Someone advised me to try them for deer..swears by them. Anyone else have success with carrots?
good luck out there!
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Someone advised me to try them for deer..swears by them. Anyone else have success with carrots?
good luck out there!
Dumped a load of carrots last year, hadn't seen a buck all summer. Checked the camera Sunday before opener there were 6 different bucks and 3 does visiting over a 1 week period and the carrots were almost gone. Needless to say my trailer is full of carrots again this year.
I tried them once, put out before the hunt, they were still there come spring turkey hunt, had some nibbles out of them, but that is it. Think there just to much corn, beans and wheat around my area, the deer just didn't know what it was. Certainly can't hurt to put them out and try, carrots are cheap. Neighbour offered me as much as I could ever use, but declined the offer.
I was having good visits of a few bucks and does with apples and corn. dumped 100lbs of carrots and haven't had anything else come in on cam
Where I hunt deer there aren't any ag fields anywhere nearby, maybe that's what makes the difference.
What he saidQuote:
Originally Posted by sabmgb
Not sure on carrots, turnips however, are the bomb. Yrs ago while duck hunting, I had to walk across a bit of farm land to get to my pond. Came across a little patch of turnips, oddly it seemed to be in a weird spot. Apparently a food plot, before they became a thing. Nothing touched them until the first hard frost, and then it went nuts. Almost every time I went in or out, depending on AM or PM, I would jump deer.
Carrots work well in the 50's wmu's but it takes a bit to get them onto them.
Try putting them out along with your traditional bait.
They are a lot better to handle than those bags of applesauce.
I believe the key is acorns. In areas where there are a lot of oak trees, deer seem to have interest in little else. If you are in an area with little to no oak trees, I would definitely try carrots. Apples are best but EVERYTHING eats apples including coyotes.
They work good for us at our camp, but there isn’t any ag fields close by. where I hunt close to home and there is lots of ag fields, They don’t seem to get much attention, not yet anyways
nothing else will eat them so they are good , i bought a tractor bucket load last year and lasted a week, i have had luck with pumpkins apples corn and squash as well
Within 8 hours after putting out the carrots and replacing the cameras with my cell cams we now have 4 Does hanging around all night after 2 weeks without pictures.
Pumpkins are our go to.. And since we hunt mid November its perfect timing. Everyone wants to get rid of those rotten carved up Halloween pumpkins... We gather em all up let them freeze (if its cold enough) and toss them out a few days prior. We've had 3 does clean up 4 big pumpkins over night!
I've thought about trying them.. are they cheap? I live near the Holland Marsh.. carrots are super cheap, not sure about turnipsQuote:
Originally Posted by waterrat
I tried carrots one year and the deer hardly touched them. Porkies and snowshoe hare ate a few but most of them molded then rotted. Turnips are like candy once the temp stays sub zero. The sugar content then goes up in the plant and the deer really hit them hard. In my food plots they will dig right down into the soil to get them.
any specific turnip? Do other critters eat them?
Up at my place nothing else gets the chance the deer clean up very quickly, I find it better to plant Table turnips the kind you buy at the supermarket. The seed is not that easy to find and the co op's have stubble turnip that is not so good. There are a large number of different turnip plants.Quote:
Originally Posted by Splaker
Years ago I did a small experiment to see what went first, whole corn (not cracked), red oak acorns, or chestnuts. Chestnuts went first until they were all gone then the corn, and then red acorns.
Unfortunately at the time I did not know the difference between white oak acorns and red oak acorns but in observation of natural acorn drops the white acorns dont last long on the ground wheras red acorns will last until late season.
I have seen carrots sit on the ground and rot, same with apples.
Whole corn goes quick and is easy to buy, store, haul, and works well enough.
Thats in WMU 79 surrounded with Ag fields.
Up North I have heard its the opposite, friends say apples are the way to go.
If you can locate a white oak close to a parking lot then wait for a drop and take a garbage can and a shovel, you will get as many acorns as you want for free.
I use the Cabelas brand sugar beet mix that uses “purple top turnip” in it .Quote:
Originally Posted by Splaker
Witnessing a doe attack a 3x3 patch of carrots yesterday after the first real snowfall but not before would tell me the luck with carrots increases if you get snow on the ground.Quote:
Originally Posted by Splaker
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I was told by the same fellow that they are more effective in cold weather...
Attachment 44696
Well since the apples were gone they've started on the carrots
pretty sure that you have evidence that carrots work
Great pic!Quote:
Originally Posted by m1k3_88