Question: “We manage our 375 acres for improved deer hunting by selective harvest and supplemental feeding. And we’ve seen the benefits over the past six years. We are always looking for new, better supplements to keep our options open. Supplemental feeding< has helped our fawn production big time, but we understand that it is only a component of our overall management strategy. Have you ever fed deer peanuts for protein as supplement over the summer?
I know that peanuts are high in protein and fat, both of which can really help deer. Body condition is the key to antler growth in bucks, as well as fawn survival. My timed spin feeder can throw peanuts, without the shell of course, so I was thinking about using them this summer to provide some additional deer nutrition. Are peanuts all that different than acorns regarding nutrition for whitetail deer?”
Response: Whitetail deer love peanuts. And like you stated, peanuts are high in protein and fat, making them an excellent food for deer. This combination would be especially great post-rut, when bucks are wore down and need to really pack on some weight. Although your idea is a good one, I think feeding peanuts would be cost prohibitive for the most part. Peanut hay may be more affordable, but time consuming to feed.
Peanuts cost a couple bucks just for a quart of them at the grocery store. In addition, peanut hay is expensive and that is probably the only source of peanuts that one could afford for feeding whitetail deer. In years past, peanut hay was going for $55.00 for the big rolls. This year they are priced at $120.00 and up. There are many other costs associated with feeding peanuts or peanut hay. For most folks, simply getting their hands on it will be expensive. Transporting it can really cut into the pocket book.
Depending on your property, you may want to plant a peanut food plot of whitetail deer. If you can plant peanuts successfully then will have a great supplement. We hunted Mason County where peanuts were the main crop for years, and the whitetail went nuts over peanuts, especially during the harvest. Peanuts liked the sandy loam type soil found in this area. Always seemed like a good food plot for deer, but an expensive one to establish. A lot of other more traditional plants can work well too for less cost.
In summary, whitetail deer love peanuts. They will eat every one that you put out. However, unless you can source them for a great price it will be quite cost prohibitive to feed them to deer. Your deer hunting will continue to improve as long as you keep managing for good habitat and stick with selective selective buck harvest. Nutrition is a big part of deer management, but age and genetics should not be overlooked. Keep up the good work and best of luck to you!
Do you feed them green or dry them out
This commentary is very interesting and helpful.
Can you tell me what kind of peanuts? I have been throwing out
shelled peanuts.
Thank you.
It never fails to blow my mind, the lack of compassion and empathy among this race of emotionless human beings. To feed an animal.. to gain it’s trust and love, only to kill and eat them as the final outcome .. is not only barbaric and dated 10,000 years, during a period where starvation was inevitable unless we ‘killed’.. but is the core of what is wrong with this planet.
This is for Alice. Just saw this thread but it blows my mind that every time I see something about hunting I also see some comment from a dip sh!t that thinks that are so above killing an animal. So much better than that they think, but they don’t realize most of what they use involved animals at some point and some of them perished to make those products. Most of the time it’s from someone that thinks they are the saving grace for animals because they have a bird feeder that they spend $200 a year to fatten up a few song birds and a batch of squirrels. That’s a drop in the bucket to the enormous amount of money and time spent by hunters to turn out millions of pounds of food for animals that are dependent on this to survive. Most of us only rarely harvesting an adult animal to feed our family.
We quit planting and feeding animals and it majorly affects things. You quit feeding animals and they dont even notice it. Guess your also too naive to know that animals passed away to feed you. Lol. What about the deer that died on depredation permits so they made enough soybeans for your tofu burger. Want to see barbaric? Watch a bunch animal rights lovers feed themselves without a grocery store.
There’s always a bad egg out there but most hunters have more respect for animals than you. Maybe your not vegan, do you not think the chicken or beef you eat didn’t trust the people that fed it every day. What about the animals that were harmed to grow corn for ethanol to feed your Prius so you can go your animal rights meetings. Maybe you can sit around and knit or something that doesn’t affect animals. Aww boo. I forgot there were some that also didn’t make it so they could grow your cotton for thread. I guess your just like the rest of us except you do less to help the animals. Thanks Alice for nothing.
Your obviously from the tree hugger planet, Alice, or maybe your a vegetarian. Maybe you’ve never had your vehicle messed up by the sweet poor animal. Do you eat meat ever been to a stock yard. My guess your not from around here. We hunt, fish, garden, that means killing plants that you nourish, but when your hungry I will kill something for you to eat.
Alice,
You are so misinformed , virtue signaling and judgemental that I fear you are what is WRONG. Ethical herd management and hunting respects the animal and actually mitigates the damage the humans have done by removing natural predation , artificial food sources and “protected sanctuaries” that drive overpopulation and disease like Chronic Wasting Disease. Please consider looking at verifiable statistics with respect to unchecked population explosions in wildlife as a direct result of “the compassionate, the woke, or vegans”.
The core of what is wrong with this planet has nothing to do with ethical hunting and population control, it is the unchecked population explosion of tree-hugging liberals that reproduce at an alarming rate and brainwash the gullible and ignorant with misinformation.
Please get off your high horse and actually examine the facts of sanctioned ethical hunts rather then the propaganda your people virtue signal for moral validation.
Teaching a wild animal to depend on you with bait and then charging people to shoot it is sickening. The animal doesn’t have a chance, it’s unsporting. There’s no challenge.
bahahahha! You have to hunt to keep the balance of the animals down numb nuts. I bet you eat your hamburgers, Alice???
I skipped past all the BS comments made in attempt to rationalize/explain/excuse your pathetic lives. Anyone (ANYONE) who murders innocent sentient beings for ANY reason is a piece of dung in my book. I pray that those who hunt are themselves stalked, murdered, cut up and hung up for decoration. Sound sick? That’s because IT IS SICK! We have an over population of PEOPLE crisis in America and I nominate you murderous losers to be eradicated. Let’s call it People Management.
Absolutely essential to manage the herd through hunting. It saves many human lives by reducing traffic accidents when hitting deer and saves many animals from a more painful death by starvation. Overpopulation is dangerous for the animals and for people.
This is for Alice
Thank you.
As for the other commenters:
You’re being even more judgemental than what you’re accusing her of being, LOL. It’s SO easy to insult others by calling them names, like “tree hugger”. By the way, that’s not really an insult.
Peace.
Really a great article with valuable insight to feeding peanuts to deer. Thank you for sharing.
Clearly many of the responses are as vicious as the hunters here!
Hunting for pleasure is obnoxious. Wildlife population is not exploding. Don’t be afraid they will hurt you human (?)
I’m gonna keep hunting because it’s LEGAL it’s FUN and it FEEDS MY FAMILY!!!! The tree huggers will have to get over it!!!!!
Well I have been a hunter for 12 years . I am a female hunter. My dad taught me never to kill unless it is to eat. Not to just kill for the fun of it or for a trophy.
God did put some animals here for us to eat, however not to waste it or kill for fun, or for a trophy.
But if what you call hunting is when a deer walks up to you because they trust you from feeding them, that’s the most pitiful way of hunting. That’s just my opinion. I like a challenge when it comes to hunting. I would rather go scouting the day before to see what I can find, then hike out in the timber. But never would I want to kill a hand fed deer.
But don’t be so hard on Alice for her comment. It’s just her opinion just like ours. We are not all the same in our thinking. It would be pretty boring if we all had the same opinions as everyone one else.
From a Biblical understanding the Lord has given us dominion over the fish of the sea and beast of the land. This is a gift to us for survival. His blessing to us. Wrongfully killing for sport and discarding the carcass is not the Lord’s will. Grilling a backstrap wrapped with bacon on low heat, yum. That is, well with my soul.
We started feeding peanuts to attract more deer to our property and it worked. Peanuts are a good source of fat though not easy to find in some areas.