Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Feeding Protein. Worth the money??

Curious to what your thoughts are on with feeding protein throughout the Summer? Reason I ask, is we are contemplating starting up 30 feeding stations on our lease of 6,000 acres and will be feeding roughly up to 9,000lbs per month at these sites. I am on the fence with the idea and think we should invest this money elsewhere to better the habitat and plots. Have any of you recognized any noticeable benefit to summer protein stations?

I’d better the habitat before I did anything else. Majority of the deers food will come from the habitat not the feeder.

It takes @ 4-5 years of feeding protein before you can realize the benefits of a protein feeding program. You can't just put your toes in the water and abandon it after a year or two because you haven't seen any results.

Sounds like a ton of work. I'd rather plant a bunch of crops and do prescribed fire with my dollars and time.

If you can afford it then it's worth it and you will hold a lot more deer on your property. It will take a lot of work to keep that many feeder full.

me too

Are y'all adding more members to cover the cost??....I'm in the no boat but if your also adding members then it's helllll naw!

Uh, No.

I know of a hunting club in north east Florida that does just that, and they grow some big deer. Not a single food plot on their 7000 acres. They do extensive burning and timber management, and have been feeding for 20 years. They grow really big Florida deer. 130-140” and 200lbs.

Only if you let them get old enough for it to matter

It is to me.

If you are going to feed on that large of a scale you’re going to financially obligate yourself to tens of thousands of dollars annually and what benefits are you hoping to see? Can you measure them quantitatively? Are you just going to guess if it’s eorking? Do you have preprotein data with antler measurements and weights to compare to after feeding begins? If you do have data I think you’re going to be disappointed in the results in a free ranging herd given what it’s going to cost you.

There is no way to tell what that buck would have been without feed... just like there is no way to tell what that buck would have been if you didn’t feed..... all I can say is over the years, we HAVE seen an increase in body size, herd health (may be to coyote trapping), and seem to have put bigger bucks in the skinning shed. May just be a few years of luck.. I don’t know. But that’s also like saying that soybean fields don’t help deer? I’d have to argue that as well. I use to hunt property in evergreen Alabama that surrounded 120 acres of ag property, they rotated crops of corn and beans almost every year. We killed some really fine bucks!!! They sold that piece to cow farmer ... it was never the same.

Unless you're at a place where money doesn't matter at all, the cost to benefit ratio of bagged protein feed is too low to me. Habitat improvements, while work, are much more valuable to the critters on a place than anything you can pour from a bag, IMO. I do feed corn when they are prone to eat corn. It's like Ice Cream, its not really good for them but deadgum they like it and it keeps them coming back through my place regularly because they are lazy and it's easy to access. Since deer browse and don't graze, I feel it's my responsibility to try to give them other things on my place that they like and are good for them and I can afford. Those are either native vegetation or food plots. Now I get food plots come from a bag, yes, but that 40-50# bag of seed multiplies the amount of food, where as the 50# bag of pellets has a finite amount of food. When the pellets are gone, they are gone till you come back. For about 10 gallons of diesel fuel, I think I can do way more good for a deer and turkey, squirrel, song birds, than 1-2 bags of protien feed.

I just can't afford it enough, nor do I have that type of acreage where I REALLY couldn't afford it to "test" it out. I can almost guarantee that without a multiyear program ($$$$$!!!) you aren't going to see any real results. I finish to say to each there own and do whatever you/y'all are comfortable with.

Age. Age. Age. Natural habitat . carrying capacity of said habitat. Land management. Age. Age.

Ok so this sounds very similar to my thinking on year round feeding. It sounds as if you’re implying that there won’t be much difference in antler growth or body weight due to the protein. I agree. I do however believe that the deer need protein more in the summer and carbs more in the winter which is why I do protein and corn (mineral licks) on top of my plots in hopes of holding doe groups on my property, maybe even a buck or two. Is that an achievable goal for running feed?

Mbrock is the expert on here, and his opinion mirrors what I have heard. There is no substitute for letting deer reach maturity, and adding high protein feed to their diet will make only a marginal difference in antler size and body weight. You will not see a measurable difference until the second generation after a program begins on your property reaches maturity. A LOT of work, cash and patience is required.

If you are wanting to hold and maximize the doe groups on your property then run a lot of feeders that throw out a little bit of feed spread out across the property.....You've got to look at "social carrying capacity" …..Doe groups do not like to pile in on top of one another and they'll compete for a limited resource....You can put out all the feed in the world but if you're only doing it in one spot then you're going to be limited on the doe groups using it.....They compete for bedding and feeding.....What you are trying accomplish by putting out more feeders throwing a little bit feed....is you're creating as many spots for another subordinate doe group to fit in or a place for them to go if they are pressured off of another area....They're gonna need bedding and water close by as well.....Ideally you'll like to have something like every 20-30 acres holding its own doe group.....Don't focus too much on the spefic numbers or any of that though....just think about the overall concept I'm explaining.

20 or 30 acres won't hold a doe group...