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Supplemental Feeds

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Double Tap

Yearling... With promise
curious who here supplemental feeds their deer through the rough winters when quality browse is scarce into fawning season & velvet stage. What have you been feeding and what are the results looking like?

I've tried corn/purina antlermax 20 and the deer hardly touch the purina pellets...
I also tried some calf starter alfalfa pellets from Tractor Supply and the deer absolutely wore it out. It was much cheaper than the purina with almost the same nutrient content for 1/4 of the price.

Just trying to gauge what works/is priced best!
 
I’ve mixed corn and big and j the deer ate it for sure but I’d like to find something else to try the corn and bb2 kept deer here all winter


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If it was legal in WI, I would buy several large bales of alfalfa from a local farmer who could deliver them and distribute them through out my property. I believe the deer would love that kind of food in the winter. Keep the food close to the areas where the deer yard up for the winter. That way, they expend the least amount of energy getting to the food source. The powers that be in WI have determined that this is illegal. Go figure.
 
I have in the past, in a couple of the bad winters, laid down a couple alfalfa bales for the deer, they for sure ate it, but I wouldnt do it unless I knew they were hurting. Because other then the deer enjoying the fine nutrients, the wolves found it to be a place for easy pickings.
 
Makes sense to avoid wolf predation up there, fortunately we have light-moderate coyote populations here depending on the area. Besides that no real predators.. BUT our soils cannot provide near the quality nutrients compared to the Midwest so guys down here really have begun relying on supplemental feeding programs to help the deer herd. Especially in the winter months. These programs seem to benefit the deer substantially, depending on how extensive their feed program is.
 
Don't forget, the more you concentrate deer on your properties during the winter months the more browse you will see on any young/recently planted trees and shrubs.
 
I don't feed but will sometimes cut trees down to provide browse.
 
Here's my 2 cents based on some observations up here in the Northeast. It may not apply to you at all. You haven't mentioned where you are except "guys down here." I personally wouldn't feed supplementally unless done correctly. Introducing feed like pellets or corn suddenly when deer have not been feeding on it can cause some serious problems in their stomachs. I do a lot of tracking in December and invariably I find dead deer (or partial carcasses) in which the stomach is impacted with huge masses of undigested corn or hay or protein pellets. Most of the deer I find are fawns or younger deer. A lot of guys bait here in Mass. though it's illegal. I think they are just killing deer. Again, this is just my gut feeling about throwing out corn or other feed to deer that have not been feeding on it regularly. The sudden opportunity for a new food source is something behaviorally they can't refuse, but they lack the microorganisms in their gut to adequately deal with that new food. The same thing happens in the spring when they switch from poor quality browse to the lush green up...their stomach is a bit in shock and their pellets are loose and watery. As their gut adjusts to the gradual increase in green forage their scat becomes more solid and normal looking for deer.

If I was going to feed....and that's a big IF....I think it's important to start early, well before winter, and gradually introduce the deer to the food source so they have time to build up the microorganisms in their stomach. Then, it's very important to NOT STOP feeding them until spring green up.

Sorry for that long response. May not apply in all cases. I'm convinced throwing out corn and pellets suddenly where deer have only low quality browse does more harm than good.
 
I have read studies of exactly what natty is talking about. It might be better to drop a tree or two for browse since that’s what they feed on during that time of year in the northern states. I try to provide food through plots in the winter once that’s gone, it’s all about what’s available for browse. I am always praying for warm weather in March and April so they can transition to better forage earlier.
 
chickenlittle said:
I don't feed but will sometimes cut trees down to provide browse.
Click to expand...

I like to do my hinge cutting in mid winter and the deer hit the fresh browse harder than my food plots.
 
I'm in GA and it's legal to feed here. I've been feeding consistently since August and the deer have been browsing the clover plots and hinge cut trees as well. Just wanted to give them as much quality forage as possible.

I've never heard of that Natty, you have any links I'd like to read into it some more
 
Wow that's wild, but I feel like that's more of a Northern thing? Our deer still browse on greens even through January here..

But I've been feeding them for some time now and plan on continuing to do so
 
I think the big thing is regardless of baiting or not, deer need time for their stomaches to adjust. Large quantities of new types of food in a short period of time can hurt them instead of help them. Late spring, summer and fall, this more than likely isn’t going to be an issue because of all the different forages available. If during your stress period, there isn’t enough natural food for them, new foods need to be introduced to them in small enough doses that it doesn’t hurt them. In the north, it’s better to drop more natural browse to them in the winter than it is to start feeding if it wasn’t started earlier in the year.
 
I've also heard about their stomachs needing time to adjust to changing seasonal diets. Below is a link to a podcast regarding creating stump sprouts due to logging and their nutritional value to deer. In short, their study states that (100) 5" diameter maples that were cut down and stump sprouting equal the same protein, but 5x the amount of minerals as soybeans. In the north, this is a very effective way to put food into the woods during the winter. I've embraced this and have my forest management plan clear cutting small areas every 10 years.

https://extension.msstate.edu/deer-...episode-007-mineral-stumps-for-deer-nutrition
 
Double Tap said:
I've never heard of that Natty, you have any links I'd like to read into it some more
Click to expand...

Seems like over the years this is something that I've heard about and researched a little. It's been discussed here and there on forums and in magazine articles etc. It was always something in the back of my mind, but I never really knew if it was true or not. A lot of DNR's advise against feeding deer in the winter (or making it illegal) for many reasons and I was never sure if this one one of them. Then about 16 years ago I bought a house in Western Mass where we have a lot of big Northern woods...but not so "out there" that the place lacks hunters. Over the past 16 years when I am tracking deer during the late muzzleloader season I began noticing 3 things in these remote areas...1) many tree stands with bait of some kind close by (usually corn), 2) old gut piles from shotgun season with corn in the stomach, and 3) as I said, an occasional dead deer or partially eaten deer with all kinds of impacted pellets and corn in the stomach.

Feeding can be done right even in the North. Guys throwing out feed suddenly in large quantities in fall or winter, for whatever reason, is an example of doing it wrong.
 
IMHO, Unless guys are in a northern forest state that actually has a winter severity index, there should be no reason to supplemental the deer herd. That said, suddenly dropping large quantities of carb rich corn to deer in forested areas will kill them as fast as a gut shot. If need be, the best thing to do is drop native browse down to their level. If you feel you need to give them a high calorie food, black oil sunflowers are a much better option than corn. The woody shell will help prevent the carb shock to their system, while the seeds give them the calories they need to survive the extreme conditions.
 
I feed shelled corn year round and keep trace mineral blocks out. Have done it for decades it benifits all kinds of wildlife in the area.
I also plant food plots.... clovers/trefoil/brassicas and chicory. And the apple and pear trees along with nut&berry trees willows and conifers. Our winters normally don’t get real heavy snows and I live in a high ag area.
 
Where legal and if financially able, I still feel supplemental feeding can be an excellent way to stimulate your deer herd. Obviously you must do so responsibly and understand that transmitting diseases, etc. can be issues which is why it's crucial as a land manager must decide whether or not supplemental feed programs are worth it or not.
 
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