Any information or advice for small property supplemental feeding program? I have 220 acres. I wanted to do year round free feed of protein (I have a 1200 lb free feed Boss Buck feeder--it was a spin feeder that I just bought an attachment for to free feed protein). I also have a Capsule spin feeder which I like a lot and holds 1000 lbs. I assume I should place the protein feeder towards the middle of the property near my sanctuary near cover and NOT hunt over it? And then I should place the spin feeder near a tower stand where I plan to hunt over it?

Will the deer even eat from the protein feeder if they have the choice of eating corn from the spin feeder?

Is it worth year round feeding (protein and corn) for holding and growing bucks on such a small property? I'm also using food plots--I have 5% in food plots and the rest in good cover.

Thanks!

Yep they will eat from eat versus what is in the spin feeder. One idea if they have not been around protein alot then mix some corn with it so they are drawn to it. Mine like soybean/corn mix the best but I will mix pure protein pellets with corn and they like that too. I feed all year round and believe me it helps tremendously in the overall health of your deer. Make sure it is accessible for the fawns as you train them young to hit it then they will hit it for the long run.

I do not hunt over my protein feeders at all. Good luck.

Does putting the protein feeder in near sanctuary where it's not hunted sound like a good idea?

Will a boss buck free feed feeder allow fawns to reach it? I'm not sure if they can or not.

Regarding the spin feeders should I put those near stand sites and do you find that hunting over those deer pick up on the idea that they get "shot at" while at those and eventually "learn" not to feed there during daylight (i.e. should I setup stands leading from bedding to corn or where I can see the feeders?)

This year I have been putting 2 bags of corn at 2 different stand sights each week about 100 yards from the stand. It's worked really well, as I can watch deer and selectively shoot 3.5 yo deer (got two this year).

Trying to always improve things and am hoping protein will help and that spin feeders will condition deer year round. I'm wondering if it will take a few years to condition the bucks since the button bucks and yearlings will likely be the first to come back to the feeders year after year until they are 3.5.

One other question:

Will a spin feeder be better at a stand site (discourage nocturnal movement) or would I be better off getting something like a FeederMax or Lamco trough feeder that I can free choice corn from?

Man, your full of questions. Maybe I can help with some. As far as the fawns reaching the feed, they do not on my ranch. If I had it low enough for them the coons would drain it.

It doesn't take that long to improve your herd. You should see some results next year. And just get better each year, as long as their allowed to age. 220 acres is not much land to hold deer on and if your neighbors don't kill them they will do fine.

Feed protein year round, I only feed corn from Sept to Jan. I want my deer eating protein and not corn. Protein will hold your deer year round and it will pull more deer in from your neighbors.

I do have a lot of questions, I apologize...just trying to get ahead of the game.

I figure 1 or 2 protein free choice feeders would be a good start but am stumped on corn feeders for hunting.

Does anyone free choice corn or is that absurd (no reason to)?

I have 180 acres with 3 protein feeders and 3 spin corn feeders on it. It took a month or so for my deer to get use to the protein, but after that they loved it. They eat the protein more than the corn.

I started out with my protein feeders in my sanctuary and pretty much stopped seeing deer anywhere else. They stayed in that area and ate protein whenever they wanted without anyone bothering them. It also made them pretty nocturnal.

This year I moved the protein feeders in the same area with the spin feeders and put hog panels around them to keep out hogs. The sighting of deer definitely increased as the deer had to go into the pen with the corn feeders if they wanted protein. They were still pretty nocturnal and eating more protein than corn.

I stopped the protein in October in hopes that the deer would be use to coming into the pen and would start eating more corn and be less nocturnal by start of deer season. This worked pretty well as I am still seeing a lot of deer at the corn feeders with a lot still at night, but more in the daytime than before.

After deer season I will start the protein again because that really helps to improve your deer. I plan on feeding protein until Oct 1 and will stop the protein again and feed only corn in the spin feeders. I also feed the corn year around as well. I feed less corn when I am feeding protein too and then increase the amount of corn during deer season.

It is all kind of trial and error to see what works best at your place. Good luck.

How often do you fill your protein feeders so I can get an idea of the costs associated with running one full time?

Are your sights over the feeders pretty successful and is this where most of your hunts originate from?

It can be a pretty expensive situation as protein is $10 for 50 pounds or more and so is corn. I have 3 300 pound protein feeders and the deer can empty all three of them in 30 days when they are really hitting it. Sometimes it will last longer, but not much.

I have 3 300 pound corn feeders in the same pen and I have them set to where when filled, they will last about 2 1/2 months before filling again.

You need to put hog panels around your feeders with at least 6 panels or you will be wasting most of your feed on hogs if you have them on your property. If you don't have hogs right now, you will have soon.

I have cameras at all locations and have lots of pictures of really good bucks, but most are at night time. Some have been in the daytime, but not when anyone has been there yet.

Last year my protein feeders were in sanctuary areas and I fed protein and corn all year and the deer hardly ate the corn at all. They would only eat protein and almost always at night. This year I moved the protein feeders to the same spot as my corn feeders and stopped the protein on Oct. 1. The deer were use to coming to the pen eating protein and so I had much better results with them switching to corn after the protein was gone. Most pictures are still at night but there are some good buck pictures in the daytime, especially early in the morning and right before dark. That is at least encouraging for me as I have had nocturnal deer problems for the past few years.

The protein definitely improves the size of your deer and helps to keep them on your property, but the drawback on my place is nocturnal deer. That is why I stopped the protein in Oct. and have had more sightings of daytime bucks since doing so.

Good luck and let me know how your plan works.

don't worry about the fawns momma will take care of them

Still wondering how to set up...do the majority of you setup your protein feeder away from your corn feeder, and how do you get away with shooting deer over your feeder and continually seeing deer? I get that deer will condition to the feeder which is what I want to do, but it would see the other deer would hear a loud bang and not want to come back during daylight? Is it better to setup on funnels leading to the spin feeders and protein feeders?

No hunting off my protein feeders.

Run the boss as free choice and put the protein attachment on the capsule.
Run capsule heavy until March back off to just a few seconds until june..then run it heavy again and go back to corn in late sept.