Thoughts on this? I was a big fan of putting out corn this time of year, but now I am not so sure... Are You Feeding Your Deer To Death? | Outdoor Life
Doesnt this all depend on the geography of where the deer are? Deer in Iowa and Nebraska may feed on corn all year round. Interesting read....
I was wondering about this. Also I was thinking about all these food plots all you Midwest hunter put in and I got thinking. Are these all gmo food plots. What are we feeding these animals. Kinda strange to me to plant food plots for WILD animals. Kinda takes the wild out. Especially when the don Higgins post was going around I felt like mentioning the possible effect of unnatural feed from the use of food plots and possibly probably genetically modified foods. Didn't dare post there that thread turned into a nightmare of chest bumping. So what are your thoughts people. Is it possible that food plots aren't the greatest for the deers health.
Good thread. For years this has been known that supplemental feeding can starve deer if not done right. Start out in the fall when they are eating that stuff and continuer until green up. Most people cannot afford to do this, at least to help many deer. Keep the summer range good so they put on the weight and keep the herd at a good level so the winter range will support them. Not easy or exact but it works. Summer range like food plots can be good but some of the stuff now going out can be bad. Old saying "grass in the spring, lead in the fall". Cutting trees in the winter can help but how long does it take to regrow a tree? If thinning is needed then do it but a timber sale would be better. Back when I worked for the USFS we would go in after a timber sale to do TSI. You could see the deer pouring in late in the day to eat the downed tree tops. The FS is now back doing some timber sales and the deer are getting that food.
Generally food plots are not exotic foods. They are the same or similar foods that the deer are already consuming, just in a single concentrated area. There's a difference between a corn pile and a food plot. The corn pile will only last a couple days, and require someone to keep replenishing it. A food plot will be there all season long and available when the deer need it. My standing soybean plot is the same food source the deer have been using all year long. With all the ag crop fields empty and covered in snow, my standing beans are still providing the same food source the deer are used to.
What about something like the Golden Deer Nuggets from Record Rack. Would that have the same, negative impact as putting out a corn pile?
Ive flip-flopped back and forth from a fan of baiting, no a non-baiter, to baiting again. We keep corn out for the deer 11 months out of the year (Not during spring turkey). Why? Inventory for one. Also, having food around keeps the deer coming back to your property. Simple as that. This winter though, weve tried to incorporate protein, unsuccessfully so far.
I dumped a bag of all stock sweet feed on top of a bag of corn a couple years back...the deer wouldn't touch it.
Have any of you found deer that starved to death after feeding them:what: I think they might be over selling this a bit Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
I could write a book about the trials ive had trying to start mineral licks or feeding stations...just as Tom LOL
It probably got wet. Sweet feed can start sprouting or get moldy quick when wet. Maybe that was your problem?
Just how much corn do you guys put out? I just sling enough to get pictures. E.G. My feeders run 4 seconds in the morning and 4 seconds in the afternoon. Those deer are surely not living on that as a food source. Nor is it effecting their digestive system.
That might have been the case. I had actually planned to build a covered feeder this offseason to prevent an issue such as that. I typically dump out one or two forty pound bags of corn every two weeks.
GPM.. we have been doing supplemental feeding here in Indiana for years. Only if we feel its needed when the weather turns really bad. Bad here is not the same as the northern states. We usually scatter corn (no more that 80 lbs) and take inventory of whats left of the herd. This is usually mid Jan to 1st of February. I have yet to find a dead deer on our leases as a result of supplemental feeding. Not to say it hasn't happened; I just haven't seen it.
This article is alarmist and in my opinion just trying to get attention. Deer know what they need. Their body tells them what they need and they seek it out. They eat woody browse, grass, grains, etc. Is a 20-acre cornfield unharvested in January killing all the deer that are filing into it every night? NO! A deer's stomach tells him what he needs. The only way you can kill deer by feeding them is by feeding a steady diet of hay where they are yarded up in the winter and immobilized by deep snow so they cannot get anything else. Then they are going to die anyway.
Considering we shot deer off a corn pile and the corn only made up less than 1% of what was in his gut, I'm not concerned about the deer in my area. There is enough green stuff and tree buds and stuff for them. The corn is only a little dessert for them.
so what I'm wondering is how do the scientists know this? how can they PROVE this? last I knew deer couldn't talk and say "im starving". the logic makes sense, a drastic change in diet. hmm.
Based on this logic and if this were the case there would be TONS of starved deer in our area. Last winter was as harsh as ever and this one is no better... There are many people who leave acres of unharvested corn fields around here. Sure there are deer who have been eating it the entire year and it wouldn't have any effect... But what about the deer who are having to travel for food? There is no switch that gets flipped and one day the deer think 'well, its mm/dd/yyy now, cant eat anymore corn, time to eat wooded browse, etc etc." I don't buy into this - A deer knows what it does/does not need.
