The properties around the property I hunt have plenty of winter wheat for the number of deer in the area. Can the deer get through the winter on the wheat or do they require additional nutrients?

Deer dont care much for small grains like wheat, barley, I suppose if they got hungry enough they will eat some of it, but as a rule they never bother ours.

The deer hit the wheat pretty hard during the winter around our property. I've seen them on adjacent wheat pastures and have family which hunt wheat pastures (during the season, of course).

I'm just curious if it has the nutritional value they need. I guess the deer know what's good for them.

Hi Elkhair -

Deer can survive the winter on Winter Wheat - No Doubt - as long as they can get to it.

Its low in protein - but relatively high (compared to browse) in carbohydrates - so its a good choice in the fall. Unfortunately in most areas where its grown - the deer will eat it down to the ground pretty quick come winter - if the snow doesn't cover it. It'll come back in the spring - but since its dormant in the winter - usually it only lasts as long as the deer can get to it - ot until its not worth the effort to eat it so close to the ground.

Come late march - it tends to "green up" quicker than most native browse/forbs - and can offer some welcome food come April. However - as soon as native plants "green up" - they will turn off winter wheat for the rest of the year. Side-by-side - clover or alfalfa will usually get more use in the spring than winter wheat.

My opinion is that winter wheat is a good attraction plot - for hunting, and a good nurse crop for a fall planted clover field. I actually like Rye a little better - but thats just me.

Yes FH...

winter wheat provides between 15-20% protein. What I would like to know is how many acres of winter wheat would we need to plant to last a herd of 100 deer thru the winter. Thanks, Pike

A lot... Almost impractical, cheaper and less hassle to buy bags of the stuff. We are now advising clients to do the winter thing until a green up, or get a quality vit/min... We have many folks that want to view in suburban areas. The Carbs will assist the deer with the needed energy. Another thing is water. A cheap heater and a tub of running water will do a heap of good.

lunckbucket, please explain about buying bags of the stuff? If you meen by buying bags of feed and putting it out, it wouldnt be cheaper & less hassle because we would have to drive 5 hours each way each time we wanted to put the feed out. We also have a fast running creek that runs thru the middle of the property that doesnt freeze over so we wouldnt need the heated tub of water. Do you think 25 acres of winter wheat would do the job? or would we need more? Thanks, Pike

JP, considering your driving to the tip of South America to hunt, a 25 acre field of Winter Wheat might be much more economical for you. Dehydration is a problem for deer during the hard freeze of Jan., Feb., and early Mar.
Do you have any fields of a high quality clover or alfalfa? Jow big are the fields? Getting the deer on line before the rut is a major acheivement and kinda short circuits the need for the winter feeding. Also making sure you have a vit/min supplement out for the early spring/green up is a big help. Try to stay below 15% in the salt range. NO SALT BLOCKS!!! I don't acre what the man at the evelator says... Good luck and stay in touch.

We farm around 1500 acres in saskatchewan mainly wheat, barley, oats and canola. Now last year we had a real wet fall and were unable to get our crops all harvsted. We had 2 quarters of barley and 1 of wheat left out in the field when the snow came. Now in the spring time when we went to check the crop damage it was unbelievable it looked flat like a highway. There is no way we could have even picked the swath up and what was salvagable had deer turds in it. As a result the 3 quarters were wrote off 100% and we were compensated through wildlife damage. That spring when i was working the wheat crop into the ground i picked up 18 whitetail sheds just off of 1 quater of land. So for the previous comment that deer don't like wheat and barley this is not always the case.