Feeding deer corn?
01-01-2008, 05:57 PM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: El Dorado Kansas
Posts: 1,311
RE: Feeding deer corn?
Don't feed em.. leave the damn things alone till next year.. they were there before you were and will be there later. Furthermore, Unless someone here is a qualified wildlife manager then I wouldn't give advice as to what one should do with their heard. Just my opinion though.
01-01-2008, 06:01 PM
#13
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Minnesota
Posts: 9,445
RE: Feeding deer corn?
I'd do it if I had the place to do it! I wouldn't do it for the reasons of helping them through the winter, they'll be just fine! I would do it just to watch them out my window! How cool and awesome that would be!
01-01-2008, 10:13 PM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin/Michigan
Posts: 9,679
RE: Feeding deer corn?
What's the difference in feeding them the corn or the deer themselves eating the standing corn??????? Here on state land where the farmers are allowed to grow crops, they are required to leave a % standing, guess what, its mostly corn!
01-01-2008, 10:28 PM
#16
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 577
RE: Feeding deer corn?
C'mon fellas, it's deer. . . and corn!! Now I'm no bioligist, but I've been throwing down some corn here and there for years!. . .and when it's there, they'll eat it. . . and when it's not, they wont.Not once have I seen a deer get sick or diebecause they came in and ate some corn!
01-02-2008, 07:28 AM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Warsaw,MO
Posts: 2,046
RE: Feeding deer corn?
ORIGINAL: wis_bow_huntr
Go ahead and feed it to them, but they get no nutritional value from corn unless its cracked.
Go ahead and feed it to them, but they get no nutritional value from corn unless its cracked.
01-02-2008, 09:56 AM
#19
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,288
RE: Feeding deer corn?
StrutNtom is right they are the goats of the woods, constant browsers. Although they never become dependent on a certain foodtype they will eat what you put out for them unless you run them off regularly, then they will still come in at night to eat it. They are opportunists. Just like most of the year they will not tolerate our scent and avoid our paths through the woods, yet in the winter when the snow is deep especially if it has a crust of ice on it they will tolerate our scent and walk right in our tracks.
The corn will not kill the deer, No one said the corn would kill the deer!
It is the sudden change in their diet that kills them. From what I have read (and apparently tsoc read the same thing) Its the enzymes in their digestive track with the sudden change in their diet that gives them an intestinal infection or diarrhea that kills them when they are already stressed out during the winter.
My neighbors fed the deer during the winter and would feed them right up until the spring browse came in and I never seen a problem with it, till one winter they decided to go to Texas in January to stay the rest of the winter.
Within days after their supplemental feed ran out you could see them standing in the yard looking for their handout with Crap running down their hind quarters, not long after some of them began to Die, 2 right in the yard where they had been being feed, and a couple of others you could see from the road.
If you live in the north where the winters are harsh and the deer are stressed, I would not feed them unless I was committed to feeding them till their spring browse came in, thats all!
The corn will not kill the deer, No one said the corn would kill the deer!
It is the sudden change in their diet that kills them. From what I have read (and apparently tsoc read the same thing) Its the enzymes in their digestive track with the sudden change in their diet that gives them an intestinal infection or diarrhea that kills them when they are already stressed out during the winter.
My neighbors fed the deer during the winter and would feed them right up until the spring browse came in and I never seen a problem with it, till one winter they decided to go to Texas in January to stay the rest of the winter.
Within days after their supplemental feed ran out you could see them standing in the yard looking for their handout with Crap running down their hind quarters, not long after some of them began to Die, 2 right in the yard where they had been being feed, and a couple of others you could see from the road.
If you live in the north where the winters are harsh and the deer are stressed, I would not feed them unless I was committed to feeding them till their spring browse came in, thats all!
01-02-2008, 10:04 AM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Southwest Ohio
Posts: 2,849
RE: Feeding deer corn?
From what I have read the only possible problems that can arise is if the deer are not at all used to eating corn and then all of a sudden they can fill their bellies with it. Their bodies would not have the time to adjust to the new food and the bacterial balance in their digestive system will not be able to take much, if any, of the nutrients (which is basically just carbohydrates) out of the corn and they can literally starve to death with their stomachs full. Now this only happens in extreme circumstances. Some examples given in the literature were things like the dumping of hay bales in the wilderness during a bad winter. Now farm country deer are not going to have this problem because they are used to eating corn and their bodies are ready for it.
I also don't beleive that deer become dependent on a food source unless things are dire, and I do not believe that is the situation here. Feed them if you want to. They not only will be fine, but the carbs from the corn will help them stay warm throughout the winter.
I also don't beleive that deer become dependent on a food source unless things are dire, and I do not believe that is the situation here. Feed them if you want to. They not only will be fine, but the carbs from the corn will help them stay warm throughout the winter.