protein. A testament

[Jamesl]

Dang turkey lovers! I don't even want to know why they are off limits i your pastures. They are not on our side if we see them. I can fry some mean turkey breast with cream gravy.

[tuthdoc]

The same year we got permission to catch frogs, we asked Leonard about the turkeys. I told him I'd be glad when they thought the population was big enough so we could kill a few gobblers. He told us there was no rule about not shooting them. I had a pole feeder near the tank where they roost. Would have been simple. We told Jerry we were going to kill a couple gobblers because Leonard said there was no rule. He told us that it wasn't a ranch rule, it was their rule. Bummer.

[Jamesl]

hmmm...that's weird about the no turkey rule.

I could have shot a huge eland, but I am not paying $2500 to do so. I already pay more than I should.

[Encinal]

Thanks so much for sharing those pictures!

Awesome deer and writeup.

[W-L-F]

sorry about double post

[W-L-F]

Doc you said that you have switched from L/E feeds--what are you feeding now? I just switched to L/E; was feeding Ful-O-Pep; but it seems the deer are not hitting it very hard since i switched brands. Bad thing about this i cant afford to dump this feed have 8 2000lbs feeders full

[MexicoBandit]

Very cool read!

[W-L-F]

Doc how big is yalls pasture

[BrandonBB]

I feed Lyssy and Eckel as well, have people seen a problem with that feed? I just filled all of our feeders down in McMullen County, so i am not sure if they are eating it or not. The reason for the change to L/E was because the plant in Poth,Tx is only 5 miles from my house and I can purchase it in bulk much cheaper than by the sack, not to many feed stores offer feed in bulk. But I would like some other feed back on their 20% protein , before i blow a whole year feeding it. Thanks

[Jamie]

I read a recent study that found it helps buck (increased body weights and antlers)

but didn't help does (no noticeable increase in weight)

now, some contend it helps lactation rates in does....but, given the high price of protein now...having does eat a significant amount of it might be a waste of money.

My personal view is it helps the really good buck blow up as Tuthdoc points out...but those are a small percentage of the overall buck population.

The larger portion of the buck population get some benefits...maybe 10 more B&C points but it won't transform a 130 class deer into a 160.

and the bottom tier of the buck population eats the heck out of it and it does nothing....

but I still feed it cuz I want the upper tier to be the best that they can be

[tuthdoc]

I THINK we have about 11,000 acres. Not sure. I leave that to the people that pay for it. LOL

We are feeding Antlermax. The L/E experiment didn't work. We probably dumped several thousand pounds of it because it was just sitting there and getting old. I'm not saying it's not good feed. If the deer would have eaten it, we'd still be feeding it. I think it's most important to feed what the deer will eat, not some brand. There are guys having great success with L/E, just not us.

I've got another buck that is a work in progress. I'll dig his pics out and run his story. This year, he'll be killed. Hopefully it's a success story. He's not in the class of the above buck, but he is another testament to protein.

[tuthdoc]

I'm with you on the doe thing. Maybe makes better fawns. but on my limited budget, I want to feed the deer that show potential and let the lesser deer fend for themselves. LOL Problem is, I haven't figured out how to keep the does out of my pens. I kill a few, but when the bucks are away, the does come in and eat my high dollar feed. LOL

The good thing about the Junco is that out of our 20 pens, the camera data might show 2 or 3 does TOTAL. Some pens have never had a doe on camera. Makes the guys paying for the stuff happy.

[tuthdoc]

This buck was picked as a "silver bullet". That means, he was claimed by a partner and it's his buck to kill then or in the future. It is a risk, as Mother Nature can be cruel and a deer can go up or down. We put a pen where these pics were taken, hoping to get him on protein, but we struck out. Never saw him in the pen. He was a fine motor scooter and had potential to blow up.









Without him on protein, and with his tendencey to be a "horn dog", he took a tumble. He rutted hard and his body weight fell off, followed by about 30 inches of horn.

[tuthdoc]

We didn't see him until early in the season. I had set up a tripod, one of my best tripod jobs, if I do say so myself. I was HIDDEN!. I knew my brother was coming up and I was going home and I wanted to hunt it first; so, the next morning I was perched. I had several good bucks come in, along with a buck I hoped was NOT Heartbeat. I called my brother and asked if he had seen the deer. He said yes, at a distance. I asked what he'd score. He said he would probably go high 40's/low 50's, but it was at a distance. I told him I had a deer at 10 to 15 yards that looked like the deer and if it was, he MIGHT make 130, a GIANT loss of horn. Next morning my brother was perched in my tripod and confirmed my suspicion. He had crashed!

[tuthdoc]

It was a sure thing that he wouldn't be shot that year. Not at his size. He rutted longer than any deer that we had seen. He was videoed chasing fawns the third week of February. Time to try again with the protein. My brother had watched him all season and found a very good looking spot, dead center of where he'd spent the fall and winter. that's not what we normally do, but we had struck out on where we thought he spent the spring and summer. We had a protein feeder up and running by the end of the season, and from the cameras, we hit a home run. He not only got in the pen, he got in the pen and ate protein 5 or 6 times per day, day and night.







WE had hope.