I put out a Boss Buck Protein Feeder a few months ago and was wondering how long it took your Deer to start eating from it. I know due to the bumper acorn crop we have this year, it was bad timing on my part. The deer on our property walk around it but I do not have any pics of or have I ever seen a deer eat from it. I have mixed corn with the protein pellets and scattered corn around the feeder. I am guessing they have never used one and do not know what it is. Maybe in time when the acorns are gone things will change. What is your experience? We are in Anderson County Texas.
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Every property/area is different. Last summer, I put out a protein feeder for the first time in 4 years. It took a good 2 months before they felt comfortable with it. I think the only thing to do is wait. Good luck! -
It can take a while if the conditions are good. Wait until Jan Feb when conditions get tougher.
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It took 4 months for the deer to use my protein feeders after set up.
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Until I did what I had to do to all my feeders they never would. 42” is what they come…..
My deer can’t reach that if they got on a stump. I buried legs to put at 36”… almost immediatelyComment
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I had a similar problem one time and I ended up putting something in/on the feeder tubes to finally get the deer to use. Can't remember what it was but it might have been peanut butter. I've used the same feeder / style elsewhere and they were on it within days.Comment
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My deer have pulled off protein big time the last 3/4 weeks. If you have corn mixed in you’ll be fine when they get hungry. Keep throwing corn around he base and they will take to it.Comment
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It took a few months at our place in Kinney County for them to start using the protien feeders but now they slam it.Comment
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Agree with this and yes the deer have backed way off the protein , after eating tons of it for the last 4 months. Mine are walking by the protein feeder , to get to the corn now.Originally posted by Benno View PostComment
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Our deer literally abandoned our protein the middle of September and haven’t been back with any consistency.
These are the same deer that were emptying it every 2-3 weeks before this time.
They will be back, but will probably be a little later in season if it ever gets cold.
This typically is the slowest time of year for us around feed stations.Comment
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Almost 2 years now, and i have maybe half dozen pictures of a deer eating from the protein feeder. Ive dumped so much more than theyve eaten. One feeder is by itself in the middle of a food plot. The other is next to a corn feeder. For the last year or so, i just put one bag corn and half a bag of protein. That way i dont have to dump as much when it goes bad. Ive tried about every protein i can find.Comment
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I'm just starting to spin a "hunters mix". Corn, soybean, peas and a protein pellet. One feeder was out Saturday morning and the other had a dead battery and half full. I wondered why my cell cams didn't show many pics in the last couple of weeks...
They were back that evening and at least at one they are tearing it up and second one has activity but not quite as much. Might try a mix thrown to get them eating it.Comment
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We have 1 800 lb protein feeder on 120 acres. It took the deer about 3 weeks to figure it out (8 panels fencing the cows and pigs out). We quit feeding September through January. Under normal conditions the deer eat about 800 lbs/month. When it got real bad they started going through that a week.Comment
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I had the same problem until I put a pen around my 2 feeders.Originally posted by CWendling View Post
I honestly think the pigs were so frequent around the feeders, the deer wouldn’t come to them. I was shooting 50-100 pigs a year just trying to keep them off the feeders. I had protein out for over a year during that time, and never got a pic of a deer using one.
I waited a year or two and tried again, after the fencing went up. The deer were in the pens and eating out to the feeders within a week. I now have some deer sleeping in the pens.
I am feeding M&G 16%.Comment
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If changing to a protein feeder for the first time, I would recommend not changing the type of feed at the same time. If you normally feed corn, put corn in the protein feeder until they get used to it, then start mixing in other feed with the corn. I think swapping the type of feeder and feed at the same time is a shock to themComment
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