So a buddy of mine lost his lease and gave me one of his old feeders. I already have enough corn feeders set out so I figured I would give protein a try. I went to home Depot and about 20 bucks later it's ready to go. A five inch down pipe into a splitter looks like it will do the job. Now for the questions:

A - Where should I put my protein feeder... In one of the feeder pins that I hunt or somewhere else on its own?
B - When and how often should I feed?
C - What protein do yall use?

Reading other posts I've found some guys that leave it in their normal pin but only feed February-September when antlers are growing - is this a good idea? Or should I just put it off by itself and feed year round?

I know it's a lot, but I've never fed protein before and figured I would ask you guys... Yall haven't let me down yet!

Couple questions you will get asked:

Where's your lease/land that you will be putting the feeder on and what is the natural forage situation? Also, how far away is the place from home or is there someone close to the place that could replenish feed as it runs dry?

I will preface this by saying I have little experience with this stuff, but I can give some opinions you might hear. Feeding year round will give better results, but it may take a little time for the deer to start eating protein now in the summer, depending on natural forage. Some say to mix the protein with corn for the first several hundred pounds to get the deer interested, but other had success just straight feed. Most use some variety of feed store wildlife protein feed, some like antlermax but for some that is more expensive so it depends on where you plan to get it. Some recommend putting it in a pen with the other feeders, some put it separate, mainly to prevent hunting over the protein. They feel deer need to never feel threatened over protein so they feel comfortable going to the protein anytime. You will probably find the most activity between the hottest summer months and the winter months, and if the deer aren't established on protein now, they may not hit it well until winter...some people swear by. Trough type feeder while others have good experience with tube based feeders (sounds like yours is tube based).

Hope that helps, probably nothing you hadn't picked up already.

It's on 500 acres in southern Coleman county. It's pretty far from home, but between my brother and the landowner we don't have any problems keeping feeders full. The place is pretty thick for the most part.

Well that's good that you don't have to worry too much about keeping it full. In that case, you might start with some mixed with corn, a couple hundred pounds mixed to see what kind of take you get with then current deer herd. You want it to get eaten within about 4-5 weeks and once you get a feel for how Much is being eaten you can start filling more freely.

An average feed amount is around 2-3 pounds per day per deer. That's when they are very used to feed and I would not expect that kind of usage for a while, but you never know. Good to have. Water source nearby, either natural or trough based, to help with digestion.

This late in the game this year probably won't show any benefit, although it may keep some deer around more during the post rut time when they need food and the natural stuff is All browned up.

I will put it like this- how long to feed = how deep your pockets are. We would really need to know more about your place than the size. Habitat, water, cropland, pastureland, hunting pressure, density, surveys, ratios, past survey/harvest data, management plan in place, livestock grazing, your goals, etc before anyone could even start to answer what needs to be addressed first. But if you hold on we now have our resident Wildlife Mamnanger who can address this I am sure

I think at this point in the game for this year just save your money. Your only a little over two months from rubbing velvet off. You won't be able to reap much of a benefit at this time. I would wait until about the first part of March next year to begin your protein feeding program.

If you are going to feed year round then I would start right now. The fawns hitting the ground are your future. You want them on feed as soon as they can eat at a feeder. If you are going to wait then I would start feeding when you are done hunting this next season or when the season ends. The first 30 days post rut is the most critical time of the year for some bucks. Most places just don't put out feed and deer are on it the first day. It takes time to train them, so the sooner you can start the better IMO.

It took our deer over a month to figure out the protein feeder. Once the did now they eat a lot!!! We mixed 20% protein with corn half and half at first. We will soon be putting up another feeder at the other end of the ranch. And more in the future.