How to Make Deer Food | Gone Outdoors
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How to Make Deer Food

Written By
Isaiah David
Isaiah David
Feb 19, 2009
2 minute read

Deer are able to eat a wide variety of different foods, depending on what is available. They like nuts, fruits and many different grasses and leaves. If you want them to come to your feeder, you have to give them something better than grass. Start with corn, then add some other ingredients that deer like.

Items you will need

  • Corn Acorns Fruit Peanut butter Sheep and goat pellets Honey

Feed the deer corn. If you are just looking for something to give deer as a treat, nothing beats corn. You do not have to add any of the other ingredients, although you can if you wish. You can use either deer corn or feed corn.

Add in acorns. Deer love whole acorns, especially combined with corn. Deer tend to judge acorns by the taste, preferring lower tannin white acorns to other kinds. See the link below for the list of acorns by preference.

Add sheep or goat pellets. These are high in protein, which is important for deer. Many people make the mistake of only feeding deer corn, which is high in carbohydrates but low in protein. Deer need protein to be healthy.

Add in fruit. Deer like apples, blackberries and many other fruits.

Cover the mix with honey and peanut butter. Both the sweetness of the honey and the protein and fat of the peanut butter are irresistible to deer. You shouldn't feed deer honey and peanut butter every day, but it definitely makes for a good deer lure or an occasional treat.

Tinker with the proportions. What food that draws the deer best depends on what your area already has to offer. If you already have a lot of poorly guarded corn growing in the area for example, the deer will be less interested in your dried feed corn, but may still lake your acorns and apples.

Isaiah David

Isaiah David is a freelance writer and musician living in Portland, Ore. He has over five years experience as a professional writer and has been published on various online outlets. He holds a degree in creative writing from the University…

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