2600 acres HF in Kinney county. South of Hwy 90. 10- 2000lb free choice protein feeders. Cottonseed and a small amount of corn fed since February 1. Whitetail and Axis. A few Fallow. This is our second year here. It seemed like feeders were going empty every month and was getting expensive fast. After reviewing my invoices we were refilling approximately every 9 weeks. Some feeders were refilled 3 times and some 4 times. A total of 32 tons of protein. Plus the CS and corn. After reviewing the pictures this year I am seeing quite an improvement in the herd. The most obvious change is their body weight. They survived the drought well and we seem to have more 10 pointers than last year. I'm not seeing the 6 pointers I was planning on culling this year. I believe they are 8 pointers now. We cut down the number of hunters to 5 this year and are not going to harvest trophies this year. They need the time to recover from some being shot too young.

Are you guys going through this much protein as well?


Verde

I don't have the total for the entire ranch. We're right at 6000 acres and about a dozen protein feeders. I only fill one of them and I've been going through 100 - 150 lbs per week. Filled it on 8/24 and it was empty last week. I put in another 500 lbs and that will be the last I put in until late Dec or early Jan.

jg, very good recap. I like seeing all the detail. Ive ask people before what it costs to feed protein and theyll tell me how much a bag cost.
I hope others will answer your question about how much they go through. For it to mean much, they will need to check all the boxes on the numbers like you gave. Yall seem to be really putting it to them so I dont know if others are feeding that much. If they are eating it then its benefitting them.
It seems, for anyone considering a protein feeding program, and trying to get all hunters on board, the bottom line number of importance would be the dollar cost per hunter.

I haven't been able to feed protein as I normally would this year. However, just labor day weekend we partially filled two feeders with 600# each. It lasted a whopping two weeks. Deer took it right away, despite not having any in since January, and they hammered it. Had corn spinning next to but for only 2 seconds twice a day.

I feel that I am going to see some down turn in deer size and antler quality this year due to lack of feeding (had been consistent for the last 6 years). Hoping this will be a one off and be back to normal feeding soon.

Texan. 150 lbs a week from Feb-Sept is 4,800. If all 12 feeders were filled at same rate 57,600 lbs on 6000 acres in 8 months. Does that sound right? What county are you in, I don't see a blade of grass in the pen?

I normally don't keep that close of a track on the amount we feed, but I opened an account at the feed store. It gives me easy access to each invoice and a timeline of refills.



Freerange, Thanks for the kind words. Yes we are feeding a lot, but we are in recovery mode. By letting all trophies walk this year that's giving our herd 2 years to recover and some time to reach maturity.

As far as costs go bulk Antlermax 20 is $470. a ton right now. There are cheaper protein pellets available is you want. If you could get each member to commit to buying 2 tons that would be a great start on a feed program.

Klappenbach and I feed 5 pens on about 1,200 acres of the ranch we hunt. Total to date is 342 50 pound bags of protein and add in another 118 bags of cottonseed and most of those being 40 pounders.

We're in the very SW corner of Coleman County about 2 miles north of Lake OH Ivie. We've had good rain and the browse is very good this year. The previous two years were very dry.

I pulled my receipts from the feed store and I'm at 4500 lbs. I would "guesstimate" we're somewhere around the 50,000 lb mark for the entire ranch. Our neighbors to the south and west also feed protein and are on the same management plan (more or less).

dang, ya'll got some deep pockets!!!

$7,244.60 combined for the two of us, but we are done until cottonseed goes back out in late January - when it starts all over again. Pretty sure it is down from last year. Rain has been a good thing.

Hudbone. Are you feeding free choice and what county are you in? So 8 .5 tons of protein on 1200 acres.


Texan, Same question for you, are you feeding free choice? Was it available non stop to them from Feb- Sept.? Your deer look healthy. 25 tons on 6000 acres on a wet year.


Buckeye, 1200lbs in 2 weeks. You can tell they were missing it. Are you seeing any changes in your deer?

I typically see a huge take of protein from jan to march, once green up hits then the consumption goes way down thru spring. Then it picks up again during the summer and peaks around now. I would guess in a typical year I would go thru about 7-8 tons on 400 lf acres with two feeders. Fill each around 1000# each time, about monthly with a carve out in the spring to early summer and hunting season tends to get little use due to food plots taking the brunt. I would love to buy bulk but I have no machinery to handle that so it is all bagged. Usually use antlermax 16 or 20.

I had been seeing some good moves in deer body condition, weights have gone up a little mainly in the doe. It will be quite interesting to see how body sizes and antlers are this year. We normally do not see all the bucks on cameras so I typically will see some of the better bucks when I sit for hunting. I say all this knowing the spring and early summer were wet, so it may not be as bad as I think it will be, probably won't be.

One thing for sure, I have a lot more yearling 4-7 pt deer now than when I first started. I used to see a lot of spikes. An occasional spike now, but almost all yearlings are 4-5 pt and many are 6-7 and an occasional 8. Need to keep at it longer to see better results. But there are not a lot around me feeding protein so the concern is the yearling bucks are dispersing to their benefit, but I have neighbors who have good food plots in the summer and I get their dispersal. Plus the deer genetics are really good in my area so if I get some of their bucks in the rut/pre-rut, then it is win win....I know it is hard on 400 lf acres to do much, but I am just trying to make the best deer haven I can for deer to hang out or come visit.

South Texas - NE Lasalle County. We fill up six baskets of cottonseeed and 5 feee choice potein feeders totaling 4,200 pounds of capacity in very late January. All protein filled up again March 1 or so when it is time to really get ready and more frequent "visits" are required. . March 1 through the end of May is our peak protein demand time. From March 1st to May 31st, we put in 240 bags. Came in with another 72 June 15th and let it ride as consumption wanes when it gets super hot. The feeeders were all on fumes when we put in another 30 bags September 10th to help serve as an attractant as the bucks build up for rut. Right now, we are waiting for everything to empty - no free choice available during season.

I understand cost gets forgotten when we have a passion for hunting. Just curious if any of you have calculated your all in cost for a pound of deer meat by season each year?

Are you nutz?

Although my sausage is priceless, I can easily afford sustenance. The deer lease is my hidden gem of a "country club". Trying to break down my consumptive needs & enjoyment down in a cost analysis is not worthy of my consideration. Used to hunt with an open sight 30-30 behind a brush pile with permission on another man's property and let's just say, it's not that way these days. I may not be worthy, but I am fortunate.

My apologies for posting the question. it was not meant to be judgmental, and I hope I did not offend anyone.

Not at all. It's a common question. We're just funnin' ya.

No issues and have been there. Never thought I would spend $2,500 on a lease. Never thought I would buy a blind costing more than $1,000. My daily driver was driven into the pasture when I didn't just walk to the hunting spot. Couldn't believe some guys had mobile homes at their leases. I could go on . . . .

Some more fortunate that others, I get it. Think I will stop posting and just read.

x2

No need to stop posting. If you're inexperienced, you can learn a lot here. I suspect you may have thoughts to share as well.

New guy here, I find the amount and what some of you are feeding interesting, over the years we have put a lot of thought in supplement feed for our Deer and other wildlife, there's no doubt when you put out any kind of feed you are feeding everything from the ants up, including every thing that walks, fly's, crawls, what % of the feed you put out goes to Deer? i would be interested in your experience with supplemental feed and the results you think you are getting? Rio7

I'm not inexperienced, just hunt on my own 400 acres in Northeast Texas (Pinewoods) but live in Atlanta Ga. My hunting area is totally different than central or south Texas. Population is smaller, corn feeders useful primarily this time of year and no reason to feed protein due to the travel radius of the deer. Hunted 5 years straight about 30 miles south of Sonora and always had volunteer deer standing 30 yards from the feeder in the dark waiting on me to corn the road to the feeder. Population in that area is high and I understand the need to feed protein and corn year-round to improve the herd.

Yes, it's free choice. I start feeding in late Dec or early Jan and feed continuously until Oct. The feeder might get emptied and sit there empty for a few days from time to time, but for the most part it stays ready.

Rio7, welcome to our forum. Good question you posed. I hope someone has a good answer.

We created our own monster, but have seen the results. Initially, pens were smaller. Now, all of ours are 47X47 with 34 inch hog panels with cedar or 2 3/4 inch pipe corner posts (a big key). The deer got accustomed to them quickly. No idea what % goes directly to deer, but with our pens and these feeders - they gotta provide the primary consumption impact. We do not have any issues with ants, none. Lose some to coons, but it isn't much and is a given. You can fight them, but have to acccept it as part of the deal. I don't look at my losses; I look at my gains. Photo from two nights ago. The bucks are all over the pellets right now as they bulk up for the "fun times" ahead.

Good looking deer Hud.

Do you have start up lease measurements of weights and scores to nowadays weight and measurements to compare the difference?

I understand totally where you are coming from, the effort is measured not in what is lost but what has been gained. And unlike some on here that do this for a living (or some of their living) we do this for fun, and as long as we are having fun with it, that is all that really matters.

It's important to take your Deer into hunting season in good shape Bucks will lose about 30% of their body weight a good supplemental program makes a huge difference in your herd health.

Hudbone, How long has your feed program been going? Your deer look great! I hunted 5 miles east of Los Angeles from 2009 -2018. It was low fence. LaSalle county is a great place to hunt.
Where I am now we have no livestock and haven't seen a feral hog in a year and half. We do have a few javelina. We have fairly large feeder pens but we have been leaving the gate open. We also have additional stand and fill corn feeders at blinds sites with no pens. Like you we have coons eating on the protein. We have been and will continue to trap them.

Comparing the pounds of protein per acre ratio with others on this thread makes me think I need to reduce our herd. This spring and summer has been a continuation of the 7 year drought in our area. 2018 was the last wet year. We will continue our feed program starting in February and hope for more rain in 2025.

Been feeding pellets for 18 years. One small pen and a 300 pound barrel feeder to begin with. At first hard to get the deer to eat it. Got serious 15 years ago. Added cottonseed to the mix about 5-7 years ago and it too started off slow. It now has its “place”.

No statistical analysis on hand, but the observational over all quality of what is witnessed is undeniable. The pretty factor has increased. One thing for sure is you have to shoot deer. Eat ‘em or feed ‘em. A higher deer density hurts more than it helps. Strive for quality and not quantity.

I spend to much time on the ranch and just saw this post. Anyway, I don't have a large place however we've fed 41K lbs of protein since February 5th and 10K lbs of cottonseed (ongoing). The previous owner did us a good deed and removed almost every mature buck but left us a bunch of good young bucks. Those bucks are now 4/5 and showing their genetic makeup since I have been pouring the groceries to them. Anyway protein was $570/ton, cottonseed $370/ton both plus freight.. Not inexpensive and I would add it costs a lot more then it used to prior to January 6, 2020!

As Hudbone said above strive for quality , not quantity. Now that we can begin to see the results of our efforts we'll be reducing numbers and "culling" out the less desirable antler characteristics. We'll probably make a few mistakes however it will just take some pressure off the other deer on the range. Now if it will just rain!

Roadkill,

Like you we will be reducing numbers as well. We were just going over pictures and making a list of culls, and there are plenty of them. We have plenty of MLD tags to accomplish the task so that's not a problem. We are going to let our mature deer have another year to keep the age group balanced.

We have been feeding Antlermax 20 climate guard for $470 a ton in bulk. We have been paying too much for cottonseed. Even at 14.50 a 40 lb bag that's $725 a ton. You must be buying it in bulk. Something we are planning on doing now. I'm learning about buying it from the mill and understand it's seasonal. Do you buy enough for the year now and store it?