I'm going to put out a protein feeder this year for the first time ever. You guys that have been doing it for a while I've got some questions for you.

When do you start?
When you do start , how do you get the deer engaged or do they naturally fall in and chow down?
How high off of the ground?
Do coons eat up your protein?
Where do you like to situate your feeder?
When do you pull them off?

When you say you put a spin feeder with it please elaborate..do you spin protein and corn or do you use a corn feeder near your protein etc.

Mix the protein with your corn and spin
I would also recommend you enclose with hog panels the protein feeder and spin feeder Large diameter area atleast 35-40'

As the deer get accustom to the protein location I would curtail the spin feeder To only a few seconds just so they remember the dinner bell

I put a spin feeder in the same pen with my protein feeder. I spin corn only but mix the corn/protein for the first bag or so I feed out of my protein feeder. Once deer eat that mix then I go with protein only.

Are you using pellets?

DO you have a feed pen to keep out hogs, javelina and livestock? Throwing protein on the ground with them having access to it is same as throwing money away. Spinning protein on the ground is going to waste most of it. You can also have issues with protein clogging up spin feeders. This will greatly depend on your pellet quality, the amount you feed per feed cycle and the weather in your area.

I fully intend on building a hog panel pen around the protein feeder. My original plan is a gravity feeder in a pen..basically it. I really figured that throwing protein on the ground would give my coons more nutrients than my deer.

Buy some dog proof coon traps..start to thin the heard..or they will eat all of the protien..

This is on the property I live so I have access to the feeder all the time. I just mix corn and protein pellets together in my spin feeder. I only do it during spring and summer. I have found that the deer will start just eating the corn and then slowly switch to eating corn and then eating the protein after the corn is gone. After a short time they completely switch to eating all the protein first and then eating the corn. Only a couple of coons that are rarely seen and no pigs. Like mentioned before, the protein can clog the feeder if the feed inside gets wet. Once damp, it will clump, clog the spinner tube and mold. If that happens, all you can do is dump it all out. So you need a feeder that will stay very dry in rain and humidity. Mixing the corn and the protein helps to prevent the clumps from moisture.

For mixing the feed, I got a large 3' mixing bit from Lowes that attaches to a 1/2" cordless drill. I think it's made for mixing mortar or plaster.

truth be known i am really leaning towards the boss buck 350lb protein feeder with some hog panels around it to keep the hogs off the tubes. maybe using some golden deer nugget to begin with and then phase in a 20 percent protein.