# Alfalfa hay for deer?



## bg (May 21, 2004)

I've been reading about alfalfa and whitetails and see a lot of contradictory information on the interwebz about this. I was thinking of putting some alfalfa hay in my feeder pen, probably building a barrel feeder for it to keep it dry, but some of what I'm reading says they won't eat the hay, some says they'll eat it if they're really hungry, some says they can't get enough of it and will go through 2 bales a week and so on.

Has anyone personally used alfalfa hay for whitetails and if so, what was your experience? Did it seem to attract them or did they just happen to munch on it if they were already moving through an area and it was there?

Thanks for the feedback!


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## patwilson (Jan 13, 2006)

Good friend of mine turned me on to this and it is working well per game cam pics.
We just set it out less than two weeks ago. You can find it at some feed stores.
$13-$16 a bag. We laid it down then cut the top out and put drain holes on bottom for rain.

http://www.chaffhaye.com/


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## bighrt4 (Oct 26, 2012)

I've been asking people about alfalfa this fall because the deer just aren't coming to the feeders. I'm going to try some alfalfa bales next year.


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## sboudreaux (May 22, 2008)

patwilson said:


> Good friend of mine turned me on to this and it is working well per game cam pics.
> We just set it out less than two weeks ago. You can find it at some feed stores.
> $13-$16 a bag. We laid it down then cut the top out and put drain holes on bottom for rain.
> 
> http://www.chaffhaye.com/


This! I put mine in an alfalfa feeder I used to run square bales through. This stuff doesn't last as long as the alfalfa but they cannot get enough of it!


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

I feed it and have for years. I bring in the big bales and set them out under cover and the deer spend a lot of time picking on it. 

You need to get a real leafy, small stem hay for deer. Most of what I see around is too thick stemmed and the deer leave a lot of waste.

Once we get a killing frost deer will really hit it hard.


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## bg (May 21, 2004)

Yeah, our feeder traffic has been hit and miss. The does were pretty regular right before the season opened and have now pretty much abandoned it. I've got some young bucks hitting them sporadically but always late at night. Corning the road where they cross seems to stop them in the road but I'd prefer to have something pulling them into the feeder pen. I broadcast some perennial rye a few weeks ago but don't expect to see it coming up until Jan sometime.

Ultimately, if I can ever get this feeder pen tight enough to keep the javelina out (but that's another issue altogether) I want to setup a buffet for the deer with corn, protein and alfalfa, if it's going to be utilized.


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## old 37 (Nov 30, 2014)

White Tail like it ,but it's fantastic for Axis. They love it.


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## Captn C (May 21, 2004)

I put it out in Menard when I was on a lease there and the deer went crazy over it when it very dry and food was short, after it greened up they never touched it.


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## ksk (Aug 9, 2008)

When I hunted years ago,I would put it [when I could find it]near my feeders.It's like cocaine! The deer love it and could not get enough of it.Also,many ranches in south Texas feed it to their pen raised deer.


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## Huntnfish (Apr 20, 2005)

We feed it also, a bail will only last 2 weeks at our place


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## tc hardhead (Jun 19, 2006)

I put mine in a hay feeder and at first the deer avoid it like its scaring them but after a few weeks they will eat a bail quick. I guess because its a foreign food source to them.


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## Troutman123 (Mar 21, 2007)

*Like Choclate*

Ice Cream used it in mountains in NM elk & deer went to it like cocaine


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## coogerpop (Sep 3, 2009)

When we hunted the Junction area,we couldn't put out enough. ...they would literally wait in the woods for us to clear the pen so they could chow down.


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## Mr. Saltwater (Oct 5, 2012)

Last year I bought a bale of alfalfa from a guy selling it on the side of the road because I needed one to shoot my bow into and didn't want to drive to the feedstore for a cheaper coastal bale. Set it in my Brother-in-laws back yard on the edge of a wooded tract in October and forgot about it. Saw him at Christmas and he asked me what kind of hay it was because he had seen 9 different bucks eating it.
Put some out at the lease this October but it remains pretty much untouched.


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## POCsaltdog (Nov 26, 2014)

The first time I used it I was ****** because it didn't work. We hunted on a nice high fenced ranch in S. Texas with tons of corn feeders, but no protein at the time, I think? Maybe a little? Anyway, Deer didn't touch the alfalfa for two weeks. After two weeks they were on it and couldn't get enough of it. I hear it will spook some deer herds that are accustomed to a lot of acreage and see very little pressure or change. I believe that's what happened in my case, but it worked like CRAZY. Stick with it.


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## cujo489 (Aug 30, 2013)

I just put up an alfalfa feeder on my place in Menard, deer eatin it and the axis love it! I built a barrel feeder to put it in. Some other guys i know use it and the animals are tearing it up.


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## rookie06 (Oct 1, 2005)

I throw 2 bales out on the ground for the axis every time I'm at the lease. The whitetail have been getting after it just as much as the axis.


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## sixshootertexan (Nov 27, 2006)

Deer on our lease eat it. Something else that worked this year for us was goat feed. We had a leftover bag of $10 goat feed so I poured it out on a trail the deer use. Son shot he's big buck while it was eating the feed. All the deer standing in this shot was eating it.


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## patwilson (Jan 13, 2006)

Nice buck!



sixshootertexan said:


> Deer on our lease eat it. Something else that worked this year for us was goat feed. We had a leftover bag of $10 goat feed so I poured it out on a trail the deer use. Son shot he's big buck while it was eating the feed. All the deer standing in this shot was eating it.


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## lep1979 (Jul 11, 2012)

I am close to rocksprings and I started putting out last spring for the axis ,but come to find out the deer in my area love it , 4 bales last about a week . Trying to come up with some hay feeder ideas for next year. Really high source of Protein and they ate all summer long. Actually hit it way more then protein feed. That being said they like fresh from feed store vs the compressed bales from tractor supply.


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## bg (May 21, 2004)

I wish I had Axis to feed hay to...

This is the sort of thing I'm considering building if the deer will use it. Probably not this nice but similar.


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## Sean Hoffmann (May 24, 2004)

I feed alfalfa in a All Sesons hay feeder. Holds two bales. The deer love it.

http://www.allseasonsfeeders.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?id=1221


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## Tail'in around (Oct 12, 2006)

Sean Hoffmann said:


> I feed alfalfa in a All Sesons hay feeder. Holds two bales. The deer love it.
> 
> http://www.allseasonsfeeders.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?id=1221


Got to get me one of these for next year!!!!


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## Brute (Apr 29, 2009)

That's what I need too. If I put it on the ground the hogs will destroy it.


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## g2outfitter (Jul 21, 2009)

Here I. JUNCTION if I throw a bail out and take both wires off I get about 6 days pff a bail. They love it. If I leave both wires on 13-15 days. Thats on the ground. Hopeing to build a Hay feeder this spring. I see my best bucks on game cam when I start feeding the Alfalfa. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

I going to try the Alfalfa hay if the local feed stores around Beeville have it.


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## Rubberback (Sep 9, 2008)

I'm getting desperate so I'm gonna give it a try. They aren't coming to corn here. During the drought the last 4 years I had deer at the feeder every time I went. Nothing this year. But I don't want a drought. I'll buy some alfalfa from Chuck Norris he sells it & he's just right down the street.


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