Year round feeding

Question: I fed corn year round last year and definitely saw a difference in deer traffic..I went through lots of corn..when do y'all turn your feeders on? If you don't feed year round and how long is sufficient..I fed twice a day for 3 seconds..I have two 12volt feeders and two 6 volt..with the 12volt throwing more feed..opinions..

I generally run about 1,000 lbs of corn a month, year around. I manage some pretty dense hunting areas, and given the acorn crop last year...they just stayed away from the feeders most of the season. I am just now starting to see them coming back to eat...and mostly at night. Strange year....

Now that season is over, we have our corn feeders throwing once at sunup and that's it. Feeding in the evening just brings raccoons at night. We also are keeping the protein feeders full throughout the year and especially right now.

I run a feeder until the Spring green up in late March. Once the native browse returns, feral hogs end up getting most of any corn that hits the ground. And feeding hogs during the off season is a big no-no with landowners in the area.

If I did feed year round, I would only use a barrel with feeding tubes that makes it more difficult for hogs to reach the feed.

If you have hogs and don't have feed pens a lot of it will go to the hogs. We would get 80-90% hog pictures all summer long and the deer would be sprinkled in here and there. Put feed pens up and big bump in deer activity without the hogs.

feed year around but have hog pens up.

I feed year round. I just turn mine down after hunting season to a second in the morning and afternoon.

Given the lack of nutritional value in corn, we turn our feeders on around Labor Day and off around end of Jan.
We do however keep the protien feeders full year round and they stay on it hard from about mid May through Labor Day. Seems like end of sept to mid March, they don’t have a lot of interest in protien.. you’ll catch a few now and then grabbing a quick bite. I’ll fill the protien feeders mid sept and not have to fill again until end of deer season.

I agree with the fencing if you have pigs. We have a couple guys running year round corn for “pig feeders” and really paid the price this year.. pigs took over their areas and the deer just wouldn’t come around..

Corn from September until it runs out in February. Cottonseed now thru April. Free-choice protein year 'round. All feeders are fenced with pens averaging 3,600 sq. feet.

Dang...those are big pens.

We've found that larger pens help the deer feel more at ease, thereby utilizing them more. We actually have deer that bed inside the feed pens. We leave some select, native brush in our pens.

All my pens are about 1,900 square feet. Ten hog panels in a circle. Bigger would be better, but that's all my budget can stand. About $280 per pen.

I change my feed amount based on what they are eating. If corn lays on the ground then bring the time down if they eat it all and leave in 30 min turn it up. Right now I’m running mine 2 times a day for 10 seconds and 1 time at night for 5 seconds for hog hunting.

Just threw up thinking about driving all those T posts...

We fill our feeders so they run out of corn by February, and do not fill them again until September. Feeding year around brought the hogs in, once we quit feeding year around they moved to our neighbors place. They feed year around, but have no cover like we do. We put out cotton seed for protein, it's the only thing they get from February until September.

That's why you bring your wife along. Duh. A magic new weight loss program.

I feed corn and protein year around and can definitely tell a lot more deer are showing up.

I live in a fairly low population area for deer. I feel its important to feed year round because it keeps the does patterned to the area, and come fall the bucks travel to my place looking for them. After season i go to 1 feed in the morning.

We feed half our corn feeders in the morning and the other half in the afternoon during the off season. Same throw rate as during the season. Plus two protein feeders during the off season as well. I'd feed protein year round, but dang it gets expensive.

I won't be feeding year round because that would fatten the hogs instead of the deer.

I feed year around and put out anything I want....the deer get all the feed...I have pens...makes all the difference in the world. Without a pen ...you are just raising hogs...I don't even see a hog. The hunters without pens.. they are better off not feeding at all. I will see an average of 12 bucks in the pen every time I hunt. Big bucks come in every day. Once you go to using pens you will never go back. I just wish I could talk the rest of hunters to build them pens. If they would ..the deer heard will double. I average 12 bucks and 8 does...others without pens average 3 bucks and 5 does or lower with hogs. Hogs will run off your deer...some will stay but not for long.

Depending on what type feeders you have makes a difference in how long they run. During the season I feed twice in the morning, first time is just before daylight and the second will be say 30 minutes later. I don't want the deer to be able to clean up all the corn quickly. First will be 8 to 10 seconds and the second more like 6 seconds. In the afternoon I feed once about 4:30 for 8 seconds. After season I feed year round but less feed each time. Once the corn starts to accumulate I cut the feeder back slightly. Have not fed protein because we are on a 216 acre place with hunters all around us...but that may change come March thru September.
As others have mentioned you have to keep the corn away from the hogs and panels work best if that is in your budget.

I run corn feeders year round and feed 3 or 4 times per day from Sept till early March then turn them down to twice per day with shorter run times in the off season. I will not put a feeder up without a feed pen. I have fed protein year for going into my 6th year now on 234 acres. Have a corn feeder and protein feeder in the same pens that are 12 panels in size. I use a road feeder from Aug till end of deer season and feed everyday. I will only shoot deer with a rifle on the road corn and never in a feed pen. I have trapped and shot the hogs down to a point that I rarely see any hog sign. When I do, I try to kill/trap them out quickly. They move in every once in a while till I kill them out. I can say that my buck numbers have increased every year by feeding protein year round. This year after the snow/freeze in early Dec they numbers of bucks was higher than it has ever been here. My ratio is very close to 1:1 from blind counts but I think there is more bucks than does at this point now. If I could only feed on a limited budget I would buy a timered trough style protein feeder or add an attachment to my protein feeders to regulate the protein feed amounts. I firmly believe that the year round protein holds many bucks on my place that would not even stay in the area.