Alright so at the begining of this year I built a free choice protein feeder and set it out on my lease in January and have been feeding all season. I noticed the other day while bow hunting that it was basically empty. I am new to this and just looking for advice. I have a couple of options I'm considering and curious on y'all's opinions.

1st: refill the feeder, about 400lbs, with protein and continue on.

2nd: refill one barrel with corn and one with protein ( homemade two barrel system)

3rd: just go straight corn from it.

4th: I also throw corn from a spin feeder about 70 yds away. Just let the free choice feeder stay empty ( all my bucks are hitting it about 9-11 every night) and just let the spin feeder maybe help the deer become a little easier to pattern?

Thanks for any advice
James C

I used to feed it year round, and opted to quit in October and pick it back up in January when it is most needed. From past experience it will make them hot during the rut and need to have a good source of water nearby. I feed corn year round.

For what its worth, I'm the only one on our lease feeding protein (there are 3 of us) and have been for 3 years. I see more bucks at my feeders (probably 3 to 1) than my lease partners and the majority of my buck pictures are at the protein feeder which is 20 feet away from a corn feeder. IMHO: I would re-fill the protein feeder with protein pellets
and press on.

I do the same thing except I start again around late April or early March when antler development starts it's too expensive to run during season when they're hard horned. However I keep all my corn feeder going year round.

Yeah cost is alot of it. If I'm not going to gain much from the protein this time of year then there's no need to spend the money on it, especially since corn has come down. I do have a water source, 1/4 acre pond about 300 yds away from the protein feeder also both feeders are on the edge of a 3.5 acre food plot.

The bucks coming to the protein feeder makes since as of right now my does are coming to the spin feeder (corn) on schedule morning and evening and the bucks are mainly hitting the protein feeder at night and occasionally wonder over to the corn feeder if there's anything left. If I don't go back with protein am I better off not putting anything in the free choice so that maybe if they want some corn they have to come to the spin feeder before its all gone and start getting some daytime pics or just have to wait till the rut draws them out of their routine?

I feed protein year round free choice in the same pen with a spin feeder. Ideally you would want to keep the two feeders seperated and not hunt the protein. IME it will allow to see more deer than if you stop feeding. Also I believe it helps keep bucks close to your ranch and keeps some of them alive that might wander off and get killed elsewhere.

I feed protein year round.

I'm no expert but I've been feeding year around free choice protein for over 3 yrs now and yes it's expensive, on the other hand the deer and their racks are bigger, body weight is up fawn population is up so it's working.
The problem with stopping it is that it has become a major food source and that is where your problem comes in. They are now dependent on it, so it can put a pretty good hurt on them unless you wean them off of it slowly so they can find an alternative to what you have been providing. My .,02

I feed protein beginning January/February. Bucks need to build their bodies back up before antlers begin to grow to maximze antler growth.Their bodies will put their food toward their body before their horns, so you want them back fat and happy before the new antlers begin growing. Feed protein through the summer until velvet is shed in September and then go to your corn or high carb supplemental feed for the fall/winter when they need extra energy.

Anyone got pics of those "free choice" protein feeders? I need to put one in before the spring and would love to see what these look like.

Also, how often do you need to fill it, etc?

Aimless

Where is your info on this? Did you follow them around with a rectal thermometer?