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Other uses for deer corn?

13K views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  jarhead2nd 
#1 ·
I was thinking about caching a small stock of deer corn for future use. A 50lb shelled bag is $5. I was thinking about Food saver them and if/when SHTF, and it is middle of winter, I want to be able to easily attract deer to hunt. If they have nothing to eat, and the corn is their only choice, it makes for a easier catch. But has anyone thought of other uses for deer corn? Maybe use it for flour, eating it yourself, attracting smaller animals like squirrels.
 
#2 ·
Interesting idea. I have similar ideas along the line of a few salt licks. Just keep a salt block out so the deer know where it is. They will habitually use it, and if the time comes that I must get meat right now, I can plant myself in a spot to drop one on it's way from or to the salt lick. Try not to drop one AT the salt lick if you can help it. Salt licks, like watering holes, seem to draw a variety of critters. Just something to consider.
 
#5 ·
Salt is definitely the key to attracting deer, at least in my area anyway. Ive seen where a person has placed a block in their pasture for their cattle or horses, and long after they were gone the deer came in and literally dug a hole in the ground in their attempts to get all the salt. Ive also heard that molassess works well in combination with the salt.
 
#3 ·
You can store it in buckets like any other grain. Kept dry, it'll be good for many years. Unless it's somehow medicated or something, it should be safe to eat. It's just plain old field corn and that stuff makes really good cornmeal. Ahh, venison stew and a big hunk of cornbread. Now we're talkin'.
 
#7 ·
I believe the original poster was talking about bags of shelled field corn sold in states where it is legal to bait deer to a hunting stand with it.

I encourage you to plant open pollinated corn and other grains in a food plot instead. Not only will it feed more critters, and feed them over a longer period of time, but the knowledge you will gain about planting and harvesting grain could help feed you as well.

btw, one acre (44,000 ft2) of open pollinated corn can yield 100 bu (6,000 lbs) of grain.
All it takes is a small planter, cultivating out the weeds, and some manure...and I am sure you all have a lot of that to spare.
 
#8 ·
I encourage you to plant open pollinated corn and other grains in a food plot instead. Not only will it feed more critters, and feed them over a longer period of time, but the knowledge you will gain about planting and harvesting grain could help feed you as well.
Naaahhh! Sorry, gotta disagree with you on that one there Hicks.

I believe the original question was for a SHTF situation.
Instead of all that planting etc... whip the "deer" corn out of your preps
attract a deer or other edible game, drop him, clean him, & feed your
family right now. Not plant and wait and see...months down the road.

I think this is a fabulous idea. I have 6 bags sitting in the barn right
now that is going in to my preps. Thanks Tictactowing!:thumb:

Doginit
 
#9 ·
Don't eat it your self! I had the same idea, and someone on these boards pointed out to me that deer corn is high in aflatoxins, and that's why it is designated as "deer corn". Aflatoxins are hepatoxic and can cause liver cancer.:eek: A salt block is good to attract deer. Another idea is to plant rutabagas and the deer will come out to eat the greens at dusk. Then you get to eat both venison and rutabagas which is a more balanced diet.:)
 
#10 ·
Hmmmm.... this is interesting.... in a serious SHTF, there would be NO mechanical farm machinery, therefore, just exactly how would our wildlife survive???? (without the corn/soybean fields)

I'm thinking that wildlife would start dropping dead all over the place, from starvation?
 
#16 ·
They would just continue eating what they normally eat when there are no crops. The fields won't stay fallow either and grasses will still grow in them.

However; deer corn I think is not a great idea. You'd have to manage it for overconsumption.

If a deer eats too much "pure" corn it may die without feeding you.

Deer are ruminids and corn pretty much just desolves once cracked. In a deer's first stomach it may cause an infection that will lead to it's death.

You can contact the PA State Game Commission for more info.
 
#12 ·
You can farm without modern machinery. Humans did for thousands of years.
YES... humans grew crops for thousands of years... but NOT on a MASSIVE AG/Farm level like they do now! Hence... that makes a difference.

I notice you are in Idaho. I've never been to Idaho. I'm only familiar with my cornfield/soybean area. I can tell you right now.... winter bird feeding is always interesting. I live in the heart of smalltown USA, and every winter the deer and ***** have NO problem walking our streets in the middle of the night... raiding our bird feeders.

They have learned to depend on us.
 
#14 ·
There will certainly be less of those tasty soybean plants for the white tail to eat, but they remember how to eat natural foods and with the amount of land coming out of production and returning to brush, there will be a lot more cover for them to hide in. All in all I expect the deer population to be impacted by human hunting more than food.

Human population is concentrated in only a few areas of the country. While the deer might be hunted hard in the east and the south, there are few folks in the upper midwest and the short grass states.

Don't forget that many farm crops will reseed them selves in the absence of herbicide use.
 
#20 ·
I was not refering to putting out all 50lbs at once. I deer hunt, and we have feeders, but I thought I would put some away to ATTRACT deer, and not send them down a buffet line. If it was winter, and they have little to eat, I would think corn would be a great VISE for them. I learned that you don't put corn out in a huge pile but throw it around. Make them work for it. Two reasons not to put it in one large pile.
1 They would gorge themselves
2 If it gets wet, and mildews/rots they wont eat any of it, even if some of the corn is still good.
 
#21 ·
They would just continue eating what they normally eat when there are no crops. The fields won't stay fallow either and grasses will still grow in them.

However; deer corn I think is not a great idea. You'd have to manage it for overconsumption.

If a deer eats too much "pure" corn it may die without feeding you.

Deer are ruminids and corn pretty much just desolves once cracked. In a deer's first stomach it may cause an infection that will lead to it's death.
That's nonsense,I have raised several deer and feed them all on corn.
 
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