We've been trying to keep our poor lil deer babies from going hungry and have been rambunctious with the feed - amrch 1st, March 22nd, April 6th, April 27th , May 31st and yesterday. Klappenbach and myself went down with a ton each of pellets. Looked at the common cost spread sheet and determined we have now gone through 312 bags of the famous Double Down. That's well over 15,000 pounds.

Good thing is consumption has finally come down. Very surprised anything was still in the feeders. Some might've been on fumes, buit all had a little. Next time down, we will convert back over to cottonseed. That'll be in July.

Wow, that is one heck of a feeding program.
I have a feeder in the back yard and have does laying by it waiting on it to go off some days. If I see them in the pasture, I can whistle to them and they come running in for the goodies.

We starting feeding the DD before it hit the open market and haven't looked back it has made a huge impact on our deer. It will be worth the investment.

If the others on the place are on the same page, it would mean in excess of 60,000 pounds on just that one ranch in NE Lasalle County.

We are feeding just a touch more then what you said above. Are you HF? We are.

You recapped starting March 1. Is that when you started this year?
Were any empty on the other fills?
So you stop pellets in about July and that’s first time you start cottonseed?
Is this timing about like other years?

His example is for two hunters, is that same as you?

I have 3 big protein feeders on the ranch. They have never gone dry since 2002. My feed bill this year has been great with all the rain. One thing that has also helped greatly is when I high fenced the ranch. Now only feeding my deer and not all the neighbors.

No we feed year round free choice. We feed about 14 tons every 3-4 weeks on one ranch and about 5 tons every 4 weeks on the other 2 ranches. We have 34 protein feeders total between 3 ranch's Our feed runs about 17-19 ton a month depending on conditions.

What is the deer density(acres/deer) for that amount of feed? I also have a spread sheet keeping track ....I fed over 21,000 lbs. just me, but a lot went into counting deer and all year long at my feeders in pens, also fed by hand. I tried Double Down for one month and the deer didn't eat it so I quit using it and went to just corn...I guess you have to train the deer a little. I had 90.2% fawn crop on a 2.6 average age. I hadn't got that good until I reached the higher average ages.

Oops, I misread the average age for that year ...instead it was 2.92 average age...getting old and used glasses....sorry..

We average about 1.4 to 1.5 per doe on our fawn crop but we try to kill every doe that is over 2 years old and only have yearling does fawning. One it turns blood quicker and two most the time they only have one fawn and its a buck fawn 7 -8 out of ten fawns. We shoot most of our bucks as 3- and 4 year old's. We let a few go to 5 but not many and only if they are special or get broke up early. Our program it total different then most but it works for us. As far as training them to eat DD we have never had a problem at any of the ranches that i have introduced it on. Thank Tom

End of January gets cottonseed for sure and usually a fill of protein. Let cottonseed run out and fill up all protein in early March as we want the minerals in spring. Buddy and I have 4,200 pounds of capacity on our end of the ranch or roughly 1,600 acres and is a real chore from March to end of June.

Gets hit and dry by then. Deer seem to move more to the cottonseed at that time and we oblige them. Have died pens w/cottonseed baskets.

Keep the cottonseed seed going and add pellets back in early September as bucks prepare for rut. Try to get all that to run out by 2nd week of November and then start over end of January.

Running about 1.5 to 1 on the 5,300 with lower doe numbers back in my part of the pasture and higher count immediately to the north of me (my bud). His rut is out and out fantastic.

The numbers previously provided were from when we evened out expenses and started over.

I have 50 acres and run through 150 pounds a week

we have 3 4x4 pallets 6' high with milo to plant. owners got a couple of 65 bushel sioux bins with augers for corn, ea. holds a pallet/ton. loading them sucks but putting out corn is easier. fiddy/fiddy I guess.

I just hope we don't stick any tractors when this starts.

👍

Deer hunting is expensive if you want to do it right

That's the truth.

hence the title of the thread