answerguy

That and go inside when it's cold out. How deer can survive out in the elements is beyond me.

todd a smith

purina deer chow...buck ola...those are good choses. they cost a little more, but they provide protein and the vitamins deer will need. does need alot of vitamins during the gestation period.

farm hunter

Don't bail your clover for the deer - It'll probably rot before the deer eat it. If you have the resources to do it - You might better sell the bales to a local farmer and use the money to plant a winter plot as well (corn, winter wheat, and or Rye).

Deer will not eat baled clover. - they will debark the small trees first.

I can appreciate your desire to help the local herd in the winter months. We plant corn for this reason - and leave it standing. I'm fairly sure we've helped a few deer survive the last few winters with 4-6 acres of standing corn - there's never any left!

Better yet - our young tree growth has rebounded quite well - and many areas that were"open woods" before, are now lush with undergrowth!

wihunter32

just clear cut a few acres every winter. especially if you have some nice poplar/aspen stands

1. the deer will eat off the tips of the freshly cut tree tops
2. the following winters, deer will have a significant amount of new growth to browse on

Derag2

im gonna go against the grain and say feed hay, My boss owns alot of ground and every winter we put out hay bales from them to eat.... 3rd CUTTING only, anything else and they won't eat it, They only eat it once the snow flys, this year so far we've put out 12 bales and later this winter were gonna be dumping more, he also has a dozen or so food plots for the fall.............

Dufus1964

Any forage that is cut and dried and kept for feeding later is hay. Deer don't eat hay. When a plant is mature enough for hay, the fiber content is too high for deer to utilize it. Deer need high protien not high fiber. All plants convert to higher fiber content as they mature. Some of the commercial deer seed companies have products that will grow in winter, even under snow covered fields, just be sure to use seed developed for deer, not livestock. Plant and storecorn, oats &wheat for sillage, construct several feeding stations away from stand sites and pour the feed to them, you should increase the population on your property. If you can afford it, there are many companies that make deer chow, comes in a bag like dog food, that is formulated especially for whitetails. Plant corn, soybeans, wheat and oats and let these fields stand in winter, do not harvest, deer will use these fields after the clover is gone.