Alfalfa

If you do not have any livestock in your hunting area you need throw some alfalfa out, deer are hammering it.
I have put out a fresh green bale every week for the last 3 weeks and the deer typically hit the alfalfa first. Alfalfa is a little pricey at $11.00 a bale where I get it, but worth it

This pic bottom left you see the brown remnants of 3 weeks ago, then a little above to right last week and above the fresh one put out Thursday.



This pic fresh to left, last weeks in the middle and oldest to the right.

I bought a couple bails several years back and put them out next to feeders ... a month later, they were untouched but full of fire ants. This was in central Texas ... my BIL puts it out up in the panhandle and they eat the snot out of it ... no explanation why the central TX deer wouldn't have anything to do with it except never seen it before?

Hey Stub, have you fed alfalfa to them before? Like mentioned above, I have never had much luck with it but am always willing to try something new. I do know it took them a while to eat the protein and now they go through it like candy.

Mark

Yes I have. It can be hit or miss most of the time they tear it up!
What I have found the deer enjoy it more during the cooler weather especially when their other forbes are gone because of drought or freeze. I think that is why thet are hammering it so hard now.

Make sure the Alfalfa is fresh and green!
I bet where you are at with your food plots gone and this cool weather they would be all over it

Good luck and Happy Belated Birthday

I have never had much luck with it in baled form, not enough for messing with it, can't beat them out of it if you grow it though! Pellets are easier than bales now for me and deer eat that pretty good

For whatever reason Alfalfa makes deer real thirsty, available water might also play into whether they will eat it or not?

I have tried to feed it several times with no success. Had a few deer bed down in it and the rabbits enjoyed it but not the deer.

Have seen it work well though, on a buddies place they had a 55 gal plastic drum with the sides cut out on a stand to keep it out of the weather and the deer would tear that stuff up.

We use it in Val Verde county and the deer love it especially the more mature bucks.

Glad it works there I'm in Hunt county no luck. I have found that goat mineral will always get some action I put couple bags on same place on ground every year my absolute best luck is hand thrown corn put some every where you can drive something and then see from stand.

Use it some in McCulloch and Coleman counties. The deer took a while to take a liking to it but mainly ate the leaves and ends. The axis, on the other hand, devoured it. In Coleman, they've mainly just used it for bedding.

I put a bale out every week and they love it

We have tried it in past years, but it wasn't worth the cost or effort. Nobody else feeds it in the area, so the deer seem to ignore it. We can have a large round bale of milo brought in and we will get some feeding off the milo heads.

Here is a bale feeder idea using a water tote frame.

tried, waste of my money

Tried it a few years ago in Shelby county. It rotted before anything messed with it. Deer didn't know what it was I guess, nobody in those parts grows it I guess.

I put out a bale and the cows beat down the fence the 2nd day... lesson learned