I'm wondering if I feed year round, if the population on my small property will increase?

Do you feed year round? And if so, what are you using?

(I have only ever used corn, and only about a month before season start and thru the season)

Thanks

I feed year-round at my place. Corn+soybeans for about the last 6 months. Before that I fed a corn/protein mix.

I think if you spend the money to feed year-round, they'll hit your feeder first and the most regular. But still be ready to make decisions early in the season, 'cause the longer the season goes and the more family/friends get out to your neighboring places, they're gonna shoot the better stuff.

Yes sir, all year in Dewitt Co, I do reduce to about 1 sec for each feeding time as spring comes on and they have more browse to eat.

I feed year round, cant say whether it helps or not. It surely doesn't hurt anything and keeps a fresh memory of where to go get dessert. I only feed corn, cost enough as it is.

Both corn and protein year round. I live on my place in DeWitt County so I can adjust it a bit as the natural food source come into play plus my food plots.

I did year round for a decade and stopped, learned my lesson, the change was dramatic. There is always the plus of hogs for year round shooting and eating.

We feed all year on every feeder.
With exotics and pigs it makes for fun year long hunting.
I can't say if it makes for a better deer season because we always go out first week of season and shoot the biggest buck, they are predictable early in the season. Whitetail hunting is easy so we don't get to excited about it.

24/7 corn and protein.

Corn year round, cut back in the spring.

Year round got to keep some hogs around for target practices

We feed from September through about mid December. Our neighbors feed corn and protein year around. On 3 sides of us they have hogs, we don't.

well that's no fun

For the most part, I doubt population on a small place will increase feeding corn year round. They need more than just corn. Once spring hits, our deer stop hitting our corn until September. We just feed the hogs and turkey until then. We get an occasional pic once a week but corn doesn't keep them around as they are already there eating browse.

Yes, because I despise pigs and wanna shoot em all in the face. I'm going out this weekend to fill all my feeders and turn them down to 2 seconds twice a day. That's enough to keep the pigs and deer coming in.

Feed year round also, but i live on the place. After season i go to one time a day feeding in the morning.

Yes and yes. Free choice protein year round. Spun corn year round as well, but time duration gets reduced Mar through Aug.

Corn year round, protein Jan-Sept

Corn & Protein year round here.

This

At the property now throwing 3 seconds in the am and 5 in the pm. Sunday I will dial it back to 2 am 3 pm. If deer stop eating it during the spring I will cut it off for a short duration. No sense feeding the coons, squirrels and birds!

I've still got the house feeder going off in the evening. I like shooting hogs off of the back porch.

I don't know why hunters complain about pigs. yea they tear up the land, So if i were a farmer i might feel different. But in our experience (meaning myself and fellow lease holders) the pigs are what keep us going to our lease year round to hunt. If we didn't have pigs we'd be bored. Plus, in our experience, the pigs are better eating than the deer! Maybe because all they eat is corn. Every pig we've ever shot (big and small( have been delectable, tender and succulent.

bc no t everyone has the same opinions. I hate hogs but I like the fact they are at the places I hunt bc they are fun to shoot.

Corn year around.. heavy on protein in spring if possible.. then fill them heavy in September to keep bucks around.. on and off during season as extra attractant

Pigs suck... I cant stand them... don't mind shooting them but they aint worth the trouble... i got a nice pile of them feeding the wildlife right now... and pen off every feeder possible

Been feeding year round for years. It's not that expensive and will help them through tough times.

I tried that. I quit when it got to a little over $20 per day. Your not expensive and mine are a lot different.

Not worth the trouble? What do you mean? Oh, your just too lazy to clean them. Which is Fine. No judgment here. But let's at-least be honest.

Honest. Pigs are a menace. Even the state of Texas agrees. If you want the backstraps, cut 'em out from the back and kick the rest in a ditch. ('Done this. Delectable, I'll admit.) If you want pigs, then you're obviously not a landowner, nor do you care about the landowner. Wake up!

Hogs are fine if they don't destroy anything or run off the deer. When you have a roaming packs of 10-20 of them they become a complete PITA. I have no problem cleaning hogs and regularly do but the numbers we have are outrageous and the destruction they cause makes me wish to never see them again.

I stop feeding the end of quail season.

I feed year round to keep them coming to the feeders and to keep them in the area.

Yes, year round.

Starting this year, I am feeding year round and feeding a corn/protein mix. One second, morning and evening. I do not change the spin time for the regular deer season.
For some reason my buck/doe mix is skewed toward more bucks than does. I cannot explain it but I am happy to see it.

Year around to keep the pigs for sausage. I've never changed my feeding for the last 14 years, but since I've retired and hunt as often as I can, or at least spend time on our place it give me something to do. Just ordered a bunch of Indian Corn from New Mexico last week to put in the barn. My problem is now I'm covered in turkeys but I don't shoot more than 1 a year. But feeding year around can't hurt. My neighbor has a big ranch that is high fenced except for the fence that borders me. They haven't hunted the place in around 7 years as he passed away and the kinfolk are fighting over what to do with it. I've talked to their attorney about buying a few hundred acers next to mine when ever they get around to settling up. Meantime it really makes my world fun since there isn't any active feeders on the place.

im sorry I made fun of your rats.... I got a freezer full of pig back straps.. I don't have the freezer space, care or want to clean the few pigs a week I kill... I give as many away as possible but the bone yard sees more than anyone.. kill them all.. they destroy land left and right, breed like rats, eat more than their share... i could go all day

I feed all year long in East Texas. Mainly, I like to get away from the homefront and go work on the lease. It's like offseason in sports, best time for me to scout and learn or try new things out.

Only feeding until next season. That is always the way that I do it.

Corn - Oct. thru Jan.
Protein - April thru July

I have always been told the most crucial time to feed is in January because that is when they need the food the most. The deer have lost 10-20 pounds due to the rut and if they are lacking nutrition to get back to their ideal body weight it will impact the growth of the horns. Deciding when to stop feeding is more of a financial decision but the longer the better.

My uncle doesn't put the protein feeders where any hunting activity is because he doesn't want the deer to associate the protein feeders with gun shots. Curious to see what others think about this concept.

^truth... its all about budget... if you have a limit on when to feed protein it needs to be jan-april

Put in 1600 pounds of Record Rack and 500 pounds of corn/soybean in early January that will get me to mid-March when my boy and I head up during Spring Break.

I'll adjust the feed lbs-per-day with the antlers growing and will likely make two more fill trips before bow season opens. I'll put in a few bags of protein during season, but most the most protein dropped is late December/early January for me.

I'm betting the over on 2 sheds found inside my protein pen this year.

I have 163 acres of winter wheat that provides primary supplemental feeding during fall/winter on an MLD property. I also spin corn on the MLD property from September to February. We have a non-MLD with only one small food plot that I spin corn from September to January.

I provide free choice protein at the MLD from March 1, when the wheat begins to mature, through September. At the non-MLD property I start protein by the 1st of February through September. The wheat on the MLD property is a huge plus. It provides an excellent source of food for the deer during the fall & winter, and I typically can harvest the wheat to at least make enough money to cover the cost of farming it. In good years, I might make enough to cover property taxes and some of the protein bill as well.

I feed all year and use to take my hog panels down around the feeder after deer season to attract the porkers so I could continue hunting. That changed last year after they destroyed my food plot so bad I could not mow with the tractor over a large portion of it, were talking craters like on the moon, had to use the disc to level the ground and it was like riding a bucking bull

Thanks for all the response! Feeding year round it will be.

We feed all year. Cotton Seed/ peanuts February- September, and Double Down year round. We just hit a new milestone of 1 feed station per 250 acres. Its expensive but the results are showing.

We feed protein and corn year round on our Val Verde County lease. Bucks 140-160 field dressed at 4-5 years.

Free choice protein and spun corn year round. Corn feeders down to 2 seconds dusk and dawn after the season.

Going up to the panhandle tomorrow to fill feeders.

Feed corn year round, usually cut back the amount in the spring.

I feed yr around, I like to see what's happening on my game cam;s

I'm a landowner and like having the pigs around, I ain't eat a bad one yet. Delicious!

Edit to add. It'd be kinda hard for them to tear up my property though because of the rock, I can see where some of y'all would have a problem with them ripping up your place. They're still delicious though

I agree, last pig I had processed I got 84 pounds of great meat. Smoked hams, 1 inch thick pork chops that would melt in your mouth, and a lot of sausage. As far as the State of Texas agreeing with someone, that would be like believing that everything you read on the internet is true or " I am from the government and I am here to help you"