Feeding Deer!

[MoBuckChaser]

deleted

 

[West Branch]

Just had another 1,400lbs of corn go out the door today to a guy by Cromwell. Seems like a lot of people are feeding early this year, and a lot more. How many of you guys have started feeding? Or do you feed at all? We left corn and beans stand again this year, and the beans have bean gone for a month.

We have talked about it but have not wanted to make the $ and time commitment. That guy would be from my area, a few miles north anyways. I know of two different guys that were feeding 30+ deer each last winter. Deer do yard up a bit in that area.

 

[biglakeba$$]

I feed at home just for fun.

I have 6 acres of corn and beans up north. the deer are on their own up there.

 

[MNAaron]

Our neighbor is feeding them. More of a recreational thing since he likes to watch deer and track the herd health throughout the winter and since there is lots of browse available yet.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

The deer at my farm ate 7 acres of good beans and 3 plus acres of corn and 1/3 an acre of good sugar beets by Jan 1st. I have to not been up there in 6 weeks, but my guess there is nothing left. Nice to see them have a good winter for a change. I feed them in my yard and the most I have seen is 7. However unlike the past, they don't get unlimited feed. 1 Pail a day and its first come first served. Amazing how on schedule they are every day.

 

[sandbur]

I see no reason to feed where I live for this year. There is still some standing corn. The beets and turnips have not been touched. I could even find corn from almost three years ago.

 

[Brush Creek]

I feed at home in Dakota County just for fun. Usually go through 3000 pounds a winter. Will cost me about $225 this year. Sounds like a lot but it is 85% of a five gallon pail per night and it is usually split between 7-15 deer. I figure a few extra calories per day all winter might make a couple more survivors and an extra ounce per fawn at birth.

The deer in Kansas have to fend for themselves.

 

[scott44]

No feeding here for one thing it is illegal here in MI to feed other than recreational and that's 100yds from the house and it's 2gal.

 

[Kansas-andres]

I usually drop about 10-15 mature poplars for the deer to nip on. last winter my " cut poplar camera "had 800 pictures in a week.

 

[ruskbucks]

I don't feed and wish there was a feeding ban over the whole state. I believe it causes more harm than it does good. My neighbor down the road told me he put out 6 round bales to "help the deer". He found 6 dead deer in his field. The deer starved to death even know their stomachs were full of hay. There are hundreds of acres of browse, including a clear cut of 5 year old aspen next to this. Deer are lazy, they will just lay next to the field and eat the hay instead of going out to browse. I know someone who feeds deer corn in back of there house. There are a dozen does, that just wait there for the two gallons of corn they put out daily. Is this enough food for the dozen deer that fight over it daily? Would'nt it be better that they find a corn field/ food plot they could eat enough to fill their stomachs and when the field was picked over they will move to the next, instead of relying on people to feed them. That's why they say once you start feeding them you can't stop or they will starve.

 

[tooln]

I don't feed as deer don't yard up for the winter real near me. Very seldom do I see a track during the winter even though I do have plenty in the plot for them. I'm working to improve the habitat to get them to visit more during the winter.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I don't feed and wish there was a feeding ban over the whole state. I believe it causes more harm than it does good. My neighbor down the road told me he put out 6 round bales to "help the deer". He found 6 dead deer in his field. The deer starved to death even know their stomachs were full of hay. There are hundreds of acres of browse, including a clear cut of 5 year old aspen next to this. Deer are lazy, they will just lay next to the field and eat the hay instead of going out to browse. I know someone who feeds deer corn in back of there house. There are a dozen does, that just wait there for the two gallons of corn they put out daily. Is this enough food for the dozen deer that fight over it daily? Would'nt it be better that they find a corn field/ food plot they could eat enough to fill their stomachs and when the field was picked over they will move to the next, instead of relying on people to feed them. That's why they say once you start feeding them you can't stop or they will starve.

Feeding deer is perfectly legal here in PA, but the Game Commission seems to discourage (from talking to WCO's/LMO's and the biologists) feeding deer grains (corn, sweet feed, etc) during the winter months. the reasoning that i have heard is that deer have specific bacteria in their rumen that are required for digesting specific types of food. they say that over the fall months the bacteria content begins to change to predominately bacteria used for digesting woody browse. apparently this change over takes several weeks or even months to fully take place. they say that deer don't have enough of the specific bacteria needed to digest grains over the winter so therefore they can die of starvation with a stomach full of corn or other grains. This all makes sense if we are talking only about deer that live in heavily forested areas without any agriculture. this is why they say that if you start feeding them grains you have to continue it so that the bacteria content can change to accomodate the diet. I haven't really had the chance to really discuss this with any of the biologists though because this doesnt seem to be accurate for deer in agricultural areas.

I have about 40-50 acres of standing corn around my neighborhood this year....and the deer are in those fields heavily. I generally depend on my food plot for keeping deer using my property through the winter, but it isnt their primary food source. The ag fields up the hill almost always have some corn left standing. But if i run out of food for them in the plot i will through down some corn just to keep them coming. even if i still have food in the plots i will use corn to get them in front of my camera to keep an eye on shedding and inventory the deer that made it through hunting season.

 

[dipper]

I talked to my neighbor who had 40 acres of beans standing a half mile from me. He said there is 100 deer out there. I've driven past there and seen 40, and I know people like to overestimate. We also had hundreds of acres of corn that just got picked last week so the deer will be fine. They are also currently in the alfalfa fields so things are great this year.

 

[SD51555]

Our whole habitat program revolves around native winter forage and thermal cover. We're a long way from done, but that's why we planted 300 RO Dogwood this year. I have quite a bit of sunlight to acquire in the near future, but I'm banking those trees until another time comes around that they really need to come down for their primary purpose as well as late fall chow.