Did anyone watch the presentation? What are your thoughts?
I found it informative that it does no good to feed the deer
I found it informative that it does no good to feed the deer
Winter Wildlife Impacts Discussion
- Thread starter Yell Co AR Hunter
- Start date
hoshour
Veteran member
There is a like off their web site, but youtube has it and you can stop and start. Hope this works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENWEHGcf1JY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENWEHGcf1JY
JM77
Member
Would love to see a biologist's reasoning on feeding deer. Do you have an links hoshour?
It is the guy in the red shirt He starts about 13:20.
He states it is not only bad but kills a lot of deer.
He states it is not only bad but kills a lot of deer.
They guy in the red shirt makes sense to me.
In my area everyone has been feeding whitetails for years. It backfired hard a few years ago when EHD hit during the drought. All the deer congregated to remaining water sources and deer feeders, it spread rapidly and the deer quality still hasn't recovered. I found 9 bucks in the 140-160" range dead in or near water sources during that stretch while checking cattle and fence horseback. The EHD causes a terrible fever that causes the deer to hit water sources. I'm not a real big fan of deer feeding but once all the neighbors start doing it there is little option if you want to keep hunting deer.
I know the reasoning is different with the supplemental feeding idea for harsh winters on muleys. The sudden change in diet can have negative side affects in addition to the possibility of spreading disease. I won't say it's a bad idea 100% of the time but I would make it the last option. I think reduced tags and more predator control would be where I'd start trying to help herds rebuild. I'm no expert, just throwing out ideas. I love to hunt Wyoming and have been going there for years I want to see the herds rebound.
I know with cattle we try to switch them to a different feed over time. When we wean calves we don't just take them from grass to corn silage for example, the microbes in their stomachs don't adjust instantly. We feed native grass hay, hay identical to the grass they were on, with gradually increasing grain and silage amounts as they adjust. With deer I don't know how you control the amount of what they eat. Also the dominant animals will get to much, run the more timid animals off. Predators will love the concentrated animals also.
I'm not wanting to see any more deer winterkill than absolutely necessary, but not sure what the answer really is.
In my area everyone has been feeding whitetails for years. It backfired hard a few years ago when EHD hit during the drought. All the deer congregated to remaining water sources and deer feeders, it spread rapidly and the deer quality still hasn't recovered. I found 9 bucks in the 140-160" range dead in or near water sources during that stretch while checking cattle and fence horseback. The EHD causes a terrible fever that causes the deer to hit water sources. I'm not a real big fan of deer feeding but once all the neighbors start doing it there is little option if you want to keep hunting deer.
I know the reasoning is different with the supplemental feeding idea for harsh winters on muleys. The sudden change in diet can have negative side affects in addition to the possibility of spreading disease. I won't say it's a bad idea 100% of the time but I would make it the last option. I think reduced tags and more predator control would be where I'd start trying to help herds rebuild. I'm no expert, just throwing out ideas. I love to hunt Wyoming and have been going there for years I want to see the herds rebound.
I know with cattle we try to switch them to a different feed over time. When we wean calves we don't just take them from grass to corn silage for example, the microbes in their stomachs don't adjust instantly. We feed native grass hay, hay identical to the grass they were on, with gradually increasing grain and silage amounts as they adjust. With deer I don't know how you control the amount of what they eat. Also the dominant animals will get to much, run the more timid animals off. Predators will love the concentrated animals also.
I'm not wanting to see any more deer winterkill than absolutely necessary, but not sure what the answer really is.