Supplemental winter whitetail feeding

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diemaco

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Looking for suggestions for the supplemental feeding of resident whitetails. I have access to free corn, but I understand it can be harmful. I don't want to cut them off completely as we've been feeding fairly consistently for the past 6 months with corn/corn barley molasses/apples. One of the does looks a little thin, as seen in the pictures.

Activity seems to really have picked up the last couple weeks with atleast 4 different young bucks hitting the bait. We'll be trying to shoot the 4x1 to remove him from the gene pool. (Only a week left in the archery season, so he'll probably survive the year)

I'll be doing a small food plot or two next year.

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waltman said:
Is 2nd cut better ?

I have also heard that straight corn can kill them as well, a good mix that can be bought is called beef ration. It is a mixture of corn, oats, alfalfa pellets and molasses with trace minerals. Try small amounts with the hay.
Click to expand...

2nd cut generally has more leaves. Hay is better than cereal grains as it's filling/roughage rather than high doses of protein.
 
At the farm for the 5 resident deer whom have taken up residence around the yard, they have been getting just a ice cream pail of oats with some molasses and 2nd cut alfalfa sprinkled with some molasses as well. I am not to concerned if they are thin it is just as long as they get something.
 
There sure can be a different point of view on feeding deer. In my area when you see 50 to 150 mulies coming out of the river breaks to your hay field you don`t get that warm fuzzy feeling.
 
I have always thought that supplemental feeding is a mistake. Wild animals should be left wild. If you want to establish a food plot for summer that is different but trying to help deer get through the winter can be worse for the deer than leaving them alone.
 
Supplemental feeding may be necessary in March but not now,unless there's too much snow for them to reach natural browse. A friend of mine starts feeding them the end of November and by spring 80% of them have been killed by vehicles when they cross the highway to go feed. Deer will survive just fine unless it's a brutal winter.
 
To be a wet blanket, double check with your fish cops first. Baiting is one thing; feeding wild animals is another. You might not be permitted to interfere with Mother Nature quite as much as you might like.
 
When I used to feed deer I found they liked wheat better than oats. Also when I fed the alfalfa, they would eat the leaves and leave the stems and stalks. An ice-cream pail of grain would feed a heck of alot of deer in a day. I was feeding only about 15 deer a day and all they would eat was maybe 1/4 of an ice-cream pail. They are picky eaters. I would also find some pretty nice shed antler's when the snow melted in the spring.
As far as the wet blanket guy says. I say " Go with your concience"
 
"...double check with your fish cops first..." Absolutely. It's illegal, in most places, without a permit.
Those deer are healthy and don't need any help, anyway.
"...the 4x1 to remove him from..." Antler could have been broken off in a fight. Mind you, he is what appears to be the biggest. The other one's rack isn't big either.
Saw a great big SOB of a buck a month or so ago. About a klick from my apartment building here in London. About 2 klicks from downtown London.
 
Update: 2 other bucks on camera

I think the mature buck is the one who was fighting the buck I shot. The picture sucks though and I didn't get a great look at him back in November.

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DO NOT do it unless you are prepared to do it until the snow is absolutely gone. That could mean as long as April.

The worst thing a person can do is get a deer used to being fed, then stop before Spring is fully here. Late winter the deer are running on no reserves. If you stop, and their is a large snowstorm, say goodbye to the deer and all your efforts.
 
Advice I got from the deer technician at the Loring deer yard.

"The best thing to do to feed deer is to take your snowmobile and make lots trails in the bush. This way they can access their natural food easily. If the snow is too deep they will stay on their trail and starve rather than stepping into deep snow and risk getting stuck." The MNR in Ontario does feeding only if it is a bad winter and typically around March.
 
Deer adapt to feed by enzymes in their stomachs. If you stop feeding them, it may take them so long to redevelop the enzymes for their normal feed, that it could weaken them significantly.
If you're going to feed, make sure you continue to do so.
I like busting trails. It also helps you with knowing your hunting area better, and gives the deer an escape route from predators. Important when the snow is deep.

You can use this busting trails exercise, to open up shooting lanes at your stands, and to some extent steer deer movements, by making it easier to for them to travel near your stand.
 
Corn is okay as long as it comes from a local farmer and not the local co-op. Most farmers take the corn off the fields and then store it in a storage bin of some kind, and it has 25-30% moisture. Feed mill corn is often times dried corn and has no more than 14% moisture. This lack of moisture is what hurts the deer, it can cause an intestinel problem called rhuminitis (sp?).

I am feeding a mixture of field corn and Rack Stacker Deer Feed right now, however it is probably a waist of time and effort as the cameras are getting lots of pics of birds and squirrels, with a few deer too of course. But the conditions are pretty easy here in SE Ontario right now so I am going to slowly wean them off the feed and "save it for a snowy day"!
 
Still lots of standing corn in my area so no need to feed the deer.

The best thing you can do for deer in the winter is drop a few cedar trees.

I know here in South Eastern Ontario there is no need to supplement the deer's diet its not cold enough and not enough snow has fallen to even worry about the deer being hungry.

I do run an electronic deer feeder filled with Wild Bird seed and Cracked corn mostly for the Grouse and other birds. Oh and the combine nearly tipped over and spilled a 4ft high by 6ft wide pile of corn I'm sure the deer are making use of it so I dropped 50lbs of apples beside it.
 
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