I had at least 10 tonight,might of been a few more. They don't seem as brave as last year,or maybe not as hungry. ;D I feed just course 14,a cow grain and I scatter it like chicken food in a long line. I put the grain in a five gallon bucket and reach in with my hand and throw it. I would think about 100 feet long.This keeps the deer from fighting.Yes,they will still drive the smaller ones away,but the smaller ones comes back and eat further away and all is well. I've been doing this since I lived here,back in 2000. The deer was here when I built the house. I invaded thier back yard. I use to show shoe in to see how they was doing. So far this year,no turkeys.Last year I would get to the end and turn around to come back to the house and the deer would be there eating all ready. They would move away,but not far.
I have counted 20 a few times,it's kinda of an odd feeling to be within 20-30 feet of 20 deer.
The deer will come during the day too. When times was better I would feed them before going to work. Now it's just a night feeding.
The coyote have done a number on the deer population here and for that I'm thankful. However, it is great seeing a few deer in the woods, just my herd of 20-30 deer on 35 acres is a bit much. Less this winter than last.
I had read that feeding deer in the winter when theres alot of snow was bad for them cause it takes them outta rumenitis and if you stop feeding them and they can't find food elsewhere they will starve to death whereas in rumenitis they can survive for a long time on just about nothing. Anyone else hearda that?
Yep,read the same thing that the state puts out. ;D
A five gallon bucket will not feed too many deer. I mean give them what they all need to make it through the winter.
As I said,the deer was here before me,and will be here after I am gone. There is more deer around here in the winter time,than any other time of year. Or that is how I see it. During the summer months I don't see many deer at any one time. I see more deer when I am driving my tractor,than walking. When I am cutting wood,the deer are there.
I am out in the woods in the winter and there are trails where the deer are going.
I did mean to lime a few places in the woods so I could plant some carrots,beets and turnips. If they like them in the garden,they should like them in the woods. ;D
I am not talking an acre,just a couple widths of a garden rake. I want to scratch up an area and see what happens. One year I did not get all of the carrots and beets out of the garden and the deer was pawing for them and having a feast on what I left behind.
Illegal to feed game here, but we don't have deer anyway and nobody I know wants 20 moose in their yard.
It's illegal to feed deer here too, but there are several that still do, they're just a little more discrete about it!
I used to feed around 15 here in my backyard when it was still legal!
They would eat whole corn (or cracked corn too) for a while, then stop and go over to the brush on the back side of the lawn a browse a little and sometimes they'd come back for a little more corn!
I also used to feed Molasses with Bovatec they really like it and they grow well on it and get some nice antlers too! Got that stuff at the feed store, but they said if you're feeding it to the deer, stop feeding it 60 days prior to opening day of deer season, much the same way as when feeding it to calves on the farm!
chuck it only illegal if you get caught :-X I tried to tell my deer that they wasn't allowed to eat the feed for the rabbits and squirrels but there just like kids they don't listen :D :D
only illegal if you get caught!
Another "old saying"! ;D
A game warden comes into the store,I have had him come to the house a few times. Not illegal,in Maine to feed deer during hunting season,just can't shot over it. I did not ask how wide an area is "over it" was either.
I do not hunt deer,just varmits that want to eat my chickens.
Just came in from the nightly feeding. I know there was at least 20. I got to the end and turned around and there was one feeding. I stood there for a minute and another came,and another and so on. After a few minutes there was about 10 there. I walked back and they took off. I had one within 40 feet of me. I try to keep the light off them. They don't like it. But this one just stood there and looked at me.
We a lot of rain last week. Everything is like packed snow about 6 inches thick. Than we had about 2 inches of snow and rain. But did not warm up enough to melt. So we have about 2 inches of a soft crust. Get about 10 deer moving around on that and it sounds like 100. ;D
Be careful, I have read about cases of people getting seriously injured by the deer they were feeding, one in particular was a lady that had been feeding them for years.
Very true, starmac!
Everyone just keep in mind, a deer can kill you!
How right you are. This year the deer have not been so close to me. Last year I was surrounded by deer. Gave me an odd feeling. Deer are like horses,they are a flight animal. Something scares them,they run. And neither ones cares what is in thier way when they start moving. :o
Kathy feeds the deer. I watch and learn a lot about deer life.
What I have learned.
- Deer freely share the food with birds, raccoons, squirrels, and many other animals.
- One old doe is the queen and will smack those that get out of line or try to hog the food.
- Deer up to one year old and perhaps older love to play.
- Although much bigger, deer do not trust cats.
- When traveling in a group the front runners will always stop to make sure the laggards are still coming.
- Bucks will turn into does in a week or two. They begin to be more active during the day.
- Freshly dropped acorns are candy and much better than corn.
- Old acorns must taste similar to boot leather.
- Humans could learn a thing or two from deer.
I have not see a raccoon where I feed the deer. I am not feeding them things too. Now if they want to eat a few of the wife's chicken........ :D
Larry is right on with the deer facts. I see The Queen keeping the others in line. I have chickens that act the same way.
The deer are pawing for the acorns under the trees. And I do mean pawing.
I should add turkeys and the deer will fight over the corn. I've seen it a coupe of times, once a big buck and a turkey got in to it. A lot of strutting but no blood.
ray does your chickens go by the deer when I had them the deer would chase the crap out of them it was funny same with red squirrels they don't seem to bother the grays I had a fawn that would stomp its feet at the 2 rabbits I had its funny my daughter can hand feed 2 of the fawns and a few of the older deer will let her get real close almost to pet them but if the wind is blowing she cant get no where near any of them they all run away the fawns both have names back straps and bologna her names not mine :D
Chickens are not running free,at this time. But they would be there.
We had one flock that did great. They would stay down back and all was good. We might of chased them from the front of the house a few times,but they stayed down back. Those got old and got some more. That flock would head for the garden. :o Than we would chase them out of there and they would roast on the hand railing going into the house. ::)Finally we had to put a high fence up and kept them pened up.
Before I moved to my place I'm at now.
My wife and I fead about 20 deer in the winter for 10 years .
Behind my shop they would hear us drive home and come out or when I was in the shop they would look in the overhead door.
I got charged once and had to hold my ground and stomp my feet and it stopped.
By the way I'm pretty large.
I spread it from a metal bucket by hand they would come out right behind me.
I grew some big racks and had the land posted
My buddies didn't like it much told them take it up with the boss :)
The word got out and I had to stop some night hunters:(
My wife spent a lot on corn they liked whole corn the most
I have no idea where the deer go during hunting season. My stepson don't know either. :( They come in at night,sometimes and than none at all at times.My step son is a big time hunter. He will have 4-5 other people here at times. Most times only 2 to an area. They had tree stands and sitting areas in many places. Once we had a couple inches of snow here,during hunting season. He walked through the woods and up on the hill too. I would guess a couple miles and I think only saw one set of tracks. ::) He came back to the house and said, I don't know where they are,but I know I'm not hunting here today. He has heard deer and so have others,some areas are thick with small pines. Hard to see through them. So feeding the deer does not really keep them here in this area during hunting season.
We would take 4 to 6 inch PVC pipe, 4 ft tall, cut a notch in the bottom or drill a hole with the same bit, that you would use for a door knob - tie it to a tree with wire - fill it with corn & throw a coffee can on top for a lid - let it gravity feed to the hole for the deer and coons to eat - worked well - The new trend is "apple flavored" corn -
I'll stick to my clover fields and salt blocks for keeping the gang local. (we got to pull the salt blocks up from Sept. to mid January in our state).
I was told that hole corn does nothing for the deer it just fills there gut they eat it hole and crap it hole :-\ :-\
BayBeagle, do you have to pull your salt blocks up if they are there for cattle??
Quote from: starmac on January 31, 2018, 07:34:08 PM
BayBeagle, do you have to pull your salt blocks up if they are there for cattle??
no, You can't hunt adjacent, or near the salt lick location - in a scenario's where you used it for attracting deer - you can not hunt over it - it needs to be removed, and the residue as well - (which is almost impossible) -
I have seen spots where white salt blocks have been placed to attract deer - and the deer (over the years) have dug out a spot, and eaten both dirt and roots - a hole you could bury a Volkswagen beetle in it -
Quote from: coxy on January 31, 2018, 07:24:05 PM
I was told that hole corn does nothing for the deer it just fills there gut they eat it hole and crap it hole :-\ :-\
I have to disagree (in part) you are most likely at least partially correct!
When we used to feed the deer in the back yard, we could sit on the porch and hear them crunching the whole corn!
Same thing when they would eat the Black Cherries from the yard trees out back, they would actually crunch those pits in the cherries!
Granted, you can see some corn in the deer droppings, but I've never seen whole corn in it!
Just sayin'!
Quote from: coxy on January 31, 2018, 07:24:05 PM
I was told that hole corn does nothing for the deer it just fills there gut they eat it hole and crap it hole :-\ :-\
I'll question that - deer are browsers, so a little of this and a little of that makes up their diet. In agg areas, corn and beans, peanuts and sunflowers make up a portion of their diet, along with nuts and foliage. They need to be accumated to their food source to build a gut bacteria, to help digest, and breakdown the food source. In all my years, I have never seen corn in deer scat.
Quote from: Larry on January 29, 2018, 08:14:33 PM
Kathy feeds the deer. I watch and learn a lot about deer life.
What I have learned.
- Deer freely share the food with birds, raccoons, squirrels, and many other animals.
- One old doe is the queen and will smack those that get out of line or try to hog the food.
- Deer up to one year old and perhaps older love to play.
- Although much bigger, deer do not trust cats.
- When traveling in a group the front runners will always stop to make sure the laggards are still coming.
- Bucks will turn into does in a week or two. They begin to be more active during the day.
- Freshly dropped acorns are candy and much better than corn.
- Old acorns must taste similar to boot leather.
- Humans could learn a thing or two from deer.
I don't trust cats either!! Must be the deer have seen all the youtube videos about cats
I hate to tell the step son I saw 25 deer last night. The most so far.
He has no idea where they go,during daylight,during hunting season. He has been a trying to figure that out.
Hunting areas are getting built up around his area,or posted. Houses development are going up. He lives about 25 miles from me,close to the city,real close.
do any of you see any deer with the warts on them we have one looks like his guts are falling out they are so big he cant bend his front leg straight and looks like its 10x bigger than norm if you look at his fur ( i know its a buck he was a 3 point )you can see them starting to pop out the one neighbor called DEC and they said there was nothing wrong with it it was good for consumption I'm glad he didn't tell me that i would have paid the fine and shot it and told him let me see you eat it first :D
Sounds like that deer needs culled, even if the SSS technique has to be applied.
trust me if i didn't have j a for neighbors it would have been gone long time ago 2 agree with me and 2 don't one of them is the one that called DEC in the first place >:(
We put out a little for them this time of year. No ag around yet there never seems to be a problem with them acclimating to the corn.
With it being all public around here we wait until all seasons are over or else someone would definitely take advantage of that.
It's not enough to really move the needle on the health of the herd but it sure is enjoyable to watch them.
Interesting, with all the hunting pressure we expect to see a large turnover in the deer, but year after year we have lots of the same does.
This gal is our favorite. We estimate her at around 9 years old. She is queen of the forest around here. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48363/untitled-1-2_282017_03_12_19_32_02_UTC29.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1517787754)
There's always one! ;) :)
Looks like she's a little upset about you whittling on her ear :)
I cut down a cedar tree and hauled it up to the house. I wanted Brenda to see them chew the green stuff off. But I brought it up kinda late,4pm and getting dark now. Kinda hard for me to bring it up earlier and than I would have to stay inside. Where the cedar tree is,is where I cut up my firewood.
I get them behind the house all the time. This one is about ten feet from me. I don't feed them, so I don't know what it's after. They trip my motion lights all the time.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14240/20180220_174247.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1519955304)
Cfarm, do you cut fence post out of the cedar after the deer are done ?
No fence post for me. But I do saw lumber out of it. This one had a good size wood pecker hole in it. I just knew it was no good for lumber. That is why I cut it down. Sawed it up for firewood,did not bother to look at it until I was done. ::) That would of made some good boards. :o But still have a good log that I can get some lumber. Well what I call a good log for the cedar I have. I still have a couple cords down by the wood yard when I had my land logged.
I counted 32 tonight. The count keeps going up. I have never had that many.
I end up with the muddy hole around my salt block. I think what happens is the area around the block is muddy and each deer removes a bit of mud on their feet. Over time, they remove enough soil to make a hole. I know they are not digging because the mineral block is right there always. Gary
Wow cfarm, Now you have to cut more trees to feed them all.
Them critters will have to wait for awhile for the tree cutting. That more than a foot of new snow,is not for me. The deer was right behind the house,under the oak tree this morning. Lots and lots of acrons this year.
They were waiting for you to come out is all. :D ;)
You could bring home a bag or two of grain for them till the snow is gone, ;D
I buy a sweet grain for them. I can only do one bag a week.
Do they like horse food?
That has been fed to them too. The store had some that was going to expire. We buy in special grain for certain horse customers. They get rid of horse,than we have 2-3 bags that no one else buys. The grain that I use is really a cow grain. Yes,we have special deer pellets,but it cost more. Than we also have a wildlife grain,turkeys,pheasants,deer.
Late last summer,my lady friend was on her way back to Toledo .She had only seen 2 or 3 deer when she visited .Only gone about twenty minutes and I counted 18 does with fawns not 80 feet behind my house .It was a hot day,in the 90's .They were cooling off in the woods .I see tracks but they usually move around about in pre dawn .
cfarm do you ever give them whole bag corn?
No on the corn. But others do it with good results. It would be cheaper to do that. Retail the grain I buy is $12.50,we just got some whole corn from a local supplier $9. I don't feel whole corn is good for them,but others do. I could feed course cracked for a little more per bag. But I just use the sweet feed.
I use to go to the bread store and buy trays of bread for food too. I would put out 4-5 loaves a night. Come morning all the bread would be gone.
Brenda thought we had 40 when I came home,I saw about 20. They will stop coming when the snow is gone. More snow is on the way,a foot or more. Won't last now.
Why not the corn?
I feel whole corn just goes right through them, kinda like with us.
BUT reply #24 says it works. I have just never done it. Give it a try. The proof is in the droppings. ;D
has anyone been told that copper in some feed will kill the deer
Anything is possible, but I have never heard of any feed for cattle or horses killing deer. There is or used to be some hog feed that iirc had arsenic in it that was harmful to horses, and maybe even cattle, it may not have been good for deer.
We have a bag at work marked,NOT FOR SHEEP. No idea about deer.
It should be about the same digestive system I would think .The are a ruminant but according to what I read more goat like than sheep like .
Quote from: coxy on March 13, 2018, 08:08:52 AM
has anyone been told that copper in some feed will kill the deer
I know the copper in a bullet jacket will kill them! :D :D :D ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: ToddsPoint on March 09, 2018, 05:28:24 AM
I end up with the muddy hole around my salt block. I think what happens is the area around the block is muddy and each deer removes a bit of mud on their feet. Over time, they remove enough soil to make a hole. I know they are not digging because the mineral block is right there always. Gary
The salt dissolves in the rain and is now in the dirt. The deer lick (eat) the dirt to get to the salt. I have had one in the same spot for 4 years now. The hole is getting pretty deep. Even when the block is "gone" they are still there licking the ground. Makes for some great game camera footage. Squirrels and raccoons visit as well.
Quote from: Chuck White on March 14, 2018, 10:50:27 AM
Quote from: coxy on March 13, 2018, 08:08:52 AM
has anyone been told that copper in some feed will kill the deer
I know the copper in a bullet jacket will kill them! :D :D :D ;D ;D ;D
:D :D :D You're killing ME!
Quote from: coxy on March 13, 2018, 08:08:52 AM
has anyone been told that copper in some feed will kill the deer
Naa, it is the lead inside of the copper jacket that does the killing. I know this cuz I build my own and don't have the makings to use copper, and everyone I have ask, claimed they were just as dead as the ones killed with the store bought copper wrapped ones. lol
Are they still around cfarm, I had some come by, But now he showed up.
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Not so much through the day now. Seem like about 4pm when they come back. I went down into the woods tonight,8pm,and they was laying down waiting for me to feed them. Had about 13 in front of the house at 7:30 tonight. Still have a foot of snow in the woods. Yes,there are some bare spots. But have to remember I saw 40 deer here. Them small bare spots will not feed 40 deer for long. When the snow really goes,they will stop coming. No bears yet. Most times they hit my suet feeder and I know they are back. I saw a wood chunk out about 20 minutes from here.
Stepson said,yea,40 here now,come November zero. ;D