Can these products make the deer go away?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\nI had an Uncle who would go by the local grocery stores and buy all the apples that were over ripe. He would then place piles of those out of date apples at various locations around his deer stands to attract deer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, times have changed as there are a plethora of commercially made deer attractors on the market. These days, the question seems to revolve around choosing the best deer attractant to mix with corn?<\/p>\n\n\n\nNice buck feeding at a homemade deer feeder using a mix of corn and Acorn Rage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn this article, I will discuss the common questions associated with deer additives for corn and then look at my choices for the ten best corn additives and why they are my favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/i> A Word of Warning<\/p><\/div>
Before starting any supplemental deer feeding or “baiting” (as it’s sometimes called), it’s vital to check your local or state regulations before to ensure that these types of activities are legal in your area. Also, I’d suggest checking those same regulations in your state about adding an attractant to corn or feed because some states have regulations against using any man made products for supplemental deer feeding. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Understanding How Deer Find Food<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBefore we get too far along in this post, it’s essential to understand some basic deer behavior. Whitetail deer are predominantly classified as herbivores, although there have been confirmed incidents where they will also feed on small mammals and fish if their preferred food sources are unavailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the most part, whitetail deer are like most other animal species because they require a certain amount of daily food to maintain their health. How much food? Biologists estimate that the average whitetail consumes an estimated 2000 pounds of food annually. Because of their ongoing need to feed, deer researchers believe that whitetails spend about 70% of their waking hours searching for food or consuming a food source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While deer are equipped with the same basic senses that humans have, a deer’s keen sense of smell is its most powerful sense. Deer use their noses more than any other sense, and their sense of smell is the primary method they use to locate food. Rather than go into depth about why deer have such a keen nose, I covered a great deal of information in this post about the strength and range of a deer’s olfactory senses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Why use an Attractant with Corn<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAt my day job, one question I see being asked by new deer hunters is why use an attractant with corn if deer like to eat corn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are a couple of reasons that a hunter might want to add an attractant to corn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Stronger smell that may travel farther<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSince deer primarily use their nose to detect food, most all food-based attractants are built to be aromatic. In most cases, the attractants have a more pungent smell than the corn, so the stronger smell may travel farther, attracting more deer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Diversity of Smells<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhile deer like to eat corn, there are times when they seem to gravitate to other sources of food. For example, deer seem to really like apples and seem to prefer apples over raw corn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the leases I manage has several deer feeders and some apple trees I planted several years ago. When those apple trees bear ripe apples, I see more deer at the apple trees than at the feeders. When the apples stop producing, the deer return to the feeder more frequently. I also see similar behavior when certain food plot crops mature as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This leads me to believe that, when available, deer prefer apples over corn. However, it also makes me think that the different odor offered by the attractant may be enough to bring in the deer that are only marginally interested in the corn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Adding nutritional value to the deer diet<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSome commercially made attractant options on the market also feature vitamins and minerals that are a critical nutritional piece for antler development and overall deer health. Typically, these materials are introduced to a whitetail’s diet through various natural food sources. However, there may be times when those food sources are unavailable or are insufficient to support a larger number of deer. Therefore, some hunters add these types of attractors to corn to attract deer and as a means to supplement these nutritional components in the deer’s diet.<\/p>\n\n\n