Checked on a 1000# protein feeder on a buddy's place down the road and the deer emptied it in 19 days. Checked the camera and it's all deer. They're hitting mine hard too, but not quite that hard. Sure need this drought to end very soon. No measurable rain since October.
On my place the activity at the feeders is hit or miss. I feed year round with timed protein feeders. We had really good rains in late Sept and all of October and the forb growth was tremendous, so the deer have plenty. Also had little showers in Nov and Dec to keep them growing. Bucks are in pretty good shape for post rut also. Going to start back in with WCS tomorrow also to give the bucks a boost. On my friends place I have been helping him out and filling his protein feeders and the consumption has been really down with all the rain and forb growth. His food plots were in great shape till the freeze nipped the tops on the oats. Feeders this week started to increase some over the past weeks on the north portion of his ranch. The rest are still way off. He feeds free choice year round also. In the past on ranches I managed....the two highest consumption months were the first month post rut and then August. Those two periods are traditionally the worst for habitat. October can be high also as the bucks pack on the pounds for the rut. Also you can tell how many deer you removed from the ranch this time of the year by post rut consumption numbers. This is if you feed year round.
Down in southern Atascosa County,TX, the grass is dried up and the the brush is barely hanging on with a little green. All of our oat patches have dried up. We had good rain all spring and most of the summer but then the drought set in. We are starting to feed the 16% lyssy & eckel protein as well as the corn feeders here in January. We will be feeding till a good spring green up starts. The deer really need our help in this drought of a winter.
Yup, they are damn hungry out west. My buddies dumped 320 lbs of cottonseed on teh ground in my pen last saturday and in 4 days there were no piles left. I'd bet there was no more than 20lbs left lightly scattered on the ground.
High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Same at my place! Just went out and put 2 1000 timed protein feeders out this weekend. Put out 3000lbs of corn and 4000 lbs of protein. Gotta get some weight back on them. desperately need rain in our area too, my food plots were terrible this year.
Just filled up the protein feeder first time since October. I gotta believe as dry as it is in Throckmorton county they will begin to hammer it. Got a cam up hoping to see a couple of bucks on the hitlist made it through the season.
So my place is in Throckmorton County too. I’ve never seen it this dry this time of year. Grain fields are hurting bad, some probably already dead. No winter mesquite rye at all, just dry grass. Forbes are minimal at best. See deer and pigs in wheat fields on and off all day. Feed and check cattle daily and the deer and pigs are moving looking for food and water. Feeders are throwing twice a day and not a piece of corn left when I go by one. Two tanks dry already. Our numbers are better than they have been since 2011 drought. But we need rain!
So my place is in Throckmorton County too. I’ve never seen it this dry this time of year. Grain fields are hurting bad, some probably already dead. No winter mesquite rye at all, just dry grass. Forbes are minimal at best. See deer and pigs in wheat fields on and off all day. Feed and check cattle daily and the deer and pigs are moving looking for food and water. Feeders are throwing twice a day and not a piece of corn left when I go by one. Two tanks dry already. Our numbers are better than they have been since 2011 drought. But we need rain!
Whole state needs rain but west out by us is bad. Real bad. Keep praying for it.
So my place is in Throckmorton County too. I’ve never seen it this dry this time of year. Grain fields are hurting bad, some probably already dead. No winter mesquite rye at all, just dry grass. Forbes are minimal at best. See deer and pigs in wheat fields on and off all day. Feed and check cattle daily and the deer and pigs are moving looking for food and water. Feeders are throwing twice a day and not a piece of corn left when I go by one. Two tanks dry already. Our numbers are better than they have been since 2011 drought. But we need rain!
^^Pretty good summary of our place out there as well. Really good spring and summer and antler growth and then it just stopped.
At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations. RWH
Checked on a 1000# protein feeder on a buddy's place down the road and the deer emptied it in 19 days. Checked the camera and it's all deer. They're hitting mine hard too, but not quite that hard. Sure need this drought to end very soon. No measurable rain since October.
Hello neighbor. .46 here since October. Had one big .15 inch shower about Thanksgiving. Had a good hay crop and started out with the largest inventory of hay in several years. May have to buy a load now. Deer are hammering the feeders. Age catching up with me. Got into trouble filling the feeders in the heat and worked a deal with my hunters to take over the management program. It has been less than successful and when they finally got around to refilling the feeders with Antlermax three weeks ago, deer went through 3000 pounds in 15 days. Major wreck!😀 The obvious solution was to just not feed so often. Maybe fill feeders every three or four months. 😯 Looks like I just raise the lease price and go back to filling feeders. Only good thing about all this is that we're one day closer to rain.
Checked on a 1000# protein feeder on a buddy's place down the road and the deer emptied it in 19 days. Checked the camera and it's all deer. They're hitting mine hard too, but not quite that hard. Sure need this drought to end very soon. No measurable rain since October.
Hello neighbor. .46 here since October. Had one big .15 inch shower about Thanksgiving. Had a good hay crop and started out with the largest inventory of hay in several years. May have to buy a load now. Deer are hammering the feeders. Age catching up with me. Got into trouble filling the feeders in the heat and worked a deal with my hunters to take over the management program. It has been less than successful and when they finally got around to refilling the feeders with Antlermax three weeks ago, deer went through 3000 pounds in 15 days. Major wreck!😀 The obvious solution was to just not feed so often. Maybe fill feeders every three or four months. 😯 Looks like I just raise the lease price and go back to filling feeders. Only good thing about all this is that we're one day closer to rain.
Check with feed stores that offer to fill feeders or have feed buggies. Lot of stores in Central, West and South Texas have offered it for years.