never have feed protein wondering if its worth it?

Really?

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1207814/1/Protein_feeding

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1167338/1/When_to_start_feeding_protein

even though there are several protein threads going on....

I can't justify the costs of it where I hunt because mother nature and well tended to hayfields take great care of the deer. We worry more about age and what we plant.

If you can afford it and are willing to stick with it: yes. If you cannot count on food plots getting enough rain 4 out of 5 years: yes. If you want to improve the overall health of your local deer herd: yes. If you and the neighbors don't shoot any and everything with more than 6 points on it's head and can let it get to 4.5 years old (minimum) or better yes. If you can handle shelling out the dollars and only seeing minor improvements for 3 or 4 years: yes.

If any of those things don't appeal to you or do not apply, maybe it won't be worth it. Long story short, only you can decide.

X2 - If you have the patience and the $ it will work.

All of the above with one added point. If you own the land go for it. If you lease, make sure you're on a long term lease so you don't build up the herd only to have it leased to another group at a higher price.

We hunt low fence on our land, the protein feeder works great, the bucks come to it like it is candy, but it also helps the does. In the summer we have alot of buck pictures and in the winter we have alot of does, I've heard it is becasue the does need the protein to help the production of the fawns. The bucks need it to help with the growth of the antlers , thats what I've heard, but we'll have about 7 to 10 bucks at a time in our pictures. We have been managing our prorerty for about 7 years and the protein feeder has increased out buck count. We feed about 15 bags thru the summer and in the winter it slows down. The deer pass the protein and go to the corn feeders at our place in Nov and part of Dec but they hit it hard in late Dec Jan and Feb.

How big are your bags and how big is your place? I tried a gravity flow protein feeder a couple of years ago but was shocked at the expense. I was going through 250 pounds every 6-8 days.

Can Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?

50 lb bags, I will be getting the pictures off of my camera today and will post them back to my web site www.goinfencing.com so you can see the activity in the snow.

+1 dont expect to see results right off it takes time.....

If it is part of a long range plan, then it is worth it. If you are leasing for fewer than 5 years, I would say no, it is not worth it. You have to feed it religiously, you have to let young bucks walk, you have to pay the price in dollars, and you have to be willing to physically fill the feeders from February until September. That means that some weekends you could be at the lake will be taken up with hot weekends of going to the deer lease and filling feeders. If you want to forgo any of these considerations, I would probably say it is not worth it.

The deer need protein thru the winter as well as summer,as these photos show, keep them coming all year long, we run about 30-45 bags per year and have about 10 different bucks coming all year. We manage about 200 acres.

Don't know what's wrong with my deer, but they consume 40,000# of 20% every year on 1500 acres. I only run protein January to September. We have fed since '88 and they have always consumed that much annually, so we never thought anything about it.

Feed stores love it. Shot and saw more big deer in the 70's than I do now and no one had ever thought about feeding protein. If we fed corn it was by hand and only for a few weeks. Lot's of peanut farmers in those days. They went broke when the taxpayers quit paying for them to survive and put in coastal. Deer do a lot better on the peanuts.

I think it all goes back to hunting pressure. If you are on high fence or have a game management system in place with your neighbors then I think it is worth it. If your neighbors aren't on the same page as you I think it is a waste of money producing bigger deer for everyone else to shoot before they reach maturity. JMO.