The Importance Of Winter Feeding
Written by Keith Warren, Host of The High Road
I’m often asked, “when is the most important time of year to feed deer” and the answer may surprise lots of hunters. The reason is that most hunters can easily see the benefits from feeding deer from early spring through the end of the summer as they watch the bucks develop their antlers. This time of year is important for deer to have good nutrition and there’s no doubt about that. But it’s been determined time and time again that the most important time to feed deer is the winter.
Wintertime is critical because that is when mother nature is normally cruel to deer. Depending upon where deer live, they must survive through drought, extreme cold temperature and more. During this time of year, the nutritional intake of whitetail deer is challenged as they have to find groceries to make it through the most difficult time of year.
Many deer hunters feed during the fall in order to hunt them. But after the deer season is over, they stop feeding. Some hunters don’t realize that is it after the deer season that the deer need feed the most. A mature buck needs to eat anywhere between four to six pounds a day of the right food source in order to prevent him from becoming nutritionally stressed.
The rut is a time that most bucks loose interest in eating as they chase, fight and breed does. Many mature bucks will simply run themselves ragged which after the rut leaves them in poor shape.
Imagine trying to find four to six pounds of deer food yourself during the dead of the winter. It would be a challenge no matter where you hunt. It’s for that reason I suggest choosing a high-quality deer feed before the dead of the winter and get it out for them. Remember to make sure to check our local regulations regarding feeding and or baiting deer.
I think most hunters would be shocked to see how many bucks they attract to this post deer season food source and it gives them a higher degree of optimism when it comes to hunting the next season. These deer will be in better shape body wise and their antler will show improvement in size as well.
Feeding deer is a yearlong proposition for most deer managers and we know that when you pour the feed to them during the dead of the winter, and keep feeding them into the spring and summer, you establish a place that the deer want to call home. Therefore, making it a better place to deer hunt the following fall.
