Switching from 16-20

[gtsticker]

I am switching from 16 to 20% protein at our place. We have fairly low deer density and they eat the protein when needed. I am just not seeing the results I expected from 3 years of year round free choice feed. Anyone else do this and see improvement? I know they can only utilize 16% but I figured it would help bridge the gap when needed.

[Marsh-Rat]

How much are they eating? It might not be a nutritional issue it could be they don’t like that feed and are not Intaking enough. Do you have a log book with weights and if so have the weights come up?

[gtsticker]

How much are they eating? It might not be a nutritional issue it could be they don’t like that feed and are not Intaking enough. Do you have a log book with weights and if so have the weights come up?

they are eating 8000 -10k every 6months with low deer density so they are eating it. We have not been harvesting anything due to low numbers. But the body size and antler growth are not showing visual gains.

[mjhaverkamp]

I just picked up 12000 pounds of Double Down 20%, we are putting out protein feeders this weekend, I hope the deer take to it, I think some guys are feeding protein around us, probably going to put a little corn in with it on the bottom of feeder and sprinkle some around in the pen so the deer will find it sooner.

[Bucknaked]

I am switching from 16 to 20% protein at our place. We have fairly low deer density and they eat the protein when needed. I am just not seeing the results I expected from 3 years of year round free choice feed. Anyone else do this and see improvement? I know they can only utilize 16% but I figured it would help bridge the gap when needed.

Have you been using the same protein manufacturer?

[gtsticker]

Yes we have been using the same one because it is what was available to be delivered. I don’t have a lot of options where I am located. So I am changing brands also because the local feed store only sells 16

[gtsticker]

I just picked up 12000 pounds of Double Down 20%, we are putting out protein feeders this weekend, I hope the deer take to it, I think some guys are feeding protein around us, probably going to put a little corn in with it on the bottom of feeder and sprinkle some around in the pen so the deer will find it sooner.

I just dumped a sack of corn in the protein feeder first and then fill it with protein. Never had them not take to it. I can get DD from a store that is on one of my routes to the ranch just don’t know if it’s worth the drive out of the way.

[Huntingfool]

Lyssy We use Lyssy and Eckel 20% and have had great results - they have 5-6 locations and deliver - this is LF

[mikemorvan]

I just picked up 12000 pounds of Double Down 20%, we are putting out protein feeders this weekend, I hope the deer take to it, I think some guys are feeding protein around us, probably going to put a little corn in with it on the bottom of feeder and sprinkle some around in the pen so the deer will find it sooner.

We are in Wilbarger County and feed DD from mid- Dec through October. (We might as well feed year round 😒). We mostly use timed feeders. One free choice. Depending on how much green stuff there is to eat, the deer will take to the DD. In antler growing season and after the rut they will HAMMER it. Good luck.

OP -probably a silly question, but maybe not: with low numbers, what is the age classes of your deer herd? Are they old enough to show weight gain and antler development? Also, are the genetics in place? Do they have the genetic potential to be what you want?

We are blessed to have good genetics, relatively low pressure, and a rancher that plants food plots. We believe the DD makes a difference. Good luck with it all.

[jason86]

We feed both CS and RHR (same blend as DD from dilley) , it’s a 20 percent blend. We are seeing great results after a few years of feed. Big fat caps on the rumps of these deer. The rut recovery has been amazing.

[mjhaverkamp]

We are in Wilbarger County and feed DD from mid- Dec through October. (We might as well feed year round 😒). We mostly use timed feeders. One free choice. Depending on how much green stuff there is to eat, the deer will take to the DD. In antler growing season and after the rut they will HAMMER it. Good luck.

OP -probably a silly question, but maybe not: with low numbers, what is the age classes of your deer herd? Are they old enough to show weight gain and antler development? Also, are the genetics in place? Do they have the genetic potential to be what you want?

We are blessed to have good genetics, relatively low pressure, and a rancher that plants food plots. We believe the DD makes a difference. Good luck with it all.

I have a place in Wilbarger as well, it borders that big ranch, we tried feeding free choice there for several years, the deer about broke us, only 450 acres but we would see up to 200 plus deer on our property at one time, we had all the groceries. We got our feeders set up on the new place, may need to add two more protein, lot of work

[Ham]

From what I understand, anything more than 15 or 16 percent protein gets expelled out the rear of the deer. However, the 20 percent blends tend to have a better vitamin/mineral blend to them.
My feeding is 16 protein with added mineral blend from now until summer. Then just 16 percent protein until hard horned.

[KactusKiller]

Something to keep in mind is that there has been a major drought in Texas the past two summers. Even if deer are eating the protein they are just trying to compensate for the lack of natural forage which is still prob not enough to show major gains, only maintaining what they would normally have. A decent yr of rain mixed with the additional nutrition will more than likely produce the results you want.
Also like said above, if your hunting pressure is heavy and bucks are not reaching full maturity they will not show major gains until they start reaching the 5yr old mark once they have finished growing growing their bodies.

Just my .02

[Hardware]

Couple of thoughts on feeding year around protein:

5 years to see benefit since that is when your first crop of fawns always getting max nutrition from feeding program will start to get to maturity. For a true trophy depending on what part of the state the age class will be 6 to 9 years. Feeding program should also worm deer twice a year so the deer get maximum benefit. Minerals and water should also be made available at feeding stations.

Things out of your control:

Genetics and if you dont have good ones it doesn't matter what you feed.
Neighbors killing deer before they reach maturity.

[txbowman12]

Going on year 4 of protein and this year was the first year we saw a step forward in antlers across the board. Despite the drought. Body weights jumped in year 2-3.

I'll ask a dumb question. How are you evaluating that it's not making much of an impact? You say you aren't seeing an impact, but aren't weighing live weight or measuring antlers. I say this because this year I started asking the same questions. Went back and pulled photos from the year prior to us feeding, and it was night and day difference. Not that noticeable in pictures from year to year, but when I went back 4 years and compared to current it was pretty shocking.