By: Heath Wood
For years, the only type of feeding I attempted was pouring a few bags of whole corn throughout the summer months.
Yet over the past ten years, I have learned that there is much more to supplemental feeding whitetail deer than pouring the occasional bag of corn onto the ground. I have grown a passion for the entire process of summer activities that can improve the outcome of the fall hunting season. A few years ago, I put up my first Boss Buck feeder on the edge of an overgrown field. After filling the feeder with two-hundred pounds of high-quality deer feed, I placed my Stealth Cam Fusion Cellular camera a few feet away to capture what came to visit the extra supply of food. It did not take long before I received notifications of several deer visiting the feeder site. Soon after, bachelor groups of bucks begin to become regular visitors. Throughout the rest of the summer, I became obsessed with checking and filling the feeders and anxiously waiting to see what bucks appeared.
Summer feeders have become a bonding experience in recent years, with my wife and son regularly tagging along to help care for our deer herd. Their enjoyment has ignited my passion for the summer off-season regimens even more. Even though feeding wildlife is enjoyable, it is also very beneficial to the health of the deer herd and increases the potential for bigger bucks during the fall. Maximizing the effectiveness of feeding is not as simple as putting up a feeder in the middle of a field and watching deer run to the food. Strategically placing feeders, filling them with the best quality nutrition, and letting deer receive the full benefits over an extended period, is essential in the amount of success and fun a feeder can bring.
What To Feed
As mentioned earlier, the sole focus of my summer game cameras used to only consist of pouring out bags of whole corn onto the bare ground. For many hunters, when mentioning feeding deer, they too think only of feeding corn.
In the summer, deer need extra nutrition to help does raise quality fawns and for bucks to soak up nutrients that can increase the growth of their antlers. Whole corn is easy to find and inexpensive. However, corn is only filled with primarily carbohydrates, which deer need in the winter. During the summer, deer need an extra boost in supplemental protein. Filling feeders with an abundance of high-protein feed benefits them in healthier ways, such as easier digestion.
To help attract even more deer, adding a nearby mineral site close to summer feeders can also help them intake the needed nutrients that they crave during the hot summer. When choosing minerals, find one that isn’t solely salt based. Instead, combine the great-tasting salt with an array of calcium and phosphorus, which does need to improve their milk supply, resulting in healthier fawns and helping bucks increase their antler growth.
Feeder Location
It always amazes me how many more pictures I receive from my Stealth Cam cellular cameras when strategically placing my Boss Buck feeders. There are not only additional pictures of deer but also more mature bucks who show themselves.
I recall one specific feeding site on our hunting property in southern Missouri, where the feeder location dramatically differed in the quality of bucks. After having the Boss Buck 200 lb Gravity Fed Feeder set up near the middle of the field for several weeks, I moved it towards the edge of the timber in the shadows of several oak trees that stood amid the tall grasses. To provide seclusion, the feeder sits in the tall oaks, which also sit at the bottom of a sloping hill. When pulling a vehicle into the field, the feeder could not be seen due to the angle of the hill. The tall grass, shadows, and the canopy of tall oak trees, along with the sloping hill, kept deer sheltered enough to feel at ease, allowing the more mature bucks to come out of hiding to grab a few bites to eat.
To help deer feel safe while still being able to consume the needed nutrition from supplemental feeds, place feeders close to thicker timber or in secluded locations, as with my setup. When feeders are in the wide open, deer become more alert and will likely not return as much as they need to.
Another excellent location for feeders is near water sources. When deer feed for several minutes and lick a few minerals, their next stop will be water. When a deer knows a water source is nearby, it will consume more food and minerals at once.
How Long To Use Feeders
I wish I could keep my feeders going throughout the entire year. Unfortunately, my home state’s game laws allow supplemental feeding only during non-hunting months.
As for when deer need it the most, bucks need a boost of nutrition in late fall and winter to rebuild their strength from the rut and help prepare their bodies for the cold, harsh winter. In the spring, bucks need nutrition to help kick start their antler growth, while does need an increase to help prepare them for delivering and raising their fawns. Throughout the summer, does continue to need the extra enhancement to help raise fawns, and bucks need protein foods and minerals to help antler growth reach its maximum potential. It is easy to see that deer need help with additional food and added nutrition throughout the year. However, summer still seems to be the season of choice for many hunters, being the popular pick because deer need the nutritional help, yet having deer stop in one specific location on a routine basis, is the perfect set up to keep the Stealth Cam cellular cameras in place. Which, in turn, helps gather scouting data for the upcoming hunting seasons.
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