Winter to spring deer feeding

[murphranch]

Do many of you keep your deer feeders full and running until spring? One of the worst things we can do is after 3 or 4 months of feeding is to completely stop.
Once hunting season is over lots of people empty their feeders and bring them home or just quit filling them up. I’m guilty of doing this myself. Understandably lots of hunters don’t have the time or desire to continue keeping them full after filling their tags. Deer will often leave their home ranges to congregate around feeders. Wouldn’t you be tempted to leave some grazed out wheat and dead brush to go hang out where there is lots of good corn and a bunch of does?
With winter and cold weather coming deer will need to increase their intake to meet the daily protein and total digestible nutrients. Those that have been utilizing feeders and other high energy feeds with go through a “withdrawal” period. Basically their normal stomachs and digestive systems functions change causing a lot of acid build up. This change will be hard and often fatal to deer if the winter is hard weather gets brutal.
I don’t maintain my feeders as well as I should and our Oklahoma winters usually aren’t hard enough for a big winter kill but if you did keep your area well fed all fall it’s something to consider during the time of year that’s hardest on the one animal we a love to hunt.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[dennishoddy]

Do many of you keep your deer feeders full and running until spring? One of the worst things we can do is after 3 or 4 months of feeding is to completely stop.
Once hunting season is over lots of people empty their feeders and bring them home or just quit filling them up. I’m guilty of doing this myself. Understandably lots of hunters don’t have the time or desire to continue keeping them full after filling their tags. Deer will often leave their home ranges to congregate around feeders. Wouldn’t you be tempted to leave some grazed out wheat and dead brush to go hang out where there is lots of good corn and a bunch of does?
With winter and cold weather coming deer will need to increase their intake to meet the daily protein and total digestible nutrients. Those that have been utilizing feeders and other high energy feeds with go through a “withdrawal” period. Basically their normal stomachs and digestive systems functions change causing a lot of acid build up. This change will be hard and often fatal to deer if the winter is hard weather gets brutal.
I don’t maintain my feeders as well as I should and our Oklahoma winters usually aren’t hard enough for a big winter kill but if you did keep your area well fed all fall it’s something to consider during the time of year that’s hardest on the one animal we a love to hunt.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm pretty lucky in this respect. My neighbor keeps several feeders going year around. Protein in the spring with a mix of protein and corn in the rest of the year so I just dump mine.

 

[undeg01]

Mine are filled now but turned down. Where they usually last a month to 5 weeks, I have the volume turned down so it will take them almost 2 months to empty. That gets them to the end of February and by that time, wheat pasture and food plots usually start picking up. Protein feeders will start up sometime in April.

 

[retrieverman]

I keep corn feeders running all year, but since I now have timer on my protein feeder, my plan is try to keep it filled at least until everything greens up.

 

[BobbyV]

I might go ahead and refill one of mine one more time . . .

 

[Okie4570]

Green wheat and cut milo, corn and beans all around so I'm fortunate in that respect. The rut wears down and kills more bucks that the weather itself around here I think.

 

[Deer Slayer]

I feed my deer year round with my green fields plus supplement with corn and protein in Okla County. My farm in SE/Ok will have feeders running until Feb 14 when we see some green up. I also have 10 acres of year round food plots there.

 

[Sampson]

I run mine usually into spring just before Turkey season most years. I really need to look at either a large protein feeder or regular food plots. Most of my late winter deer feeding depends on the weather, cattle demands and family obligations.