Winter Feed

Mitch123

Active Member
Winter time is right around the corner as some models have us getting a pile of snow here on Sunday. With that being said I want to get some opinions on winter supplemental feed. 5 years ago we made some clear cuts, with the cover and browse this created I still believe this was one of the best things we ever did. We also have food plots, clover everywhere, some oats and rye and an acre of turnips although they have already been mowed to the ground. In late February/March we normally fill up our corn cribs with some picked corn from a local farmer just to give the deer a little something towards the end winter.
There are two protein feeds that I’m curious about on the market. Big Tine makes a protein plus feed and this year Mossy Oak came out with a Full Draw BCP bag I believe it’s called. I’m curious if anyone uses either of these, if anyone makes their own mix or if anyone uses something else! I’d like to fill some feeders with some of this and run at a few places just for that extra boost for the herd.
 
Mix in some whole roasted soybean and black sunflower seeds in with your corn if you can get it at your local feed store. Both are good for protein.And sometimes I have them put 12% protein pellets in also
 
If you feed straight corn the deer will just gobble it down without getting the nutrients they need. If you feed a lot the fancy mixes it will get costly. I buy 100lb bags of shelled corn and oats at the local feed mill and mix them by pouring a part bag of each into the feeder. Then I set a 50 lb. $7 tractor supply mineral block beside the feeder for minerals.
 
Here we are not allowed to supplemental "feed" the deer in the winter or actually at all so we schedule our annual dropping poplar trees here and there for mid winter. We also "feed"with 30 to 35 acres of winter wheat/rye fields. Feeding corn here starting in late February/March and not before is said to not help the deer at all; actually it helps to starve them here according to the scientific community. Their stomachs/rumen at that time are not setup to digest corn then since they likely wouldn't have been eating corn for a long while unless they have a standing corn field or someone else feeding corn that keeps them in corn through out the fall and winter. In your area they maybe eat corn all fall and thru mid-winter and if so then beginning supplemental feeding in late February/March would thus not be the problem it is said to be here.

In our case here dropping poplar trees in mid winter is giving them more browse which they likely have been eating all fall and winter as well as the rye and winter wheat so they digest it well. Our weather patterns, laws, are all so different from each other and thus so are our prescriptions/solutions to winter feeding deer.
 
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If one is going to feed corn it is much more digestible/nutrition accessible if it is rolled/ground prior. The deer can't really break down the kernels very well, cattlemen do this as the cows get so much more from the corn this way.Also, as has been pointed out if one is located where corn is grown for ag purposes the deer have been eating it already and have developed rumen bacteria to aid in digestion so it will be utilized when they eat it. IF not in a corn production area the deer really don't get much good from it and in some cases it can be deadly.

Dropping trees they'll browse like Chainsaw, is a great way to supplement their diet in lean times. Put cameras on them to see them in action.
 
They must get something from corn because I feed 1000 lbs a week on our 90 acres and they eat it all...I killed my heaviest corn fed buck ever this fall as well...absolutely no mast soft or hard this year and the plot is pretty well wiped and I have 4 spin feeders feeding 6 times each and a stand alone 4 port on demand feeder that holds 300 lbs and right now is lasting 2.5 days...some of the bucks are rutted down but all in all the herd is doing great!
 
Good for you Okie, if your feeding it year round they have developed the gut flora to get good out of the corn, if you have it ground or rolled they will get more out of it. Basically its more efficient in the long run. Those that just feed it in the winter and don't have ag fields of it around them to have developed the gut flora really aren't doing much for the deer. Keep doing what you're doing, it seems to be working.
 
Good for you Okie, if your feeding it year round they have developed the gut flora to get good out of the corn, if you have it ground or rolled they will get more out of it. Basically its more efficient in the long run. Those that just feed it in the winter and don't have ag fields of it around them to have developed the gut flora really aren't doing much for the deer. Keep doing what you're doing, it seems to be working.
I do feed year round so the deer are very accustomed to it...so much that I don’t want to stop because it may cause harm...
 
They must get something from corn because I feed 1000 lbs a week on our 90 acres and they eat it all...I killed my heaviest corn fed buck ever this fall as well...absolutely no mast soft or hard this year and the plot is pretty well wiped and I have 4 spin feeders feeding 6 times each and a stand alone 4 port on demand feeder that holds 300 lbs and right now is lasting 2.5 days...some of the bucks are rutted down but all in all the herd is doing great!
Daum!
 
They must get something from corn because I feed 1000 lbs a week on our 90 acres and they eat it all...I killed my heaviest corn fed buck ever this fall as well...absolutely no mast soft or hard this year and the plot is pretty well wiped and I have 4 spin feeders feeding 6 times each and a stand alone 4 port on demand feeder that holds 300 lbs and right now is lasting 2.5 days...some of the bucks are rutted down but all in all the herd is doing great!


That’s amazing Okie!
 
They must get something from corn because I feed 1000 lbs a week on our 90 acres and they eat it all...I killed my heaviest corn fed buck ever this fall as well...absolutely no mast soft or hard this year and the plot is pretty well wiped and I have 4 spin feeders feeding 6 times each and a stand alone 4 port on demand feeder that holds 300 lbs and right now is lasting 2.5 days...some of the bucks are rutted down but all in all the herd is doing great!
That would get cost prohibitive real quick!!!! I bet you have some raccoons.
 
I doubt seriously there's many places in the south where deer don't have the necessary bacteria in their gut for corn---even where it isn't grown considering how much of it that gets put out in hunting season. LOL
 
tractor supply goat blocks. 33lbs, $13. Itll take a little bit for them to get used to it but once they do theyre on it a lot. I believe 18% protein.
 
Anything you guys feed that doesn't attract birds? I seldom put out corn but when I do it's covered in crows, bluejays, and blackbirds the entire day. A 50lb bag of corn can disappear in a day without a single deer taking a bite.
 
Anything you guys feed that doesn't attract birds? I seldom put out corn but when I do it's covered in crows, bluejays, and blackbirds the entire day. A 50lb bag of corn can disappear in a day without a single deer taking a bite.
I've got crows bad at my water hole. I had a trail cam load up with hundreds of crow pics when it got dry in August. It was so bad, I pulled the camera in.

Maybe try moving the corn into very deep brush so those crows have to walk in there. Then maybe the yotes or fox may start cleaning them up if they go under the canopy.
 
They must get something from corn because I feed 1000 lbs a week on our 90 acres
Is your native habitat holding up to having that many deer around? We don't feed corn where we are, but when we used to get a good crop of brassica, the deer would annihilate our native vegetation around the plot and on the trails to and from.
 
Anything you guys feed that doesn't attract birds? I seldom put out corn but when I do it's covered in crows, bluejays, and blackbirds the entire day. A 50lb bag of corn can disappear in a day without a single deer taking a bite.

Sugar beets are what you’re looking for. Good value, good nutrition, lasts longer than corn
 
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