I am a newcomer to actually feeding protein.

How much do you put out?

Do you mix it with the corn?

Do you feed it stand-alone?

Do you feed it year around?

Are there brands you have found the Deer won't take to?

My lease is all low fenced. It is only 35 acres but is a major thoroughfare for bucks during the rut. We only have 2 or 3 resident bucks. We typically see 10 or more individual bucks prior to the rut.

I think it comes down to money in a lot of cases (ha, that thread regarding more money and better opportunity comes to mind). I know others will chime in that are low, medium and hard core protein advocates before too long. I personally have only tried to a very small degree and thusly not much success. If you have free choice feeders, the sky is the limit on how much to put out and brands likely depend on what the deer in your area are attracted to. I'm no expert in this area by any means, just read a lot of other's comments and have several friends that go overboard (in my opinion)..

someone with more knowledge than me will likely be by shortly ... good luck!

in my opinion, there are a lot of variables that come to my mind ... size of property, density of deer, what are you trying to achieve, how deep (or shallow) are your pockets, etc.

In your case, I think it would be more of an attractant rather than actual supplement. Bet you will have good success with it.

With 35 acres, Jimbo is probably spot on. You are not going to have much effect on the health of the population. I have 250, and my neighbor has 250. We both feed protein. I'm not sure that 500 acres with 4 protein feeders is really making much of an impact either, but I tell myself that it does.

Oh, and to answer your other questions, Free choice feeders, try to keep them full year round. I have had them take some time to get used to one brand or another, but have not used any brands that they just refuse to eat.

In your case I would use protein as an attractant with no expectation to impact antler development or to supplement a herd. I'd use a timed protein feeder and let it dispense once per day about 30 minutes after sun up. An All Seasons on a 7 second cycle would be fine.

I hunt a huge place and there's no way I can feed enough to make an impact on antler development or supplement a herd. I feed protein as I describe above during September to usually end of November.

We have 120ish acres and see lots of deer. 4 similar properties surround us with 1 large ranch to the west. I just don't feel like we would get a good ROI unless all neighbors were feeding protein as well, which will never happen. I think corn as an attractant is much cheaper and probably just as good or better. I personally don`t want to shell out all the $$$ for protein knowing the person on the other side of the fence is reaping the fruits of my labor. For me personally, there's just not enough juice for the squeeze. A larger piece pf property and a likeminded good neighbor with the same amount of land would be a whole different matter though.

I spend about $250.00 on protein from my timed feeder. As an attractant, they know what has the most nutrition.

On 35 acres feed something better than the neighbors to attract deer more. You won’t have any impact on antlers but if you feed protein, cottonseed, etc. and the neighbors don’t you have an advantage. Don’t dump a ton of money into it thinking it will make a difference on antlers.

I mix it in right now but it’s still 80% corn. I have found the amount of rain has more of an impact. The bad drought year was hard on antler development.