Texas Hunting Forum

alfalfa pellets for protein.

Posted By: hunter3

alfalfa pellets for protein. - 05/10/10 10:08 PM

what is yalls thinking on alfalfa pellets. do you think deer would take to them. it is high in protein and thought about giving it a try.

Posted By: mbavo

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 10:29 PM

dont know,never have heard anybody using them. i have wondered the same thing myself. try some out and let us know what happens.

Posted By: hunter3

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 10:32 PM

I am going out there tonight to throw some in. I will be checking my feeder again in about three weeks so I will see what happens

Posted By: mbavo

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 10:35 PM

you going to feed them free choice through a protein type tube feeder?

Posted By: hunter3

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 10:41 PM

I was going to mix it with the corn and throw it out with it. any ideas would be great though. I am trying to feed protein on some what of a budget. The pellets I am looking at are 16% protein.

Posted By: mbavo

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 10:51 PM

i hear you on the budget part. we are feeding protein on 320 ac. in concho county. right now they are eating about 400lbs. of protein in a week.

Posted By: hunter3

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 11:04 PM

I say budget becausae the lease I just got on has not really ever feed any protein, so I don't know how the deer will take to it. It has plenty of potential but the people that are on the lease with us use it really to get away from the house not to hunt.

Posted By: don k

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 11:47 PM

I tried alfalfa pellets a few years ago. The deer loved it but for some reason they kept choking on it. I don't know if it was too dry or what. When they would eat it it would get caught in their throat and they would run around stretching their neck until they could cough it up. That was the only pellets I ever had a problem with.

Posted By: hunter3

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/10/10 11:55 PM

Don k where were you hunting when you tried them out?

Posted By: highlonesome1

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/11/10 01:23 AM

X2 on what don k said.
Just throw a bale and see what happens. There is also a protien block put out by Angelo Pellets it runs 6 bucks or so. Unless everybody is putting out protien you could be spending extra money for naught. Put a cam on it and try different stuff use what works.

Posted By: hunter3

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/11/10 01:26 AM

well we shall see. I put it in the feeder we will see in about three weeks.

Posted By: don k

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/11/10 02:29 AM

Originally Posted By: hunter3
Don k where were you hunting when you tried them out?
Here at home in Bandera.

Posted By: ccbaseball

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/11/10 01:18 PM

keep us posted on the alfalfa I am interested

Posted By: Tye

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/11/10 02:15 PM

I would stick to a pellet designed for deer. Yes the pellets might have 16% protein but does it have the proper ratios of the minerals the deer need for antler production. I also would not mix the pellets with corn in a spin feeder. They can clog when they get wet

Posted By: westexhunter

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 01:32 AM

x2

Posted By: hunter3

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 02:07 AM

can you recommened a good pellet. The lease has never used any type of protein. Myself and two other members on the lease are starting a managment program. THe other three members on the lease just use it to get away from the house. There has not been a deer taken from the property in three years.

Posted By: WTGuide

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 03:28 AM

The alfalfa pellets are to hard and dry. Thats why they choke on them they are harder to chew up. If you are on a budget look into blackeyed peas for your feeder. They are high in protien and the deer love them. Not as costly as deer protien.

Posted By: mbavo

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 08:07 AM

not to knock black-eyed peas,but i had a lease in coke county,and the deer would not touch them. the turkey would eat them,but not the deer. i have heard from other people that the deer on their lease loved them. we use record-rack 20% protein. get it for $9.85 a bag. our deer are tearing it up in concho county.

Posted By: Tye

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 02:28 PM

We use either the Record Rack 16% or 20% professional. have also used Purina Antler Max. Both are good pellets and I would look at cost between the two. We get ours from Stephenville since its on the way to the ranch in near Ranger.

I would say the deer love the RR



Posted By: deerfeeder

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 06:56 PM

Angelo Pellets makes some decent deer feed. They used to offer one type that was mixed with corn, I would recommend that you stay away from that, not because there is anything wrong with the pellets, but the corn will have the coons there pitching everything on the ground, eating the corn, and then pooping on the pellets.

Purina is putting out a 20% protein feed that runs less than $10.00 a fifty lb bag. You can get it at Mumme's in Hondo and other feed stores.

Posted By: dogo

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 09:39 PM

We put a bale of alfalfa out last season (dec) when greens were scarce. They barely touched it, it rotted & molded before I drug it off. Disappointed, thought they would have killed it...only tried this once.

Posted By: crease_flounder

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 10:29 PM

I use the Angelo pellets and have no complaints. I don't recommend throwing them on the ground, though, since they deteriorate pretty quickly with just a little water.

I've also heard of folks using soybeans in lieu of the blackeyed peas.

Posted By: DSP56

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 10:34 PM

hey Tye,
where do you get record rack at in stephenville and how much $ ?

Posted By: Tye

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/14/10 11:27 PM

I get it from Taylor feed on Lingleville hwy near hwy 108. It cost about $10.25/bag

Posted By: DSP56

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/15/10 02:55 PM

Thanks up

Posted By: webb county

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/25/10 06:18 PM

New to the forum. I wanted to discuss the use of alfalfa pellets as a supplement feed for whitetails. The reason that alfalfa pellets spiked my interest is due to the state record whitetail that was killed in Webb County, Texas in the 2008-9 season. The deer scored 275+/-. What was so impressive was that the same weekend another deer was killed on the same ranch that scored 225+/-. This particular ranch is over 5000 acres high fenced with no foreign genetics introduced. This ranch is about 2 miles as a crow flies from mine. The hunter had his story published in Texas Trophy Hunters, and one of the things he attributed to his success was the use of alfalfa pellets along with a strict management program. Is there anyone who hunts South Texas or anywhere else using these pellets, and if so what are your impressions? Is the cost of the Alfalfa pellets worth it or is the continued use of a quality protein pellet a better method of supplemental feeding?

Posted By: HWY_MAN

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/26/10 03:30 AM

Originally Posted By: don k
I tried alfalfa pellets a few years ago. The deer loved it but for some reason they kept choking on it. I don't know if it was too dry or what. When they would eat it it would get caught in their throat and they would run around stretching their neck until they could cough it up. That was the only pellets I ever had a problem with.


Are we talking range cube's?

Posted By: don k

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/26/10 12:27 PM

Originally Posted By: HWY_MAN
Originally Posted By: don k
I tried alfalfa pellets a few years ago. The deer loved it but for some reason they kept choking on it. I don't know if it was too dry or what. When they would eat it it would get caught in their throat and they would run around stretching their neck until they could cough it up. That was the only pellets I ever had a problem with.


Are we talking range cube's?
No, they were the small sheep and goat type pellet.

Posted By: txhunter24

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/26/10 12:39 PM

I use alfalfa bales. just make sure it is good quality.

Posted By: BenBob

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/26/10 02:28 PM

I would say a quality protein pellet. Both help and both will improve, but the protein pellet has added minerals and is forumulated to provide a certain percentage of protein for deer. The alfalfa may be high in protein, but if the alfalfa were the entire key, people that hunt close to alfalfa fields would have a distinctive advantage in killing a bigger racked buck than people that do not hunt. People that have never seen an alfalfa field are killing deer that have never seen an alfalfa field, but regularly hit feeders that throw protein pellets. Alfalfa pellets are chopped or ground up alfalfa with some syrup added to hold it together. Looks like to me the protein pellets offer more.

Posted By: Tye

Re: alfalfa pellets. - 05/27/10 01:00 PM

Webb county, I know where and who you are talking about. That area of Texas produces huge deer with or with out protein. My uncle owns 7000 acres HF in that same area. The first year, they killed a 195". They have also killed many in the 200"s. Protein will help when you have a dry year for sure

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