Are your deer herds healthy?

[LDennis24]

I thought it would be fun and interesting to start a thread about supplemental feeding of your deer herds and food plot management or all around property management for supporting healthy deer and elk herds and also attracting the animals to your hunting property. So here it goes. What do you folks do to attract animals to your hunting area and have you been cognizant of the overall appearance of the animals in your herds and whether they look healthy, are they bony looking after winter, do they seem overly stressed, is it because of food or because of predators? Instead of typing out all the data I've gathered I'm just gonna post some screenshots and try to post PDFs of data gathered from studies from Missouri and deer farm management.

[LDennis24]

The first thing I wanted to mention was the need for healthy fawns to be born in order for the deer to have a chance at even reaching full potential.  According to studies if a doe in poor condition gives birth to a fawn that is also in poor condition that animal can take up to 3 yrs to catch back up to other fawns born that same year. As a result you will see more and more small bucks up into their 3rd year and beyond and wonder why your deer all have small antlers and never seem to get big. Aside from that one that suddenly shows up one year and appears to be a 4-5 year old stud and has a heavy rack and big body. He probably had a healthy mother and got the start in life he needed. I see this first hand with my Icelandic sheep and anyone who has spent time around livestock knows this to be true. So how do we go about ensuring that the does are having healthy fawns? What native plants can you put on your property that provide food during the winter months and into the spring to provide good nutrition?

[LDennis24]

I understand that some of these plants don't grow naturally where we are but if you were to plant them in our area some will do just fine and you will be attracting the deer to your ground because you have something unique and favorable to them.

[LDennis24]

One plant I cannot say enough about is Sainfoin. I know a few people in Eastern Washington that grow it for feed and also have alfalfa fields and they have told me that during the growing season the deer will go to the Sainfoin field first and then to the alfalfa only when they have to. Such as right after cutting and baling the Sainfoin. Otherwise they prefer the Sainfoin over the alfalfa. They are both legumes. However, Sainfoin has whats called tannins. In this context, tannins can modulate gut microbial composition and function, selectively inhibiting pathogens and promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria. The tannins in Sainfoin have been shown to be a natural wormer as well. This is huge in terms of animal health. It also has a natural non bloating property to it. Unlike alfalfa which can quickly kill an animal if they consume too much and are not used to having it on a regular basis. Whole grains will do the same thing.

[LDennis24]

A little more on plants that are more friendly to whitetail and alot of them would need to be planted as they do not occur naturally in most areas of the Pacific Northwest. Nut trees and fruit trees. What's known as mast. Mushrooms would be nice but that's alot harder to propagate for a deer to rat and not want to consume them yourself!  As fall approaches, whitetails must find and consume large quantities of carbohydrate-rich foods such as acorns, chestnuts, apples and pears. Nuts and mushrooms are high in phosphorus, which is needed to replace what is taken from a buck's flat bones (ribs and skull) for antler mineralization. Mineral links will help with this but not all minerals are created equal. Some products have minerals in them but not in a form that is readily usable by the body. Some require amino acids and other compounds to convert them in the body into usable forms.

[LDennis24]

What I think is most important here is the discussion about feeding deer and elk in the winter to help them out and the negative effects it has on them that people don't realize. If the animal is not used to consuming a product (sacked or pelleted grain feeds) or plant (alfalfa or a rich grass hay from outside the area) then it takes them a while to develope the right gut bacteria to break down those products and in doing that you are creating the possibility of killing the animal or causing them further stress when your intentions were to help them. If you slowly introduce feed like this in the late summer and continually feed it year around then you can do so without concerns. Most folks can't afford this. The solution would be to plant native forage for them to find and consume on their own. Every spring the local conservation district has a plant sale where you can buy seedlings for next to nothing and go out and plant them on your land. Protect them for the first few years and eventually you will have strong healthy plants that can withstand the constant pruning of ungulates feeding on them and you will have created a natural attractant on your hunting property

[nwwanderer]

Generally all good stuff, would need to rewrite/research for local conditions.  A great deal of WT research has been done but very little here.  All, BT, WT and MD, have their quirks, preferences and seasonal variations.  Specific plant foods vary a great deal even within WA.  Report what you see, keep it coming!!!

[hunter399]

I like to thank they are healthy,but who really knows.
Available forage is just that,whatever is available for given time of year.
Plants I guess is dependent on weather type conditions from year to year.
I would think drought years would cut into the forage,maybe fires,stuff like that.

[Rainier10]

My place is in mule deer country. I have been improving the habitat and supplementing feed for ten years now. I have planted 10,000 pine trees since the fire, sprayed hundreds of gallons of noxious weed killer. Planted orchard grass and winter wheat as ground cover immediately after the fire until the native grasses and plants could come back. It was amazing to see all the native plants and shrubs come back from just the root ball that was still underground after the fire.

I have selenium mineral blocks at 7 different locations.  I have developed year round water sources at four locations and plan to develop two more this year. I have a tube feeder that puts out wet cob, an electric spin feeder that puts out corn and two gravity feeders that have antlermax in them. I use antler max 22% late winter until late fall and 16% from late fall to late winter. The antlermax is super expensive to do year round but as said above you need to keep from making drastic changes to their diet. The antlermax is always available and they self regulate. Sometimes they hit it a lot and others not so much. This week I went through 50 pounds in one feeder and 300 pounds in another.

I also try to shoot predators when they are in season and when I see them. I wouldn’t say that I focus on predator hunting but I spend 2-3 weekends a month at my cabin so there is alot of opportunity to see predators.

I also regulate hunting on my property only taking a few deer a year. I let kids and seniors hunt and one special permit holder a year hunt.

I have definitely seen the deer numbers increase over the last ten years. Antler size has increased. I think antler size increase is probably a combination of good food, water, reduced hunting pressure and selective harvest of larger deer not just any deer. The biggest increase I have seen is in the number of twin fawns born and that survive through the winter.

One thing that I do that I really think helps is place all of my feeders and water sources in the open areas, not in thick brush or trees. I think this helps to not create an ambush point for predators. The deer can see anything coming and have 360 degrees worth of escape routes.

Speaking of escape routes I also have areas of cover not just for deer but for birds, squirrels and chipmunks. Small brush piles of downed tree limbs. This gives the smaller animals and birds a place to live and hide. They also benefit from my supplemental feeding. The number of birds, quail m, chukar, magpies, stellar jays, woodpeckers and tons of others has massively increased. Squirrels chipmunks, mice, voles, pack rats, marmots, skunks badgers too.  With all of the voles and mice I have also see the number of bull snakes and rattle snakes increase.  It really seems to be a balanced ecosystem but it takes a ton of work and money.

On average I go through a pallet of antlermax a month, 10-15 selenium blocks a year and 10 bags of cob a month, two gallons of weed killer concentrate a year and 1,000 pine seedlings a year so it gets pretty expensive.

I would say the easiest things everyone can do to improve the deer herds are selenium blocks, water, shoot predators and try to shoot older age class deer.

[Rainier10]

What is really tough to gauge is how many deer there are in an area. They can cover a few square miles pretty easy.  I have bucks that disappear during season and other bucks that just appear out of nowhere during season.

[hunter399]

What is really tough to gauge is how many deer there are in an area. They can cover a few square miles pretty easy.  I have bucks that disappear during season and other bucks that just appear out of nowhere during season.

I have similar experiences.
I may have one big buck that will only shows on cam a handful of times a year.
I just believe that my camera is not his core area.

How much is that antlermax a bag?


I also thought this artical was interesting.
Antler growth/overall herd health.
Like I was thinking, weather and climate play a role.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/story/hunting/the-keys-to-deer-antler-growth/

Someone like me that doesn't,or can't supplement all winter/public land hunter.
I'm pretty much dependent on weather providing available forage.
According to the article,easy winter,better shape coming out of winter,with a rainy spring.
Will help overall health,and antler growth.

[Rainier10]

I have chosen my land very carefully and bought land that held deer before I purchased. It’s also adjacent to DNR and NF increasing the amount of area and wildlife.

I think good land is where it all starts. You can improve poor land but it is always easier to start with an advantage.  There is land near me that deer utilize and pass through from time to time certain area of the DNR and national forest as well but most of the stuff that I have bought has deer and elk on it regularly.

Weather is the one thing I can’t control. Hard winters I’m sure my supplements help. Easy winters, not so much. Dry springs my supplants help, wet springs and good browse growth not so much. I don’t actually pray for dry or wet weather. Wet springs are great for antler growth but terrible for turkeys and other birds. The one thing I do pray for is no wildfires. I had a pretty good place before the fire. I lost it all and it was like the surface of the moon. When everything came back wildlife numbers skyrocketed. I do and will continue to work to reduce ground fuel on my property in an effort to prevent the disastrous wildfire we had.

Another thing about the land that I have bought I haven’t developed any of it. All around me development is happening, reducing the amount of good habitat concentrating animals onto my undeveloped land.

So there are a ton of factors out of my control and maybe those are why the deer numbers are good but there is no way I’m stopping what I’m doing just in case that is the difference maker.

[LDennis24]

There is a plant called winterfat. It will grow easily in mule deer areas and is long lived. It is a sagey looking plant that provides nutrition to all kinds of ungulates through the winter, literally where its name comes from. I'm sure you have seen it before in dryland and scabrock areas. It looks close to a few other plants also though. It gets cotton seed tufts on it is one way to tell.  It's not cheap to buy seed but you can get large plugs to plant and you can divide plugs to plant smaller bunches in areas as well.

https://www.naturesseed.com/winterfat/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_aGuBhACEiwAly57McpXyV33AEdPVA0vYMAZi_f3OC-fBOoZhJrlISG0gldzbwzklCUQohoCW68QAvD_BwE

https://plantsofthewild.com/product-category/shrubs-under-six-feet/winterfat/

[hunter399]

There is a plant called winterfat. It will grow easily in mule deer areas and is long lived. It is a sagey looking plant that provides nutrition to all kinds of ungulates through the winter, literally where its name comes from. I'm sure you have seen it before in dryland and scabrock areas. It looks close to a few other plants also though. It gets cotton seed tufts on it is one way to tell.  It's not cheap to buy seed but you can get large plugs to plant and you can divide plugs to plant smaller bunches in areas as well.

https://www.naturesseed.com/winterfat/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_aGuBhACEiwAly57McpXyV33AEdPVA0vYMAZi_f3OC-fBOoZhJrlISG0gldzbwzklCUQohoCW68QAvD_BwE

https://plantsofthewild.com/product-category/shrubs-under-six-feet/winterfat/

I have seen that plant somewhere,now you got me thinking on something I'll never remember.lol

[Rainier10]

There is a plant called winterfat. It will grow easily in mule deer areas and is long lived. It is a sagey looking plant that provides nutrition to all kinds of ungulates through the winter, literally where its name comes from. I'm sure you have seen it before in dryland and scabrock areas. It looks close to a few other plants also though. It gets cotton seed tufts on it is one way to tell.  It's not cheap to buy seed but you can get large plugs to plant and you can divide plugs to plant smaller bunches in areas as well.

https://www.naturesseed.com/winterfat/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_aGuBhACEiwAly57McpXyV33AEdPVA0vYMAZi_f3OC-fBOoZhJrlISG0gldzbwzklCUQohoCW68QAvD_BwE

https://plantsofthewild.com/product-category/shrubs-under-six-feet/winterfat/

plants of the wild is awesome. Thst is where I get all of my pine seedlings.