Feeding deer during winter?

[WatchemDrop93]

During the winter when the deer are in there winter range is there anyway to feed the deer like apples and hay and stuff to kinda keep them in a general area so you know where to look for there sheds come spring?

 

[everbrownshed]

Yeah, they'll eat the hay and apples, but I know the DWR doesnt like you to feed em'. Or just look on their winter range for the sheds.

 

[WatchemDrop93]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-08 AT 01:09PM (MST)[p]well you would think they wouldnt care considering were trying to help the deer out during the most stressful part of there life when there food source is scarce. Especially if we have another winter as bad as last years in northern utah where im from.

 

[Idahogrinder]

You are not trying to help the deer, anybody with common sense will see right thru that, you are just trying to get them in a area so you can get the sheds before anyone else does....

 

[CouesSniper]

>You are not trying to help
>the deer, anybody with common
>sense will see right thru
>that, you are just trying
>to get them in a
>area so you can get
>the sheds before anyone else
>does....

Also, giving deer high quality feed and then stopping can do more harm than good. If you were to feed them until the horns fell and then quit, they could have a tough time.

 

[WatchemDrop93]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-08 AT 03:28PM (MST)[p]Really i am trying to help them considering the fact that im feeding them on my property which is private no access to really anyone else but me and a couple other land owners which are friends of mine so its not like im competing against anyone. So "idaho grinder" im pretty sure you were way off the subject in the first place. But i planned on feeding them longer then just until there antlers drop i planned on feeding them all through the winter to help out the deer population on my property. That would be kinda inconsiderate dont ya think couessniper to just feed them until they dropped there antlers. And another thing idaho grinder im the only shed hunter on my entire property so i dont need to try to get them before anyone else. the deer can be kinda scattered sometimes cause its a huge amount of land and they are everywhere so i wanted to try to feed them to see what areas they are generally hanging in and to help out the the deer especially the fawns and young bucks.

 

[slamdunk]

OMG!
Please tell me you are not really serious watchemdrop!!
For heavens sake dude, get educated on wild animal behavoir before you do something stupid!!

 

[slamdunk]

......if it's "your property? why do you need to hurry and get the sheds before anyone else does?
Is your brother going to beat you to them or what?

You say you are in the Northern region and have private land?
Keep in mind that you MUST posess your shed gathering permit prior to picking them up EVEN ON YOUR OWN PROPERTY if you are gathering them prior to the set "end date" impossed by the state to posess your permit while in the field.

 

[smokepolejohnson]

If you end up doing it don't just dump some half a$$ old chitty moldy ton bales like some do for them to get sick off of and kill what little is left in northern utah.

 

[WatchemDrop93]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-08 AT 06:07PM (MST)[p]I never said i was in a hurry to get them im in no hurry like i said im the only one who shed hunts there and im not that educated on animals yet im only fifteen. so please cut me a little slack. all i was wanting to know is if you can feed the deer during the winter and find there sheds close by where you fed them. Sorry for Not knowing to much about what im talking about.

 

[SLIVER]

Wow guys, Jumping a 15 year old?? J/K.

I'm no expert, however it makes sense to me that if there was feed in a certain spot on the property all winter, and the deer were using that food source, then they would stick around at least until they shed if not longer than that.

I think that it would be compareable to some fancy resteraunt offering me free king crab every night, I would be camped on their doorstep clean through shedding season. Ha Ha

}}-SLIVER-->

 

[slamdunk]

Brendan-
Feeding deer can be VERY harmful to them and actually kill them.
Their stomachs are designed to eat certain things at certain times of the year, it just happens naturally and is supposed to be that way. Even when the F&G do the emergency feedings, they have to feed them certain things. Deer cannot digest hay, but they will eat it like candy. It will bloat them and can cause serious issues. This causes issues at elk feeding stations when deer come in. Deer have to eat hay alphalfa "pellets" instead.
Feeding them apples could cause some serious health risks.
However, i HAVE seen deer frequent apple orchards, but they also eat the limbs off the apple tress along with bark, not just apples.

In your original post, you very clearly stated that you wanted to feed the deer to keep them in the area so you could collect the sheds, i doubt your #1 concern is to "help" the deer.
If it IS....the best way you can help the deer is to NOT disrupt their natural wintering process unless an emergency feeding program is called upon by wildlife officials, which at that point they will assist you if needed.

 

[Yoyak]

Its your property so you'll probably do whatever you want.

Warning about the apples though:

I know an old man that was feeding apples to about 20 whitetails around his house. He set up a camera and a monitor in his house so he could watch his favorite buck (150-160 class whitetail) from the comfort of his living room. One day after eating some apples the buck wandered off and bedded under a tree for the entire day. The next morning he was still there, dead. The Old man wouldn't say what happened but I noticed he was cutting the apples now into tiny pieces. His neighbors told me that the buck choked to death on a large piece of apple that got lodged in this throat. It tore him up pretty bad; he watched this deer daily during the winter months and had watched him grow up for years, and then his involvement led to his death. Crappy story but something to think about.

Jason

 

[Younghunter]

My buddy Jake from Vernal utah bought a bunch of feed to pass out to the deer and elk, but then he ate it all. Sorry that probably doesn't help.

Listen to everyone else they are right. Do not feed the deer. Wear out some boot leather to find your sheds.

 

[slamdunk]

Yoyak-
Be very careful what you tell him is right and wrong.
Although this may be his property (more like his family's, not his) these deer are NOT owned by him.
The state still owns them and will prosecute the property owner if these animals are harmed in any way.
If he wants to help them out by feeding, he needs to call the division and they will tell him what he can and cannot do.

 

[WatchemDrop93]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-08 AT 04:30PM (MST)[p]Thank you guys for all the information i never realized it would do more harm than good to the deer to feed them. I am really glad that i learned from you guys what would happen instead of having to learn the hard way. This has been a learning experience for me and for others im sure. Cause i dont think i am the only one who has had the idea to feed the deer on there property. Thank you

 

[slamdunk]

watchemdrop-
Good luck this spring shedhunting, and i apolgize for being so hard on you.

Make sure you get your shed gathering permit this year before venturing out. The online educational course you need to take will really teach you a few additional things about wintering wildlife and the springtime habitat.

I am on the shed gathering committee for the DWR, feel free to PM me if you want any more info about anything and i'll be glad to help

 

[WatchemDrop93]

Alright thanks a bunch.

 

[Crazy4Sheds]

if your goin to feed the deer, from the moment you start, you CANNOT quit til the deer leave in the spring. The deer become dependent on hay if you feed them, and it can also mess up their digestive system. The bast way to go at it is to let the natural course take place, and if things become bad talk to someone from the DWR office, and if you have a large number of deer that winter on your ground, they will supply you with feed, but there has to be a good reason. They started too late for the deer last year.. I will tell you though, a landowner next to us had a lil barn of hay the deer could get in and it destroyed em.. I'm not tellin you not to or callin you an idiot, just put thought into it before you start feeding them.

REMEMBER> if you start feeding, feed all the way through til they can manage themselves in the spring.. if it were me I wouldn't unless they absolutely needed it..

 

[Bozeman]

I don't feed them, they help themselves. Anyone who has horses or cattle in an area were animals are around knows that they will come and go as they please. With that in mind the best place to check for sheds is around the feeders that are slotted. They stick there heads in to eat and will sometimes pop both horns off. It's the least they can give me for eating at my hay bales all winter.

 

[HuntingGear]

Get the facts from a Biologist about what you can feed them, because deer will eat hay but they are not able to get any nutrition from it and can die with a full belly!!!!!!!

www.bonegrabber.com

 

[G1]

I agree with the leave them alone theory. That is always the best when it comes to wildlife. Some people however feel they need to feed the deer. If you have to feed them it was told to me that corn was the best. Deer need carbohydrates this time of year but you can over do it. If you are some one who feels they need to feed the deer then do not put all the feed in one pile so that one deer can eat the whole thing. Spread the piles out and keep them small (1 pound or less). If one deer does eat it all they can impact a gut and die. You also need to wean them off slowly as the fresh forage comes in the spring and the bugs in their gut begin to switch over. They also drink less water this time of year so having some fresh water close by can help as well. This is what was told to me by a wildlife official because people felt they needed to feed the deer and they were killing them.