What’s the opinion on deer eating alfalfa bales that’s never seen it before? I’m stepping outside my comfort level this year and looking at a few new options. If you’re feeding it what type of feeder are you using?

I use the all seasons hay feeders. I started out just putting a bale on the ground. Whitetail and axis seemed to like it. November to March they are interested in it.

I appreciate your response, I think I’ll give one a try..

I bought a couple of bale feeder/stands and I had a couple built; cattle panel cage on angle iron or t-post about 3.5' off the ground to keep it above the pigs and a tin roof that pins on. They also have a mineral block shelf on the end, but that's a mistake - the salt just rusts the crap out of everything. But, deer don't like a mineral block on the ground that the pigs have played rugby with, so I'm still trying to solve that. "My" deer do love a trace mineral block.

On the same ranch, some locations the deer will devour the alfalfa in 3 days and other places a good chunk will still be there 3 months later.

'Saw 3 good axis bucks on camera in late Feb. of this year. I raced 5 bales out there a few days later and put in an old cattle hay feeder that stood 75 yards from where the picture was taken (corn and protein feeder location). Nothing, and I mean nothing touched them, and, the axis moved off. Maybe the farmers on here can tell me if they think it was something sprayed on the hay?

After throwing $ at it, I'm kinda over the alfalfa thing.

Whitetail will eat it, just leave a bale under the feeder. Corn will get mixed in and they will eat every bit of it. That being said I’d go cottonseed if you want something different than your neighbors.