Before the big storm hit I was feverishly getting my feeding stations set so the wildlife would have a bit of food to assist them through. Felt good today to run those feed sites and see them tore up....bare dirt.......and both Turkey and Deer track in the snow taking full advantage of the "assist".

A few pics from the day. I use a combo of Alfalfa and whole corn for the deer........and cracked corn for the Turkeys. Put a cam on it too for some great "inventory" pics of what made it through the season.









Be a game manager..........not a couch manager/computer keyboard manager this winter. Do something worthwhile.......give back a bit to the wildlife.

Felt good to get out today Gundude.....LOL!!

Nice Dew!

Nice!!! We do the same thing but I've never thought about Alfalfa. I'll have to look around from some and see what the cost is. As a trapper and someone looking to start a full time predator management company, I'm curious to know if you have a number of coyotes and coons show up to your feed stations? If you don't mind letting me know how many show up it would be much appreciated.

We have Zero Coons show up at these winter feeders. Somewhat a surprise actually. Now we do have coyotes visit the Alfalfa piles at times and get caught on cam taking a pee on them. I have no idea why they do that....but those yotes mark those Alfalfa piles. Then you'll have deer an hour later feeding on the Alfalfa and the Yote Urine doesn't seem to bother them one bit.

Try to get as close to 100% Alfalfa as you can in your bales........the "grassier" the content, the worse the deer hit it. The Alfalfa is what they want.

I do catch several coons at my deer feeding stations in January. Dew, actually, coyote trappers have a set called a "hay set" for coyotes. They will mark something new like a hay pile or pile of corn. But they also visit them because mice, and voles like to get in those piles of hay and grain. You can go right out in the middle of a field, and pile up some hay, and it won't be long and the coyotes will be checking it out.

I've got four acres of standing beans and four acres of turnips. Have a few deer using them, but sure not as many as there should be.

Normally I would be doing the same, but I dont have the access to the property like I used to....Like I said, I treated the land and wildlife better than the owners of the land I lease(ed)....I was super pissed when the son let other guys hunt the place I had exclusive rights to for 17 years and hunt over the food plots I have made for the last 10 of those great years....I wont do squat for the place until or if I get my exclusives lease right back on the place....in the mean time the deer will not live the Life of Riley.... all they have is the frozen clover and the Rape/turnip plots.....

Dispute at the feed pile !!!!!!!

Nice picture.

WOW....Great picture! Up here its rare to see a fox let alone two fighting! h.h.

That was over a bag of sweet feed I dumped out. Had several pictures of deer noseing it, but they flat would not eat it. Birds loved it and it aparently attracted mice because a fox dug in it regularly. That particular night 2 met up and disputed who's pile it was to hunt over!

Nice pic Surveyor4!

feeders are OK but its the Browse that keeps them alive,, Clear cut or edge feather and create the Browse if you really want to help.. feeding is a feel good thing for you not necessarily best for the deer

They doing the foxtrot.....

So corn doesn't help deer stay alive?? Hmm news to me. They must just eat it cuz they're bored. Guess that 500lbs of corn I put out was just for my enjoyment bc it obviously isn't nutritious. Wow.. Brilliant comment

I think corn is mostly carbs and probably does help but its probably not the best for nutrition. Since the deer do tend to "move around instead of stand and eat for long periods", browse is critical. I imagine good browse is more beneficial then straight up carbs. Depending on habitat, feeding probably contributes more or less.

If you put corn out, IMO, it is better to use cracked corn... Easier for them to digest and easier on their teeth...

My buddy and I use to put both types out and the cracked corn was always gone first...

Here is an interesting article


http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2013/02/are-you-feeding-your-deer-death

We've been doing this for over 10 years.....haven't starved a deer yet....and have seen some of our bucks make anywhere from 20-40 inches of antler growth jumps in one year. Due to our winter feed and 22% protein blend we feed in the summer???

Dunno....

But our deer aren't complaining....they aren't dying off due to our feed program.....and we gain good healthy deer.

......and it's been a great way to keep track of our bucks for 70% of the year via our cams set up on that food.

good article.

"Artificially fed deer wander off with a belly full of corn and slowly start starving to death as its digestive system struggles to digest the corn. Should the deer live through his sudden overload, it is then unable to handle woody browse. When the corn pile goes away the deer goes back on woody browse again and the slow starvation continues...."

what is your ratio of hay to corn?

I think the article might be talking only about straight corn and large quantities of it...

i seriously doubt we will ever have to worry about the deer in Indiana starving to death or being malnourished……..they do not have to go too far in any direction to find something they want/need to eat. A little supplemental snack to get some pictures does not hurt a thing.

Eating corn kills deer=WOW, we need to inform the DNR of this, so they can inform any farmer seeking depredation permits that they are unnecessary because as soon as that deer gets a full belly of that corn they will die anyway!! Seriously though, I only supplement feed deer if there is a thick covering of snow. Any other time I'm confident there is enough food on our farm to feed the "herd" of 2 does that made it through the seasons and hang out on our place.

Thats what I said I Think It makes you feel good but it doesnt nessicarily do the deer any good Deer will eat a cedar top down to the twigs and their systems are able to use that kind of food Cut down cedars and look at them a few days later

Mature field corn runs about 10% in crude protein. It does have a higher "escape protein" content than other grains or feeds, which means slightly less of the protein content is digestible, as compared to other feeds. But in winter, ruminants like deer don't need high levels of protein in their food, instead they need energy foods with carbs. Here in Indiana farm country, our deer eat corn all summer and fall, so any digestive issues like acidosis will be extremely rare.

Still when feeding corn in the winter we prefer to mix the corn with roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of commercial pelleted feed, like sweet horse feed. Keep in mind you'll also be feeding a never-ending parade of crows, coons, squirrels, turkeys, jays, songbirds, and etc. With a typical high population of turkeys and crows in the area, we figure the deer get no more than about half the grain. It gets expensive if you stick with it for the whole winter.

We used to feed in the Winter, but after reading several articles like this, we decided it potentially could do more harm than good.....


The best way to help wild animals survive a severe winter is to maintain high-quality habitat plantings year-round. If animals go into the winter in good condition, most are able to survive persistent deep snow, ice and cold temperatures. Even in well-functioning natural ecosystems, however, some animals succumb during winter months. The winter season has always kept wildlife populations in balance with available habitat.
Another way to help wild animals in winter is to avoid disturbing them. Animals must conserve their energy to survive winter conditions, and human disturbance causes them to move about. Keep dogs confined, and slow down when traveling in motor vehicles through deer habitat.
There are several drawbacks to feeding deer. First, there is the expense of providing proper feed, in sufficient amounts, and for the length of time necessary to be effective. Concentrating deer at a feeder can create problems by making the animals more vulnerable to disease, predation and poaching. If feeding areas draw animals across well-traveled roads, they are more likely to present a safety hazard and be hit by cars. Deer drawn to artificial feed also can damage nearby agricultural areas, trees, or landscaping, especially if the artificial feed supply is not maintained through the winter.
A deer's digestive system often is not readily able to process many common types of feed. Deer have the most difficult time adjusting to artificial feed. It can take several weeks for them to adjust to the change from natural browse plants to an artificial diet. If they don't have enough fat reserves to carry them through the adjustment period, they can die of starvation even with a belly full of feed they cannot digest. Once a diet shift has occurred, one white-tailed deer can consume three to four pounds of pelleted feed daily; in just four months, one deer could consume almost 500 pounds of feed.

indiana deer eat corn year around, regardless of whether or not you put out a pile

So apparently corn is bad this time of year. What about something like the Golden Deer Nuggets from Record Rack?

Bump......

I see another arctic blast forecasted for next week..... -15 degrees one night...... -13 degrees the next night.....any supplemental feed you can chuck out over the weekend....can't hurt.

Feed deer corn and they depend on it to fill their belly ........ THEY WILL DIE! Deer depend on protein at about 18%, if you only feed corn..... depleted health for deer.

If you are only going to pour corn on the ground it would be better to save your money and pour nothing on the ground.

That is correct..........which is why we combine the corn we leave out with Alfalfa Hay. Protein in the Alfalfa will usually run about 17%-20%. We have seen nothing but increased use of this blend........and nothing but LIVE healthy deer thrive on this supplement in the winter for years. The one buck I took a few years ago was 6.5 years old.....and he hit those supplemental feed sites from a 1.5 year old and up as we watched him on our cams.........ended up putting on a 16 point 180+ inch rack the year I took him.

I encourage all doing supplemental feeding to mix in the Alfalfa for the protein content. Corn is just carbs.......

Keep in mind you might pull in a few Turkey's too..... ......click on video

As you can see...........pretty tore up Alfalfa area in the snow. Refreshed several spots today. Kawi Mule makes the job easy....no ladder needed at the Tripod feeder....just stand in the bed.





I hear Northern Indiana could take quite the hit next week (Tuesday) with another heavy snow. Been a long winter so far........animals seem to really benefit from the little extra help......plus its fun to get out.

I cut down 7 or 8 10 to 20 ft tall cedars last week the deer were on them first night they love the tops of a 20 ft cedar eat till there is nothing left but twigs

This winter is a tough one...super cold and snow... I have been wondering what effect it will have on winter kill....Ive been out hunting 'yotes a few times and the lack of deer sign is disturbing, esp in places there usually is some in quantity....

Just did a little recon. Deer have stripped the pods off about half of my bean 4 acres of plots and are still digging turnips up in those plots. Also digging down through the snow to get to clover, some of which is still green. I think I've got them in pretty good shape to make it through winter.

If you really want to feed, hard to beat food plots.

Agreed......but my multiple acres of beans and purple top turnips were stripped to nothing by the end of December.

Same results here. We had 8 acres of standing soybeans in 4 different plots, all stripped clean by the middle of December.

While goose hunting last week I saw a lot of evidence of deer digging down through the snow to pull out ears of corn. They had eaten all the kernels off of the cobs.I guess someone needs to tell them that is not good for them. LOL

I try to give the deer on the spots that I hunt a variety of goodys too choose from. It consist of bird food, alfalfa,lucky buck and beet pulp, have not had any complaints so far. They seem to tear it up. But lately I have had with some issues with the yotes keeping them away from thier feed. Trying to get time to take care them.