fencing a food plot
Whitetail Deer
I would like to try an acre of soybeans again with a FENCE this time. I don't want to be buying an electric fence. Has anyone had success with the double fence using rope , twine or ribbon material ? If so how did it work ,and what is the proper dimensions to install such a fence.
I think you would be wasting your time. The deer will crawl right through twine/ribbon.
Why are you opposed to the electric fence? The costs involved? Maintainance?
We used two strand of rope and a bunch of surveyor ribbon to flap in the wind on two seperate bean plots last year......it worked grea!. Beans got all the way up to our ankles! ;-)
I'd look into electric.
I'm afraid t-roy is right. Your like and your success probably won't come together.
I have had as many as 5 plots under electric fence at one time. They were about 350' x 100'. These fences were left on for as many as 12 years. They require some maintenance but if you use the 2 row method they work extremely well.
Buy the heavier gauge fence wire, not the ribbon stuff. Set wood posts for the corners and buy the step-in posts for in between.
Mossy oak sells a system with ribbon and some type of spray that you put on the ribbon, I think it's called plot protector. My neighbor used it last year on a two acre plot with the eagle seed forage soybeans and I was shocked at how well it worked! He left it up until the week before our season started and those beans were taller than me! The deer worked the edges but the middle of the plot was awesome! Not saying it's better than electric fence but worth checking out if your not wanting to go the electric route. You do have to fresh in the spray on the ribbon pretty regularly, which can suck, but it actually worked well.
I have tried it all. Spend the money and go electric. You can get a fencer taht will service an acre relatively cheap at Tractor Supply. Use two concentric fences. Double wire on the inside fence and a tape on the outside.
What Schmitty said. It's called PlotSaver. Uses a ribbon impregnated with a scent deterrent. I've used it for years with phenomenal success.
I should have added that whatever deterrent you employ, it must be erected before the plants break the soil. If you wait until you have a problem, the deer will pretty much ignore any protective measure you erect.
Pat, at what heights do you put your ribbons ?
Great thread and input as I need to run some electric fence this year on two key plots....
Pat, the $400-$600 you mention will fence in how much ground? one acre?
Mark
It depends on what your intentions are for your bean plot? If you are wanting the beans themselves as a late season food source then I would suggest the electric fence thing as I have tried the "Plot Saver" method the last couple years with mixed to poor results. Having said that, if your goal is to provide high protein forage all summer, let them eat them and then over seed them with one of the "Nutritionist's" late summer mixes to hunt over and provide late fall and winter forage. Maybe John will weigh in here. Many of the forage bean mixes will hold up relatively well to grazing as they keep on growing even after being nipped down and still produce a fair amount of pods.Real World beans have done the best for me at this. Keep them sprayed and fertilized and they should do well. That would probably be the least expensive approach and the one that I am going to use going forward.
thanks for all the replies, I just didn't want to spend that kind of money on an electric fence this year. Maybe if I find a used system I look into it .
To clarify....the white tape is what is conducting the electricity around the protected field?
Mark
Here's another pic of a fenced vs unfenced plot.
Another thing that I have started doing on most of my plots is planting clover around the perimeter of the plot & setting my fencing up in the clover a few feet outside of the corn/beans. The clover keeps the weeds to a minimum & usually doesn't get tall enough to ground out the fence. It is fairly easy to move the fencing out of the way to mow as well.
Does it work for mother-in-laws?
Ha! Good one Ike!
Thanks for all the help guys...Those unfenced pics look all too familiar!
Looks like I've got one more project to do this early summer!
Mark
Troy--Your fence pic looks just like that of Pat's description, using fence WIRE on the inside fence and tape on the outside. My question is, why not use the tape on both the inside and outside courses? Maybe Pat could also chime in here as well.Thanks
Mine is turbo wire on the 2 inside strands & turbo tape on the outside strand. The turbo wire is cheaper, plain & simple. The tape is a lot more visible & 1 strand is plenty for that purpose. LKH stated he uses actual wire on his fences. They would last a lot longer. The reason that I don't use them is that I take mine down every fall. Plus they are less maintenance. I don't have to set corner posts to be able to support weight & the tension of the wire. I can just use tee posts as corner posts. I used to just push the fence down on the ground in the fall for easy access for the deer, but the deer would still get into it occasionally, plus it breaks down a lot quicker in the sun/weather. I get several more years out of the turbo wire/tape by doing this.
I roll each plot fence up on an electrical wire spool, kinda like a big fishing reel. The method that works best for me is to roll both strands of the wire up together, then roll the turbo-tape strand up last. It doesn't tangle nearly as easily. It takes a bit longer but is way less hassle. Mark the name of that particular plot on the spool so you can unspool it next Spring on the same plot & the wire & tape lengths will be perfect.
I used this system this past season and it is a game changer. One bit of advice. Once you cut the power don't wait too long to take down the wire/tape. The deer will start to go through and before long you have a mess that will include broken step in post
A pic from a few weeks later. When the beans got tall enough to touch one of the strands I would just cut the power to that strand. By the time they got to the top strand I figured they were tall enough and I opened the gate.
Mike TN
Good point Mike-TN
They can sure make a mess. I will take the step-in posts down as well. I had a problem with the bucks wanting to rub on them. They were snapping them off.
What would you guys recommend for polytape width? Plot we're considering is two acres and about an hour drive from home. Realistically, we would be checking the fence once..maybe twice per week.
1/2" wide....not as visible
1-1/2" wide....much more visible, but seems like that would catch alot more wind.
Thanks, Paul
I have 6 acres of berry plants that have the electric fence. Works good. A couple weeks ago a tree fell across it. I had to shut it down for about a week while I got the tree cleaned up. The deer were back in. The fence was still up but not energized. The deer knew it. 1/2" white tape works great.
Pat,
In the foodplot feature which you did earlier in the year, didn't you find that plots which had electric fences around them didn't draw as many deer even after the power was cut?
Cattle are the same around electric fence. It's tough to get younger cattle to go through a electric gate when taken down. Once a electric fence goes off it doesn't take too long for cattle or deer to figure it isn't working. Cattle will walk up to a electric fence and put their nose a inch or so away and get back. I'm sure deer do the same to test it. I'm sure deer will shortly figure out a fence is off and has been removed.
Thanks Pat....your result photos speak for themselves. Will follow your lead on the 1/2" tape. Appreciate the reply!
