Soybeans?

[Nubs]

Question:  During July and early Aug. I was seeing lots of deer out in my bean field, lots of them!  But over the last 3 weeks I have hardly seen any, maybe a doe and fawn once in awhile but certainly not like it was.  Do deer normally stop eating the beans this time of year and find something else to munch on?  I know the acorns are dropping like crazy right now, could that be the cause for the dramatic drop in deer hitting my bean field?  When do the deer usually come back for the beans, I have heard that it is when it starts to get pretty cold.  Any info on this would be great, this is my first year using soybeans.

[Goose]

You are right, they are hitting the mast trees now that they are dropping.
You will still see deer using the beans all the way through winter or harvest but for the most part they will hit the acorns right now while they are there.
If your beans are the only real food source around they will return to them when the acorns slow down.
We noticed that it picked back up at the end of October last year for us.
The reason for them not preferring the beans as much is because the cell wall compound that makes the plant sturdier as it matures is not as palatable to deer as it was when the plants were younger.
They will come back for the beans later.

[NYarcher]

Right on the money Goose. We have soybean planted in rotation every other year in one of our fields. Every time we see the slow down it coincides with the mast crop in the woods. Took a trail cam to finally figure that out for myself lol. When acorns are on the ground deer will prefer them over anything. Throw in some apple trees and it is a deadly combination in the early season!

[Nubs]

Thanks guys, I know that deer love acorns I was just really surprised by how quickly they went from being in the beans to not being in the beans.  Thanks for the info.

[jon]

i have to noticed that there are not to many deer in the beans right now. I live in southern illinois with lots of agricultural fields and the the corn is starting to drie up and so they have switched to it and acorns plus its getting dark sooner and they may be entering the field at the same time. I have also noticed when the corn fields get harvested they will eat on them till  they get plowed under. so i dont know if you have any corn fields around where you hunt but im sure when they get harvested you will see deer in fields again.

[Patriot]

Junk.....the entire farm I hunt is beans.  There is a oak forest adjacent to my property though.  I'll have to cut them off before they make it there.  I have a new plan now.  Thanks for the info fellas!

[rweyman]

I didn't think I was going to see many deer tonight, after reading this post earlier today, but my wife cancelled our plans tonight and at the last minute I went to a small farm real close to the house, which is all beans. Just as I got in my stand, I had a small 5 pt. come in the field. Then about 45 minutes later a doe came out. I watched her munch on beans for about 25 minutes, before she gave me a broad side shoot at 25 yards, and I killed my first deer with a bow. I figured I would give her time before I went after her and about 15 minutes before dark I had a 6 pt. and a small 8 pt. come into the field and spare for a little bit and then another 6 pt. came into the field follow by another buck just as it got dark. I don't know if there are many oaks around this small farm, but the deer seem to be on the beans tonight.

[Goose]

Congrats rweyman! Be sure to post some pics.
 
I have also noticed that the deer will hit the acorns earlier in the evening, then hit the fields after that.
Last night for example, I was sitting on an oak bottom and had a decent 8pt come through at 630, he ate acorns for about 20 minutes then my dad saw him come out into our bean field after 7.
 
So, he came out of his bedding, hit the acorns, then after that he hit a little clover patch that I could see, then he went out into our soybeans right before dark and was still out there when my dad slipped away.
 

[OHhunter]

Congrats on your bow kill.

Deer are still hitting the beans where I hunt, too. The acorns are spotty and not much corn planted close by, so the beans continue to pull them in.

[buckhunter21]

Tonight most of the deer I saw sat in the woods munching on acorns as well, to the point where I couldn't get out of my stand till one hour after dark.  They should be back on the beans later in the season...