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?”

Question: “My brothers and I have been whitetail deer hunting together for over two decades now and we, along with some friends, finally have a deer lease that is big enough to implement a whitetail deer management program on. We’ve been on this place for four years now. Our deer lease is 7,000 acres in size and is located in southeast Kansas. We will be starting a feeding program in January and plan on putting eight 300 pound protein feeders on the property. What percent of protein would you suggest for whitetail deer, and can you give me an idea of the amount of antler gain we can expect to see down the road?

Two years ago we have adopted a 3.5 year old minimum buck age and have gone from taking bucks in the 13’0s to bucks in the 150′s. Do you think this is okay or should we raise the minimum deer age or set a minimum antler score? Thanks!”

Question: “I just received permission to a new South Texas ranch located just outside of Kingsville, Texas. The property owner gave me all the hunting rights to the place and placed the whitetail deer management in my hands. The ranch is 900 acres in size, but 100 acres will be planted to wheat later this week. That field will make serve as a great winter food plot. I have been seeing about 25 doe every time I drive through the ranch and corn the roads.

From my casual observations, there seem to be many more does than bucks. Most of the South Texas properties I have been on in the past have about the same number of bucks and does, but this place is skewed. Because of this, I am thinking about letting my friends and family harvest a few does this season, as well as guiding hunts off the ranch. How many does would you take off this ranch without effecting the buck to doe ratio?”

Question: “We are interested in whitetail deer management so as to improve the deer hunting on our property located in Pennsylvania. The subject of feeding protein to deer gets mentioned a lot, and we understand that better deer nutrition leads to more fawns and bigger antlers in bucks. We already do some habitat manipulation to help the deer and we have lots of browse plants. However, we are unsure of whitetail deer protein requirements. Do you think protein is a limiting factor and would our deer would benefit from supplemental foods with high levels of protein?”

Answer: First, understand that most whitetail deer get their nutrition from plants found in their environment. So good job on your current situation. It sounds like your habitat management activities are producing a lot of high quality browse plants for deer. These browse plants are high in protein. Feeding deer, protein or otherwise, gets a lot of attention. The biggest reason is because it is the easiest thing a hunter can do.

Question: “We are interested in whitetail deer management and started a supplemental feeding program in January. I am trying to decide whether or not to continue feeding 20% protein pellets past the middle of September. Not sure. Also thinking that we will feed until it rains and then stop, but there are no clouds in sight.

I know of ranches that feed protein pellets year round and even one that is stops in early fall regardless of the habitat conditions on their property. I know supplemental feeding definitely helps the deer, and does still have fawn that they are nursing. Currently feeding protein, whole cotton seed, and some alfalfa hay. Whitetail deer are in good shape right now. What should we do?”

Question: Late last December, one of the guys on my deer hunting lease in located in Brown County, Texas, shot a good looking buck and the antlers were still in full velvet. He called the deer a cactus buck, but the deer did not have testicles. Also, I know that bucks usually shed their velvet in late summer, but this one did not. Would this cactus buck have shed his antlers or not in the spring?

Answer: It sounds like the guy you hunt with did in fact shoot what is referred to as a cactus buck. These bucks are not rare, but they are not abundant either. This “cactus” condition in whitetail bucks that results in antlers remaining in velvet and continuing to grow beyond the normal velvet-losing time of the year. The condition that causes a deer to be a cactus buck is called cryptorchidism.

Question: We have about 800 acres in Llano County where we have been practicing deer management over the past two years. We just started putting out protein pellets this past winter. I have been checking the game cameras recently and bucks are hammering the protein pellets. In fact, there is a bachelor group of five bucks coming to one particular feeder on the north end of our property every night.

The oldest buck looks to be about 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 years old, which is good to know that we do have some older deer on the place. One thing that does concern me, however, is that we have very few does coming to the protein feeders. Whitetail bucks seem to be dominating all four of our protein feeders, and we just are not seeing as many does as we thought. During the last hunting season, it looked like we had about three does to every buck, but the camera photos are showing more bucks than does. Is this common on other properties?