My Protein Feeding Strategy

[redfishted]

Didn't you develop the timed protein mechanism and selling it now? If so, sounds like a self-promotional thread just like the double down everyone is bashing.

If I'm mistaken, my apologies.

Where did that come from

[BolilloLoco]

Good info here. Where can I get the device that controls my feed times?

[gingib]

I did as well. I know all deer herds are different so just related my experience to your proposed plan. 90% of the time my mature deer would hit the protein feeders between about midnight and 2 in the morning from about May till Oct. I always figured the wee hours of the morning is when they would have fed because that was the coolest time of the day but they didnt for the most part. With that much time collecting data, I think you have a plan that will work for you and your deer herd. Good luck with it. I tried to locate a graph showing mortality percentages by age but couldnt. If I can find it, I will post up later.

This is also my experience. What I tell people all the time is if you want to truly notice a difference it needs to be fed year round and free choice.

Timed protein feeders defeat the use of improving the herd and building bigger racks/bodies.

They are more for hunting reasons.

Deer are naturally moving more at night and feeding more at night, so not allowing them to use your supplemental feed during those times is not helping the herd.

Just my 2 cents from 7-8 years of doing it

[hammer63]

This is also my experience. What I tell people all the time is if you want to truly notice a difference it needs to be fed year round and free choice.

Timed protein feeders defeat the use of improving the herd and building bigger racks/bodies.

They are more for hunting reasons.

Deer are naturally moving more at night and feeding more at night, so not allowing them to use your supplemental feed during those times is not helping the herd.

Just my 2 cents from 7-8 years of doing it

Did you even read my posts? I fed 20000# thru my timed feeders last year on my little 400 acres. I think my efforts did just fine in helping the herd. Deer that used to feed when THEY wanted to at my free choice now feed when I want them to at my timed free choice feeders. Same amount of feed being fed as before I started timed free choice, just changed my targeted deer.

Appreciate the 2 cents...worth every penny.

[gingib]

Did you even read my posts? I fed 20000# thru my timed feeders last year on my little 400 acres. I think my efforts did just fine in helping the herd. Deer that used to feed when THEY wanted to at my free choice now feed when I want them to at my timed free choice feeders. Same amount of feed being fed as before I started timed free choice, just changed my targeted deer.

Appreciate the 2 cents...worth every penny.

Your mind was made up prior to reading my response, and thats ok.

Simple reasoning/common sense would tell you deer/any animal or human will eat more from a free choice buffet. If you think otherwise there is no need in trying to convince you.

Ooo so you personally changed your target deer thru your timed feeders?

Please do some research from actual studies/experts and let me know from the sense of growing bigger deer/bucks and improving the herd if timed feeders or free choice is the way to go

[hammer63]

Your mind was made up prior to reading my response, and thats ok.

Simple reasoning/common sense would tell you deer/any animal or human will eat more from a free choice buffet. If you think otherwise there is no need in trying to convince you.

Ooo so you personally changed your target deer thru your timed feeders?

Please do some research from actual studies/experts and let me know from the sense of growing bigger deer/bucks and improving the herd if timed feeders or free choice is the way to go

Looky here Ginger, I never said that complete free choice feeding wasn't best. Never said that they wouldn't eat more if it was 24/7 free choice. Never said that deer didn't prefer to eat at night. Funny that 645 views so far and you're the only one to not get that.

What's YOUR feeding strategy? Do you keep feed available 24/7 and never let the feeders run out or do you just shoot your mouth off telling people the obvious while you do something different? This is MY feeding strategy and MY money that I posted up, not yours.

Trouble with reading comprehension or just stupid? That's a rhetorical question because I've seen many of your posts.

[hammer63]

..

[TTU TX Hunter]

Boy that escalated quickly. I think this is the first plan that I've seen to put some annual figures out there. This is a great strategy in my opinion. You simply have taken a budget that works for you and at the same time works for your herd. I have wanted to make the jump to timed krivo's but just haven't had the budget but am going to try to soon and will definitely use this strategy!! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the info you've given me in the past when I posted about feeders!! Have a good one and let the smoke roll off. We all know the ones who constantly stir the pot!

[hammer63]

Boy that escalated quickly. I think this is the first plan that I've seen to put some annual figures out there. This is a great strategy in my opinion. You simply have taken a budget that works for you and at the same time works for your herd. I have wanted to make the jump to timed krivo's but just haven't had the budget but am going to try to soon and will definitely use this strategy!! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the info you've given me in the past when I posted about feeders!! Have a good one and let the smoke roll off. We all know the ones who constantly stir the pot!

If I can help others in a situation like mine, its worth way more to me than any piddly amount I would ever make off my device. Thanks for the comment!

[bgleaton]

We have a 400 acre place that we are trying to lower the feed bill on. This thread is very interesting bc our deer are basically on the same pattern as your deer. We just bought a timed Krivoman protein adapter that we will be installing on our 1,500lb Krivoman unit and then will feed free choice out of our 1,000lb ASF trough and then throw corn out of our other 1,300lb Krivoman feeder until I can buy another one of Krivomans timed units. I really think these timed units will help prevent feed loss to raccoons at night as well as keeping the feed bill down a little bit. We are looking to do the exact same thing you are doing. If anyone knows how to prevent turkeys from taking protein I would love to hear it other than shooting them bc we have too many to make a dent. Wasn't sure if I could put something underneath the tube so that they couldn't reach it but deer could still reach it. Please keep us posted on your results.

By the way, I understand that feeding protein free-choice is the best way to do it, but on our small 400 acres we fed nearly 22,000lbs of protein, 10,000lbs of corn and around 3,000lbs of cottonseed. Just trying to find ways to offer it free-choice with our trough feeder as well as using timed protein feeders to just lower the feed bill. For us, it's finding that happy medium.

[bollomb]

I like the thinking in your strategy.. The way I see it is you will have feed available 365 days a yr going this route versus going the free choice route and letting it go empty for periods of time if refilling is not in your budget at the time.. I like it

[8pointer]

This is also my experience. What I tell people all the time is if you want to truly notice a difference it needs to be fed year round and free choice.

Timed protein feeders defeat the use of improving the herd and building bigger racks/bodies.

They are more for hunting reasons.

Deer are naturally moving more at night and feeding more at night, so not allowing them to use your supplemental feed during those times is not helping the herd.

Just my 2 cents from 7-8 years of doing it

I agree. I've always believed in free choice, because I want protein available for deer anytime they want. This is very important during the hot summer months when the deer are mostly up and feeding at night. Where a timed protein feeder works well is for those that chose to protein feed year around. I would switch to timed right before hunting season and back to free choice after.

For budget reasons, we are protein feeding February to September free choice. We are feeding corn July to February but that is simply for attracting. Everyone has their goals, budgets and reasons.

OP stick to what works for you and keep us posted. No matter how long all of us have been feeding, I think there is room for everyone to learn something.... Especially me.

[hammer63]

I like the thinking in your strategy.. The way I see it is you will have feed available 365 days a yr going this route versus going the free choice route and letting it go empty for periods of time if refilling is not in your budget at the time.. I like it

Bingo! You get it.

We've paid particular attention to how our mature deer react to our feeding times. Those are the guys we hunt and those are the guys we care the most about getting their fill of protein.

To start, those old toads will start showing up in the wee hours and continue to swing by, until the feed is available. Over time, they figure out the feeding schedule and have mostly stopped coming in the middle of the night and just show up 30 minutes to an hour before the feeder dispenses. So, we feel like we're feeding the deer we want to get the most feed. So far, we have not noticed the loss of one single deer due to our feeding schedule.

[hammer63]

I agree. I've always believed in free choice, because I want protein available for deer anytime they want. This is very important during the hot summer months when the deer are mostly up and feeding at night. Where a timed protein feeder works well is for those that chose to protein feed year around. I would switch to timed right before hunting season and back to free choice after.

For budget reasons, we are protein feeding February to September free choice. We are feeding corn July to February but that is simply for attracting. Everyone has their goals, budgets and reasons.

OP stick to what works for you and keep us posted. No matter how long all of us have been feeding, I think there is room for everyone to learn something.... Especially me.

Oh, I believe in free choice feeding, but my wallet doesn't I have deer coming by 24/7 to eat and if I fed free choice, without letting the feeder run out, my bill would increase by +/- 25%. So, I gotta figure out which deer I am actually wanting to get the most benefit on my 20,000#/yr budget.

Thanks for the input!

[bollomb]

I agree. I've always believed in free choice, because I want protein available for deer anytime they want. This is very important during the hot summer months when the deer are mostly up and feeding at night. Where a timed protein feeder works well is for those that chose to protein feed year around. I would switch to timed right before hunting season and back to free choice after.

For budget reasons, we are protein feeding February to September free choice. We are feeding corn July to February but that is simply for attracting. Everyone has their goals, budgets and reasons.

OP stick to what works for you and keep us posted. No matter how long all of us have been feeding, I think there is room for everyone to learn something.... Especially me.

This is the route I currently go and seems to work well. Keeping feeders full and going free choice 6 solid months instead of just somewhat keeping feeders filled for a yr sounded better to us.