Well I planted my Soybeans...just before a thunderstorm...I planned in putting down my Milorganite to fertilize and help keep deer off it...well wet ground ...and HAD to mow...getting too high then more rain...rained all night...went to check the beans and they are up already!!...So my concern it that the area is too small and they'll be wiped out....here is a pic of area when I had buckwheat in...tell me what you think. Thanks......

What state are you in Badger ?
Also about how many deer would you estimate use the area ?
And when you had it planted in Buckwheat did they eat it down to nothing ?
But the biggest question is what are you going to be hunting over it with (rifle, pistol, bow) ?
No reason to plant an acre if you are hunting with a bow unless you are hunting from the ground or have multiple stands set up....... Even then the buggers will be by the one you are not in, lol, typical.

Well I have 2 stands and a ground blind...one stand is behind those pines to the far rt of pic...the blind is in the trees to the far lft and the other stand is top far lft about 30yrds off the plot...no they browsed buckwheat but didn't mow it.... but they do mow the area when the turnips come up...which is why I plan on over seeding turnips in Aug on this spot...I'm in NY and NO one grows soybeans around here....just checked farms near me...they rotated and the corn fields are now all alfalfa...I have 12 plots....clover mixes....the soybeans(2)...Succra Seed...turnips in fall...and I disc in feed corn to leave standing...little over 3 or4 acres total on all plots...with all the alfalfa in the area I'll need all the help I can get....

I hunt bow and shot gun here at home ..all three at camp...Oh muzzle as well...the far side of plot has Wild apple trees on either side and is lined by bramble....also there is a wet spot that holds water behind the blind area...that is also the "mouth" of a gully that funnels them in both down in the gully and walking the ridge line...the other plots are down the hill from this...100yrs to the south and 300yrds to the north....

Sounds to me like you got it covered well, especially if you overseed with turnips in Aug. I don't see why you can't fertilize with Milorganite now, all you need is a hand crank or push lawn spreader. If you can keep the deer off the beans 'till they have grown past the 3rd or 4th node, they should be able to withstand browsing after that.

Oh yes pruning..... spraying...fertilizing...I actually have many wild apples around the property and many planted hybrids as well...this land is blessed with many many wild  fruiting trees and shrub,,,large expanses of bramble that I walk a hand spreader through in the spring....goose... currant and both types of elderberry brush....actually plots aren't REALLY needed here...with exception to the turnips...they help in the deep long winters here...I just like to see things grow...and hey...the farmer who owned this land did one final job before retiring....he plowed all the fields...but...then never disced or leveled  any of it...it was like driving over corrugated roofing sheets...figured I might as well get something out of all the work it's taking to level out his plowing job...thank Heavens most of it they let revert back to forest...Maple and red oak grew well in those furrows

you have it pretty covered.when putting you turnips in you will probably have to use a hand spreader.if your beans mature well enogh the may be knee to almost waist high,unless the deer keep them mowed down.do you prune up the apples so they produce better each year?if not,this may be something to stsart doing.also,apply some fert around the bases to help with production.

WOW, sounds like a great site and that lots of work has been done.

Could not even guess at the bean's being grazed heavely, but if there are none in the area and they discover they like them I would guess they will hit them pretty hard.
Again depends on how many are in the area. Very nice plot though. And as you stated the turnips will do the trick when you plant them anyway.

Badger, you have accomplished what many others would aspire to. congratulations.

It does look like she has her own little slice of heaven, doesn't it rt4

Thanks for the encouragement...the deer haven't ...knock...knock...knock...found them yet but it's been pouring here so they are usually in the pine...perhaps the new alfalfa fields will work to my advantage this time...new farmer crop on the edge of us also contains corn and oats now...we will have a good fall I'm sure this year....I'm still the only one with turnips close by...

Any how I would really like to see how every one else is doing ...lets get some pics up guys...one can always learn from the hard work of others....

Thanks horndog...I usually do put rape in with the turnips...I find that it helps give the turnips more room to bulb out with out sacrificing the greens I want.....

Badger1, looks awsome. I want to put up some pictures but our old computer died with all of them and I need to get help from my wife to salvage them. If I can get her out of her flower garden long enough to help me maybe I can get some up. After thinking about it, the only thing I could suggest to you is to mix some rape seed in with the turnips. If you can get some seed ,maybe try a small area and see what happens. Here in my part of Michigan the deer prefer the rape over turnips. Most of the turnips rot away the next spring making quite a foul odor. Just an idea to try.

Badger1, You asked for us to be honest, so here it goes. "YOU GO GIRL!" I wouldn't know you were female if not for Topgun, but if not than I am still impressed. The only thing I can think of is that you might be causing the deer undue stress because they don't know where to start or what to eat first. LOL Anyways it's lots of fun and good to give back more than we take. All the hard work is easily forgotten when everything starts growing. I always wanted to be a farmer when I was a kid and have always been growing gardens and experimenting with different things. I was up 'till 11pm last night trying to get some pictures retrieved from our old computer and posted here. I gave up when the prompt said the pictures were to large, had to be only 500 KB or something to upload to this site, and my wife was sleeping on the couch. Anyways I'm getting closer.

Thank you..you have know idea how much that is appreciated as sit sit here wrapped up in a fleece bath robe... soaked hair in a towel...because...I just came in out of a torrential down pour from hand raking in another half ace + of soy beans...I believe I my have hypothermia my fingers are a tad blue...I left the house at 6a.m. this morning....but by God they are now all in...and they definitely have good seed to soil contact...because I was raking mud there at the end...Caught anther new buck on my bino cam before I went out this morning... makes it all worth while

POST 1: Badger1, I'm glad I had good timing on that last post. I got up early and think I can get this done. I have numbered the posts in case I need more than 1 for the pictures and because they seem to be popping up with random times still. Anyways, these are pictures of our 40 acre camp in Missaukee County, Michigan. The whole project started when I decided to fulfill one of my childhood dreams and have my own sledding hill. The idea seemed good as it would double as food plots. My son Lucas and I started cutting trees and it didn't take long to realize that the trees would be grown back by the time we finished, and then there were stumps to deal with. It's 120 miles from home and hard to get much done on the few free weekends and trying to get a little relaxation in too. So I got a logger to do all the work in exchange for trees, total cost was all the big trees on 20 acres. Good deal for me and some trail roads included. The whole thing turned into a 3 year project. The soil is very sandy and well drained, and I lost most of the topsoil when the stumps were removed by bulldozer. The PH was right around 4. So I had the lime spread with a commercial spreader, 10 tons on about 4 acres including the roads. I had to improvise a lot, like using lucas' Chevy Blazer for a tractor. The wheeler gets quite a workout also. I started out planting rye, and now plant a mixture of rye, wheat, and oats in the field each fall. The roads are rotated every 2 years in 2 sections, fall planting oats and red/white clover. The clover lasts 2 years, so there is always a fresh area of clover and something available to the deer. It's quite a unique property with a horseshoe shaped ridge. Our camp is in the hollow in the middle, The sliding hill field on the east side, and a road running around the top of the ridge to the west side where the bench/firepit is. We call this Look-Out Hill and is a great place to relax for the evening. I wanted a road going up there so I can drive up when I'm too old to walk. The pictures are in that order, starting at the sliding hill and going around to Look-Out Hill. I hope you enjoy, and are welcome to come anytime. And if anyone wants to go sliding I have a great spot. I want to show you some pictures of a plot I have at home but it might take a couple more days.

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POST3: I guess I can only do 3 at a time.

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POST6: You can see rows of pines planted in a couple pictures on the east side of plot, and lilacs in cages at the bottom of hill. Will be nice in a few years to go up and cut down our own Christmas tree. Next project is to get some crab apples trees growing. Lucas was rewarded with a nice 18" 8 pt. buck the second year after the plot was planted, we passed on all bucks the first year. I have since taken a 16" 8 pt. Nothing huge but better than all the scrub bucks and spikes we saw before the plots were there. Time for my morning run. Have a real nice day.