Protein Pellets vs Roasted Soybeans?

[Reece123]

Question for those who feed their wild game. Ive got a place in West tx (no rain) that I shoot typically 1 buck off of every year, and sometimes let a friend take their kids to shoot a doe or 2. I've currently got 1 acre of wheat planted but other than that, it's pretty much mesquite trees and cedar bushes around here with not much natural browse around. Ive fed protein pellets in the summer before with fine results and have also mixed roasted soybeans/corn during the fall. Im trying to decide what to feed from now until about September. Straight protein pellets? Straight soybeans? A mix of them or maybe corn? Im not trying to spend a fortune to feed the neighbors deer but would like to do my part in bettering the herd and spending $300-$400 a year on feed is fine with me.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

Are they the neighbor's deer or the state's?
How much acreage are we talking about?
If you're low or no fence, they're your deer too, i.e., you and your neighbor benefit.

Depending on what pellet you're using, you'll more than likely save money going bean/corn route depending on number of feeders you use.

May 2025 we got 5 new gravity feeders that hold 400 lbs a piece and I spent close to $2k in 2 months filling with 60/40 mix of Record Rack and Corn. Once the season started, we filled with corn and went through a couple tons before we realized we could block 2 of the 4 ports on the gravity feeder to make it last longer.

Saw/killed more bucks and does this season than we have in the past 15 years or longer on 1000 acres in East Alabama. Three bucks and ten does and we should have doubled the does. I would contribute much of this to more food on our property holding and attracting more deer, in conjunction with pretty good food plots and better habitat management in the last 3 years.

All of this to say, it's all relative to your goals, acreage, number of feeders you're willing to utilize and finances. If you're just using one feeder and can stomach the cost, I'd go with a 60/40 mix pellet to corn. At some point in the past, I read that you should utilize 1 feeder per 100 acres.

 

[WBT]

Depends on what kind of feeder you're using. I raise some axis deer and feed the roasted soybeans out of a spin feeder because it's an easy way to increase the protein levels over straight corn.

 

[JayF]

Timed protein feeders is what we use in West TX. We feed roughly 80% protein and 20% corn/roasted soybean mix. We feed alfalfa bales and cotton seed various times through the year as well. Year 4 on this property and we have seen improvements in overall weight and starting to see the gains in antlers as well. Even with the drought last year, we saw more mass on our mature bucks than previous years. We did feed heavy on the cotton seed last year due to no natural browse.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Soybean is a waste of money unless you are growing it irrigated.

You are better off putting out Cottonseed post rut to spring and then feeding protein from March to Oct.

Whole point of supplemental is getting fawns started early, and a doe’s health being exceptional from contraception to when they finally kick off fawns and go dry. To optimize buck genetics nutrition starts in the womb, and then builds on its self, especially during post rut/high nutritional stress times.

High fat-Cotten seed winter(l
high protein/minerals pellets in spring- summer

 

[Reece123]

Are they the neighbor's deer or the state's?
How much acreage are we talking about?
If you're low or no fence, they're your deer too, i.e., you and your neighbor benefit.

Depending on what pellet you're using, you'll more than likely save money going bean/corn route depending on number of feeders you use.

May 2025 we got 5 new gravity feeders that hold 400 lbs a piece and I spent close to $2k in 2 months filling with 60/40 mix of Record Rack and Corn. Once the season started, we filled with corn and went through a couple tons before we realized we could block 2 of the 4 ports on the gravity feeder to make it last longer.

Saw/killed more bucks and does this season than we have in the past 15 years or longer on 1000 acres in East Alabama. Three bucks and ten does and we should have doubled the does. I would contribute much of this to more food on our property holding and attracting more deer, in conjunction with pretty good food plots and better habitat management in the last 3 years.

All of this to say, it's all relative to your goals, acreage, number of feeders you're willing to utilize and finances. If you're just using one feeder and can stomach the cost, I'd go with a 60/40 mix pellet to corn. At some point in the past, I read that you should utilize 1 feeder per 100 acres.

This is on 100 acres. I got one of those 2000lb gravity protein feeders for cheap a few weeks ago, so that’s what I’ll be using. I only plan on having that 1 feeder out as only about 40 of my acres are wooded and the other 60 are pasture. Just no sense in having multiple feeders on a small place. Thanks for the insight

 

[Reece123]

Timed protein feeders is what we use in West TX. We feed roughly 80% protein and 20% corn/roasted soybean mix. We feed alfalfa bales and cotton seed various times through the year as well. Year 4 on this property and we have seen improvements in overall weight and starting to see the gains in antlers as well. Even with the drought last year, we saw more mass on our mature bucks than previous years. We did feed heavy on the cotton seed last year due to no natural browse.

Where ya located at? I’m about 40 miles west of Abilene. Pray for some more rain out here!

 

[JayF]

Where ya located at? I’m about 40 miles west of Abilene. Pray for some more rain out here!

Ozona. Our "green up" last year was in July and was like desert again by mid August. Haven't seen any green there since then. We poured the feed to them all summer and seemed like our numbers increased by 20% from the neighbors. Numbers never fell in the fall and seeing more deer now than last fall. We have been working on the predators (fox and a few coyotes) since deer season closed, but we need to work on the cats now. Increase in deer has definitely brought in a few extra cats.