n0vice Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 In the space of a couple of days deer have obliterated my maize cover strips. Does planting a couple of rows of sorghum around the outside do anything to put the deer off? Or is this an old wive's tail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonepark Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 OWT, Sorghum is not usually grazed until after seed head develops, as leaves are not attractive, but won't stop deer going for anthing taller or next door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 Goodness , they have certainly made a mess of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 You will most likely be inundated with offers of help, if deer are responsible for that Roe mostly and few muntjac eat some of maize where I shoot but once it is on it's way they tend leave it alone. I have been told it becomes bitter and is of little interest to them, not sure if that is true or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennett Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 Blimey, have you got elephants on your land?! Agree that sorghum is an old wives tale I'm affraid. I have millet and sorghum this year and the fallow and muntjac don't seem to have bothered with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIDES EDGE Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 Looks more like Badger to me Fallow eat the lot leaves and all ours look like they have been harvested with just 3" of stalk left and that was definatley Fallow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 I keep a record of what is doing which damage in case I get asked to shoot them out of season. So if you are interested, this is what roe do to maize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 To be fair the photos show a very poor crop of maize so is particularly vulnerable to damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamefarm Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Deffo looks more like Badger than Deer - we have a lot of Fallow/Munjac/Badgers, and the damage you show is exactly what our Badgers do, rather than the Deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish lad Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 +1 for badger damage rather than Deer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tollerman Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Despite pressure from some of our guns we planted sorghum for our main cover crop again this season.The shoot is in an area with a large number of fallow deer present.They are controlled to a certain extent but with several safe havens nearby they remain a neusence.As an experiment one of our guns grew some maize from seed in his greenhouse.It was later planted out amongst the sorghum.It only lasted a day or two and was soon eaten whilst the sorghum remained untouched.Apparently the sorghum has a nicotine taste which deer and other mammals do not like.Would certainly recommend sorghum as an alternative for next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 In the space of a couple of days deer have obliterated my maize cover strips. Does planting a couple of rows of sorghum around the outside do anything to put the deer off? Or is this an old wive's tail? Sorry to hear, and see, the bad news. Might be worth putting a couple of trail cams out to establish what is causing the damage. Then you can come up with a plan to stop it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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