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Alfalfa hay for deer?

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19K views 26 replies 24 participants last post by  Rubberback  
#1 ·
I've been reading about alfalfa and whitetails and see a lot of contradictory information on the interwebz about this. I was thinking of putting some alfalfa hay in my feeder pen, probably building a barrel feeder for it to keep it dry, but some of what I'm reading says they won't eat the hay, some says they'll eat it if they're really hungry, some says they can't get enough of it and will go through 2 bales a week and so on.

Has anyone personally used alfalfa hay for whitetails and if so, what was your experience? Did it seem to attract them or did they just happen to munch on it if they were already moving through an area and it was there?

Thanks for the feedback!
 
#5 ·
I feed it and have for years. I bring in the big bales and set them out under cover and the deer spend a lot of time picking on it.

You need to get a real leafy, small stem hay for deer. Most of what I see around is too thick stemmed and the deer leave a lot of waste.

Once we get a killing frost deer will really hit it hard.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, our feeder traffic has been hit and miss. The does were pretty regular right before the season opened and have now pretty much abandoned it. I've got some young bucks hitting them sporadically but always late at night. Corning the road where they cross seems to stop them in the road but I'd prefer to have something pulling them into the feeder pen. I broadcast some perennial rye a few weeks ago but don't expect to see it coming up until Jan sometime.

Ultimately, if I can ever get this feeder pen tight enough to keep the javelina out (but that's another issue altogether) I want to setup a buffet for the deer with corn, protein and alfalfa, if it's going to be utilized.
 
#14 ·
Last year I bought a bale of alfalfa from a guy selling it on the side of the road because I needed one to shoot my bow into and didn't want to drive to the feedstore for a cheaper coastal bale. Set it in my Brother-in-laws back yard on the edge of a wooded tract in October and forgot about it. Saw him at Christmas and he asked me what kind of hay it was because he had seen 9 different bucks eating it.
Put some out at the lease this October but it remains pretty much untouched.
 
#15 ·
The first time I used it I was ****** because it didn't work. We hunted on a nice high fenced ranch in S. Texas with tons of corn feeders, but no protein at the time, I think? Maybe a little? Anyway, Deer didn't touch the alfalfa for two weeks. After two weeks they were on it and couldn't get enough of it. I hear it will spook some deer herds that are accustomed to a lot of acreage and see very little pressure or change. I believe that's what happened in my case, but it worked like CRAZY. Stick with it.
 
#20 ·
I am close to rocksprings and I started putting out last spring for the axis ,but come to find out the deer in my area love it , 4 bales last about a week . Trying to come up with some hay feeder ideas for next year. Really high source of Protein and they ate all summer long. Actually hit it way more then protein feed. That being said they like fresh from feed store vs the compressed bales from tractor supply.
 
#21 ·
I wish I had Axis to feed hay to...

This is the sort of thing I'm considering building if the deer will use it. Probably not this nice but similar.
 

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#25 ·
Here I. JUNCTION if I throw a bail out and take both wires off I get about 6 days pff a bail. They love it. If I leave both wires on 13-15 days. Thats on the ground. Hopeing to build a Hay feeder this spring. I see my best bucks on game cam when I start feeding the Alfalfa.

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#27 ·
I'm getting desperate so I'm gonna give it a try. They aren't coming to corn here. During the drought the last 4 years I had deer at the feeder every time I went. Nothing this year. But I don't want a drought. I'll buy some alfalfa from Chuck Norris he sells it & he's just right down the street.