We have been feeding the deer around Walterboro since Feb. We bought the deer pellets (can't remember the brand) and mixing it with kernel corn in covered wooden troughs with plenty of head space. I live in Florida and haven't heard from my S.C. cousin in a few weeks whether or not things have changed.

The deer have been less than enthusiastic. Does it take a long time to get used to the feeding stations? I smelled and even nibbled a pellet or 2, and it taste like grain/minerals(the old feed store smell).

Any insights?

Ric

If you are in an area where they have not had much, or any grain/feed, it very well could take quite a while to get them going on it good. We stopped raising corn on one farm 15 years ago. Deer used to be in the corn all the time back when we raised it every year. Year before last year I planted 40 acres on that farm, and the deer hardly ever touched it. This past year I planted the same 40 acres, and it had lots more deer to visit, and browse the field. I hope this year will be even better as I am planting 8 acres of soybeans adjacent to the corn. Most of the corn will all be picked, and used for cattle feed, but I plan to leave about 2 acres, and the beans just for the critters. Might even plant a bit of milo for the birds.

The deer could possibly have a problem with the overhead. They might feel entraped by sticking their head under the roof and over the trough.

If you have any tin or galvinized hardware the smell could be "different" for them. Also anything shiny or something that rattles or squeeks from the wind or flexing from the cold to heat of the sun. Also anything that glints from the sun.

Down here we use the old fashioned bbls with a timed slinger attached to the bottom. The deer on my plot don't even run when it comes on and they get pelted with dry corn.

I have found that for deer,turkey,hogs,doves,and a bunch of other non targeted species,plain ol' dry corn is the very best. It has gone up alot this year but is still the cheapest and easiest to store. ----pruhdlr

Thanks George and pru,

We plant corn also, but last year the acorns were so heavy they did not hit the corn to hard until late.

Kind of worried about the overhead but I've seen lots just like 'em. We were trying the feed for the protein value. I guess we'll stick with it as we have nothing to lose. Already bought a few hundred pounds of the stuff.

Ric

I think the mast crop plays a big part in it. We have had lots of acorns for the last 2 or 3 years, and the deer just ain't in the corn like they have been in the past. I have seen them eat right out of the trough with cattle during bad winters.

It can take some time to get them on corn but if the brouse was down in Feb. they should have got on the corn pretty good. You may want to get them eatting just corn first and then start mixing in the feed. A friend has even got his deer eating straight soybeans. I can't imagine them munching on those hard things but they do. He just kept increasing the beans and cutting back on the corn.

In my neck of the woods(NW Fla.) the guys at my club feed the deer(and the deer eat) almost anything. With the price of corn being so darn high some hunters have tried other things.

Chufa's,soybeans,and peanuts being the biggie. Lots of time if you are trying to get really wild deer to eat, it is hard cuz they do not recognize some things as food. Myself,I still do not vary from dry corn out of a slinger or thrown on the ground.

While living and hunting in very rural Maine,I once got a free P/U full of apples. I dumped them on the ground out in a very remote location. I'm sure that the deer had never seen or smelled an apple before. It took the deer and bear over a week before they would touch them. Every morning I would see tracks around the pile as if they were pondering weather to try them or not. Finally the deer, and later the bear, scarffed them up.

Anything new to a wild animal has a huge curosity factor and a elevated threat level. They will eventually get used to things and everything will get back to normal. -----pruhdlr

We are able to buy sweet potatoes here that are culled at packaging plants. 800 lbs. for 10 - 25 dollars. Deer in some places eat them quite well and in some places will not touch them until one brave one decides to take a bite. I am sure they stand around the pile daring each other to be the first. In places they will feed on them they will sure clean up a pile even if bears come to eat them. They just take turns unless the bears muddy up the pile or the potatoes start to rot into mud. Often hunters have access to dump trucks and get a lot of tators!
I live on the east coast of NC and many clubs will feed all year with potatoes. Once I visited a club and saw many piles dumped by dump trucks on the roads. There were so many potatoes that the smell was horrid as they rotted. A hurricane dropped a lot of rain on us as it passed over and when I later visited there were tators everywhere that water could carry them as they float quite well. Deer were able to feed in the cover of trees once the season came in.
Hmmm I wonder if does worry about their intake of carbs from eating so much potatoe. "Buck honey am I getting fat?" Gulp..."'Er uh no doe honey you are just as pretty as you ever were before you got into the taters."

Like pondo states, the guys down here feed taters also. They buy sweet potatoes for $40 per thousand pounds and dump 'em on the ground for deer and hogs. They are scarfed up very quickly.-----pruhdlr

Well now...........my plot has been in the ground now for 8 weeks and it is only doing so-so. The "usual" southern stuff(wheat,rye,barly,clover,etc) is doing ok, but the hog population is pretty much keepin' the more delicate stuff, stomped.

It has been too dry for them to do any effective rootin' but they sure walk it every night(and day). The pics on my game camera tell the story of their transit between the low lands swamp(0 ft. in altitude) and my plot on high ground(10 ft above sea level).

I'm right on the edge, and the water that is backed up from the river,and/or due to heavy rain,is lacking this year so far. That means that from my plot to the Escambia River(1 mile) is nothing but Juniper,Cypress,snakes,gators,and hogs. Down below me, the rootin' and the wallowing' is perfect for them. Also the cover that they need to stay shaded in the noon sun and stay hidden fron predators is super thick.

Predators .....? Hog predators .....? Down here there isn't much that will mess with them. Yotes don't go down in the sloppy,quick sandy,biomassing,vegatation type, mud. Bobcats do, but down here they rairly get to be 30 lbs. And I'm sure that gators take a few of the younger,not yet trained, hogs. The bigger full grown red tailed hawks also take a few piglets if they stray too far from the sow also.

But by the time the hogs get to be 30lbs or so,they are very wise, and too heavy/big for any real challenge to their well being. Especially due to their intelligence,speed,and the strength in numbers thing. You very rarely see one hog by himself. 3-5+ is the norm.

Our club allowed us 5 hogs last deer season, and due to their increaseing numbers will probably allow more this fall. Hope so.....they smoke up reeeeal good. -----pruhdlr