Deer and hay.

[Moose72]

Just wondering if deer actually like hay. I got a couple bails of alphalfa and put them up in the back yard for the deer. Haven't seen any action on the hay but more on the brush out there. Just put it out there with the game camera to see what's around. Do they like hay?

[Bighorn hunter]

I put out a couple bails of alphalfa a month or so ago and before the elk nocked them down the deer seemed to be eating it

[Chuck]

I've no experience with such, but what I've read, they will benefit from particular types, alfalfa being one, when other favorite fodder is exhausted.

[KB90]

My uncle has set some small bails in his yard and they pick at it. I would suggest some oats, apples and a mineral lick.

[d6dan]

They love it. I shot lots of whitetails in alfalfa fields. I remember this one whitetail buck getting his headgear locked up in the wire on a round bail. He must have been there for awhile, because about 1/3 of the bail was all over the ground. Everything worked out for him and he soon left. (alive).

[Moose72]

I just have muleys here. Guess they aren't much different as to what they eat though. Just hope the moose stay out of it.

[d6dan]

I just have muleys here. Guess they aren't much different as to what they eat though. Just hope the moose stay out of it.
Mulies like hay too. Shot a 4pt that was working over a bail once. Their no different than whitetails when it comes to hay.

[ufishifish2]

Huh, only the Elk seem to like them much out here. Your game camera would probably pick up mostly coyotes tagging a corner of the bail instead.

[wolverine]

You're kidding right? They love the stuff. They tear the hell out of the outside bails in my buddies hay shed all winter long. When there's snow on the ground and everything is frozen up it's a pretty easy meal. You can almost set your watch by them.

[KB90]

My uncles bail yard always has deer in it every winter, and all winter long. I'd say they like it :)

Heres some proof, this was 1 of 9 deer feeding ;)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/501/Whitetaildoe.jpg

[MikeH]

Shot many many deer in hay fields Prairies are full of them.I've seen elk stand on the top of bails.Shot a boar that was feeding off a bail too.I miss the flats take that over this mountain shyte any day,for hunting that is;).
You mean 2 deer Kyle.:)

[knighthunter]

Shot many many deer in hay fields Prairies are full of them.I've seen elk stand on the top of bails.Shot a boar that was feeding off a bail too.I miss the flats take that over this mountain shyte any day,for hunting that is;).
You mean 2 deer Kyle.:)

Good eye's. I missed them the first peek.

[ratherbefishin]

I know what they REALLY go for and that is COB[corn,oats and barley run through a roller mill.]-costs about $11 a sack.I'm not sure what the digestive system of a deer is and while they will eat a variety of things when the food is sparse,they do have preferences.I've also heard that its better to cut an alder to let them brouse on the twigs than feed them hay and in the spring they go nuts over the new shoots from cut maple stumps-maybe its the sugar they're after.

[wolverine]

My annual deer are all alfalfa fed. Makes for smaller antlers I have found (mass not points) but huge bodies and since you don't eat the bone.. that's okay with me. The meat is tender very tastey.

[digger dogger]

i've heard that if the deer eat to much bailed hay, they need to eat willow branches aswell, to unbung the hay.

[Big Lew]

Deer, like cows, have 4 stomachs. Most of their digestion is accomplished by a suite of bacteria that break down the cell walls of the plants they eat. These micraflora are specific to the particular types of feed, and it takes 2-3 weeks to switch over from 1 type of feed to another.
In the wild, this is not a problem because deer gradually switch. When a deer is offered hay, alfalfa, corn, or other artifical food, however, it will not be able to process the food properly. If a deer's system survives the initial assault-usually bloat or diarrhea, and converts to the new food, it becomes dependant on the food for the rest of the winter. So, if you start feeding deer, you must continue feeding for the winter.(sourced from a biologist's report)

[KB90]

You mean 2 deer Kyle.:)

Holy Shit, I have looked at this picture a million times and never noticed those ears. It took me a couple minutes to find them.

Good eye!

[Jelvis]

If a deer is thin and empty stomach just before Spring don't give it hay you'll kill it, can't digest it, needs new grass shoots. Talk to your local bio, they don't recommend feeding mal nurished deer with hay.
Jel Billy Goatz is ok ...a deer can go 40 days without eating anything if conditions are right.

[Lillypuff]

Lived in the praires they love the stuff can drive for miles and not see a track find an alfala field and there will be a ton of deer there.

[boxhitch]

So if the deer are valley bottom feeders, chances they are on grass/weeds/ alfalfa/orchard diet anyways, so the hay wouldn't be a problem. A good feed source would help localize some probably.
COB would be some high energy candy, but the birds like iit too

[ratherbefishin]

I know deer will change their diet-they never used to eat ivy-then one year they browsed it all off the trees-you could see a distinctive ring around the trees where they had reached up and cleaned it off.Don't know it they feed in order of preference or maybe theres something in a specific plant they need-minerals or something