I have noticed that the breeders feed bales of alfalfa to their deer as part of their feeding plan. How many of you feed this to wild deer and what are your results?
Curious to see if this would work for me......
never even thought about it before my hunting trip to Texas....

If you have good browse and get good rainfall you don't need it.

they feed it because usually room is an issue and they must feed roughage along with pellet feed. And alfalfa is about as quality as it gets.. vetch also but not as available

It depends on the year.

Last year really dry they ate it.

This year really wet, they don't even look at it.

this..and i had them start on it in late december last year but i only fed one bale so not sure if they would have kept on it.

good info to ponder.... thanks guys.

native browse here is good. Genetics are not awful but the biggest challenge is growing mature deer. Too many folks around here won't think twice about shooting a two year old 6 point. I was able to have 3 2 and 3 year olds survive this season and I'm hoping I can pump them full of protein and keep them close until they turn into something I want to shoot.

You would be surprised... I bet there are some good smart old deer that know them Arkansas hills well. Are you running cameras? and not just at feed areas?

I would just try to feed free choice protein year round. Alfalfa depending on quality has a lot of waste, waste you pay for and deer won't eat. In the end it will cost you as much or more than pellet feed.

You mean they don't like them cheaper stemy bales?

Our deer eat it up. Bales, that is.

When fed with protein, they pick the leaves out. Those are the highest protein and it is tough on their gut. They actually will slow eating due to a "belly ache" for a day or so. That is why I am not a fan of feeding free choice alfalfa hay.

We've put out bales in Terrell County several times in a two year span and it disappeared quickly. Didn't witness any action other than a few dominate bucks pissing and bedding down on it. We'd always see does coming towards it, but the buck would run them off the alfalfa when they got close. Never understood the reasoning for it.

Mule Deer love alfalfa hay and I am sure that out in West Texas that alfalfa would not last very long in dry times...which is most of the time with any deer or exotic.

We feed it year round(val Verde County) and the deer love it. I can tell from my game pictures that the bucks mainly stay on it even over the corn once the feeder goes off. Another good thing is the coons and such don't touch it so you don't have to worry about them eating the deer's food. We found with protein block and such as soon as the coons eat it the deer tend to stay away and we wind up with the fattest coons in south Texas.

Never tried it in any drought years, but the few times I tried it in regular years our deer walked right by it-I don't think they knew what it was. They even ate the corn I'd hand-spread around the area, but didn't touch the alfalfa (and it was decent stuff).

Deer love the stuff, I have seen deer up on top of bales eating the stuff right after a field has been cut.

Deer that are born and raised eating when it is growing in fields will eat it readily from bales IME. Not many parts of Texas can grow alfalfa and if they do the deer would be the same as what you describe.

The WT deer in SW OK sure didn't care for it. Put 3 bales out, I think there's some still on the ground.

Charlie

I've feed it in real county for 7 years year round and it has brought in and keeped big mature bucks at my place. They hit it every day over the corn. BUT only when it's fresh and green once it's wet and ugly its a waste. I don't put out a whole bale at one place about a 1/3 keeps it gone before it goes bad. Gives the deer something to snack on between feeder throws when they come by. And Axis deer will fight for it also with the WTs. And run them off sometimes. It can be a double edged sword. But the damn coons and hogs don't eat it and that's a good thing since They eat everything else.

Deer on my place smash the alfalfa, good or bad years...I have good Forbes/browse year round too...

I have tried baled quality alfalfa and also grown a small 5 acre plot, 2 different places. Not much luck with the drier "hay", a little picking through it, but that's about it.

The food plot was a totally different result, but that also took about one season for them to get to know it. When they did, you couldn't hardly run them out of it at night and they often bedded in the briers or live oaks next to the plot, which was 75 yards from our long driveway.

I keep out two bales during the winter. Right now they are bi-passing corn and hitting the hay.

This is what is left of a 1600 lb bale (4x4x8)of alfalfa that I put on November 27th. The tin laying next to what is left was put on top of the bale to protect if from the weather. I hunt in Sonora (Val Verde Co) and if your not familiar with the area we don't have as much browse as other areas. I find alfalfa to be a cheaper alternative to protein even though we do feed some protein. I paid $275 for the 1600 lb bale. Usually a bale that size will last three months in the Spring.

During very cold winter spells when there is frozen snow on the ground, I have seen deer in Kansas come up to eat hay with the cattle. This doesn't happen very often. If deer are eating any hay on a consistent basis, you are probably over your carrying capacity.