best protein feed

[pdk25]

I want to get a good spring/summer food plot going, but this Oklahoma weather doesn't always cooperate.  I am trying to encourage the deer to stay on my property year round, since a lot of them leave during the summer.  In the event that I can't get the foodplots to work, I was thinking of putting a couple boss buck free feeders out to help with that.  I was wondering what people with experience have felt to be the better feed to put out, based on palatability, price, withstanding the element, nutrition, etc.  Thanks in advance.

[TxAg]

Lyssy and Eckel according to another forum I frequent.  Lots of ranches down here feed it.

[TxAg]

Originally posted by TxAg:
Lyssy and Eckel according to another forum I frequent.  Lots of ranches down here feed it.

I'm not sre if you can find it in Oklahoma. A few other names I hear are Purina Antlermax and Red Chain.

[pdk25]

Thanks.  I will check them out.  Last year I had a spin feeder with corn and soybeans, but the hogs pushed the deer out, and they left after the spring.

I have always had the best luck with Lysse & Eckel in south TX.

Bisch

[Kamm1004]

Try sainfoin. It's higher in protein than alfalfa, it's favored by deer over almost anything else and once it's established it'll have a 16-18 inch root system that makes it drought resistant because it reaches down so far to get water. It'll last about 4 years before needing to be plowed up and reseeded

[oldgoat]

Any 16-17% will work the best is whole cotton seed,some what harder to put out but hogs and coons want eat it.

[pdk25]

Not sure if I can get the Lyssy and Eckel delivered here, but it looks promising. Drought messed up fall planting of chicory, and not best for spring. Not sure how well sainfoin does with spring planting.  Never heard of cottonseed, and not sure if that would be palatable enough to hol them here?

[Kamm1004]

Originally posted by pdk25:
Not sure if I can get the Lyssy and Eckel delivered here, but it looks promising. Drought messed up fall planting of chicory, and not best for spring. Not sure how well sainfoin does with spring planting.  Never heard of cottonseed, and not sure if that would be palatable enough to hol them here?

Pdk25,
Spring planting and fall planting work well for sainfoin. We have only planted it once as an alternative for algalfa when the drough hit us back in the early 2000's. It grows very well but for farming purposes it can only be cut once. It did however hold a lot of deer. We have whitetail and mule deer in in almost daily, feeding, bedding and just lounging around. It's more popular up north in Wyoming and Montana where my second cousins are currently farming and they have problems with wildlife eating it before they can cut and bale it as well. It's good for cattle... Even better for elk, deer, and wildlife. FYI, it does produce a seed/grain that turkey will eat. Not sure if it's able to reseed itself though.