Feeding winter deer

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henhouse
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2010/02/23 10:51:14 (permalink)

Feeding winter deer

I have mentioned on another post that we have been feeding the deer in our area. Checking with some local farmers and was told that Alfalfa will give an animal 3 times the protein that corn does. With the cost factor, and the ease of handling, I'm curious that it may be better to switch to Alfalfa and cut out the corn. I can get 3 bales of it for the price of 100 lbs. of corn. Looking for any input from experience from members of this board.
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    S-10
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/23 11:20:36 (permalink)
    I can tell you with certainty that if your going to try it you have to start early in the fall and keep it up until the grass is growing in the spring. You would screw up their digestive systems big time if you started now or started early and quit before greenup. I've not done enough research on alfalfa to know if it is even something you want to do at all. Deer are quite different from cattle in what their digestive systems will handle. Done correctly deer feeding is beneficual in helping them come through a winter. Done incorrectly it can be very harmful,even deadly. I have used dried soybeans which is 26% protein but it becomes quite expensive when compared to corn. Sure helps the racks though.
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    jon_e_si
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/24 00:16:30 (permalink)
    If you own your woods, now is a good time to do your thinnings for firewood plus create browse for the deer from the tops! Deer love it! I cut my stumps real low to the ground and when they sprout up in the spring, it creates more browse!
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    olgerman
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/24 06:05:03 (permalink)
    Just an FYI. The following were published in the sunday P-G and are worth reading.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10045/1035531-140.stm

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10052/1037191-140.stm

    Seems like feeding may do more harm than good.
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    S-10
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/24 08:02:54 (permalink)
    If you read the new Deer Management Plan 2009-1018 If I remember correctly there are 5 places in it where they talk about trying to discourage deer feeding. Of course it's OK where they want you to bait them in to kill them.
    There are some problems in urban areas where it concentrates them around traffic, etc or starting and stopping feeding at the wrong times. The fact is, wherever there is a standing corn field the deer will spend all winter feeding in it. Most game managers are against feeding both deer and turkey because it creates an artifical surplus of them due to less winter mortality. We no longer have that problem in most of Pennsylvania. Read this fron N.Y.----after telling all the bad things about feeding they always get around to the fact that their real concern is it SAVES too many animals. PA does the same with turkeys, I walk past 3 big turkey feeders on one of my game lands hikes that sit empty deep in the woods no matter how long the winter or how deep the snow.

    www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7197.html ·
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    DanesDad
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/25 14:45:28 (permalink)
    I think the thing is, with any feeding effort, you have to start early and keep it up until green up. I tried little alfalfa blocks one year. Offered with corn, they were ignored and eventually rain turned them into green mush.
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    RIZ
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/26 11:24:41 (permalink)
    yea deer are like kids (well maybe a lot of adults too) in that respect, they'll eat the junk food before they eat what's good for them.
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    henhouse
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/26 14:47:44 (permalink)
    Guess we'll have to wait until the present storm goes away before we resume feeding. Had a report from Glencoe that some deer were seen around one of our feeding spots wearing wind breakers and carrying snow shovels. Things must be bad out there. But all B.S. aside; we are getting some serious wind and snow, again.
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    Big Tuna
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    RE: Feeding winter deer 2010/02/26 17:33:35 (permalink)
    I dumped about 50 pie pumkins and 25 or 30 large pumpkins in the woods behind my house,and they dug with out and ate them all,the heavy snow bent a lot of limbs low to the ground and they got a lot more browse to eat,I put out corn one year after hunting season,and a big tank doe got killed in front of my house,so I stop feeding.they really do love pumpkins.
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