Hey has anybody else had success with turnips as their fall plot. We planted about five acres of em last year and there was noticeably more deer activity in them than any of the wheat, oats, or winter peas we have planted in the past. I had heard that the deer wouldnt eat them until it froze but that wasnt the case and when they actually made turnips there was even more activity.

Yes, One of the places I hunt in Oklahoma uses a mix of seed that has turnips in it and they love them.

It is an attraction that is based on need for energy, the turnip is almost pure carbohydrate just like potatoes. Most people think that if it doesnt give nutrition then its not worth planting but carbohydrates are the #1 source of energy. So when it gets cold and they are burning calories to keep warm they hit the turnips hard.

I have seen them eat the leaf down to the ground then paw up the actual turnip bulb and roll it on the ground eating it like an apple.

plus when they get mature Its nice to pull some up and throw them in a pot with garlic, onion, bacon, and some tony's

NOW THAT'S THE WAS YOU COOK SOME TURNIP I LIKE A LITTLE HOM HOCK IN MINE GIVE THAT SMOKE FLAVOR AND GREAT TASTE.GUESS I WILL HAVE TO PLANT SOME MYSELF.

I have planted several food plot blends that have included turnip greens, but I have never had much luck getting deer to eat them, but that doesn't mean any thing. I know quite a few guys who plant them every year and have great success. It seems the deer around my place are fickle or just have enough natural forage.

Man that made me hungry. Last season we were pulled a few up on the way to the stand. They were good but kinda gritty when they arent washed.

They love em up in Missouri. Try digging up a few and chopping them up a bit so they can eat them easier. Wait until after a good freeze or two though.

I had a whole food plot filled with them in East Texas and they wouldn't eat them. It was the wierdest thing. These were big a leafy, but the deer would walk right past them. However the rabbits loved them.

We've had a lot of success with turnips. It's hard to be 20%+ protein in the tops and 15%+ protein in the bulbs.

awesome. I thought I was the only one that picked a few out of my plot and cooked them up with some sausage & onions.

Some people swear by turnips as deer food. My buddy and I planted several patches of them last year in Grimes County and the deer walked all around and through them, but would not touch them. Go figure! Gonna try oats and Austrian winter peas this season.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, AFTER SEEING THAT BUCK MUNCHING I THINK I WILL PLANT SOME!

My first food plot will be a mixture of turnips and oats.

I had good success with turnips and oats in my plot in red river co

I plant some every year in West Texas, but they're more for me than the deer. Never seen a deer touch one out there.

I have tried them before and they seem to do really well.

I mixed in quite a few last year in a very established oat patch, been planted at least the last 25 years. I had about 30 to 60 deer in that patch every day of the season. They hardly ever touched them. I even pulled up quite a few numerous times through the season and they still would not touch them. I have heard it may take a couple of years for them to recognize them as a good food source. So I will be once again mixing them in with the oat patch this year and next. Good luck.

jbs, where do you hunt? We hunt Live Oak county and planted a mix of oats and turnips last year in a large plot. The turnips did really well with the greens growing knee high and the turnips themselves getting bigger than softballs like the ones the gentleman has in the pictures above. But the deer would not touch them. Instead, they would pick through them to eat the oats. We even tried discing some up to see if that would help and it didn't. Ended up turning the cows in on them in late Jan just so they wouldn't go to waste.

Don know why, but those South Texas deer did not like them.

Here is a pic I took in late Fall/Early Spring. It took the deer a year or two to figure them out. By the way, they won't touch them until the first couple of freezes. Maybe that is why the deer in south Texas don't hit them hard????

We are a little ways outside of trinity. In walker county. We planted a couple pipelines in 600 yards stretches around our stands and the deer devoured them. But as stated above most of the action came in december after it got colder. Its funny because our deer dont really eat the oats we plant but they will tear up the winter peas and the turnips. I guess its all about where you hunt. I have heard that some herds will hit mineral licks better in some area because of a lack of that particular mineral in their region. Maybe the same holds true for food plots. I know one thing when those turnips get grown in pretty well it sure does make for a beautiful looking plot. Like the ones you only see on the hunting shows.

Agree that it makes a great looking plot. Alot better looking than oats! We kept hearing that the deer would tear them up after a few freezes, but we had a damn hard winter for south Texas and they still never touched them. I also don't believe it takes years for deer to figure it out. They figured protein pellets out within the first few months and that isn't even a natural food. Deer are smarter than that.

well i can tell you that it took our deer 3 years to start using our protein feeders.
Maybe them big ol boys down in south texas are used to eatin that nasty scrub brush and dont recognize the finer foods when they see them.

Those are some awesome pictures

ha! Maybe you are onto something there.

I plant them every year.....deer eat the tops out of them all year but do not touch the bulb.

Can't help you. Just passing on the info I have learned from planting them every year. The deer also tear up Rape, which is also in the Barraska(sp) family.

Our deer have never touched Chickory or clovers....but they eat it on our ranches.

We were doing test plots for a seed company for many years and the turnips and rape had high protein levels.

Another thing I would add is to not plant just Turnips or Rape. Add them in with other combinations such as Iron and Clay Peas(great early attractant),Oats, Wheat, Austrian Winter Peas, etc. We put the turnips and Rape in the clover bins on our seed drill so it plants at a different depth. You don't want to plant those seeds too deep because they won't grow.