Right now I feed Antlermax and cottonseed from Jan - Sept in my protein pen. I throw corn/soybean mix in my feeders (separate from the protein pen) from Feb - Sept. I start using regular corn in my feeders in Sept.

Does anyone feed protein during deer season?

I know plenty who do, but they can also afford it.

We do the same, less cottonseed. I'll occasionally fill the protein feeder with a few bags to try and keep deer in the area but not let them have 24/7 access to free choice feed.

The last couple of years there hasn't been any benefit because the pasture conditions were so good.

We feed protein February to Labor Day.

Corn year-round.

We're in Mason County and feed protein pellets year-round because it seems as if we're able to hold more mature bucks on the property compared to the seasons where we'd run corn exclusively from Sept. through Dec.

Now with that said - our property is only 90 acres so I'm not exactly sure how that affects things. And we have two (2) corn feeders we hunt and one (1) centrally located protein feeder we do not hunt. Whatever the science, we've had great luck with this setup.



No experience with cottonseed or soybean. Sorry

Bought a Lamco timed protein feeder earlier this year, and plan to run it year round.

We feed protein year around..... however from November till about end of Feb. we feed 1/2 corn and 1/2 protein. Corn is 6% protein and carbs. Deer need carbs in cold months. Don't feed corn when it is hot.

Feeding protein later should keep them healthier to survive rut but really depends on availability of native browse and rain.

I have around 400 acres with two spin cast feeders i hunt, and one central protein feed pen I don't hunt. I want to keep the deer healthy, but I don't want the protein to keep the deer away from the corn feeders during the season.

The deer don't hit the cottonseed that hard on our place. I may keep feeding cottonseed during the season to give the deer a protein source, and maybe add some antlermax in post rut.

I'm not going to get into the science of it, frankly because I cannot explain it well enough nor do I truly understand it, but you need to be careful about feeding cottonseed too close to rut. Gossypol seems to have an impact on deer reproduction... I'd be careful about feeding it any later than now.

It has been our experience that even if you have a free choice protein feeder, deer will still frequent other spin cast feeders. Typically the free choice feeders have the dominant does and bucks frequent them. Deer will move from feeder to feeder unless there is an over abundance of natural browse, forbes, acorns, etc. Mature bucks very seldom spend much time at any of our feeders.....they come in.....check out the does.....maybe eat a little and move on.
We have cameras at all feeders and we have observed deer at a protein feeder and then 35-40 minutes later the same deer are at a spin cast feeder. The bucks are going to go check out where the girls are.......
Similarly we have a 15 acre field planted in oats, wheat and turnips. We have seen that field totally empty and yet have deer at our spin cast feeders.

Wise statement.

In summation, too much cottonseed makes the boys shoot blanks

ttha - that is a consideration. I've read a lot of information about cottonseed and the effect of gossypol on bucks. There are a number of studies on both sides of the fence. The overriding thoughts I've seen are your bucks have to be almost exclusively on a cottonseed diet to have any impact on their reproductive rates. However, it may be better to be safe than sorry.