supplmentary deer feeding

[Guest david1976]

I was thinking of setting up some sort of supplementary deer feeding station in one of the rides on my forestry block.

 

1. This will let me see what deer are about when the snow sets in and they are hungry and

2. It will help my culling

 

Has or does anyone have any experience of this and if so how do you do it?

 

I was thinking of getting a wooden fence post with a salt lick attached with a feeder close by containing sugar beet and barley.

[on-point 0]

sounds a good plan,

 

after the rut when the bucks near us had got shy and quite happy to stay in their own little thorn bush and not come out i started a bit of feeding. a friend had a load of wheat that had chitted and gone black and then got wet in storage and so there was about four tonnes he couldn't sell. i left mounds of this out on rough grasses, beside woods and likely spots - they picked up the habbit and then in september when the first cold snap came in the deer were lingering a bit longer on a morning feeding on the corn. got some good result from that.

 

good friend of mine swears by mushing up bucket loads of fallen apples and leaving those out on the up wind side of covert....says they pour out to them.

 

the salt licks and the sheep high energy licks are said to work although i can't say i have used them.

 

good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

op

[SNAP SHOT 194]

Anybody else stalk the area who may take advantage of your feeding.....thats the only downfall........poachers etc......if your the only holder of the permission WHAT you waiting for.........

[sorel-2007 0]

Hi, I often put out salt licks. We don't have reds down here. Roe Fallow and Munties. Tend to attract the Roe more than the others. Not tried putting out feeders for the wild deer but I do cull a deer park. They have a shoot in hear and the deer often have the feeders over though. So some form of corn feeder should do the trick.

Best of luck.

 

Paul

[NID 0]

Hi David,have put out salt licks on the hill near the A9 motorway.

There was quite a problem in winter after the gritters going by,the reds would come down of the hill and on to the A9 to get the salt from the gritters,a major accident waiting to happen.

Found the salt-licks kept them up on the hill,atb NID.

[Guest david1976]

Anybody else stalk the area who may take advantage of your feeding.....thats the only downfall........poachers etc......if your the only holder of the permission WHAT you waiting for.........

 

It's just me that has the shooting rights here however i am aware of poachers in the area so plan to put the stations deep in the forestry rather than more easy to access places. I'll put one in next week when i go up and see how it goes, if it works i'll set a few more up.

[sauer 2]

hi david

 

we have a couple o pheasant feeders in the area of our deer and they use it a bit...we dont mind as it gives em a wee bit extra we also tried using "saltz paste" i think it was called just scraped saome on to head height branches etc

 

and they seemed to go for it !!! we got our hands ona couple o salt blocks as well that year and again worked well.

 

mother n laws garden has trees galore ...apples etc end up with a few binliners worth i always take and throw out too.

 

my brother found one of these farm shops where you just help yersel then put the money in the trust box...local one does lower grade carrots for couple o pund for a huge bag for horses....we sometimes go in by and buy a couple bags too..

 

just odds n sods and not to a strict timetable but we put a bit out here n there and they seem to go for it all

 

 

sauer

[Jim Grant 4]

Sauer didn't think you Aberdonians paid a penny for wild meat.

 

We usually put out a couple of round bales of hay right up at the top of the Forestry. Those of us who like a bit of Venison and are prepared to do a bit for it usually put out and maintain a couple of those big buckets of Beet pulp and Winnings. They are at the hay more than the buckets. That's Roes.

 

Not short of a decent Buck or two. We try not to shoot the Does. Too many poachers in this neck of the woods. Need to keep the breeding stock around.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

Most highland stalkers employed on large estates will put out some feed for the stags through the winter, its usually only the stags that come down for it as its not stag season and they know it! Hinds are usually keeping well out of the way during winter, sticking to the high ground.

 

Some make deer lawns, and park land for good grazing, some also put out hay(usually made from the parks during summer) some will put out potatoes, beet etc.. and other estates - like where I used to work - will just provide mineral blocks, we used rumevite blocks.

 

The idea is that because the feeding on the hill is so poor with the high densities of deer, and the stags are in poor nick after the rut, the added feed will get them back to weight quicker, and also promote healthier antler growth the following year. And doing so will ensure you keep your herds in good condition.

 

In other situations blocks or paste etc, can be used as an attractant, and in winter they certainly do attract them, I would steer clear of the over priced gimmics, just get a couple of 25kg rumevite blocks, these arnt expensive and will do the job better.

 

Just some of my experiences and opinions, take'em or leave'em! Whatever you do, good luck, and watch out for those poachers!

 

DnN

[sauer 2]

Sauer didn't think you Aberdonians paid a penny for wild meat.

 

We usually put out a couple of round bales of hay right up at the top of the Forestry. Those of us who like a bit of Venison and are prepared to do a bit for it usually put out and maintain a couple of those big buckets of Beet pulp and Winnings. They are at the hay more than the buckets. That's Roes.

 

Not short of a decent Buck or two. We try not to shoot the Does. Too many poachers in this neck of the woods. Need to keep the breeding stock around.

 

 

ABERDONAIN!!!?!?!!?!?!!!!!

 

Please!!!!!!! i am not aberdonian and i thought you knew that Jim!

 

im a berry picker and proud o it!!!!!!!!!!!

Angus rocks!!!

 

hehehehehehe

 

Sauer