New Thread about Food Plots

[BCinVT]

I also have quite alot of blackberry bushes up here.I intend to leave some of them when clearing for my plot,because the deer up here really seem to enjoy the leaves.So hopefully between the blackberries and the plots,I'll be able to hold some deer on the property.Still haven't decided what exactly I'm going to plant,but leaning toward a clover blend perrenial,and maybe adding some kind of late annual early in the summer.

[Qweaver]

Quinton
What did you plant on these food plots?

I'm not sure of exactly what we planted.  Someone else selected the seed.  I do know it was a mixture designed just for food plots.  Sorry

Due to the poor natural food production this year, I did decide to set up a gravity animal feeder.   It is being used by deer and lots of birds including our chickens and geese.  I then read several articles saying that feeding is not such a good idea.  A game warden then told me the same thing.  But he said that once I started feeding that I should not stop.  I have a farmer friend in Ohio that  feeds and manages his deer herd. His brother is a vet and both are avid hunters.  So I quess it is OK to feed if done properly.  He helped me set up my feeder which only supplies feed as it is eaten.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, feeding wildlife is far worst to cut them off during the tough times. Ween them off in the warm season if your going to stop feeding the wild animals.

Just a for instance, a local farmer always piled corn outside in an old gravel pit, which might have been spoiled or something and the ducks would stay all winter around that, even in a blizzard. This year he kept it covered so they don't stay. If he had cut them ducks off in the middle of the last two winters they would have perished. Wasn't too bad this winter, hardly any snow. Ducks don't naturally stay up here unless they are fed. Too cold, frozen water and neck high snow.

[isawlogs]

 Queaver ,
 any chance at geting pics of your feeder and how it works ?

[thecfarm]

I've been feeding the deer and any critters here through the winter months for 10 years. I put out grain for them.I can not get them to eat the grain when it warms up in April or so.The food just stays there so I stop feeding them.This is right behind the house.Wife says there was 17 behind me when I came home on the tractor.Most we have seen at one time.But they will eat the suckers off from the white maple.Turkeys just came back the other day.Have not seen any since Dec.

[gary]

If you are not in an area that has corn there all year long. The worst thing that you can feed deer in the winter is corn. In the fall the deer switch from being able to digest corn to being able to digest browse. The best thing to do in the winter as to cut some trees down so that they can feed on the tops.

[chain]

I'll stay with naturally grown deer foods. However, one year I built a manger type feeder, I got the idea from when I was in service in W. Germany as they have mangers and feed grasses or hay. I put alfalfa hay in my feeder manger but never could tell the deer ever fed on it. I do know deer love green alfalfa in fields.

[tughill]

I was talking to a friend who comes and hunts my farm (whitetail deer), and he and I both had come to the conclusion that the limiting factor up here in snowy upstate NY is that the limiting factor for deer is not the available food/browse in spring summer and fall, but the lack thereof in the winter.

Meaning, that all the food plots in the world won't keep the deer from being starved out in the winter, or just moving on to 'greener pastures' so to speak.

I live on top of a plateau, and it seems that there are very few deer tracks in the fields, woods or brush, whenever there is snow, but I have seen lots of deer down in the valley about 5 miles away, where it's more protected, less snow, probably more for them to eat.

I have been considering planting some corn to leave standing for winter feed, although I don't necessarily want to attract deer to much, as I'm trying to grow a fruit orchard.

Any comments on how to keep the deer around in winter, for those of us in the snowbelt?  Not that they disappear, but the definitely seem to migrate toward where there is more food and shelter/cover.

Great thread, BTW

[SwampDonkey]

Yes they certainly migrate. Even 50 years ago when industrial forestry never had roads to the majority of New Brunswick's interior regions that they have now, thus the wide spread clear cuts. The clear cutting removed old growth softwoods that supported deer in winter. It could be cedar stands, or spruce - fir forest. They don't stay in hardwoods up here, too cold (no thermal cover), snow too deep. My grandfather used to go into his camps 50 miles from settlements, following a narrow road kept up by the NB Power Corporation, to shovel snow off camp roofs. There was not a sign of deer in winter. They migrated down along the main river in early winter. During the warm season they were everywhere. Here, I see the odd deer in the summer now and again, but come winter the deer leave my area, not a track. Not many deer to begin with because of the moose, lack of wintering grounds and not being able to get at the food, it's buried in snow. I have way more moose. I also have a lot of coyotes, not thick but I can find them if I want to.

[Qweaver]

 Queaver ,
 any chance at geting pics of your feeder and how it works ?

Here is a picture of my feeder.   It's a piece of culvert with 2 slots cut in the bottom.  They are used to put over water valves for freeze protection.  It cost about $30.  Larry used the chainsaw to cut 2 T shaped slots in the top and bottom piece of 1/2" ply for the steel posts to pass thru'.  We set it on a pallet and drove the stakes about 1.5' deep. To fill just pull the top off and it holds about 3 bags of feed.  It has both rained and snowed but the feed has stayed dry.  The animals eat any wet feed at the outlets everyday and it never clogs.
Larry has several of these on his farm.  It took him about 15 minutes to put the whole thing together.  It's a little down and dirty  but it's cheap and it works.  Larry gave me a grain mixture recipe that cost $120 for 1000 lbs to be made up.  At the present rate of use I will use about half of that before I quit feeding this spring.  The geese, chickens, birds and other wild critters are probably eating as much as the deer.  We like it.

[BCinVT]

tughill,
I live in northern VT.,and I'm in the snowbelt too.The deer around here seem to need to yard up in the winter.I don't try and feed them anything in the winter,cause iIthink it might be better for them to yard up,even if it isn't around here.They always seem to come back toward spring.And I do have a few deer that don't stay in the yard.They like to come and eat the tops of the trees I've been cutting.If your area is anything like mine,we're only talking about 5-10  total deer anyway.And this winter was fairly mild.Got the big snow in Dec.,but didn't really get hammered again till last week(21").

[isawlogs]

 Thanks Queaver ,
 
 I will try one of those here , but I can see that our friendly bear just might have a snack and some fun opening this up .

 Jeff ,
    Can you put a pick of those five gallon pails with a chain you have up in the U.P.  I just dont remember how you put it together   
 
 

[Jeff]

I dont have any photos of those, but I can describe them.

5 gallon Pail Bump Feeder
1. Take a 5 gallon pail with lid. 
2. Epoxy a 3/4 inch washer to the center of the bottom on the inside of the pail.
3. Drill the hole out in the washer.
4. Drill a hole in the center of the lid.
5. Attach a small eye bolt to the lid, with the eye on the inside of the pail.
6. Seal the eyebolt hole with silicone.
7. Get 6-8 feet of chain in a size that will easily pass through the 3/4" washer, but not to easily.
8. Attach one end of the chain to the lid, and pass the other end through the hole in the pail.
9. Attach a weight to the end of the chain. We have used large fishing drop weights, big hex nuts, or even a chunk of hardwood. 
10. fill the pail with corn or pellets, place the lid, putt the chain tight.
11. Hang via the pail handle or better yet, strap to the tree or a post so the bump weight is about a foot off the ground. Higher when you have snow.
12. Be sure to check even 100 yards out when the pail comes missing, because a bear will take them quite some distance. 

[tughill]

I'm not looking to stir the pot here, but I'm curious what people think about the ethics of setting up feeders.  I myself am unsure.  Here in NY feeding deer is illegal, with some fairly harsh penalties.  Not that that means it is unethical, mostly means to me that we have too many laws.

I am assuming that most are not setting up a feeder 25 feet from the deer blind/stand, just trying to grow the best deer possible, which doesn't seem too bad, but I can see how it could be abused.

I definitely have talked to some....uh...unscrupulous hunters who set out a pile of corn a few weeks before deer season right next to the treestand, and to me that seems like shooting ducks in a barrel.

I guess my real question is how does using a feeder fit into a QDM (quality deer management) program?  I've read a couple articles books on this...but nothing that mentions specifically the role feeders may or may not play.

Thoughts?

[isawlogs]

 I have no more issues feeding deer here then I do feeding my horses .     Now with feeders like those shown and mentioned , not only deer can have acess to the food , I rather have a bear or raccon eat the corn/pellets then have him/her tear up my bird feeders here at the house or take my garbage box for a round or two , wich they always win . If deer or a turkey come in and have a bite or two , fine with me , many little mice and squirrels with appreciate the free lunch also. 

[Jeff]

Our U.P.feeders supplement the natural food for all our wildlife.  Being from Tughill you should understand how the extremities of climate can adversely effect local wildlife.  We do the best we can to help out all of our critters except that of the wild canine variety.

What makes a hunter that puts out food unscrupulous unless it violates the laws of the land? Hunting for sport and hunting for food may equate to two different things.

[Qweaver]

We had a huge black bear come through here this fall but I have not seen any sign of him this winter.
Larry said not to let the feeder get empty because the deer are capable of kicking the culvert over when there is food left inside that they can not reach.  Ours is working great.  I had to put 2 more bags of grain in today.
BTW, we do not shoot deer at this feeder.  It is in our back yard.  But the deer can be sighted all over the property almost everyday even before we put up the feeder.  We have so many deer in this area of the state that hunting is pretty easy.  You don't need feeders.  We just want to help them make it through a hard winter.

[SwampDonkey]

Hard winter? I could see if it was Michigan, Maine, Vermont or up state New York, then I could swallow the hard winter line. Deer ain't that helpless, otherwise they wouldn't have a chance in New Brunswick.

[CLL]

In Missouri you have to make sure there is no sign of baiting, feeding, or whatever at least two weeks before hunting season, be it bow or gun. They will absolutely fry you if you get caught baiting. The agent that I know here found a tree stand with apples, corn and sweet feed around it, he waited three weeks to catch the guy. Result, the guy lost a $700 bow, his stand, license for one year, and a $1000 fine. 

[Qweaver]

I guess whether it's a bad thing or a good thing depends on where you live.  I hunt in W.Va., Texas and Ohio and it's OK to have feeders in all three I think.  We always had them in Texas.  My friend in Ohio has feeders but we don't usually shoot deer at the feeders.  We have never had them on our club lease in W.Va. but could if we wanted to.  We did plant food plots.  I have not shot a deer at a feeder in years but I would not feel bad about doing it.  We eat 2 to 3 deer every year and if the season was nearly over and I didn't have my deer, I might get one coming to the feeder.  But that is not a problem with the current number of deer that we have.