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02-27-2002, 07:00 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Toronto Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,796
RE: Sweet Potatoes...what do they offer
I recently read a book (Whitetails: Natures Wild Spirits) that gave some interesting info on feeding. Deer are ruminants (cud chewers) so they need to develop microbes in their digestive systems to be able to break down foods. Deer need a few weeks of gradual exposure to a new food to allow time to develop the micro-organisms that they need to digest the food. According to the author whitetails can starve to death with full stomachs of corn if too much is given all at once when other food sources aren't available.
This may not matter if you are occasionally putting out small piles to hunt over, but if you want to increase antler mass and help the deer survive the winter it is imperative that you begin feeding early in the fall and continue to feed on a regular basis.
This may not matter if you are occasionally putting out small piles to hunt over, but if you want to increase antler mass and help the deer survive the winter it is imperative that you begin feeding early in the fall and continue to feed on a regular basis.
