To hay or not to hay??

[j.krug]

The crops are all off now in and around the farm I hunt on. I was thinking of putting out some good hay for the deer to eat. Has anyone else ever put out hay and if so did the deer bother with it at all? I don't want to bother putting it out if it's a waste of time...and hay.

Thanks in advance. Jim

[GaryM]

We had a hard winter a few years back and someone kicked out a few bales of hay near a bottom where the deer were yarding. They never touched it. Also, on the farm I hunt they have round bales of alfalfa hay stored and I've never seen any sign that the deer were eating any of it. Gary

[j.krug]

Thanks Gary. Perhaps I'll reconsider putting hay out.

[Hazmat]

I put 2 hay bails out last year and nothing touched them
They get moldy where they contact the ground quickly so if you do place hay out try to keep it off the ground.

[j.krug]

Okay, thanks Hazmat.

[lscha]

That's interesting. We have had a hay bail behind the camp for about 4 years. We've never seen deer near it but every year, when there is snow on the ground, we see tons of tracks coming and going right to the bail. The bail is, of course, black now but one of the guys decided to move it with his quad and when it partially unrolled, it was green inside.

[evaughan]

The crops are all off now in and around the farm I hunt on. I was thinking of putting out some good hay for the deer to eat. Has anyone else ever put out hay and if so did the deer bother with it at all? I don't want to bother putting it out if it's a waste of time...and hay.

Thanks in advance. Jim

Those harvested crop fields are basically an all you can eat buffet for wildlife right now. You will probably have a hard time pulling the deer to bait untill the spillage from harvest is picked over or is covered with a hard snow/ice crust.

[Hoss]

They wont touch it unless there is 3ft of snow on the ground and nothing else is around...there is way to much browse they would rather have....infact one of the favorites to them is the tender leaves off of poison ivy. Ive sat in my stand and watched the pick that over other browse...go figure

[j.krug]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate the helpful info.

[Ottawa Valley Lad]

Deer won't touch a bale of hay until there is nothing else for them to eat (snow on the ground). Put out a bag of apples and watch them disappear fast.

[Blue Lk]

My GF owns 4 horses & they get lots of hay,both round & square bales.There lots of deer on her property,we have never once seen deer touch the hay.
If they get a chance to get at the "sweet feed",thats a different story.They love that stuff.(basicly molasass & grain)

[Crispy]

I put a mix of corn, apples, and hay in front of my trail cam one harsh winter knowing the corn and apples would disapear quickly. The hay was never touched.

[GaryM]

infact one of the favorites to them is the tender leaves off of poison ivy. Ive sat in my stand and watched the pick that over other browse...go figure

I watched a dozen bluebirds yesterday having a feast on the little white poison ivy berries/seeds that were covering a vine growing up a locust tree. It's amazing animals can deal with poison ivy, and even eat it, and we can't even touch it. Gary

[j.krug]

Well I don't think I'll waste my time (or $$) putting any hay down.
I'll stick with the corn and maybe add some apples as well.

The last time I was in my stand I sat and watched several birds eating the white berries off the poison ivy vine also.

Thanks for the helpful imput everyone.