How to Feed White-Tailed Deer

If you have a herd of white-tailed deer, there are ways to help improve their diet and health. Doing so can increase their size, sustain the herd's population and offer nutrition during the winter. Caution must be used because deer can over-populate, and damage to the habitat can occur. Make sure to introduce a feed that is nutritionally based.

Things You'll Need

  • Corn
  • Commercial pellet feed with 16 to 20 percent protein
  • Feeders
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Instructions

    • 1

      Buy a feeder at a hunting supply store. This is a large metal cylinder that dispenses food and is either suspended from a tree or rests on a tripod. Put the feeder where you want to feed the herd of white-tailed deer.

    • 2

      Mix high-protein commercial pellet feed and corn and place it in the feeder. The mix should be 75 percent pellets to 25 percent corn. You can buy the pellets at a hunting supply store.

    • 3

      Remove the corn from the mix over time. The corn is only meant to attract the deer to the feeder initially. In the long term, corn isn't the best food for a white-tailed deer's digestive tract.

    • 4

      Keep the feeder full for the deer year-round. The herd's needs will change during different seasons. You many need to refill the feeder more frequently during some months.