No such thing as a dumb question right?

[Shock n Awe G5]

Is it valueable to protein feed all year long? I figured i would cut back during the winter time but wanted to get some opinions!

[recar]

I dont plan on feeding protein duing the hunting season. I want them coming to my corn on my time not at 2am for a free protein meal.

[reggiehayes]

We usually stop once season starts and the velvet comes off and pick it back up as soon as the rut is over with. It is only about a three month break.

[txsteele]

Good ?????????

[JLively]

Around San Antonio the pickings are slim. I would like to think that all of the protien that we have been feeding is keeping the herd healthier this year.

[Stick em]

I stop once huntin season starts

[T6driver44]

We have already stopped at our lease.

[Jhunter]

I'm going to try feeding through hunting season this year. The first two years on my lease we had very few protein feeders, so we fed protein throughout the year. I saw some of the biggest deer those two years coming to feeder set ups and all three deer came in took a couple of bites of protein and left without touching the corn. The last couple of years we have several good bucks on camera eating protein during late summer and then as soon as we switch to corn, they disappear and we don't see them again. I'm going to spend a couple of hundred dollars on protein this year and see what it will pull out of the brush.

[tvc184]

I would say it depends on why you are feeding. If you are looking to grow horns, wait until after the shed and start back up in the spring. If you are looking to keep the herd healthier during the tough months of winter, stop once they get out of velvet and there is usually plenty of food and pick back up when the winter gets hard on them and they start scrounging for food like maybe late January or February.

[Trust]

We stop the protein in September and start it back up in January to help out with the leaner months and ensure a healthier heard.

[denimdeerslayer]

I mix it in with the corn in the spin feeders so they still get it but are on my time.

[slayer]

We throw protein in our spinners and stop the free choice.

[Bodey]

Feeding needs change throughout the year. Animals always need a certain amount of protein but as cooler weather comes , energy needs increase. Corn is an excellent source of energy/ carbohydrates and fills a nutritional need in the cool season. Energy demands also go up during breeding season. That is the main reason corn becomes irresistible to deer as the weather gets cooler. There are no negatives to keeping protein out through the winter, if the pocketbook can stand it.

[Aggiehuntress]

we stop in Sept so they will hit the other feeders and start up again after we tag out on our bucks, the point is to get the health of the herd high so they are in good body condition when they start growing the antlers again, that way they have more energy to put towrads growth of the antlers, not into rebuilding body condition.

IMO

[axisbuck24]

We are debating this dilemma too. Our biologist told us to feed year round. When hunting season starts according to him is when they need it most. In the spring is when they need it as well. Since we have been feeding year round, we have increased the weight on our does by 10 pounds on average so far and we have had some really huge does taken for the hill county. Our bucks and exotics have been plentiful and big as well.