I saved my Ohio Plot - wow
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
Look at how dramatically better the beans behind the short fence look compared to the unfenced beans?
Look at how dramatically better the beans behind the short fence look compared to the unfenced beans?
Back in late May I realized that I made a huge mistake by not fencing one of my bean and corn field plots in Ohio. So I spent a day throwing up an e-fence in early June. Just got back to my property and look at the difference between the unfenced beans and the fenced ones. Understand that this fence is probably 4.5' tall. A deer can easily jump it. But they are lazy and they don't like to jump anything if they don't have to. I've been planting deterrent fences for years and it works. It's not as good as a tall or double fencing, but it's way better than no fence.
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
All the spraying, fertilizing and fencing was well worth it.
All the spraying, fertilizing and fencing was well worth it.
Here's another view of the fenced plot.
From: Stoneman
26-Jul-21
when do the fences come down? How do you time it?
From: Thornton
26-Jul-21
I only have 50 acres of beans and some years I don't understand how the plants get so tall with up to 20 some deer eating on them every evening.
From: Huntcell
26-Jul-21
PLANT IT.... AND THEY WILL COME!
From: TREESTANDWOLF
26-Jul-21
Good deal Pat.
I would never thought at that mounting height that would work to keep them out. (Majority) .
Good info!
From: Jeff Holchin
26-Jul-21
Got any good trail cam pics yet, Pat? The bucks should be pretty well developed by now.
From: BigEight
26-Jul-21
I pretty much have the exact same set up. Fenced 3/4 of the field and left the rest for them. There is an occasional deer in the fence but the majority take the easy beans. My fenced in beans are twice as tall with only a 4 foot fence.
From: Missouribreaks
26-Jul-21
Beautiful plots!
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
Yes Jeff, got some dandy bucks already
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
From: JL
26-Jul-21
If you put up a non-electric fence like that, would the deer still try to jump over it or would it be a visual blocker for them? That is....if they see something there...they won't jump over it or are too lazy to try? I just tilled, seeded and rolled a couple of more plots yesterday.....just waiting on the rain. I was wondering if the non-electric fencing idea would work??
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
JL, deer like to sniff the e-fence after it goes up. I believe that first zap keeps them away from it. No real evidence for that theory but there’s really no other reason for them to avoid a fence they can easily jump over.
If you are fencing anyway the cost of adding a solar fence charger is negligible IMO.
From: JL
26-Jul-21
I never researched them.....do ya need a certain size zapper based on the OAL length of the wire run?
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
I just bought one yesterday for a 1/2 acre plot and it was $139 on sale at TSC. Zapped with plenty of punch.
From: Paul@thefort
26-Jul-21
Pat, if that is Ohio sweet corn, can I have a bushel?
From: Pat Lefemine
26-Jul-21
Pat Lefemine's Link
JL, here’s the unit I bought. More than enough for most plots
From: Rickm
26-Jul-21
Pat, nice plot and some nice bucks. We kill some studs in Ohio but they can go anywhere they want. It's not like the creek bottom funnels that you get in the more west Midwest.
You will figure them out and do well.
Good luck this fall.
From: JL
26-Jul-21
Thanks Pat. I see it does up to 5 miles of wire. I also see my local TSC has them.
From: Tim Floyd @Hm
26-Jul-21
Good information. I was able to purchase 120 acres in Michigan this summer. I didn't have the time to cleanup the property and get plots planted like I wanted, but next year I will be all over it and thanks to all who share their experiences I have been getting some good information with the food plot post. Thanks again Pat for sharing this and good luck to all this fall!
From: Rob Nye
26-Jul-21
Good work Pat. I scored some major brownie points in Wifeyland this Spring; built a fence around her garden - no more deer and/or elk ravaging the patch.
From: Rob Nye
26-Jul-21
From: drycreek
26-Jul-21
Pat didn’t answer that corn request Paul ! Just pretend you’re his Amish neighbor and roll on in there a getcha some !
From: Ned mobile
26-Jul-21
U need corn
From: XMan
27-Jul-21
Pat,
All in, what did it end up costing you per acre to set the fence up? My beans are getting hammered, had to replant one plot it was so bad and now I regret not doing this on mine. 4 acre plot surrounded by big ag and hidden inside a wood lot and it’s the worst grazing I have seen on it in the last 5 seasons.
From: Pat Lefemine
27-Jul-21
Hard to say since I brought my fence stuff from my NY farm to Ohio. For a 1/2 acre plot I’d guess $300 for everything now?
Good thing is you only buy it once. My fence materials and charger is ten years old.
From: lewis
27-Jul-21
Looking good Pat and the bucks don’t look bad either lol Good job and Good luck Lewis ps my fence is down since Sunday
From: lewis
27-Jul-21
Chow time I think they will enjoy the vittles provided good luck all Lewis
From: JL
27-Jul-21
I went to my local Blaines this morning and looked at their solar zappers. The TSC solar zapper seemed to be a better deal compared to Blaines. They had a 600' spool of the white 1/2" wide tape wire for $30/$40-something bucks. They also had a 600' spool of bare electric wire in the $30 range. Looking the Blaines zapper....I noticed they come in different sizes (joules). I don't know what size would work for deer?? Cows and horse took the big ones. I wouldn't want to fry or brand the deer if they hit the wire.
From: Pat Lefemine
27-Jul-21
Deer need more energy, not less. You won't fry anything so no worries. You can spend 500 on a fence charger and it's entirely unecessary, IMO unless you have miles of fencing. Most of our stuff is really small so I take a minimalist approach with a small charger, the woven power wire (not the galvanized wire and not the tape) because it's easy to reel in, and a handful of T-posts and cheap fiberglass poles in between the T-posts. Remember, it's just a deterrent fence, some deer will jump in but most won't and that's generally enough to protect your crops.
From: lewis
27-Jul-21
I went with the electric tape on the outside and U line 1/2 inch polyester cord on the inside 90 lb breaking strength 3900 ft 93 bucks really like the way the tape and the cord flutters in the slightest breeze obviously no power to the inside you don’t need it I use a parmack charger works great but you probably could go with a smaller solar charger good luck Lewis
From: fishin coyote
28-Jul-21
I use the same size charger that Pat posted to keep the bears out of my bee hives. It's more than enough for deer as long as it doesn't get grounded out by vegetation.
From: TGbow
28-Jul-21
Looks great
From: Mark S
28-Jul-21
Really good info guys. At what size of a plot does it become too large to bother fencing? Thanks.
From: Pat Lefemine
28-Jul-21
My 14 acre soybean plot last year was unfenced.
My 14 acre soybean plot last year was unfenced.
I don't fence my 14 acre plot which is right next to my 5 acre fenced plot. I leave that for them to munch on and save this 5 acres as my kill plot. Last year the deer ate my entire 5 acre plot and 50% of my 14 acres of beans that I left standing. This year I went 20% corn and 80% beans. The corn was hit pretty hard and I lost 30% before if matured. In the fenced plot, I only lost 5% of my corn before I threw up the fence and the 95% grew to maturity.
From: Meat Grinder
28-Jul-21
A few years back, I read a couple of articles/posts about keeping deer out of food plots. Might have been in hunting mags, or on Bowsite, or both.
One author wrote that he used heavy-weight monofilament fishing line to make a couple of additional runs inside his electric fence, at different heights and horizontal distances. He claimed that the deer could see the line, but couldn't quite focus on it, causing depth-perception issues so they were hesitant to jump it. This idea seemed odd to me, and stuck in my mind because I wondered if the deer could see the fishing line at night.
The other author did pretty much the same thing, but used white or colored twine/rope so the deer could easily see it. lewis may have touched on this above.
We've all read that a whitetail deer can jump over an 8 ft. fence from a standing start, but apparently these authors felt that deer were less likely to jump the horizontal distance created by the additional strands. I've never had the opportunity to use electric fencing around a food plot, so I can't speak to how valid their ideas are.
Good Hunting to all.
From: XMan
28-Jul-21
Thanks for all the posts and info, I am gonna have to try to save what I can before it’s too late. Looks like a no brainer to save all the expense of a plot.
From: Wild Bill
28-Jul-21
Great job Pat, and thanks for sharing your experience with those of us who might dream of their own food plot.
From: Mark S
28-Jul-21
Meat grinder - reminds me of the many trees I’ve fenced. The deer can jump them or lean over them but are reluctant to do so.
From: SteveB
28-Jul-21
Our 5 acre plot in Ohio is in beans and unfenced. We want them to come and to eat and to get VERY comfortable doing so. The results are amazing come season. Predictable and relaxed deer.
From: XMan
29-Jul-21
Thanks for all the posts and info, I am gonna have to try to save what I can before it’s too late. Looks like a no brainer to save all the expense of a plot.
