Thoughts on feeding deer???

[Labs4me]

More so than many recent years, Michigan's winter has been absolutely brutal this year. Snow, rain, freezing rain, sub-zero temps/wind chills, high winds- repeat! Such has been our weather for the past couple of months. Due to this repeating cycle of snow and freezing rain, what was formerly cut-over cash crop fields is now nothing but a series if giant ice rinks making it impossible for the local deer to get to the remaining spillage from the ’07 harvest.

For the first time in many years, I am actually considering putting out some cracked corn every couple of days to assist the local deer herd in making it through the next few weeks. 50# bags of cracked corn are selling for about $6. So for roughly $100, I figure I can feed each of about 25 deer (the local herd), about a pound of cracked-corn a day for the next month. Again, under normal circumstances I would not consider engaging in a supplemental feeding program. But even by Michigan standards, this has been an unusually harsh winter.

Would you feed 'em???

[Shovelbuck]

Deer are generally more than capable of taking care of themselves. Natures "survival of the fittest" so to speak. But I feed deer myself when the mood strikes and have no problem doing it.
If you want to, do it. It sure isn't going to hurt anything.
With a little luck, you might even find a shed or two in the corn pile.

[GrnMtnTradNut]

I would only feed the deer special deer feed from purina or antler king use the winter suppliments, I would also do this in a few different off the ground feeders. If the feed is on the ground you have a higher rate a disease transmition due to urine and droppings on the feed. In reference to the corn I would only use whole kernal corn that is labeled deer corn it has been washed and super dried to stop the growth of bacteria in the wharehouse, also corn is only a filler and holds no nutritional value other than a great form of carbs wich is good in the cold weather because alot is burned to stay warm and digest natural foods during extreme cold so a mixture would be a good idea. I know this is a more expensive way to go but it is what should be done if you do not want to hurt your deer and benifit them.

[ChuckC]

As above...deer sometimes cannot just change feed and it can actually harm them.  Do some research on what you feed them.

I am actually a bit worried about our deer and turkey herds.  We have broken our snowfall records already and still have a bunch of winter left, it has been cold, deep snow and ice over the ground, keeping pawing for ground food at a minimum.  

Nature will have its way.
ChuckC

[vermonster13]

It is illegal to do so here. Lt's of factors play into subsidizing the deer with a human food source.

[Orion]

Feeding congregates deer, which in turn can increase disease transmission.  It's a political hot potato in this state and illegal in about half of it, the southern half in which we now have CWD and which has been impacted most severely by the weather this year.  Personally, I'm averse to anything that further domesticates a wild animal.

[owlbait]

I saw 30 deer last night in a field that I never see deer in. They are searching and scratching. We have fed dried corn all year and continue to replenish when we can get to our feeder.

[GrnMtnTradNut]

Another alterative that would not help this year, but for the future. Try to plant winter food plots such as Imperial winter green and a good smmuer through winter choice is Mossy Oak Biomaxx we have roughly 15 to 20 acres in different locations on my dad and uncles property we have also selective cut the entire 400 acres with the help of a friend of mine who is a biologist from Ohio this winter we had as many as 15 to 30 bucks in 1 evening out even in the cold and snow. So there are alternatives to suppliment feeding if you want to put the sweat and blood into it, in the long run it will pay dividens for your deer and property. Also try to kill every coyote in the world like we have that also helps.

[nd chickenman]

The major limiting factor in the nortern tier is the carrying capacity of the habitat during the harshest conditions of winter. During the mild winter with ample feed the deer herds will flourish with large fawn crops in the spring. A deers NATURAL feed in the winter is woody browse with grass and whatever they can scratch up. When the population has been high with mild winters they still eat the woody browse along with the crop residue that can be found. In my area the high numbers have started to decimate the natural browse and the deer suffer in a winter like this because they can't find enough of natural food OR crop residue. I will feed the turkeys, but won't go out of the way to feed the deer. Nature seems to be the only control of over population. chickenman

[ethan]

Thoughts on corn....A buddy of mine told me once he always checks to see what deer have been feeding on when he field dress's an animal.  Our deer here have lots of natural food, mast crops and such.  But they eat lots of crops also.  He said he has never seen a deer that didn't have corn in their stomachs or digestive tracts.  I've since been checking myself and I've found the same things to be true.  Even when they are exposed to food plots, soybeans, whatever.

[Shawn Leonard]

Not a good idea unless ya know for sure a die-off is gonna happen due to starvation. Why risk spreading disease, which may end up killing more deer. It is illegal in NY. Shawn

[whitebuffalo]

Its bad,, I live on the edge of town and  My neighbors have alway had a few corn cobs stuck to the tree for the squirels and such,,a few nice bird feeders for all of our winter birds,, Its really cool to look out and see so much going on all day long,, but,,, the deer have moved in,, they eat out of the bird feeders, pick all of the corn off of the tree, and will do this in plain daylight,, up to 12 of them at a time. It's nice to see but they are struggling around my part of the woods. We have way more snow fall than normal, and with all of the freezing rain and ice its locked alot of their food up. I noticed the neighbors put three small spots out to keep the fighting down between the deer and they come in every evening and about three hours before the evening and I'm not here during the day but I bet ya they are out there at first light and many times at 4:00 am when I leave for work,,I'd say put it out but not on the ground,,follow our batting rules and add a bail of clover cut from this past summer to help digestion. Just my 2 cents,,J

[LKH]

Feeding concentrates deer and they have found excessive grazing in the areas where feeding is occuring. I know its hard to accept, but dieoffs like this actually help the herd in the long run.  Expect very few fawns and old bucks to survive and plan accordingly.

[Bonebuster]

If you are in touch with your area, and know there is adequate browse, and good thermal cover, then I wouldn`t worry too much just yet. If they have poor browsing and less than good cover, it might not be a bad idea to get as close to bedding areas and scatter some corn out.

The deer are adapted to survive most conditions as long as they have some browse and cover.
Hopefully the weather will moderate when it is supposed to. A winter that hangs on is what is tough on deer, because the increased dalyight increases their metabolism, and their energy needs increase.

Overbrowsed cover, and a late spring are a deers` worst enemy.

[rappstar]

a lot of us feed corn after the season in missouri.  we use those plastic 55 gallon drums cut in half on a makeshift stand.

the deer get some, the turkeys get some, the birds get some.....i'm sure most anything that walks by gets some.

Over the course of a 3 month period (at the most), i doubt there will be a disease issue.  We haven't had a disease through our part of the country in a long time.

i quit feeding in early-mid march.  some side benefits are that you typically get a shed or two by the feeders.  some guys put chicken wire up that will knock off an antler if it is ready to come off.

just my 2 cents but I wouldn't worry too much about it.  i'm sure if we didn't feed, the deer would be just fine as well!

[Steertalker]

Labs4me,

This may be a stupid suggestion because I have no idea if you have access to it, but down here in Texas we feed cottonseed to our livestock during the winter.  It's cheap but is an excellent feed.  High in protein and fat.  And I even use it on my deer stands because deer love it...way more than corn.  Corn is nothing more than a fat source and will suffice in getting the deer by but cottonseed is way better for them.  Down here in Texas we can get it for roughly $.09/lb.  So do the math...you could buy a truck load for pretty cheap.  One truck load would be all you need.

Brett

[Sticks only]

Monty, Corn is not a good alternative to natural browse at this point in the witner. Deer will change their metabolism in the winter to adjust to the browse as opposed to grains they were eating in the summer and fall. A high energy food like corn fed to a deer who has not had corn or other high energy foods for two months, can KILL THEM. If you know these deer have not been without corn, then it is feasible to supplement them with it. I would'nt do it in your part of the state. I expect they have adequate browse and fat reserves for one more month. If you were to give them corn now after the metabolic change, you will see severe diarhea from the deer splattered out on the snow and possibly even see sick deer lying around. Their guts just cant take that kind of change at this point in the winter. You can actually do more harm than good.

Wildlife  and habitat management is my buisiness, I hear this question a lot. Be careful with this, and as has already been said, Deer do quite well on their own.

[Dimeit]

Deer are a ruminentary organisms and rely on 3 sets of bacteria to help digest their foods.  In the spring, the bacteria is designed for breaking down young shoots and new growth that is high in glucose.  In the summer and fall the bacteria changes to help digest food with more complex carbs like the corn, acorns, and apples.  In the winter the bacteria changes once more to help extract nutrients from nutrient poor foods like bark.

To this end it is not beneficial in the big picture, to feed the deer.  It causes a switch in their bacteria populations that help them survive back to a summer/fall populations.  A pound of corn a day is not enough to feed a deer.  When the supplemental feeding gets cost prohibitive the deer with have problems converting back to natural browse and begin starving.  

I used to do this until I did more reading and truly learned their biology.  It was cool to see them in the backyard, but I was doing more harm then good.  The natural selection process will make the herd stronger over time.

Glenn

[BANNOCK-.PT]

It takes a deer  awhile for there stomachs to fully turn to browse  and get the proper nutrtion at the begining of the the fall. You would have to started feeding the deer before they got into trouble. It will take their stomachs awhile to switch from browse to corn and get nutrition from it. These deer will eat and gorge themselves on the corn. They will not eat their browse because there stomachs will be full. But, they will be getting no nutrition from the corn at first.  If the deer are really in as bad of shape as you say they are, then they will actually start to die even with full bellies of corn .It's best to find natural browse , cut it and spread it around at this point. If you decide to feed next year, start early and continue straight through the winter. But starting now, with a deer herd in so much trouble could be disasterous. Good luck, I hope your deer herd pulls through.

[joe c.]

Whatever you choose too feed make sure you make small pile's away from each other,so the deer dont fight over the food...