rost495:
And then it could go 3 months or more without being emptied. So if you go the barrel route I'd be sure to be able to check on it often when its extremely cold or stress weather. If not you are setting them up to die. IE they depend on it and then its gone.
I dont want to argue about anything, but I find the above quote hard to believe. Deer have adapted to be able to survive in severe circumstances. There "programmed" to be totally self depended, and have spent thousands of years eating the same foods and living in the same habitat. Just because a human steps in and overs a barrel full of food, the deer are not going to totally forget how to survive. If you take the barrel of food a way, there going to go right back to eating the natural forage. Deer where able to survive with out the barrel of protein before you gave it to them, there not going to miss it much if you took it away.