Deer supplements

[Shooter850]

I hunt in north Florida and I have always feed deer corn during season but after season I stopped. This year I am going to feed year long and wanted to know what minerals and proteins y'all suggest and how much and when y'all start implementing the supplements. Thanks for the advice.

 

[snox801]

I've always stayed steady with corn for a big chunk of feeding. I do mineral blocks all year. They need it after rut and during spring and summer to build horns.
During the spring and early summer I supplement with Purrina protein to build horns. Also doesn't hurt to do a mineral block with deworming in it. Worms are very common and rob nutrition from the deer.

 

[J E Custom]

During the fall and rut deer need carbohydrates (fat) for the cold weather and for does with fawns. During warmer months deer will typically stop eating corn and switch to browsing to get more protein and vitamins. We start substituting corn for protein pellets and alfalfa during this time. Acorns are also a good springtime food if you have them and are managing your deer heard. We pick them up in the fall and freeze them to use during the spring and summer.

Some switch to soy beans or peas, but any kind of green vegetables will work. You really don't want to feed to much corn during these months because it is not what they need and they will go for the easy meal instead of natural food/browse that will produce good antlers and healthy bodies.

We limit the amount of corn even during the cold weather because there is a medical issue that is brought on buy feeding nothing but lots of corn and it can bring on a disease called pellagra. (Lack of many vitamins that they need, And this can kill many deer.

J E CUSTOM

 

[tim_w]

Outside season i.e. a 2:2:1 combo of roasted soybean : cottonseed : corn But you can sub other higher protein items if you like peas etc. We don't always add corn sometimes we switch it out as well.

During antler growing we add plenty of mineral supplement into the feed mix. We always leave mineral blocks out. We work to keep doe to buck ratio lower when harvesting. We tend on the buck side to only take the oldest and the management ones that have bad racks small for age. Mainly take does as we are building the bucks up.

We have noticed over the last three years when we started this management protocol over all size and health has increased noticeably and a huge jump in buck size quality. Rack quality is significantly increased.

IMO corn is lousy by itself except for baiting if your into that kind of harvesting.

Plant some plots of oats clove soybean, alphalfa. (great for turkey as well) Give them some good thick brush spots by dropping trees to bed down. Open some of the woods to allow browsing vegitation. We have a ton of oak stands so end of fall early winter they have all the acorns they can eat. Makes for great squirrel hunting too. Issue we have here in VA Shenandoah Valley area is the yote population is increasing dramatically and they are not the typical ones I'm use to from our families place in TX they are freaking big and much more bold in terms of how close they get to humans. Taking small dogs all over the place. Took one in toe trap that weighed in at 67lbs. I am almost 100% these must have come down from up North and have some wolf and probably some domestic in there. Just too big to be anything else.

The number one issue is property owners around us work on the if it's a deer shoot it protocol. They do not care young old doe buck. They just shoot them all and as many as they can. Lots of effort on our part goes into keeping them on the property especially in season. We have plenty of deer numbers for the area but that kind of indiscriminate harvesting makes for poor over all quality IMO compared to what it can be. Low buck to doe ratio as well because everyone wants to shoot the best bucks that you really want for breeding.

 

[Shooter850]

Thanks for the responses! I think I am going to switch my feeders over to protein pellets in the spring and add a couple of Mineral sites as well. I might try and do a small food plot with soybean as well. I think the best management though will letting the bucks become older and more mature.

 

[Donnie Spradling]

I use 20% corn 40% soybeans 20% protein pellets and 20% minerals. I have 3 of the brown salt blocks that have minerals in them. We also have a local company who makes a high protein feed mix and we use that also.

 

[stx]

We feed Protein and Cottonseed year round.....Cottonseed is a "Game Changer"!!

 

[Donnie Spradling]

We feed Protein and Cottonseed year round.....Cottonseed is a "Game Changer"!!

I would love to try it but I cant find it around here in West Virginia

 

[stx]

I would love to try it but I cant find it around here in West Virginia

I killed a buck last season that only ate cottonseed....no protein (we knew this from game cameras) and put on nearly 40" between ages 5.5 and 6.5.

 

[Donnie Spradling]

I killed a buck last season that only ate cottonseed....no protein (we knew this from game cameras) and put on nearly 40" between ages 5.5 and 6.5.

Yea I have seen some great results and would love to get some just cant find any

 

[PBramble]

Corn most of the year but I switch to a mix of 15-18 percent protein cattle feed with corn during the late season and increase the feed over the spring. I'll lean out the feed and go back to straight corn by hunting season.

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

I killed a buck last season that only ate cottonseed....no protein (we knew this from game cameras) and put on nearly 40" between ages 5.5 and 6.5.
View attachment 167644 View attachment 167645

Cottonseed is a protein source. Sure, it has lots of energy, but it's 23% protein.

 

[stx]

Cottonseed is a protein source. Sure, it has lots of energy, but it's 23% protein.

Absolutely, it's a protein source! I'm talking about protein pellets in bulk protein feeders. Lots of our deer leave the pellets alone and eat only cottonseed! We feed it in wire rings.....3-5 rings per feed pen....that way all the deer get to eat!

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

Absolutely, it's a protein source! I'm talking about protein pellets in bulk protein feeders. Lots of our deer leave the pellets alone and eat only cottonseed! We feed it in wire rings.....3-5 rings per feed pen....that way all the deer get to eat!
View attachment 167671

That's a great plan. I've tried that, but my cows know what cottonseed is and they tear down the deer pen to get to it.