Protein Feeding questions

[coolhand]

Greetings all, We are going to feed protein on our Hill Country lease for the first time this year. We have one spin type feeder set up using the coated protein pellets. Our other set ups will use the gravity type feeders. My main question is how did you get the deer started eating the protein, and do they eat one brand better than others? Did you mix it with corn at first? Also, do ya'll use feed pens to keep cattle away? If so, what type of pen? Some of our areas have mostly scattered Mesquite so it's hard to build a pen in the traditional way with barbed wire. Any suggestions would be appreciated... Thanks, Jack

[DPElite]

CoolHand i to am getting ready to do the same thing. My buddies tell me to start off with the protein inside the spin feeder mixed with corn since the deer are not used to eating just straight protein. As for the gravity feeder place it inside a fenced in area big enough so the deer fill comfortable about not being cooped up in a small pen i am thinking a 20 yard sq. area should be plenty. i am probably going to also put a corn feeder inside next to the protein feeder also to help draw them into the protein. As for the protein feeder i am going with straight protein in it so they have no choice but to eat straight protein. In choice of protein i would just get with your local feed store in your area and ask what they would prefer. Hope this helps out.

[GreyWolf]

We start filling protein feeders in March until July in gravity feeders. The deer in our area seem to find the two feeders within two weeks. we have been using this program for four years and hav eseen the deer weights go from an average buck weight from 90 lbs to over 100 lbs and horns are shows a difference too. We try to use a 16-20% protein value.

[bentlimbs]

We started protein for the 1st time last year. We used straight protein and w/in 2 weeks they were eating it pretty well. The drawback to putting it in a spin feeder is that the deer won't get very much at any given time because of the sparse feed all sread out. If you use a bulk/free range they can feed and eat till they are full otherwise they will never get enough thru spin feeders. If they don't eat much in a month or so you may want to switch brands but ours took well with different brands from the start....

[DPElite]

Bentlimbs what kinda protein you using?

[DPElite]

And where is your lease at?

[bentlimbs]

We have used a protein from Livengoods in San Antonio whatever their brand is and also from Helena in Uvalde I think was Hill Country something. Everyone has used different proteins but the Livengoods brand is dissappearing quick now. We are in between Bracketville and Del Rio, north of hwy90.

[DPElite]

Cool i hunt in ElDorado and i am using the protein that is sold there is Roseavelt off I 10 in Junction at the Simon Brothers Mercantile i dont know the brand of protein the guy there said everyone pretty much in that whole area uses what he sold me i hope he is right

[L.T.K.56]

bigger the pen the better.use at least 8) 16' hog panels 12 is better.we,ve fed all brands and they clean it up.we feed mg pellets now year round.even with the rains we had last year,they never slowed up.

[tuthdoc]

Brand? Let the deer tell you. They can be picky. However, a big part of your decision will be on what's available. We are out of San Angelo and we feed Palmer Big Rack 19%. They eat it like candy. We have also fed Antlermax and they eat it well, but it's about a buck a bag more. Angelo Pellets 20% is also good. They don't eat it as well as the Big RAck on our place, but they'll eat it, and with the price of protein now, that may not be bad. LOL

If you have hogs, I'd use panels. We make circle pens with 10 panels. Pretty quick to put up. If you're in sheep and goat country where pasture fences are wire mesh, then the panel pens are the way to go. If you're in country where most border and cross fences are barbed wire, then it may take them a little bit to figure out they need to jump into the pens.







If you don't have hogs, or sheep, or goats, then three strand gaucho barbed wire will make a great pen. It's what I use on our San Angelo place. I have two pens. One has a 1000 lb Boss Buck gravity feeder. It's a small pen, which isn't a problem with barbed wire, as they just walk under it and eat. Needs to be big enough so the cows can't lean in, but it doesn't have to be that big. I can't find the pics of my panel gate on this pen, but I did put one to the right of the post with the board. When I put that big feeder in that pen, it was evident that I had to back the truck into the pen or kill myself climbing the ladder.



My other pen has both a protein and corn feeder in it. I also have a ground blind in it. It's a pretty big pen. Gaucho wire barbed wire with panel gate.
Make sure you can drive into the pen, or back into the pen. It's a lot easier to fill one from a truck bed or Ranger bed than from a ladder. If you look behind the boss buck, you can see my carpet blind.









If you've never fed from a gravity feeder, not only do the deer have to learn to eat protein, they have to learn to eat out of the tubes. We started ours with a sack of corn, then half and half, then topped it with protein. As long as the protein you use is palatable to them, then you should be in business. Putting a corn feeder in the pen is also a good idea. On the Junco, when we establish a new pen, we'll put a Boss Buck protein feeder and a corn feeder in the pen. The noise of the corn feeder and the smell of the corn will get them coming. They have been eating protein ranch wide for several years, so we don't usually mix the protein with corn in the Boss Bucks. They just start eating.

Location is probably the most important thing in placing any feeder. I've seen pens fail with very little use, move it a couple hundred yards, and it take off like gang busters. You need to put it where the deer are. That means putting it where they are in the spring and summer, not where you saw them all winter. Look for sheds. Look for the bucks in September and October. If you put up a pen and it doesn't work, move it.

I'd also put the pen on an edge. Not in a thicket and not in the open. If it would be a good place to catch a bass if it were flooded, then it's probably a good place for a pen.

I don't use protein out of my slingers. Seems like a waste, especially with the price of protein. They have to get some benefit eating the scattered pellets, but probably not enough to do them a lot of good. Out of my boss buck, with 4 feed tubes, they'll eat over 50 lbs per night. Two feeds out of a corn feeder may throw a couple pounds of corn and protein. Just doesn't seem like it's worth the effort. I'd probably throw a mix of corn and soybeans if I wanted a higher feed value out of my slinger.

[Stupid]

Tuthdoc,

Any coon problems with the Boss Buck protein feeders? I may buy a few in the near future. I currently use All Seasons tube feeders, which the coons love.

Jeff

[tuthdoc]

The coons can climb the legs and get on the spout, but only one at a time. It has to hang upside down and can dig out with one paw. Our waste has gone down to an insignificant amount.





We had Bode feeders and the coons had free access, would hold the deer off while they just stayed in the trays, and bred themselves to a really high population with the ready food source.



When we did away with the Bode feeders and went to Boss Buck, the coons were still there, but they couldn't get enough protein out. It made them easy to catch. We now hit our pens with 6 to 8 live traps. We'll pick a pen that has a higher coon problem, set the traps baited with a cat food can or sardine can full of protein, and we'll catch a coon in every trap. Those are sent to coon heaven and we set them again. After two nights we might catch one coon. We then move them to another pen. Our camera data shows that where we once had 15 to 20 coons per pen, we now may have a coon or two show up. We then hit the pen with traps. No feeder is coon proof, but the Boss Buck has helped deter wantan waste.

One night of live traps has a BIG affect.



Coons are community "dumpers". They'll all go dump under the same buch or corner of the pen. An indication that our coon control is working is the decrease in scat piles.

Tubes that are too low, like on this All Seasons, let the coons stand and eat at their leisure, and even dig some out then hang upside down and eat. That one needs a .17.





Coons are a constant battle. Cameras help moniter the situation, then you got to hit'em and hit'em hard.

[coolhand]

Thanks for all the replies. I think i'll go with the round pen with panels like Truthdoc uses. Those panels look shorter than a normal "cattle" panel. Would those be called "hog" panels?

[tuthdoc]

Correct. Hog panels.

[Breezy]

my big pen is 22 hog panels. i have made over 20 pens over the last several years and this is how we do it on our normal size pens. 12 hog panels(16'x34") 24 t-post. get a piece of pipe/rod and tie a 30' piece of rope/string to it. drive it into the ground where you want the center of your pen to be. pull rope/string tight and put a t-post there. keep doing this in a circle till your completed. once all the panels are together go back and put a t-post in the middle of ever panel. just push the panel outwards a bit and drive another t-post. this will make it real strudy for them **** hogs. wire up all your panels to all t-post good and your done. takes 2 of us no more than 1 hour to build a pen from start to finish.