What do deer like to eat??
 

I wanna start to feed the deer during the fall/winter months. I built 2 feeders, one gravity fed hanging feeder and one gravity fed ground feeder. I was wonderin, what should I feed them deer so they stay healty? I have corn and oats, what should I get besides them?? I have a tractor supply store, would they have anything?? Dont worry, Im not goin to shoot them at the feeder, I just wanna get them on the property and give them a little more food for the long winter.

There's some interesting info here http://www.anr.state.vt.us/reflect/jan11.html

I know in the spring they love cherry tree leaves - %$^@*s stripped 4 trees down to sticks.

1) Hay
2) Berries
3) Apples

Just plant a nice garden, some nice trees, some expensive fruit trees.....

They also like acorns and clover. Your corn is as good as anything.

look into the tekamante(pardon the what i am sure is a misspelling(that word might also be)) seed.it is a mixture of different plants that deer love.remember,more protein=bigger racks(obviously there are many other factors,but thats a general rule)

Usually a bad idea to feed deer. When they consistantly feed in the same small area, they are prone to becoming diseased, since animals tend to relieve themselves (number 1 and 2) while feeding.
Once they come to depend on feed being there, you can really throw off the surrounding eco system. Or if you someday stop, they will be in danger of starving in the winter.
my 2 cents

Throw a couple of mineral blocks(salt/molasses) out there as well ;)

Hey- that's what I did and I have grown to hate them furry varmits.

Can't wait for hunting season again.

On base here at Bangor they have a real problem with the deer and mange.
they have to feed them with medicine in the food because of overpopulation.
they have it too easy here.
but for what it's worth they LOVE cookies!! i had one reach into my car when i was camping and snitch a few.
was pretty funny, except i wanted those cookies :p

bremerton6

Do they like Garlic??? cause that would save me a whole lotta time before I cook them LOL :-X21

Deer love sugar beets,carrots,corn,apples and pumpkins.These all make great bait if this is your intention.But as Killerclown mentioned this is not the best way to help the herd.The best thing you can do is plant a field of rye,winter wheat,or one of the specialty grasses that have been developed to regenerate themselves year after year.Some are designed to promote antler growth,some to just help create a more nutritious food for the herd in general.The main thing is,you want your feed dispursed over a larger area than a drop feeder is capable of.Here in Michigan because of lime disease they have banned all drop feeders to prevent nose to nose contact.

I don't know about oats but corn isn't good for them. They can't digest it right. The Pa. Game Commission found deer that starved to death with a full belly of corn it got from turkey feeders. Acorns are a favorite natural food and they really like apples. They will eat anything you plant in a garden, beans, peppers, tomatoes, carrot tops, etc. but from the sounds of your situation I would cut open some bales of alfalfa hay and supplament their natural diet with that. I've seen them eating it in the cut fields...

they starved because they didn't chew the corn to crack it, ate a bunch of it, and probably got plugged up to the point nothing went out, nothing got absorbed, and there was no room for anything else to go in. It's fine to feed corn, it just should be cracked first, or ground.i would just put out some mineral licks, though. They do become pests when fed.