Results Of Protien

[welderC3]

My dad and I are switching to all protien on our lease in west Texas starting in Feb or March. Will we be able to see any results from it by 2010 season?

[Archermike2605]

Start asap...(Jan) it's hard to say about results to expect, It definitely won't hurt, and it just might add a few inches to a bucks antlers.

[AgHntr10]

You have to start somewhere, I wouldn't expect to see a great jump in antler growth the first year but it dang sure won't hurt anything

[JKJR]

I might be wrong here, but I would assume that protein feeding results are evident the first year and that you could be back to square one the second year if you did not feed. Protein does not alter genetics, but allows deer to reach their maximum potential. Like a bodybuilder who works to put on mass - when eating right and never having a protein deficit, he puts on mass. When he stops, the mass goes away....

[J.Shoot]

Good Idea

I experienced the same thing. I started feeding at my house where I could moniter what ate the protein. (My land is low fenced) The first thing I noticed was the number of doe that hit the protein. So there's a benefit for them especially while pregnant. The bigger bucks (4-1/2, 125") bucks never really hit it. What I noticed as time went on was the younger bucks hit it consistently and continued to hit it as they grew older. It took about 3 years for us to notice any difference in size, and for the most part it was in mass. I can tell you this. I have access to hunt alot of land in my area. I don't feed protein in all places around the ranch. I have let my wife shoot a few bucks at the house and these bucks will field dress around 20 - 30 pounds more for a mature buck than one the same age from other places on the ranch where the deer aren't getting the protein. Good Luck, it can get expensive but it is worth it. One other thing, I cringe everytime I hear a gun shot on my neighbors, wondering which buck that's been eating at my protein feeder that just bought a bullet.

J.Shoot

[Kdog]

We are in our 3rd season feeding on our lease. The difference in deer quality and numbers from before we started is unbelievable. It has got better every year. The improvement will be gradual.

[TX_Hoghunter]

My experience is like those stated above. It has helped us but it takes about 3 years to really start seeing a lot of improvements. The old bucks never improved much, but the young bucks that were raised on good food do benefit.

-john

[aaronm]

You should see an increase in body size atleast!

[JeffJ]

In our experience the first thing we saw was our fawns got bigger, faster. Then we noticed the lack of drawn down in our nursing does through the Texas summers. It is hard to quantify the results as they pertain to antlers but 130-165" 3yo's and 8pt 1yo's tell me it is working. Protein will not fully make up for a poor range management plan and overpopulation though.

[Codie]

I have a 2yr old that was as protien hound this year from April - August and his rack is head and shoulders above any other 2 yr old on the ranch or the nieghbors ranch. He started out obviously a 2 yr old (looked like a 2yr old). You can look at any picture of his now and there is no way you would call him 2. His body is just huge, compared to the other 2 yr olds. He looks like a 4yr old in the pictures.

[Blue Tick]

You should see some results, it will get better as your program goes. Biggest result you will see is the thinning of your wallet!!

[Bobcat]

A plan to provide easy access to reliable water and available quality forage is still the first thing needed in order to maximize results. Without the building blocks of a solid plan you will likely get some gain from protien of any kind, but you'll still need to cover the necessities in order to maximize potential.

I add this comment since you mentioned west Texas. With so many variables like stocking rate, drougth and cedar/mesquite sucking up water you might be able to get the same results by tweaking other factors.

[Hollywood]

Start feeding post rut to help those worn out bucks get back on their HOOVES

[slayer]

We saw an increase in body size first, but on the third year we started to see antlers increase in mass and height, by year five, we saw major results, more healthier deer, bigger yearlings and two year olds and our mature deer were just huge.