What is the best thing to feed deer?
- Natural Food. If possible, it is best to feed natural food. ...
- Deer Pellets. Most farm feed outlets carry a specially formulated ration for deer or can tell you where it can be bought. ...
- Cereal Grains. ...
- Hay or Alfalfa. ...
- Fruit & Vegetables.
An inexpensive way to feed deer is with corn. Deer love corn and many hunters rely on it for supplemental feeding. That being said, corn is not an excellent source of protein, which is essential for antler growth and the nursing of fawns.
Deer eat woody browse in the winter. This can be leaves, berries, saplings, bulbs, or buds. In wintertime, they will take their pickings from the ground. They can also have some lush forage such as kale, radish, turnips, apples, or cabbage if it is available.
A wide variety of fruits and vegetables – including apples, grapes, cherries, pears, carrots, and snap peas – are eaten in nature by deer. Therefore, it is safe to feed deer these fruits. Acorns are another safe food source.
Too Much Corn, Hay, or Alfalfa
While small amounts are fine in moderation, feeding deer too much corn, hay, or other types of hay can actually have negative consequences for these beautiful and majestic animals.
Peanut butter has physical properties that will help deer hang around in front of your trail cameras better than corn. It tends to leave a longer-lasting residue than corn, so whitetails stick around wherever you smear it.
“The worst thing we can do for deer in a tough winter is shock their system by providing a new food, particularly a high-energy food such as corn or high-protein food such as alfalfa hay that they are not used to,” said Kip. “In most cases, it ends up being worse for the deer than if they had not been fed.
Food Plots
Plants that typically attract deer include red clover, chicory, and orchard grass. Certain high-protein crops, such as peas, soybeans, turnips, alfalfa, sorghum, kale, or corn, are also attractants that the animals enjoy feeding on.
Deer pellets, for example, are very popular choices. Don't feed foods like corn, bread, barley, alfalfa, or hay – while small amounts of corn, alfalfa, and hay are fine in moderation, too much can lead to digestive problems or malnutrition.
Some good fall food sources include hard mast (e.g., oak acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, etc.), soft mast (e.g., apples, pears, persimmons, etc.), and agricultural crops (corn, soybeans, brassicas, cereal grains, etc.).
Should you feed deer in your yard?
Supplemental Feeding Can Harm Deer
spread disease among deer. cause aggression, wasting vital energy reserves and leading to injury or death. reduce fat reserves as deer use energy traveling to and from the feed site. result in over-browsing of local vegetation and ornamental plants.
