What now? Off-season food plots, supplement feeding?

[flowinggardens]

So the season is over after my first year of food plots, what should I be doing now to get a start on next years plots.  WHat else do you do for your herd to help them through the winter?  Feeders, start clearing for the xpansion of current plots, can I spread seed to try some frost seeding for spring?   Also does anyone know if deer will eat and benefit from Barley, I have access to processed Barley and would feed it over the winter, not sure if its good for deer or if they will eat it. Maybe the turkeys would like it? Let me know. Thanks

[dakids]

Now is a good time to get out the chainsaw and do some feathering around your food plots. Or drop a few trash trees to help guide a deer a little closer to a tree stand, similer to putting up a fence to funnel the deer where you want them to walk.  Clear shooting lanes.  Frost seeding would be good.

[Bear Creek Bucks]

I read one time from Dr. Deer, James Kroll, that supplemental feeding is one of the best things you can do during a hard winter. Their are all sorts of opinions but I think it depends how many deer you have and what effect it can have on the browse on your area. I think the deer will tell you if they like barley or not, try some and see if they like it. We don't do much during the winter in regards to food plots, we try to make sure they have access to some food if possible to help them survive the winter.

[ray634]

I agree that now would be a good time to do any chainsaw work you may have in mind.
As for frost seeding, I would wait till spring when there is a little snow left.

This is a good time to start a mineral site on a stump or such because the snow/rain will melt the mineral into the stump. I use red trace mineral salt on a stump near a stand. Once the deer find it they will nearlt eat the stump out of the ground to set the salt.

Barley may be a little rich for the deer but it would not hurt to give it a try, especialy if the price is right.

Now is also a good time to review your hunting area for active deer trails. They may use different trails now than early scouting may have revealed.

[Mayfly]

I also agree that now is a good time to get out and do some clearing and prep for next year. Without the snow you can get in and out easy and you can really get some work done!

I also like the frost seed idea. If you have a clover plot I would def lay down some more seed and if you have a new area that you would like to start a clover plot get it going now. Get in there, clean it up, rake it our and get some seed down. The snow and water will get the seed down and then when the temps rise it should be one of the first to germinate so you should have a decent plot next spring into summer. You may have to do a light kill off come summer but it will be a great start!!

I have had great luck with this!

[Mayfly]

Also, I would get some supplements out there! This is a good time to get trophy rocks and or rack back into position. They will crave this more and more as the winter goes on and spring comes. The does will want it, remember they are feeding for more than just themselves during this time and will need the additional supplements. The bucks have had a hard fall chasing does. Once their antlers start growing their bodies will crave these nutrients and to help you should make them available. Be sure to check and read your labels. Know what you are putting down. There are too many out there that are just over the top when it comes to sodium. Yes, deer will crave it and they will keep coming back for more but give them something more, something that will actually help them. One product that sticks out is lucky buck. Its just a mix that anyone can create in their garage and that is exactly what he did to get off the ground. With that much salt and flavor any deer will come back for more. Look more into it and give them something that will actually help. Look at labels and read more than what the product tells you. I have a few products, that after lots of research, I believe are top-notch.

Some supplemental feeding is also a good plan if you can afford it. As for that I would look for a good deer feed, most likely in pellet form. Just like salt they will love corn but look farther than just a carb. They need more and if you can afford to give it to them, by all means!!

I do not supplement feed but you better believe my mineral are down thick!

Good luck!

[ray634]

I made my own mineral feed mix a few years ago and they loved it. It was 50 lb dried molasses/sugar beet pulp mixed with 30 lb of mineral mix. I used whitetail 30-06 blend but fleet farm would do just as well. Mix it together and put it in a depression to hold water. I ended up with a hole 10 inches deep and 18 inches across.
The catch with this is you have to make sure the mollasses (feed) is cleaned up and gone before season for baiting rules.

[deadeye]

If you do any clearing with the chain saw try doing "hinge" cuts.  Basically this involves cutting the tree about half way and pushing it over.  The remaining attached part will keep the tree alive for several years providing much needed cover and browse.  

Unless you are prepared to feed all the deer all winter, I don't think supplemental feeding is a good idea. 

[flowinggardens]

[Unless you are prepared to feed all the deer all winter, I don't think supplemental feeding is a good idea. 
[/quote]

Why do you say that supplemental feeding is only a good idea if you do it all winter, just wondering?
My plan is to start feeding Jan 1 to about April 1.  Do you think that is sufficient?  Would you do the sup. feeding in a food plot that has alot of turnips in it yet? I wanted to do it so that if the corn is gone they would likely go to the turnips and try them, this was the first time they have had them and they arent hitting them much yet.  Our deer population is pretty low.

Starting the mineral is that something that I can start now and how often do you add to them and /or keep them going? Sept?

[ray634]

Once you start feeding deer you may find there are more in the area than you ever thought.
The corn would be a source of carbs for quick energy but a balanced ration would work better.
Anything you do to improve health will boost survival and fawning rates(more deer).

Now is a good time to start a mineral station so it will be readily used by spring. You should plan on keeping the site refreshed year around, making sure to not have food stuff included after the 10 day prior to hunting. Once the deer have started using the mineral site you can cut back on the food stuff and do straight minerals without losing the deer.
If you notice that activity slows down that usually means the deer have had as much as they need. I used a trail camera to monitor the site for a while and the first couple years saw quite a jump in the quality of bucks.

[dakids]

50lbs. - di-calcium phosphate
100 lbs. - red trace mineral salt (LOOSE W/OUT MEDS)
50 lbs.- stock/ice cream salt--- This can be replaced by hy-phos. it cost a few more bucks but premotes antler growth and milk production.

 The first 3 ingr. can be purchased for under $30, if you use hy-phos it will run about another $15.
Mix 1 part di-cal, 1 part salt, 2 parts trace mineral salt

This is what i use and it saves me a lot of money.  Does hit it all year and I replenish every 3 to 4 months.  I use about a ice cream bucket at each site every time I replenish.

[deadeye]

In general, the state wildlife departments have discouraged deer feeding.  What I meant was that once you start feeding, you have to continue until spring.  Also, you shouldn't just start dumping corn because it takes a while for a deers digestive system to adjust to different feed.  They found that deer living on browse, would actually starve to death with a belly full of corn.  Back in 1996/7 they tried feeding deer in the northern part of the state.  At this time the deer license fee was increased and $.50 from each license went to the feeding fund.  I believe it still does today even though they haven't feed deer for the past 15 years.  Do the math, there should be a pile of $$ allocated to feeding deer laying around some place.  Then again maybe they just use it for something else. 

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Forgive the debt to the Game and Fish fund from the Wild Cervid Health Account under MN Stat 97A.075, subdivision 1, paragraph (d). The payback of the $750,000 deer feeding appropriation was required because in 1996 there was an impression among some stakeholders and legislators that the wildlife management activity was using funds from fishing license receipts. The Legislature established a deer feeding account in 1996 by directing that fifty cents of every deer license be deposited in a special feeding account. The intent of the 1996 deer feeding appropriation was that the money would be “borrowed” from the game and fish operating fund and repaid from the newly dedicated deer feeding account once a sufficient threshold amount had accumulated in the account, so that fishing license revenues would not be subsidizing deer feeding. The threshold balance to trigger the repayment (initially $1.5 million but increased to $2.5 million with the advent of CWD) has never occurred. That payback was mandated at a time that the revenue:expenditure ratio imbalance was believed to be the opposite of what it is today and before any formal analysis had been done. With the advent of CWD (and later bovine TB) the authorized uses of the account were broadened beyond feeding to include CWD and cervid health management.
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[flowinggardens]

I was once told that if you had crushed corn, or ground corn it was better, is there any truth to that?  There was a previous posting that mentioned pellets, would these be better or worse for feeding? I can get corn for $8 a bushel, how does that compair to pellets?