This is the thrid year in a row where the deer have quit coming into the feeders and the corn is begining to pile up. I find it amazing they collectively quit eating carbs and move on to something else. I will start back with protien next week.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Maybe they get on the Adkins low carb diet so they look good at the beach on spring break...

I've saved alot on corn this year, DuctTape. I didn't fill my feeders but twice all season.

With the past summer getting all the rainfall, and us having such a warm (hot) fall and mild winter, there's still plenty of greens out there for them even when the last of the acorns sour.

The birds, wood rats, squirrels and such have been well-fed, though...

In east Texas I have a good size clover patch they prefer to the corn, so I feed once in the morning for like 4 seconds and thats it.
In the hill country i feed 10 seconds in the morning and evening and have all the scrubs eating it during daylight hours.......at night is when my game camera is catching the decent bucks....

Unfortunately or fortunately we do not have many oaks on our place mostly mesquite. They have hit the corn hard from Oct. through now. Same thing happened in the past. We shut the timers down to 2 second throws till we run out of corn and then will get back on with a full regiment of protien. Since we only have 200 acres I believe it is crucial for us to try and keep as many deer as possible through out the year. So my wallet is going to be a bit lighter.

I agree with Big Orn, our raccoons will be sporting some mass in the spring.

It seems to me that the raccoons have never been such a problem before this year. I think I am gonna trap a few this year and see if I can make a little money off of the hides. Plus my dad works with a guy who will buy the meat. Our corn is going away as fast as it hits the ground. Saturday evening, 6 doe came RUNNING to the feeder once it went off. I have never seen deer run in like that. Deuce12 shot one of them and they came back for more. They finally left so we could go get the deer he shot. Our corn is not pileing up.

it just depends on ur location & the conditions of the area

I hunt in east texas and my corn and sweet feed wasn't hit at all. I did find what I would call "acorn heaven" yesterday and all the scrapes and rubs were back there. Unfortunately I discovered this little safe haven the last day of deer season for my county. Looks like I'll be hunting it next year.

Nate,
I have never seen (or remember seeing ) the acorns last this long on the trees. No wonder deer won't come to the feeders. I knocked a few fresh acorns off a tree this past weekend just to cut it open and look inside. Still crunchy and yellow as if it was October...

I know, it sucks, and the FIRST time they've come to the feeder was Sunday morning. Dang buck woke me from my nap at 8:15am. Too bad all I got was one look and it was white flags from there. His two girlfriends were with him too. I looked at him, he looked at me, and he was a shooter buck (outside 13", decent 8 point). Would have been my first buck and this was the one I've been waiting for (see previous posts a few months ago). He wasn't an east texas monster, but an average size buck with a nice semetrical 8. Dang sleep got me this time.

I'm going to let the feeder run out of corn over the next few weeks and then take the timer off. I'm going to fit my 55 gallon drum feeder with a free choice protein feeder for the spring and early summer. Probably going to put protein pellets in it. As you can see from the picture below, I'm going to start clearing out the brush and such and hope to turn this area you see here into a food plot. One of the few open areas on my place (open being only 50x30 yards). The acorn heaven place I found Sunday afternoon is over the hill on the trail behind that feeder. I still need to sand and re-paint the legs on the feeder like I did the barrel part. The barrel and legs were a gift and I'm restoring them for use. Bought the sun slinger feeder/timer from BPS and its worked great for me.

You have so much natural nutrition they dont need the corn. i can tell by that picture. There is a place in Aledo like that where i rarely see deer eat corn, it is always piled up. The place i hunt in Stephens County is completely different, you pour a bag of corn out it will be gone in a few hours, literally. A place like yours makes it harder to hunt the deer but i have a feeling you will have bigger deer because of all the nutrition, that is how the aledo place is. They consistantly kill 140's bucks and there has even been a 198 killed there, LOW FENCE. You just have to be lucky enough to see the deer, they are usually back in the woods eatin acorns and pecans.

I had very little time this year to set up anything after getting back on an old hunting lease. I wasnt even able to put up any feeders or boxes since I got on the lease opening weekend, I didnt want to scare the deer away right off the bat. I did notice that everyone elses feeders were just pilling up though so I dumped a bag of corn on the ground where my feeder will go and covered it in maple syrup, I had the most activity on the lease and last week I got a beautiful 11 point non-typical, from my spot, his does were tearing up that maple syrup corn

Someone should write a hunting cook book for animals.

my place was like that this year they did not touch it. allot of rain IMO did it we had acorns dropping all hunting season and they are everywhere

On my place, they started coming to corn at the end of the season. However, by then, they were pretty well nocturnal.

I think my deer are pretty well trained. they clean up the ground under it everytime it goes off year round. I have lots of oaks on my place, but my deer seem to prefer corn. It is easier work for them.