Well this weekend we're headed to our property and gonna check on everything. Im looking for some kind of protein pellets to put in my feeder with the corn. Anyone have any examples. [/align]

Ive never tried it, but I have seen the Buckola stuff at Walmart that you mix in with corn. Its pretty much pure protein, but its kinda pricey.

A sack or two of pellets in a wild deer herd is sort of like peeing in the wind. You won't get any significant benefit to the herd, it should have been out before antler development started and pregnant does needed it. And then for several months availability. Instead of that, buy a few sacks of fertilizer and scatter some in wild honeysuckle patches, briars, or other native vegetation. You will do a lot more good.

Sweet feed, same price as corn, but 12% or more protein

"timbercruiser" - you said use some fertilizer on your honey suckle? i have a decent treestand location that is right next to a bunch of honey suckle. do you think the honeysuckle will get sweet enough to make a difference. as it is now, i have never seen the deer stop and eat the honeysuckle, i have seen where they have nibbled on it though.

to clearify to make sure i am naming the bushes right, honeysuckle grows pretty thick and has a orange flower that humming birds eat out of, correct?

I've got about 400 feet of old fence out back of the house that has honeysuckle growing all over it. You wouldn't believe the browse line they maintain all along the fence. It is like they wait for the young vines to fall over from the top and they keep them clipped off up to about 4 feet high. They love the stuff, and it is high in nutrition, I think about 32% protein or better. I think you describe the Japanese Honeysuckle vines well..

I am in south arkansas and I have been using a feed called Pilgrims feed. It is a 22% protein feed with a Moisture block. It is pelletized and feeds great in all my timer feeders, alone or with corn. I usually start feeding the protein pellets in early April, then go to a feed / corn mix in late July , and then straight corn in early Sept. The deer seem to really like it, and I have seen good benefits in the deerr herd on my lease since using it. Around here, corn is about 10.00 / 50 lb. and the protein pellets are about 12.00 / 50 lb. so it is more expensive, BUT .... corn is only about 8 % Protein and this is 22 % protein so you get almost 3X the benefit ..... so the benefit / $$$ is actually higher with the feed than the corn..... that makes it a good value to the deer.

here is a link.....

http://www.pilgrimsfeed.com/livestock/deer_22trophybuckdeveloperpellet.asp

Hope this help you....

God Bless


MET

My buddy's familybuys Purina Deer Chow with Antler Max for their farm down here.It comes in either20%or 16% protein, also available as a corn-pellets mixture. Good stuff, buuuuut I'm sure it's pricey. I agree with Timbercruiser, fertilizing existing vines and trees will do you a lot of good.

I have used the Purina Antler Max also, but I found it to be lower in % protein than the Pilgrim's and higher in cost too. It is more expensive , so I could not see a benefit over the Pilgrim's when the deer like it just as much.

MET

Until about the first of June, I had been using only Heartland Wildlife Institute Deer Feeds (Redoy Formula - http://www.heartlandwildlifeinstitute.com/). Since it is only 16% protein, I decided to start adding in Purina Mills Deer Chow in a 50-50 mix. What I have found is that the deer are still eating from the feeder, but they are raking the Deer Chow out of the feeder and onto the ground. I am also seeing some occasional mold with the protein pellets. When this batch runs out, I think I will stay with the Heartland Feed and try again in January when there is not much else to eat.

Here is my feeder. Not the deer pellets on the ground.