A Question on feeding deers

Begging 4 Bucks · 02-09-2006, 07:44 PM

Iwas wondering, does any one know a good food i can lay out for deers to help with antler growth, and needs no care, just a food i can pour out of the bag and leave it there untill more is needed?

Any names of food, or sites would be very much appreicated.

Andrew14 · 02-10-2006, 04:14 PM

The only thing i woul know for you to use is the supplement Vita-Rack 26. I dont know of any feed that you can just throw out there and it increase antler development.

Begging 4 Bucks · 02-10-2006, 05:05 PM

ok if not then i just need any food u can toss on the ground cause i go upstate once a month at most. If you know any food like that let me no
ty

Andrew14 · 02-10-2006, 06:59 PM

Begging 4 Bucks I would probably use whole corn. Make sure you don't get cracked corn because it absorbs water really fast.

farm hunter · 02-10-2006, 09:33 PM

Plant Clover -

Corn makes no sense - unless you are baiting with it in hunting season. Corn = Energy- and not much more.

You just can't throw corn on the ground once a month and expect to gain anything - except maybe a bad reputaion.

If you really want to benefit your deer herd - : cut trees in the winter, and plant a high protien food like clover.

Andrew14 · 02-11-2006, 07:36 AM

Farm hunter he said that he didnt want to do any work. Then he said what kind of food can i use not to increase antler development.

martinfaw · 02-11-2006, 08:16 PM

Get you a corn feeder, mine throws out corn morning and evening and I fill it up every 3weeks. Thats about as trouble free as anythingand pulls in a lot of deer.
You can also make a salt lick nearby.

James

farm hunter · 02-13-2006, 08:05 PM

Andrew - I re-read the post, I thought maybe I missed something - but no. He basically wants to toss out a food once a month when he goes upstate - the help the Antler Growth of the deer where he hunts.

I get what he wants to do -

The point I was unsuccessfully trying to make is ...........that it just isn't this easy. Soooooooo many Deer Product companies take advantage of hunterswith limited time and a desire to see bigger bucks that it saddens me terribly. 20lbs of Buck Grubb per month- or any othersupplement on the groundwill do absolutely nothing for the deer unless he's chained to a tree next to the pile.

Corn on the ground in any season other than winter - only fills their stomach with asubpar source of protein. Adeerfeeding on corn in the summer months will get less than 1/2 of the protein they need to growbody mass, antlers, orfor milk production. Same goes with salt- If you put down ALOT of salt - sure the deer will lick it - and it willl make them thirsty - they will drink more water, and EAT LESS HIGH PROTEIN forage and browse............ because their stomach is FULL of non helpful food and water sources.

I'll go as far as to say - Supplemental Corn and salt - is ablueprint fordisaster asa summersupplemental food program.

There is a BIG - HUGEdifference between "pulling deer in" and supplemental feeding to HELP the deer herd and/or antler/fawn production.

FH

AP deer hunter · 02-13-2006, 08:51 PM

I agree with farm hunter. However, soybeans are helpful and inexpensive. Mix it with corn till they will eat straight soybeans. Don't expect huge results though. but it's a nutritious food. If you can't do anything else give the deer time by letting small bucks walk. That will help more than anything else you can do.

jrichv · 02-15-2006, 01:08 AM

Not many optionsjust "throw on the ground" once a month.... and nothing I know of will produce any measurable results. See if the landowner is amenable to you strapping several 6" PVC tubes to some trees? You can find plans all over the internet - generally make them 4 to 6' tall, removable cap on top, and a small, gravity/free choice feed hole at the bottom to allow the deer/turkeys/hogs/anything else to browse at will. Then, find any good commercially available deer protein feed (minimum 16% for antler and doe/fawn development) and fill them with that. On your first fill, use a SMALL amount of corn mixed in, just to get them started, then they will come eat the protein on their own, when they figure out they need the nutrition.

Strap it good on a tree - the hogs will destroy them, if you have hogs and they can reach it. And besides, if it gets torn up, they are cheap to make... Make several of them, fill them once a month, and you may see some results next year... YMMV.

jrichv