Alpine Deer Feeder

[hparrott]

I’ve read a few old posts on deer feeder suggestions. I have a nice buck on camera that I would like to try to get to stick around. Last year after he lost interest in the mineral lick and then he was gone until spring.

I don’t want to use corn or a cob mix with molasses to avoid brining in bears, do bears go for oats or barley or alfalfa pellets? Also, in the surrounding area none of these foods are an available food source to the deer being in the alpine, is there one that may be preferred over another in this case? Thank you

.....Also, should add that the feed will only be used until mid September as I know they can have issues with acidosis and after the end of September the area won’t be accessible anyway

[Bernie O]

To supplement deer or any game animal's food during tough times is a good idea.
To condition animals to stay in one place in my opinion removes fair chase from the situation. It may be legal but is it moral?

[hparrott]

To supplement deer or any game animal's food during tough times is a good idea.
To condition animals to stay in one place in my opinion removes fair chase from the situation. It may be legal but is it moral?

I support all legal hunting methods. You can disagree but there are enough anti-hunters in this province that having hunters against hunters, particularly in this forum, just adds to their cause. Save your breath and scroll on. There is a bit of irony in your criticism of this method of hunting and your post on conserving wildlife. ....I don’t like it so let’s ban it. You don’t like this....therefore it is morally wrong.

In my opinion, whether you set up a tree stand and hunt white tails by a corn field or natural food plot, it is no different than putting the food there. This is a common method of hunting. If you draw a line for supplemental feed, what else is morally wrong? I am comfortable with this choice.

Re: ways to consearve wildlife and still enjoy the hunt so we dont wipe it all out. (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?152826-ways-to-consearve-wildlife-and-still-enjoy-the-hunt-so-we-dont-wipe-it-all-out&p=2100788#post2100788)
Some of you guys sound like liberals. I dont like it[or cant use it] so lets ban it.

[blindcast]

Good point. Regulations outline the framework of what we can legally do. The code of ethics define what we morally do and who we are. Thanks for that.

[Jack Russell]

Lets leave the ethics and morals behind, lets just follow government legislation.

No irony there.

[Scotty76]

https://westernforestry.org/WoodlandFishAndWildlife/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Deer-2014-v5.pdf


this has a ton of good information.

[monasheemountainman]

bears love oats, if you put oats down, you will have bears

[hparrott]

https://westernforestry.org/WoodlandFishAndWildlife/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Deer-2014-v5.pdf


this has a ton of good information.

awesome thank you

[hparrott]

bears love oats, if you put oats down, you will have bears

Ok....no oats. Thank you.

[wrenchhead]

Bears will beat the crap out of it no matter the what supplement food you put in it that time of the year....and from what iv seen, deer hit salt hard until the end of August when they are done growing head gear.

[LBM]

Bears will eat pretty much anything, putting out a food source is habituating them. May not bother you but maybe the next
person in the area un knowingly setting up a camp in the area of your bait it may affect.

[New Bow Hunter]

Do a loose mineral mix, till it into the soil. The deer will use it all year long.

[hparrott]

Bears will beat the crap out of it no matter the what supplement food you put in it that time of the year....and from what iv seen, deer hit salt hard until the end of August when they are done growing head gear.

Yes....that is what happened last year. The buck hit the salt he’d and then poof, he was gone. Since he came back to the same salt lick I’m hoping to keep him around another month

[hparrott]

Bears will eat pretty much anything, putting out a food source is habituating them. May not bother you but maybe the next
person in the area un knowingly setting up a camp in the area of your bait it may affect.

I don’t think feeding in the middle of nowhere from the start of August till the end of September will habituate a bear in the long term but that is exactly what I’d like to try to avoid.

[HighCountryBC]

I don’t think feeding in the middle of nowhere from the start of August till the end of September will habituate a bear in the long term but that is exactly what I’d like to try to avoid.

Habituation likely isn't an issue but a bear will clean up any sort of supplemental food source you drop in short order at this time of year.

[hparrott]

Habituation likely isn't an issue but a bear will clean up any sort of supplemental food source you drop in short order at this time of year.

Ok. Maybe synthetic scents? You can't use real deer urine anymore but it isn't the rut either. There are a lot of successful methods of using attractants and there must be a method of doing so without increasing the likelihood of an encounter with a grizz.

[Bernie O]

I certainly dont see the word ban in my post, Or , I dont like it so you can't do it. That may be your interpretation of it .I personally compare it to baiting wich in my mind is not fair chase and your opinion is obviously different. I wish you straight shooting because it appears to me that luck and skill have been removed,

[twoSevenO]

Alpine.... as in you wanna haul up feed into the alpine? Wtf? How big is this buck? Because that sounds like waaaaay too much effort.

[hparrott]

Alpine.... as in you wanna haul up feed into the alpine? Wtf? How big is this buck? Because that sounds like waaaaay too much effort.

It's a long strenuous hike in and I purely enjoy the adventure. Been hiking in a few hours each way just to scout and check my cameras about every week and a half since late spring. Taking a heavier pack along the way wont kill me and if anything will just get me fitter for the pack out.

[HighCountryBC]

Because that sounds like waaaaay too much effort.

That's the kind of attitude that keeps guys from killing hammers.

[HighCountryBC]

It's a long strenuous hike in and I purely enjoy the adventure. Been hiking in a few hours each way just to scout and check my cameras about every week and a half since late spring. Taking a heavier pack along the way wont kill me and if anything will just get me fitter for the pack out.

Great attitude. Keep at it and you will figure out what your buck does. Chances are he isn’t far away from his summer hangout.

[hparrott]

I certainly dont see the word ban in my post, Or , I dont like it so you can't do it. That may be your interpretation of it .I personally compare it to baiting wich in my mind is not fair chase and your opinion is obviously different. I wish you straight shooting because it appears to me that luck and skill have been removed,

Each to their own. I wont jump all over you for your opinion, although I don't agree with questioning my morals. There are all kinds of posts about using attractants on this forum. This has kinda killed the purpose of my post and any hope in trying to learn on this anyways. It has been a heck of a lot of work scouting with boots to the ground in the alpine. Finding and following a particular buck and setting my sights on it does take skill. It's a choice to try and connect with a particular deer and it isn't easy by any means. I spent 8 days in the alpine last fall and didn't come back with a deer or elk. After finding him and then establishing a mineral site and trying to get him to stick around has been timely and tiring. I used some scent sticks last year that didn't really help and throwing something else down to merely try to increase my chances of him making a mistake doesn't make any of this easy. Aside from the huge amount of preseason work that goes into keeping my eyes on this buck, when September rolls around it will be no different than situating yourself near an alfalfa field for deer or a farmer's field for elk and hoping he passes by that evening. Hunting is very much about right place and right time, but I think working hard to increase your odds of crossing paths takes more skill and time than just good luck and certainly doesn't make me question my morals.

[hparrott]

Great attitude. Keep at it and you will figure out what your buck does. Chances are he isn’t far away from his summer hangout.

Thank you....and if not this year he will just be that much bigger next year :)

[HighCountryBC]

Thank you....and if not this year he will just be that much bigger next year :)

He has likely just adjusted his day to day routine. Good chance he has only dropped a little elevation and is spending time in the timber where the frost hasn’t killed off his preferred food source.

The alpine is pretty but spending time glassing below tree line is usually productive at that time of year.

[twoSevenO]

That's the kind of attitude that keeps guys from killing hammers.

Hence asking how big the target buck is ..... but I see you only quote what you want to hear not what's there.

Roll eyes.

[dinsdale]

Regarding your original query....I can say that black bears around my place absolutely loved the alfalfa pellets I thought I had secured in a bin for my domestic animals a few years ago.

[twoSevenO]

Regarding your original query....I can say that black bears around my place absolutely loved the alfalfa pellets I thought I had secured in a bin for my domestic animals a few years ago.

Proguide66 hiked up an entire bale of alfalfa into his blacktail spot and the results were a waste of effort. The deer simply did not care for it at all.

I hiked up some apples on a salt lick I set up last year. Blacktails also did not care for them. Gave them a quick sniff and went back to the salt. Birds packed at them some and then a bear found them and ate them a week later.

Again, BTs not mulies.

[russm86]

I’ve read a few old posts on deer feeder suggestions. I have a nice buck on camera that I would like to try to get to stick around. Last year after he lost interest in the mineral lick and then he was gone until spring.

I don’t want to use corn or a cob mix with molasses to avoid brining in bears, do bears go for oats or barley or alfalfa pellets? Also, in the surrounding area none of these foods are an available food source to the deer being in the alpine, is there one that may be preferred over another in this case? Thank you

.....Also, should add that the feed will only be used until mid September as I know they can have issues with acidosis and after the end of September the area won’t be accessible anyway

All I can say is good luck. I ran several bait sites on a chunk of private property for the last 3 full years. I tried everything, alph-alpha, COB, beets, corn, you name it. Mid September came along and none of the deer stuck around, they all disappeared for 2 or 3 months. Happened every year. Some came back very end of hunting season but were all nocturnal and the rest returned mid-winter. The other stands with just mineral blocks did just as well and didn't have the fricken crows in all the time. This was all on private land that should have had very little if any hunting pressure. I also found that specific individuals only showed up on the same 1 or 2 stands and none of the others, even when I stopped baiting one or the other and the stations aren't very far apart. This tells me the deer don't go out of their way or change up their travelling routes for it.

In short, my experience is the deer won't go out of their way or change their routes or seasonal habits for bait/feed. Basically, if it happens to be in the middle of the trail they use they will stop and eat it if they are hungry, otherwise they don't go looking for it. I have stopped buying all the different feeds and run just the mineral blocks now, cheaper and last a lot longer, and I've seen no difference, otherwise not worth the time and effort, if you are on a used trail they will come, if you're not, they won't.

[Linksman313]

That's the kind of attitude that keeps guys from killing hammers.


HCBC - attitude for altitude lol but sshhh don't let the secret out

[Ourea]

To supplement deer or any game animal's food during tough times is a good idea.
To condition animals to stay in one place in my opinion removes fair chase from the situation. It may be legal but is it moral?

And hunting, yr round, even at night, taking whatever species or sex at will is the other side of the coin.

Let's not worry about the legal or moral issues as this scenario is cultural and is ceremonially justified despite negative impacts on breeding parts of the population.

Best pinch your barbs when fishing beside river gill nets that are compromising endangered salmon runs.

Fair chase and conservation......that is being removed at an alarming rate.
Here we are talking about when and what and how long to use a legal tactic to put your annual game meat in the freezer when someone else drives up in January at night and takes a disproportionate amount of game that negatively impacts overall populations.

Something to think about.....

[hparrott]

All I can say is good luck. I ran several bait sites on a chunk of private property for the last 3 full years. I tried everything, alph-alpha, COB, beets, corn, you name it. Mid September came along and none of the deer stuck around, they all disappeared for 2 or 3 months. Happened every year. Some came back very end of hunting season but were all nocturnal and the rest returned mid-winter. The other stands with just mineral blocks did just as well and didn't have the fricken crows in all the time. This was all on private land that should have had very little if any hunting pressure. I also found that specific individuals only showed up on the same 1 or 2 stands and none of the others, even when I stopped baiting one or the other and the stations aren't very far apart. This tells me the deer don't go out of their way or change up their travelling routes for it.

In short, my experience is the deer won't go out of their way or change their routes or seasonal habits for bait/feed. Basically, if it happens to be in the middle of the trail they use they will stop and eat it if they are hungry, otherwise they don't go looking for it. I have stopped buying all the different feeds and run just the mineral blocks now, cheaper and last a lot longer, and I've seen no difference, otherwise not worth the time and effort, if you are on a used trail they will come, if you're not, they won't.

It sounds like your experience has been the same as mine with the minerals. I still haven't figured out yet what I will try this year, but I'll give it a shot. After what I have read so far though, I do suspect they may move on as per norm.....if they stuck around for even a few days past the 10th though it sure would be nice. If not I will have to try to figure out his route as he moves down for the winter

[Foxton Gundogs]

Most feed grains will not only attract bears but will also start invasive plants in the alpine, feed grain will grow.

[Ourea]

Most feed grains will not only attract bears but will also start invasive plants in the alpine, feed grain will grow.

And if cattle are around they will mow it to oblivion.
Simple fact.....place a bit of food down critters will eat it.

Heaven forbid you legally cultivate a 40 acre ranch in the back country, grow some hay that produces 3 cuts a yr and wildlife lives off it 9 months of the yr.
Thats a completely different story.

[HighCountryBC]

Hence asking how big the target buck is ..... but I see you only quote what you want to hear not what's there.

Roll eyes.

Size of the buck is irrelevant to anyone but the OP. He's got the drive to go the extra mile in pursuit of a target buck. Guys like that eventually put it together and find the success they're after.

Most guys think a 170" buck is huge while some don't even blink at a deer like that.

Rolls eyes.

[barongan]

Tagged, this seems like a very interesting threadhttp://juragan.club/assets/13/o.png

[hparrott]

Size of the buck is irrelevant to anyone but the OP. He's got the drive to go the extra mile in pursuit of a target buck. Guys like that eventually put it together and find the success they're after.

Most guys think a 170" buck is huge while some don't even blink at a deer like that.

Rolls eyes.

Gal but zero offence taken. Hiked nearly 8 hours day......no buck in sight. He continues to roll in at night still for the mineral lick that still remains. I hope you are right and that it eventually does come together and I appreciate the compliment.

[Ourea]

Gal but zero offence taken. Hiked nearly 8 hours day......no buck in sight. He continues to roll in at night still for the mineral lick that still remains. I hope you are right and that it eventually does come together and I appreciate the compliment.

Do not underestimate how far animals travel in the course of a day, week, month, seasonally.
A couple target bucks I have chased (and some of my contacts have experienced the same) have been caught on cam upwards of 20km away within a 24 hr period. Think about that.

Speaking from experience, it takes endless dedication and time in the field to put a few giants on the ground

I would wish you luck but luck has nothing to do with success.

[Treed]

Please don’t go dump agronomic seeds in the alpine - they can outcompete native species and mess up plant communities. How about putting some cameras out to figure out his patterns?

[caddisguy]

I feel your pain. I haven't been able to figure out the deer movements where I hunt after late August / early September. Everything after that just seems random to me. I would love to keep them predictable a little longer in the early season and have tried pretty much everything. I'm putting a lot of effort to set myself up for the first few days of bow season. We spent most of the day on Saturday rigging up a spot and clearing a shooting lane from my hiding spot to a major trail intersection. Crap work in crap vegetation and managed to get my ankle crazy infected (looks flesh eating, might need antibiotics) And I don't know if I'll even be able to get out for early bow season because work had been so nuts lately... a whole late of "wah" over here lol. Anyway I hope you drop that buck with all the effort you're putting in. Good luck man.

[russm86]

I certainly dont see the word ban in my post, Or , I dont like it so you can't do it. That may be your interpretation of it .I personally compare it to baiting wich in my mind is not fair chase and your opinion is obviously different. I wish you straight shooting because it appears to me that luck and skill have been removed,

You should try baiting for yourself, it sure as heck ain't a gimme. You're not going to pull every animal, if any, from all over the country side, they are either already there or they aren't and baiting doesn't change that, believe me I've tried. All it does is possibly get them to stop and stand still for a few minutes on a trail they already use, if they don't already take that path they don't go out of their way for it, unlike bears.

[russm86]

It sounds like your experience has been the same as mine with the minerals. I still haven't figured out yet what I will try this year, but I'll give it a shot. After what I have read so far though, I do suspect they may move on as per norm.....if they stuck around for even a few days past the 10th though it sure would be nice. If not I will have to try to figure out his route as he moves down for the winter

I've heard from others that as soon as the velvet comes off they stop their summer routine, which generally has them out in the more open areas so they don't damage their velvet, and head straight for the thick stuff as they no longer have to worry about tearing up the velvet. It does kind of make sense and does somewhat fall in line with what I have seen. This year I'm trying the first week of Sept. with a bow/xbow to hopefully catch them before they rub and move on.

[dino]

Animals "stage" no matter how high or how much food there is.

[dino]

Proguide66 hiked up an entire bale of alfalfa into his blacktail spot and the results were a waste of effort. The deer simply did not care for it at all.

I hiked up some apples on a salt lick I set up last year. Blacktails also did not care for them. Gave them a quick sniff and went back to the salt. Birds packed at them some and then a bear found them and ate them a week later.

Again, BTs not mulies.

I remember the first time i fed my chickens spaghetti, they wouldn't go near it . Now they sing opera and love it. Deer love apples they are an acquired taste over time. Lots of good deer in the orchards of the okanagan.

[Ourea]

Any new food source that is introduced to deer will take a bit of time for their digestive enzymes to adjust to it.
Thus a bit of hesitance with their initial encounters.

[Golddust]

I've seen videos on youtube of people making their own - sugar, salt, and green apple flavoured jello. But they're also feeding whitetails that are likely on private property near farms and stuff in the states. Probably a bit different for wild alpine mule deer, but who knows, it might work?

[twoSevenO]

I remember the first time i fed my chickens spaghetti, they wouldn't go near it . Now they sing opera and love it. Deer love apples they are an acquired taste over time. Lots of good deer in the orchards of the okanagan.

Italian guy feeds his chickens pasta .... shocking.

I wasnt about to keep hiking apples 2 hours up a 100% grade hillside. Lol. Maybe I'll get some dehydrated apples and soak them in a nearby creek once I'm up there.? Lol