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John's Journal... Entry 129, Day 5

MORE PROTEIN FOR YOUR DEER QUICKER AND CHEAPER

Cautions

EDITOR'S NOTE: During the late winter and throughout the spring and much of the summer, maximizing the amount of protein the deer on your property ingest will help your deerherd build stronger, healthier bodies and larger antlers. Most sportsmen who manage their deerherds plant greenfields and use feeders in the fall, primarily to observe deer and harvest the bucks in their herds. However, if you want to build a healthier herd with bigger-bodied deer and specifically bucks with heavier antlers, you must provide greenfield plantings and supplemental feed immediately after the rut until the first green-up. But don't stop your feeding there. If you merely insure the survival of your herd until green-up, you haven't increased your odds for growing bigger bucks quicker. This week we'll learn what Dr. Keith Causey, a longtime deer biologist and Dan Moultrie, who has intensively researched the feeding habits of deer for many years, recommend for producing bigger, healthier deer.

Although feeding deer soybeans with a spin feeder allows a wildlife manger to increase the protein level of his deer throughout the entire year, you must observe several warnings before you begin this type of high-protein feeding program.
* Check your state game regulations to make sure when you can and can't feed deer and other wildlife.
* Don't institute this program during turkey season if you live in a state where you can't feed turkeys. The turkeys will eat the soybeans just like the deer do.
* Don't expect the deer to start eating the soybeans as soon as you start feeding them. Mix corn in with your soybeans. As soon as you notice the deer eating the soybeans as well as the corn, begin to gradually decrease the amount of corn you're feeding and increase the amount of soybeans.
* Set the timer on your feeder to feed the deer during the hours that you can observe and hunt them. Using spin feeders as a management tool to inventory your deerherd prior to the season allows you to better determine your herd potential for that year. If your feeder goes off at a time that you can't see the deer, you'll lose this advantage.
* Remember that supplemental feeding does not replace greenfield planting. Instead, consider supplemental feeding an added extra that can enable you to raise the nutritional level of your herd.

To learn more about how to use spin feeders and soybeans to improve deerherd, write or call Moultrie Feeders at 150 Industrial Road, Alabaster, AL 35007, (800) 653-3334, or visit the company's website at www.moultriefeeders.com.

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about Protein For Your Deer ...

Day 1 - Need for Protein
Day 2 - New Research
Day 3 - Peas and Corn for Bucks and Does
Day 4 - The Advantage of Feeding Soybeans and Corn Versus High-Protein Pellets
Day 5 - Cautions


John's Journal