Deer Feed

[eradicator]

Westtxhunter,

I would be interested in talking with you. I hunt at Ft. Stockton(40 miles se). We feed record rack elk feed in the offseason. We also used to feed cottonseed before it went through the roof. What does a custom deer feed cost in comparison to mass produced feed? Also, I feel we have had good success with our feed in the past. Not great, but good.

[WestTXHunter]

Westtxhunter,

I would be interested in talking with you. I hunt at Ft. Stockton(40 miles se). We feed record rack elk feed in the offseason. We also used to feed cottonseed before it went through the roof. What does a custom deer feed cost in comparison to mass produced feed? Also, I feel we have had good success with our feed in the past. Not great, but good.

I think I know where you are located. I would be more than happy to talk with you (look at my user CP and the mill website address will provide contact information). About the cost comparison... I can't speak for other mills... but as for our mill it is fairly easy. In some cases the cost for the feed acually went DOWN. The reason is that the deer at that particular ranch did not need some of the additives we put in our standard Retail Feed (what you would buy at one of the stores who handle our feed). After you asked the question i actually had my Office Manager pull all the custom feed clients and compare them to the standard deer feed... the answer to your question is NONE.

Overall it did not add to the cost of the feed... mainly because the way we mix feed it is not difficult to add or remove ingredients. The other reason is that I am a deer hunter and I want to keep costs low for deer hunters.

https://www.stocktonfeed.net

[Hillwhacker]

WestTX,
Have a question for you. At our lease we are supplement feeding heavily, we use Lyssey & Ekels and I have noticed our bucks seem to have a higher rate of horn breakage than just about any place I have ever been seen. Would this be an indicatin of a nutrient imbalance or just a bunch aggressive bucks all jacked up looking for a fight?

Ed

[WestTXHunter]

WestTX,
Have a question for you. At our lease we are supplement feeding heavily, we use Lyssey & Ekels and I have noticed our bucks seem to have a higher rate of horn breakage than just about any place I have ever been seen. Would this be an indicatin of a nutrient imbalance or just a bunch aggressive bucks all jacked up looking for a fight?

Ed

Ed, Hmmm... I don't know what L & E puts in their feed. I put Availa 4 and Phosphorus in our feed because a deer's horns are deciduos (they fall off every year). If you have older Bucks (3 1/2 and older) in an area they tend to fight more and it is common to see broken tines... The phosporus is a protective layer that surrounds all living cells and is extremely important in the production of good antlers. If the younger bucks are displaying broken tines then we should look at the mineral that might be deficient in the feed or in the forage they eat. Hope this helps.

[mhbaseball]

do you know of any mills around schulenburg,weimar, la grange, moulton, columbus that will mix deer feed or just mills in general you would recommend for good/cheap deer feed, protein,corn? Thanks for the help

[ratterrier]

We have been making feeds in our feed mill since 1958. I make tons and tons of Deer Feed for the general public, Hunters with leases, Deer Producers, Exotic Game Ranches and Landowners who provide day hunting. I make custom Deer Feed tailored for some of my customers specific needs... They get spectacular results... big deer... big antlers...

It is always interesting to me when folks start talking about deer feed... one guy likes Brand X and gets great results while another guy uses Brand Y feed because Brand X caused antler tines to fall off.... still another has used both Brand X and Brand Y but his deer wouldn't eat either of them unless he mixed it with corn... another guy won't feed either one because cotton seed is best and yet another guy won't feed cotton seed because he heard that it makes deer sterile...

Here are some facts that will help you get the best results for the deer you are feeding...

1. The first thing you should do is go to the feed mill of your choice and ask to speak with their NUTRITIONIST. If they do not have one go to another feed mill. By the way... a Biologist cannot help you with animal feeds like an Animal Nutrionist can...

2. The nutrionist will ask you a number of questions regarding the deer, the surrounding area, the forage in the area, type of deer, estimated buck population and so on...

3. The Nutrionist will then tell you what needs to be added or even removed from the feed for the deer on your lease.

4. Ask the feed mill to make a custom feed for your deer.

5. If you are feeding the correct feed to the deer on your lease it will not take 4 or 5 years to see the results... you will see gains each and every year..

6. Folks that tell you it takes 4 or 5 years to see the results are feeding store bought feed and most likely are not feeding the same consistently.

7. If you are feeding your deer high protein deer feed and they have very little forage (grass) you are wasting your money... when you have little forage in the area you should be feeding high fiber deer feed with lower protein... like 17% protein and 28% Fiber.

8. Those of you lucky enough to have lots of forage should up the protein and add phosphorus, Vit ADE, and Availa 4.

9. If all you want to do is draw deer into a feeder and sling a stick at them... then use corn, alfalfa pellets or anything that makes them show up for a broadside. (that is if you don't care if they have big antlers or even what they look like)

Well post up some ranches and deer that your deer protein has produced, we feed Antlermax because its suposed to be the best, whats better about your deer protein mix, how much is it a ton? Why should somebody switch to your protein over Lyssy or recordrack?? Is it all about the same protein really but not in a fancy bag???

[Antler Boost]

This might be the answer you are looking for....

WestTX,
Have a question for you. At our lease we are supplement feeding heavily, we use Lyssey & Ekels and I have noticed our bucks seem to have a higher rate of horn breakage than just about any place I have ever been seen. Would this be an indicatin of a nutrient imbalance or just a bunch aggressive bucks all jacked up looking for a fight?

Ed

http://www.tasco.ca/documents/mcdonnellarticle.doc

Take a look at the first paragraph on page 2. You can go to the L&E website and verify that they do indeed use Tasco kelp. I have used Tasco kelp as well and it is a wonderful ingredient but there are things that can be done to increase calcification and calcium/phosphorus uptake to harden up antlers that have been grown with Tasco kelp. To read more on Tasco go here:

http://www.tasco.ca/specialties.asp?PageID=106

The breakage can also definitely be due to having a very strong buck to doe ratio (2:1 or even larger) - what has your biologist told you that your ratio is currently? I am not a biologist and never claim to be and always farm out work to some good biologists for topics that are strictly biology related. However, I choose to manage my herd at 1:1 up to 1.25:1 for the very problem that you give - overcompetition amongst bucks. There's nothing tougher to watch than investing lots of money in food plots, protein feed, etc. and then seeing half a rack on a buck you've watched grow for 4 or 5 years on trailcam. When they get to that age you may only get 1 crack at them - and a half a rack is a tough pill to swallow.

[WestTXHunter]

Well post up some ranches and deer that your deer protein has produced, we feed Antlermax because its suposed to be the best, whats better about your deer protein mix, how much is it a ton? Why should somebody switch to your protein over Lyssy or recordrack?? Is it all about the same protein really but not in a fancy bag???

You need to re-read my post. I was not trying to promote the deer feed I make. But since you asked... I'll be more than happy to fill you in... First and foremost... Protein does not make big horns... second... our feed is an all natural product made out of Alfalfa, Corn, Milo, Barley, Oats, Phosphorus, Vit ADE, and some really special mineral additives that I have made for me at Animal Science. Third... the largest Mule Deer in Texas last year (season) was shot at Jack Stone's Ranch and it grew up eating our deer feed out of a Free Choice feeder. If you want Mr. Stone's phone number look it up in the Uvalde telephone directory and ask him how he likes our feed and its cost... he has fed our feed for years.

[JDH875]

Thanks WestTXHunter. This is a good post with good info to think about.

[Skinny]

Great post. Thanks!!!

[courtatlawjudge]

Great post. This comes from a guy that feeds 25 tons per year and spend all of my time scratching my head and wondering what I'm doing

[WestTXHunter]

Thanks for all the comments.