Supplemental Feeding

[DocHolladay]

I feed record rack berry flavored and after trying many different ones this is one of their favorites.But even it has slowed down during the hot summer months when I wish they would really eat it.

I almost wish I had a bowl and some milk every time we open a bag. Doesn't taste to bad, but I wouldn't eat it on the regular.

 

[Crooked Crow]

my opinion is that the feeding and plots and the like is causing the deer to stay or even draw more deer to you once those ag crops are harvested. This means that those deer will stay until the lack of food forces them to move....and some still may not move. If the habitat needs a break then you have to intentionally alter the forces at play on it. Plots and supplemental feed only make up a part of a deers diet, so the rest has to come from somewhere.... You say you can't kill more deer and you can't do more improvements, so the only thing left is to cause the deer to move away on their own.....that means you have to remove one of the primary habitat needs and in this case it sounds like removing the food may be the easiest. If you can get more hunters that will help, and decreasing the sense of safety during the fall and winter would help as well, but those may be far more difficult to do. I would suggest protecting as much browse as you can as well, and if at all possible doing whatever you can to increase the level of browse....either thru planting or the use of a chainsaw.

The lowest hole in the habitat bucket determines the habitats carrying capacity.....you need to intentionally put a lower/bigger or more hole in the bucket it sounds like!

Very good points... j-bird.

 

[Crooked Crow]

I feed record rack berry flavored and after trying many different ones this is one of their favorites.But even it has slowed down during the hot summer months when I wish they would really eat it.

Crooked Crow tried... Record Rack berry. Deer liked it, but the masked bandits that travel under the cover of darkness liked it much more. I've fought the raccoon problem with corn and protein pellets, but never saw the likes when I put out the Record Rack berry.

 

[Baker]

Non target specie waste can be 30-40% or more if you don't coon proof your feeders regardless of type of protein or corn. I speak from experience.

 

[jerseyguy]

In the North (at least Northern New York), it is not only illegal to feed, it is strongly discouraged by biologists.
See here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7205.html for a good short read.
I listened to a couple discussions of biologists at Cornell discuss how winter feeding to deer of grains actually causes more damage than good. The discussion was based around their digestive bacteria, which changeover greatly from summer to winter. The stomach bacteria of summer are designed for digesting greens, while those of winter are designed for digesting more woody material.

The story they told went:
By feeding corn and grains in winter, you are providing a food source to the deer which they cannot properly digest. They will eat it, a LOT, but get little nutritional benefit. Feeding consistently will actually cause their stomach bacteria to switch back to their "summer mix". This is supposedly about a 2 week period where they get very little nutritional benefit regardless of what they eat. Then if you stop feeding, they again go through a 2 week period to readjust back to woody browse. Starting/stopping once or more over a winter can actually cause deer to starve to death, despite the fact that they are eating.

The general recommendation is NOT to feed supplemental at all. But, if you do or you must, you should have a plan to feed enough and NEVER stop throughout the winter. Obviously this can be difficult, both logistically and expensive.

I'd love to hear from a biologist on here to discuss this with us. It was an eye opener for me, and I had never seen it discussed on the QDMA forums. Perhaps it does not apply in more moderate winter areas. I'm not an expert by any means, but was very intrigued by what I heard.

 

[davidhelmly]

I think it CAN make a difference if you can do it on a large enough scale…..have the $$$ to do it…..and plan on doing it long term. The effects of feeding deer like that aren’t truly shown until the second and third generations.

I agree with Crimson totally, this will be our 10th year feeding protein to our herd for about 8 months out of the year because you can't hunt over bait in our portion of the state and the body weights on our bucks and does as well as antler size is up considerably from what they were when I leased the property. Pouring out some corn to shoot a deer and feeding protein long term are 2 completely different things.

 

[cutman]

These guys are pretty happy with their protein!

 

[dgallow]

Supplemental feeding is the least efficient option for dealing with overpopulation. I go back to my second question and note that it is best to have a herd mgt. under control before implementing pellets. The most efficient method for dealing with overpopulation is to buy more bullets. Second would be to make significant improvements in the habitat including expansion of food plots. Either reduce the herd or increase carrying capacity.

As you have noticed supplemental feeding will improve fawn recruitment which seems to be counter to the outcome you need now.

Do both at the same time IMO....it can take years before high quality preferred native plants become established sufficiently to provide the necessary tonnage to support a healthy herd....that is hard to do when they constantly get nipped before establishment and proliferation. In most cases, tonnage of high quality forage is the herd nutritional limitation....the effect being magnified under too high deer density.

Coyote, bobcat, and bear do a nice job of keeping fawn recruitment at a manageable level, but often lag behind a prey population increase.

Also, one cannot ignore the impact which short to moderate term (3-15 yr) annual rainfall pattern has on recruitment and herd numbers. Deer populations can double or triple in 8 years of above long term average rainfall....even in marginal habitat.

 

[Brokenbear]

Purina Antler-Max weather Guard 20 ...flows well in our spinner type feeders ...50/50 mix w/corn ...+last winter was first year of a 3 year trial with 3 feeders on 220AC mostly hardwoods ...(we leave 4 AC standing corn and 3AC clover/brassicas) ...The A-Max with Weather Guard does not draw moisture in the feeder and on the ground it remains sealed far far better than regular protein pellets ...but since the deer love it it doesn't have to stay sealed all that long ...cost is a bit higher than some pellets BUT zero waste

I know it is hard to attribute this to only one year of a 3 year program but this years season saw us looking at many many more good bucks with far better antlers than in the past ...body size also much improved to the point that body SHAPE had to become our shooter criteria and not size ...the offset to this though was a very strange rut season ...never saw a doe running winded or a buck choo-chooing right on her butt as normal ...a very laid back long enduring rut where the buck were just not killing themselves like usual ....yes I know some will want to call "bull" ...but it is an accurate description ...this year also the earliest I ever saw bucks quietly following ...not dogging does

We start feeding Jan 1 and cease upon the green-up of spring browse

MeryCHRISTmas

Bear

 

[Hookinembig]

Bear so the only time you are actually feeding the protein is from Jan 1 to April or so? Do you have any plots, if so how many acres? We are in the process of doing a trial as well. Also how much are you putting out per feeder each week? Type of feeders and setttings you are using.

Thanks
Hookinembig

 

[Brokenbear]

Bear so the only time you are actually feeding the protein is from Jan 1 to April or so? Do you have any plots, if so how many acres? We are in the process of doing a trial as well. Also how much are you putting out per feeder each week? Type of feeders and setttings you are using.

Thanks
Hookinembig

220 AC ...hardwood hills 75+% ..25% creek bottoms
3 55gal tripods spin feeders running full open.... our deer would not acclimate to gravity feeders...go figure???
refill {at not quite empty} every 2.5 weeks
plots 4AC standing corn, 3AC standing beans , 1AC clover, 1AC clover,1AC brassicas
5 plots of standing food 10 AC total plus.... 10AC picked corn and 10AC picked beans
Rest area on one end 15 AC CRP ...other end 8AC hinge cut woods ...center of farm we do timber burn every 5 years

I winter in the south so my Nephew does the feed routine ...I think it is 3 bags corn/3 bags antler-Max/ per feeder/every 2.5 weeks
so per month 9 corn at $4=$36 .....9 antler max at $14=$126 ...$126+$36=$162 ...$162 X 4 months = $648

Some nay-sayers will expound upon use the feeding $$ for habitat/plot improvement and or creation ....However I have yet to find definitive
proof of any such investment that will carry deer thru those very tuff months like grain and protein will provide ...plus it's availability is never covered with snow ...but worse in our area is severe ice storms that encase everything standing or laying ...sometime a week or two at a time ...true they can paw thru some snow but heavy ice ...Nada

Bear

 

[Jack Terpack]

I feed Antler Max from the end of the rut, about this time, until green up in the spring. I want to help the bucks recover and the does to have healthy fawns. I use a gravity feeder and 4 bags of AM every 3 weeks. I do not have a large herd here at home, but they have improved in weight and development over the years. I decreased my usage of AM when I put guards on the legs of the feeder to keep out the raccoons.

 

[possum]

This was my first year feeding deer. I started off doing it just to help does nurse and help fawns put on weight quickly. Started out with three feeders on my 78 acres. One 200 lb gravity feeder, one trough feeder that holds 50lbs and one 5 gal spin feeder. Since september I've dropped to only the tripod gravity and the trough feeder. I was not expecting deer to eat so much. I have always done a 50/50 mix of protein and corn. The 200 lb feeder gets emptied in less than 2 weeks and the trough in about 1 week. I put 1500+ lbs in Oct and Nov alone.

 

[dgallow]

Kind of an interesting contrast in main points:

1) Deer historically adapted to put on fall body fat as an inexpensive form of 'winter supplementation' well before any 'conservation plan' was implemented! Those individuals which do so survived winter....those who didn't fed other species of animals. DEER DO NOT NEED SUPPLEMENTATION OR PLOTS TO SURVIVE WINTER!

2) Modern biology discounts the fact that thousands of deer have adapted to live a healthy life in the mid-west with practically year round access to ag grain (at least through most of winter). DEER IN NON-TRADITIONAL AG AREAS CAN ADAPT TO A SUPPLEMENTATION AND PLOT PROGRAM DURING WINTER!

3) The most economical management path for wildlife is native habitat regeneration and herd density adjustment....$$/ac or $$ per deer.....you chose! Doesn't the real question boil down to 'how much disposable income can we afford to throw out for wildlife'?

The hunting industry and the ag industry have one major thing in common.....both are very over-capitalized animal industries spear-headed by 'leading scientists and associated industry sponsors'!

Hey....just enjoy the routes of management you choose, the tools on offer, and the animals you harvest!