Hey all-

Our feeders are empty at the moment. With all the greens available for food do you cut back or stop corn feeding? I have a lease south of Johnson City and it's super green out there. I wasn't sure if it was a waste of money/time/gas to fill the feeders now if there is so much other stuff for them to eat. Will they come for the corn?

If I stop now I'd probably start back again in August to get them back on track for the archery season.

Cut back but don't quit feeding corn. We try to keep the "snacks" going even when everything is green.

Cut back as well. Lease is as green and thick as I have seen it and the surrounding lands are the same. Keep the corn spinning but just not as much right now. Deer are still hitting it, but the if guys are sporadic at best, but they know where it is, that's all that matters. If the water stops and things brown up, you willbe happy you are still spinning corn.

Fill it and keep it going, even if it is just a few seconds worth.

To me it would depend on when you are going back again. I leave my feeders running 1 sec/2 times per day right now for two reason. One is I am still trying to get deer into feed pens that have not ever been in them. Second is, I think it is better on the feeder to be running than sitting idle or empty. 1 second/2 times per day will allow feeder to last 150 days or more if you have a 300# feeder.
Also right now most forb growth in the Hill Country is getting mature and not as palatable. It will be getting hotter and drier at sometime in July or August. Does are raising fawns so a little extra could help them out also if you have a lot of deer.

I put 100lbs of protein to 250lbs of corn in my feeders this time of year and run them for about 3 seconds just after sundown. This keeps the birds from getting most of it and gives the deer a little boost over just corn. On the bottom areas that we hunt hogs, I will run the same ratio, but run for about 6 seconds to make it worth their while to visit the feeder for a little lead therapy!

Running for 3 seconds on mine makes the feed last from April 1st to Sept 1st. I am only using 6 volt and it is throwing less than 2lbs a day (I have virtually zero waste from wind/varmints due to my setup).

Keep feeding just cut it back to a couple seconds. You want young bucks to feel like it's always there as they grow up with it. It will keep does living near it year round knowing if times get tough this is their security blanket. Might want to feed 50/50 soybean/corn to give them something more than desert

I keep feeding also but do cut back, the downside to that, is the squirrels, birds and coons tend to clean it up before the deer get to it. Seems like last year some posted that their feeders were set to go off very early and very late....maybe that would help.

I have mine going off right as close to daylight or just after dark as I can right now.

Thanks stx, I will give that a try.

I have family hunting a place I used to hunt in your area. They have been pounded by rain place is greener than ever, but the deer are still hitting corn/free choice protein HARD.

Our place down south we hunted 3 days in a row at corn feeders two weeks ago and never saw a deer or hog one at the feeders. Quail moped it up pretty fast though.

It really doesn't matter. There is very little nutritional value in corn and the deer aren't going to leave due to lack of corn; they will just eat other foods besides corn which is probably better for them anyway. They will be right back at the feeder when you start feeding again.

You might want to rethink that statement, corn is lacking in protein and calcium, but has phosphorus, potassium, and energy. With a majority of the state phosphorus poor, some corn can help balance out minerals, if there is sufficient protein and calcium from other sources.

I agree with that fact, however, the original post states that everything has greened up and he is asking whether its worth the money/time/gas to fill feeds with corn. He wants to have the deer "back on track" for archery season. I just don't think the nutritional value in corn alone is worth it at all and the deer will be there whether you feed corn all Summer or if you start back in August.

I hunted 780 acres near to the OP for 20 years. 1/2 of the hunters fed year round and 1/2 started a month or so before the season. The people who fed year round saw staggeringly more and bigger deer(no none of them were booners, but undoubtedly they were the bigger bucks).

The OP hunts an area known to be phosphorus poor, if it's not in the ground, it's not going to be in the feed. It's highly likely that this year his deer are getting plenty of protein and calcium but without phosphorus they will not show it. I looked at the supplement used at the Kerr research station which had approximately a 1/1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Why to you ask when deer ideally need 2/1? It's because it's a supplement for use on phosphorus poor ground. Ideally a deer should get all it's nutrition from natural feed but we all aren't blessed with ideal ground so it's wrong to assume it is. I'll get off my soapbox now.