My feed store said they would order me what ever I wanted. I have been using the 18% pellets from Academy because they are handy. Poured a pile out so I can watch it on camera, doesn't appear to be going away fast.

I have a 50/50 of corn and pellets in the feeder now. I have one of Ramball36's 1000lb feeders coming and I am thinking of filling it up with just pellets in a separate, much larger pen and leaving the corn slinger for the pigs.

Thanks up front!

That's Top Score. They hit it pretty good on my place. It's getting expensive though, $11.99 for 40lb. bag. Look feedstores should be about the same for 50lb. bags..

Purina Antlermax 20%
Lyssy & Eckel deer pellet 20%
Gorman / Red chain 17% or 20%

I wouldn't use any protein pellet in a spinner type feeder.
No matter how long you throw or how you set the spinner plate there's no way to put enough out to make any difference.


If I wanted to provide a protein source using a spinner type feeder I'd use a corn roast soybean mix, many feed stores carry it under all sorts of names.
Usually 16% protein.

As an attractant more so than supplement, spinning protein can work. I have seen it attract more on my small property in Young county. That said, if the protein gets any kind of saturated on the ground, nothing will touch it...

Best protein for the money is whatever they will eat. I've fed a couple of different brands and at the end of the day the only brand the deer took a liking to was Antlermax.

If corn isn't attracting enough deer you have some other issues, natural browse is sufficient, your feeding area set up in an undesirable manner or location, or there are some other undesirable traits about your set up or general area.

I'd try the corn roast soybean mix maybe even some of that scented corn first before wasting $ on protein pellets & risking clogging a spin feeder ruining everything in it.
That and moldy/rotten protein on the ground around a feeder acts as a deterrent / repellent to deer, the mold spores irritate their nasal, bronchial passages, at high enough concentration can cause respiratory illnesses / up to a form of pneumonia.
If you've had protein go moldy on the ground the spores reactivate every time the moisture & temperature are right, even if you cleaned up / removed the moldy protein.


I can take 3lbs of corn in a 5 gallon bucket shake it a half dozen times to make noise, dump it in the middle of the county rock road & within an hour or two have 2 - 5 deer eating it in broad daylight.
I filled my wife's feeder last Friday, I spilled about 2lbs of corn in the bed of the ranger, parked it under a big oak 15' behind the back window with the tail gate down, 8 pm there were 3 deer eating the corn out of the bed. Not a kernel left by morning.
Same county.

We have been using the Atwoods 13% allstock pellets...but not in a spin feeder. We have free choice protein feeders next to the corn slingers. Deer hit the pellets year round, often times walking right past the corn on the ground.

Why are you using protein? For penned deer it makes sense to feed them protein since it improves antler growth, but you have to remove all other food times for this to be effective. They can only eat the protein and nothing else. Wild deer have too many options out there to eat that there is no amount of protein that you can give them that will have any impact on their antler growth.

If you are going to spend the money on feeding wild deer, find what they want to eat and give them that. What is their favorite candy? Here, corn seems to be the best, but there is a huge difference in where I get the corn. Walmart corn gets ignored, Acadamy corn is cleaned up to the last kernel. Cost is a buck a bag more, but why spend money on cheap corn when the deer ignore it and let it build up until a big rain comes along to wash it away?

Purina Antlermax 20%
Lyssy & Eckel deer pellet 20%

I've had excellent results with both of these fed free-choice.

I disagree. We feed protein pretty much year round, low fence, and have talked some of the neighbors into doing the same thing. We have seen better bucks since starting that.

Double Down.

It takes a lot of information to say protein had "x" effect on the deer. Much more information than I think your typical hunter has or has the means to collect and analyze. Being that your feeding a 13% protein also makes me a suspect of it. Many native food sources for deer are significantly higher than 13%. So many factors rainfall, population, quality of available browse and habitat, age etc. have so much to do with all of it to make a blanket statement.

If you're having trouble getting the deer started on protein, which isn't unusual, try the Golden Deer Nuggets from Record Rack. Not a high protein content, but it's highly palatable and I've never seen anywhere that the deer wouldn't take to it pretty quick. After the deer get on the Nuggets good, switch to whatever regular protein you choose.

Purina Antlermax 20%, Lyssy & Eckel deer pellet 20%, and even Mumme's. The only one I ever got that was bad was 18% from Alderman Cave. They sent me a load that was at least half fines. 14 tons worth. When I told them to come get it they sent an open, stake side truck, with no tarp on it, and then weighed what was left after they drove back from 30 miles West of Del Rio to Winters. I have no idea how many tons of protein fines blew out of that truck on the way back. I think I still had to pay for like 7 tons if not a little more.

Oh, this was bulk, not bagged.

Redchevy, you may be right. But then again, I think it would take a lot of information and study to say "there is no amount of protein that you can give them that will have any impact on their antler growth." I do not know for a fact that the protein feed has made an impact on antler growth. It may very well have been something else. I do know as fact from our trail cameras that, all summer long, the bachelor groups will sit at one of our protein feeders and eat for hours.

Upon further research (thanks Texas A&M), it looks like I may be wrong. 13% probably ain't cutting it. I'm gonna have to rethink my protein purchases.

I have plenty of deer, wanting to supplement their diet. I have several sets of twins coming to the feeder, would like to make that across the board with the entire herd.

"Best protein pellet for the money? "


Native habitat management and controlling deer numbers, most economical in the long run.

I am with P.P. If you are going to feed go big.

I've never heard this before. You're saying unless they are on pure protein, some protein is of no help? How can that possibly be?

Is that the only thing you and your neighbors are doing to improve your deer quality, or could it also be things like improving habitat, more rain, being more selective on not shooting small bucks, and spending more time out in the field and actually seeing more bucks?

Sorry to rain on all of your alls theories, but Mr. Eddie Walker is absolutley correct @ feeding free range deer. You are wasting your time and your money feeding protein. Serves no purpose, except to line the pockets of feed producers. I have been managing wildlife, high fence and free range for over 40 years and when you have controlled environments vs. Natural, then you will know as well. Protein will not change genetics. Anyone's free range deer will represent the genetic base of their area. Protein will not make a genetically predetermined 120, 130, etc., inch deer into a boone and crockett. Save your money. Feed an attractant like corn. P. S.- protein is not the magic, fat is. No feed manufacturer incorporates enough fat into their feed products. I'm talking 30% or more to do any good. In almost any environment there is already enough protein levels present in the natural occurring food base.
Now flame away.

Don't think anyone was trying to say you could feed genetics.

While it isn't the be all end all, I think it can be beneficial, you just always have to remember it is SUPPLEMENTAL feeding. When its dry as a popcorn fart nothing green it sure comes in in the clutch.

Now again if you had more control over the population maybe it wouldn't be as big a deal then either. On small low fence properties its almost impossible. You feed and your deer come and go and your neighbors deer come and go, I guess there isn't really any you or your neighbors deer lol just deer. You cant control population unless all the surrounding property owners are doing the same etc.

Of course protein does not change genetics. But it does enhance and maximize the genetics that are already present especially in drought years. Natural browse is the main staple for deer. In good rain years it is what has the most impact on horns. Where your theory is wrong is that in drought years the natural browse is not there. That is when protein (SUPPLEMENTAL FEED) pays for itself. It helps provide the replacement for the lack of natural browse. I have also been around high and low fence deer for over 40 years - I have personally witnessed the impact that cottonseed (fat) PLUS protein can have on a herd. Our results are not theory - they are real.

But, the fact is that the only time you would expect supplemental feeding to make a different at all is if nutrition is limiting to begin with. After all, deer didn't evolve eating protein pellets, lablab, etc.). If things are managed correctly, deer should be able to get everything they need from the native habitat. If nutrition is limiting, you're better off in the long run, from both economical and biological standpoints, to correct the problems (overgrazing, high deer/exotic densities, feral hogs, habitat issues, etc.) rather than makes things worse by artificially carrying too many animals with feeding. These days, people would rather just feed than actually manage their deer herd.

It nutrition isn't limiting, you'd wouldn't even expect to see much use of the feed. How many times have you seen deer stop using feed after adequate rains, or after a prescribed burn, or when acorns fall? But, many folks will proudly state how much feed they go through a month, which is just another way of saying their habitat is in such poor condition (usually through excessive deer/exotic densities, overgrazing, or both) that the deer are forced to eat the feed.