Having the right mix of minerals and nutritious food is critical to a successful winter feeding program. Because of this, my shed looks like a feed store this time of year.

You’ve seen the articles. The general theme is, feeding deer in the winter is not recommended. Before I dissect this general notion, I think it’s important to point out why most of what you read simply recommends not feeding deer during the winter months. Think about it. It’s a lot easier to simply say “do not feed the deer,” than it is to explain to everyone who wants to feed deer why it’s likely to end up a bad decision, no matter how good the intentions are.

It’s true that deer naturally adjust to the limited amount of food available during the winter months. They travel less and use much less energy, and they eat less. They rely on their fat reserves from heavy feeding in the fall, as well as the small amount of food they can find over the winter, to get them through. If they are suddenly introduced to a large amount of food after letting their bodies adjust to lean times, the outcome can be catastrophic.

Here is the typical example of what deer managers are trying to guard against. Bob decides he wants to start feeding deer around his place during the winter because he remembers how thin and sorry they looked last year. Starting in January, he forms a big pile of corn where he hunts. He does a good job of keeping it replenished for the first week or so, but is too busy to keep up with it. Suddenly in late February he decides he has the time to reestablish the pile, and does so. When he comes back a week later to replenish the pile, he is shocked to find several dead deer in the area, most of which are fawns. What could have gone wrong?

There are several problems with this scenario. First, feeding straight corn does very little in the way of providing nutrition to a deer. It’s a lot more like candy than it is a healthy meal. It’s essentially an empty promise to a deer’s stomach. Secondly, when Bob quit feeding the deer in mid January, things may have turned out okay as the deer would have transitioned into their winter slowdown. When he returned in February after having not fed the deer the previous few weeks, he might as well have showed up with his gun. The deer, now very hungry, returned to the pile and gorged themselves, with several falling victim to an extremely acidic condition in their stomachs, which were mostly empty. Young deer in particular are susceptible to this. To avoid the above scenario, most wildlife agencies suggest not feeding deer at all, and some have even banned it altogether.

If you make the decision to provide supplemental food to deer over the winter months, you must understand that it’s a commitment that you can’t back out of. You must provide the right kind of food at the right intervals. Otherwise, you’re doing more harm than good. For this reason, I recommend using only time-released electric feeders that can be programed to only put out small amounts of feed at various times throughout the day. For example, my feeders are set to disperse food at midnight, 6:30 a.m., and 5:00 p.m. When they are triggered, they run for 12 seconds, and disperse a relatively small amount of food. I make sure they are filled weekly, and with the right mix of food.

My mix currently consists of about 30% shelled corn, 60% Imperial Whitetail Results deer food (formulated just for deer with a high nutrient value), and 10% or less of Bighorn Deer Mineral. Each feeder released about a five-gallon bucket’s worth of food over a week’s time, so you can see that I am in no danger of harming the deer. The small amount of food that they do get is nutritious, and it can indeed keep them a bit stronger throughout the winter months resulting in a healthier deer entering spring. Ultimately, this can lead to healthier fawns and bigger antlers.

I urge you to not attempt to feed deer if you don’t have the right equipment, or you can’t be fully committed to the program. The worst thing you can do is provide a “trough” or similar-type feeding device full of corn. This is the worst thing you can do, and it’s irresponsible. I am always willing to talk with anyone who would like to learn more about winter feeding, and can help devise a feeding plan that can work for you, and most-importantly, the deer.