Buck and Boar
View all articles by Albie Berk
Game management has been given proper credit for reestablishing the deer herds, but it is actually the deer themselves that should be credited for changing their habits to adapt to our civilization. Soybeans are not exactly the native forest environment of deer.
Deer love soybeans. Soybeans are a particularly good food source for nursing does because they enhance rich milk production. The excellent protein of the soybean produces fat little bucks. Deer can be spotted at night in soybean fields in prolific numbers in areas of successful repopulation. Soybean fields are a great place to scout in order to estimate deer numbers or to select a particular specimen. Simply shop for deer from the convenience of your automobile by using a spotlight. This is generally legal providing the spotlighters do not shoot the deer, an action which is illegal everywhere. Some states allow no spotlighting at all. The individual law may state that it is legal only if no firearms or other devices for taking game are in or on the vehicle. In some instances, local laws do not even allow a scouter to shine his headlights over a field and will prosecute for "harassing wildlife." Check with officials before attempting to spotlight a bean field. Never use your vehicle to chase or harass deer.
Red lights are less alarming to deer. The kind that plug into a cigarette lighter are the most popular. White lights will do quite well, however, and will show up antlers instead of just eyes.
Soybean foraging by deer is a growing concern for farmers. Small numbers of deer cause no major crop damage, as the deer selectively nibble a little here and there. But in areas of high population density, deer congregate to socialize as well as to dine and become a nuisance. Often bean farmers welcome hunters with outstretched arms until the hunters destroy more beans than the deer do. Hunters often show little or no consideration for crops by driving through crops or dragging deer through them.
The fallow fields are primarily hunted during early season, which is generally bow season. Mid-October is the usual harvest time in most areas. After the beans are harvested, the deer will move into other areas in search of other food supplies. It is usually true that acorns become the new primary food. Sometimes beans are harvested early enough that a good number of soybeans which fell away from the harvester root and sprout. This new growth is prime deer forage and suitable hunting ground for later hunters.
In shooting deer in the soybean fields, the hunter must take care not to damage the beans. Deer must be carefully carried out and not dragged.
Deer are most destructive to soybeans when they are first sprouting from the soil in the spring. This is the only time that deer will consume the whole plant. This is not often a problem, however, since the woods and fallow fields are also producing new growth at this time.
Later in the season deer merely eat small parts of a plant here and there. They do not uproot plants or take them to the ground. Groundhogs (woodchucks) do a lot of the damage to soybean fields that is attributed to the track-leaving deer.
Farmers sometimes get upset when they spot a couple of deer out in their beans. Such farmers can have their crops inspected by conservation officers and biologists upon request. Farmers are issued special hunting permits which allow for some departures from the regular laws of the harvest. These permits are often handed out by the farmer to hunters who might assist him in reducing the number of deer in his area. These permits are usually for does only, since does do the reproducing. Bucks are to be left for regular hunters.
Sometimes the farmer may be allowed to sell these permits to recoup some of his income. For foodfare these animals are of the finest quality. Those who complain of "wild-tasting" venison (providing that the wild taste is not the result of poor cleaning methods) should consider hunting beanfield raised deer.
To find out just who has these special permits allowing hunters to take more than the regular number of deer, the hunter might check with the game warden, the feed and seed store, or the local agricultural office, co-op, or other farmer-related places.
For beanfield hunting during gun season, a flat-shooting, long-range rifle with a scope is recommended. A field that is barren of deer upon first observation might at any time have deer all over it suddenly appearing which had been bedded down out of sight in the shallow cover of the bean plants. Scope out the field for antlers.
Deer love soybeans. Soybeans are a particularly good food source for nursing does because they enhance rich milk production. The excellent protein of the soybean produces fat little bucks. Deer can be spotted at night in soybean fields in prolific numbers in areas of successful repopulation. Soybean fields are a great place to scout in order to estimate deer numbers or to select a particular specimen. Simply shop for deer from the convenience of your automobile by using a spotlight. This is generally legal providing the spotlighters do not shoot the deer, an action which is illegal everywhere. Some states allow no spotlighting at all. The individual law may state that it is legal only if no firearms or other devices for taking game are in or on the vehicle. In some instances, local laws do not even allow a scouter to shine his headlights over a field and will prosecute for "harassing wildlife." Check with officials before attempting to spotlight a bean field. Never use your vehicle to chase or harass deer.
Red lights are less alarming to deer. The kind that plug into a cigarette lighter are the most popular. White lights will do quite well, however, and will show up antlers instead of just eyes.
Soybean foraging by deer is a growing concern for farmers. Small numbers of deer cause no major crop damage, as the deer selectively nibble a little here and there. But in areas of high population density, deer congregate to socialize as well as to dine and become a nuisance. Often bean farmers welcome hunters with outstretched arms until the hunters destroy more beans than the deer do. Hunters often show little or no consideration for crops by driving through crops or dragging deer through them.
The fallow fields are primarily hunted during early season, which is generally bow season. Mid-October is the usual harvest time in most areas. After the beans are harvested, the deer will move into other areas in search of other food supplies. It is usually true that acorns become the new primary food. Sometimes beans are harvested early enough that a good number of soybeans which fell away from the harvester root and sprout. This new growth is prime deer forage and suitable hunting ground for later hunters.
In shooting deer in the soybean fields, the hunter must take care not to damage the beans. Deer must be carefully carried out and not dragged.
Deer are most destructive to soybeans when they are first sprouting from the soil in the spring. This is the only time that deer will consume the whole plant. This is not often a problem, however, since the woods and fallow fields are also producing new growth at this time.
Later in the season deer merely eat small parts of a plant here and there. They do not uproot plants or take them to the ground. Groundhogs (woodchucks) do a lot of the damage to soybean fields that is attributed to the track-leaving deer.
Farmers sometimes get upset when they spot a couple of deer out in their beans. Such farmers can have their crops inspected by conservation officers and biologists upon request. Farmers are issued special hunting permits which allow for some departures from the regular laws of the harvest. These permits are often handed out by the farmer to hunters who might assist him in reducing the number of deer in his area. These permits are usually for does only, since does do the reproducing. Bucks are to be left for regular hunters.
Sometimes the farmer may be allowed to sell these permits to recoup some of his income. For foodfare these animals are of the finest quality. Those who complain of "wild-tasting" venison (providing that the wild taste is not the result of poor cleaning methods) should consider hunting beanfield raised deer.
To find out just who has these special permits allowing hunters to take more than the regular number of deer, the hunter might check with the game warden, the feed and seed store, or the local agricultural office, co-op, or other farmer-related places.
For beanfield hunting during gun season, a flat-shooting, long-range rifle with a scope is recommended. A field that is barren of deer upon first observation might at any time have deer all over it suddenly appearing which had been bedded down out of sight in the shallow cover of the bean plants. Scope out the field for antlers.