there is a farmers type of store near my house and they sell cleaned whole corn(i guess for horses), but is this something i can put out for deer? instead of always putting salt and mineral blocks out?

also when will the bucks start rubbing the velvet off in NW MO?

Thanks

Corn is not nutritionally sound for deer , but they will eat it . Is baiting legal in Mo. ?

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Baiting is not legal in MO, but i dont have the equipment to make a food plot, so im trying to improve their nutrition any way I can. This area will not be hunted over, but i would like to start seeing some better racks in the future, so im going to try this and other foods.

If your looking to improve nutrition and can' t plant food plots don' t waste your money on corn try fertilizing native browse or mast bearing trees will greatly improve the nutritional value and mineral content of them you wont need any special equipment or a lot of money.

Corn is not going to do a thing for building larger racks. It is low in protein, calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium which are some of the building blocks for large racks. It is high in carbohydrates and can actually cause problems if they eat too much.

Now if you think I' m totally against corn you' re wrong. I do supplement with corn but only in the winter months with around 200lbs per month spread out over a very large area. First off you need to control the deer population to a level that the land can support. If you have more deer than you have available quality food sources your deer will never develope large racks. There body always takes precedence over antler growth. Second, food plots are the best way to increase the health of the heard. You don' t have to have thousands of dollars worth of farming equipment although it would be nice. I' ve done all my food plots with an atv, a small garden tractor type disc, and tools that most everybody has around the house. It takes a lot of work but when you see how much it has improved your hunting it is well worth it.

I don' t see corn as a bad thing but it is not a quick fix for your problem. It will take at least 2 to 3 years to really begin to see a change with the steps I' ve listed above. If you do decide to try a food plot make sure you take all the proper steps. There is a lot more to it than throwing seeds on the ground and hoping it will grow. God knows I' ve spent tons of money doing it the wrong way. If you need any help you' re already at the best place I know of to get it.

As the others have already stated...corn is not going to do anything for the nutrition of your heard. I highly, highly reccommend using antlerking' s deer& elk pellets..I have seen this stuff grow some real monsters.. Talk about the nutritional needs..I don' t understand just how this stuff can help out so much. Anterking puts out a variety of products, and if you dont want to plant food plots, you can use the granular, or, like I said pelleted products. You can check this stuff out at

http://www.antlerking.com

Now honestly, normally I wouldnt put my rep. out on a limb for anything...but.. just check out some of the testomonials on this site. I have personally used this stuff... and these deer love it...they claim a bag last a whole month or so, but round here, its gone after a few weeks.

Also, if you really want to go cheap, you can use horse feed. Or there is a product that is put out by evolved habbitat called ' Rack Up" I' ve used it a few times as well, but not enough to tell if it helps or not---you can find this in the Bass pro catolog, or Cabella' s, or when it gets closer to fall, you can generally find it in your sporting goods section of Walmart!! Hope I' ve managed to help alittle in all my rambling
Good Luck,
Larry

p.s.---baiting isn' t legal here, but if the stuff is removed for a week(im pretty sure its a week) prior to hunting, it is perfectly legal in West Virginia.Also I hunt in a diffrent area from where I put it out, But in the same vicenity. In alot of states if the bait isn' t " in sight" of the stand it is legal. What I ussaully do is put the antlerking out right after the season, then just not put anymore out after early-mid August, which is around when I usually see the velvet come off. And the season starts in mid. October, which works out perfect!!

It is possible to plant food plots without a lot of equipment. Here is a link for an order form for a book that describes how to plant no-till food plots.

http://members.tripod.com/~mmbqdm/PD...orderflyer.pdf

I agree with the others, corn will not make big racks. Shoot does if you are able. Reducing the competion for the best browse will do more for you than corn will.