Anyone still got it out there for the bucks growing antlers and the does about to give birth or already given birth to help with milk production?
I’ve got peanuts out which are always out and they stop in occasionally and get them a snack. There’s so much natural feed out they don’t stay long. 3-5 minutes max and they’re gone. What I have noticed is my sites in the drains they’ll hit all day. The sites in the open are late evening/night/early mornings.
Yes some are at my stands, but for betterment of the entire herd I have different sites throughout the property.
Just wondering if anyone else has them and cameras out watching them transform.

no

No feed, just plots.

Feeders are illegal here

No...stop feeding every year in time to be legal when turkey season opens.

Never go back to feeding until late summer....usually mid to late August.

My theory is the feeders are perfect fawn and poult traps for the predators. Even if the doe doesn't bring the fawn there....if she gets killed or injured...the young fawn is doomed. Same for the hen...if she gets it...that brood is history.

By late summer these fawns down here are big enough to outrun a coyote amd the poults can all fly.

This is not a perfect plan, but I think it saves a few from being eaten. At least I'm not causing their death.

No feed other than ensuring my clover plots are in good shape as early in the Spring as possible.

I do supplement minerals however and am a big believer in it helping across the board. Stock salt, mineral salt and di-calcium phosphate.

The does seem to bang it hard before and after pregnancy and the bucks bang it late May- Sept.

… more animal husbandry

Nothing but mineral lick. Put new one out today

So your turkeys come to feed? People don’t believe me, but if you relied on “feed” to kill a turkey on our property you’d eat tag soup, lol. I bet I’ll get 3-4 pics a year of turkeys on any of the feed sites. I guess if you bought about 10K crickets and dumped them out you might be on to something.
Poults feed on insects and does don’t bring fawns anywhere near feed. When the fawns do show up, they are at the age they can outrun any coyote or cat. Fawns are susceptible to predation at any time, but generally their first couple of weeks after birth. Everything from coons to raptors can kill a newborn fawn.
Keep them traps and thermal working and eliminate any potential predator during this time.

In October if turkeys find a corn pile your corn won’t last 3 days. They will roost looking at it

… when do y’all worm em and give ‘em bangs vaccination?

My turkeys wont hardly hit a feeder in spring, either. I guess too much natural feed for them. They might stop by for ten minutes and then not for two weeks. I will start putting out feed/protein end of june. I believe it helps with the does and fawns. Our state has one of the lowest fawn recruitment numbers in the nation - sub .5. Mine is higher. Plus, my buck weight has definitely corresponded. I also consider it defensive feeding. While I have not killed a deer in four years, I cant say that for the neighbors. The more time I can keep the deer on my place, the safer they are. Outbait thy neighbor if you want to save your deer. It works.

Illegal here too, in most of Wi.

Yes...but I've always mixed corn and soybeans or corn and pea splits together. I can't afford quality prote8n deer feed. My feeders are free choice...no timer spinners. I've got a lot of pics of turkeys standing in the covered troughs.

Ya'll are correct though about turkeys not using feeders as much from about mid-April and until the poults get a little size on them by late summer. Gobblers go where the hens go.

The doe is the one that will continue to come to the feeder....and it's a risk for her every time. Coyotes and bobcats lay in wait or can/will track her back to find the fawn(s).

Feeders are illegal everywhere in Wisconsin, aren't they? Even the few counties left where baiting/feeding is legal. Some forget its illegal to bait/feed this time of year unless it's by a home for viewing purposes. So all the mineral licks and salt blocks guys put out in the spring for antler growth, illegal.

At some point it would make more sense to turn some steers out. They taste better.

Savell, I'd pay to watch somebody cowboy enough to gather deer and doctor em. Seems like it would be a big waste of money though. Thick enough here to cause problems without all that mess.

Do deer get bangs?

I keep a feeder with corn going all year, occasionally thin the hogs when I get them patterned at a decent time.

I have an acre of I&C peas with some sunflowers mixed in planted for the deer

Savell must be used to cows or some other farm critter. Maybe he’s thinking of high fence breeding facilities?
I just help out the local deer population. Gives me another excuse to be outdoors and gives the deer a little something as well.

Jbyrd, read again. I use peanuts, not corn. And to be honest, the turkeys don’t show up anytime of the year. I guess if I was to ride the roads dumping it they’d eventually find it and eat some, but that doesn’t mean you could kill a turkey on it.

All supplemental feeding is, is giving the critters a little something more in their diet. Healthier deer makes for a better herd.

Swamp, it’s apparent we don’t have too much of a predator population with the amount of deer we have. In fact I’m curious if our deer population would actually decrease if I quit trapping and thermal hunting for a few years. If it wasn’t for the quail or turkeys, I’d probably try it just to see. We only thought we made a difference with the doe harvest. Go out at night and you realize just how many deer we actually have.

As far as the feed, I get peanuts for free through the work my younger son does. They’re either thrown away or he brings them to me. What I’ve noticed with peanuts is they come in and eat a little and move on. With corn they come in and spend hours until it’s gone. Using corn to bait in hogs will have deer eating a 50# bag a night. I’m guessing right now with all the natural vegetation they just don’t need a lot. When acorns drop a 50# bag of peanuts will last 2-3 weeks. Again, it’s just a little something to help them out if needed. With the rain we’re getting, we’re going to have plenty of natural vegetation full of protein because right now I’m only feeding once a week.

Simone mentioned plots. We have no need for plots. We’d end up harrowing up more nutritious natural vegetation than we could plant.