Should I feed deer all year round?

Just like humans, whitetail deer need a well-rounded diet throughout the year. During different seasons, the nutritional requirements of bucks, does and fawns will vary slightly, but all three need water, protein, energy (fats and carbohydrates), calcium, phosphorus, sodium and fiber.

What is the best thing to feed deer year round?

Mid Spring to Late Summer Fill your feeders with high-protein feed that also includes minerals. Pellets, depending on the brand, can contain anywhere between 16 and 21 percent protein. The ideal amount of protein depends on the conditions.

How often should you feed deer?

Deer need to feed on adequate amounts of browse, 2 out 5 times during a 24 hour period within their daylight bedding areas. However, quality browse without a quality afternoon food source can leave you scratching your head, when you fail to consistently hold deer on your land.

Why you shouldn’t feed deer in winter?

Changes in diet caused by the introduction of rich, unnatural foods during this season can cause disruption in the microorganisms of the digestive system. Even hay can cause problems in a digestive tract that has geared down for the winter. Supplemental feeding of deer may actually decrease its chance of survival.

Is it good to feed deer?

Supplemental Feeding Can Harm Deer attract predators and increase risk of death by coyotes or domestic dogs. 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.

Is it bad to feed deer?

If you feed deer in your backyard or at a park, you could be harming them instead of helping them. Bringing deer together at feeding sites increases their risk of contracting communicable diseases, such as chronic wasting disease, from other deer.

What can I feed my backyard deer in the wild?

A deer will rely on its fat reserves for most of their bodily functions and energy requirements, but they do still need to eat. Their diet consists mostly of woody browse this time of year, early successional species like blackberries and greenbriers, and saplings.

Should you feed deer in your yard?

Why you should not feed deer?

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.

What can I feed my backyard deer in the winter?

The Best Deer Feed for Winter How about woody browse like saplings, briars, and honeysuckle! That’s right, it is the correct feed for this time of year. But you can’t supplement those types of foods when times get hard, it’s more of a long term management process.

Is Feeding deer bad for them?

Why do deer need to be fed throughout the year?

Feeding deer requires a flexible plan throughout the year to ensure a healthy herd. Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate with a land manager’s goals. Food plots fail. Droughts and harsh winters happen.

What’s the best way to feed a deer?

Instead, feeding deer the right way involves providing the correct food in your feeders at the times that will maximize the results of your efforts. Here are some deer feeding tips to help you make the decisions on what and when to feed.

When to start feeding supplemental feed to deer?

If this is the first year you are going to introduce supplemental feed, wait until the spring when a deer’s stomach has the right microorganisms to digest it. This is primetime for bucks growing antlers and does rearing fawns. Fill your feeders with high-protein feed that also includes minerals.

How often should I Feed my free ranging deer?

Because deer eat several times a day, professionally made free-choice feeders (or even trough feeders) can be the best way to feed deer for maximum intake and antler growth. One free-choice feeder can comfortably feed 25 free-ranging deer if each consumes an average of 1.5 lbs of feed per day.