IBA supports feeding baiting bill
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dedgeez
death from above
Most of the products that are used for supplemental feeding were designed by wildlife biologists! And Im sorry but every study I have ever read (which are thousands) has contradicted your point, except the ones that talk about nose to nose contact spreading diseases (which is all speculation in the whitetail world). Give me the names of the biologists that you have talked to and I will call them. I have personally spoke to James Kroll and I don't think he would share your views.
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singlecoyote
Proud member of the IBA
You need to realize that unless you have a constant supply of food for them it will run out and there lies a problem. The deer become conditioned to relying on the supplemental food and when it's gone, they are in trouble. Unless you are dumping it weekly by the wagon load right next to their bedding area, you will end up doing harm.
So your saying there is no room for improvement and that adding minerals to a deer's diet is a waste of time and money? There are a lot of livestock farmers in Iowa wasting millions of dollars then.
nannyslayer
New Member
This is a great discusion. You are correct, they did survive, but I can tell you this, we have more healthy deer going into winter and coming out of winter before we started our program.
But this is not 100% about whitetails, take the whitetail blinders off for just one minute. Lets talk about pheasant and turkeys as well. Was last winter hard on them? I guess in my opinion, yes, probably one of the hardest in decades. I think we saved a bunch of them by feeding them through the hard times. Maybe we hurt them, maybe we lowered the populations.
hotshott2289
Active Member
I know that on all of our farms with standing corn/soybeans the turkeys flock to them in the winter and imo this is helping with the high numbers we are starting to see every year now
singlecoyote
Proud member of the IBA
Just for the record, deer typically browse in the winter. They literally feed in their bedroom, thus limiting travel and conserving energy and fat reserves. This should be kept in mind if you are doing any supplemental feeding. That article earlier touched on this a little, thats why I posted the link.
Now I'm done.
Now I'm done.
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nannyslayer
New Member
I have a system that works, and it works great, and no, the worst thing you can do is dump a wagon load at a time out, need to keep them supplimented to a point, where they do not become dependant of it, just keeps their body weight on the up side, but still an amount where natural browse is needed to keep them going.
blake
Life Member
singlecoyote
Proud member of the IBA
Seriously? You make it sound like you have feeder calves. Better get water for them too! You don't even know how many deer you are feeding, a number that is changing daily.
nannyslayer
New Member
No, your wrong, feeder calves are much cheaper as I have those as well.
It doesn't realy matter on the number of them, as yes it does change daily, but the fact of the matter is, that it helps. I'm not just feeding corn (if you have feeder calves you would know why) but mixing in a high fat and protien concentrate as well.
Enough of the deer though. Half of the winter feeding we do is for pheasants and turkeys, you have failed to mention anything about them, it always rolls back to the ultimate whitetail.
After a few phone calls, the risk of spreading disease is the least of the DNR's concerns on this bill.
This issue doesn't make me as heated as others (Ie. Shed Buck season 
). I will say that I do have a big benefit for the herd with what I've always done, my use of minerals has shown to be really beneficial. Just like it's beneficial to cows. I put it out for the bucks with body weight, parasite resistance, antler growth (mass, kickers, inches, etc) and as a nutrition supplement. There is absolutely a benefit. It helps with milk for fawns, it actually can increase fertility (more triplets for examples) which could be looked at as a negative, helps parasite resistance and gives deer needed nutrition/vitamins/minerals that are not available at that particular location (any farm is lacking in SOME area or another). Calcium, sodium, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, boron, etc, etc all have great benefits and if absent in natural environment can be negative. I find my biggest benefit with minerals BUT I also will take advantage of supplemental feeding if I think the herd has a super hard winter, ran out of food sources (like this year with how poor crop planting was) un-usually early, etc.
*Yes, I like taking pics over minerals as well BUT they are WORTHLESS come September for attracting deer- even if I could and wanted to: putting a mineral lick by my treestand would do NOTHING to bring in deer.
). I will say that I do have a big benefit for the herd with what I've always done, my use of minerals has shown to be really beneficial. Just like it's beneficial to cows. I put it out for the bucks with body weight, parasite resistance, antler growth (mass, kickers, inches, etc) and as a nutrition supplement. There is absolutely a benefit. It helps with milk for fawns, it actually can increase fertility (more triplets for examples) which could be looked at as a negative, helps parasite resistance and gives deer needed nutrition/vitamins/minerals that are not available at that particular location (any farm is lacking in SOME area or another). Calcium, sodium, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, boron, etc, etc all have great benefits and if absent in natural environment can be negative. I find my biggest benefit with minerals BUT I also will take advantage of supplemental feeding if I think the herd has a super hard winter, ran out of food sources (like this year with how poor crop planting was) un-usually early, etc.*Yes, I like taking pics over minerals as well BUT they are WORTHLESS come September for attracting deer- even if I could and wanted to: putting a mineral lick by my treestand would do NOTHING to bring in deer.
ironwood
Active Member
I want to support the IBA and the ban, but I want to know that they will tweak it a bit so it can make sence.
Also this has nothing to do with disease control this is about enforcement. The way things have developed over recent years the IDNR has to be overwelmed with baiting enforcement issues. There is clearly language that I could support but I have not seen it yet. I can tell by the responces here that opinions go far and wide on this one.
flugge
Well-Known Member
Thomas- IMO, I think that would be great, either give us set dates, or give us better reasoning. While I see most are against, myself included, I think that better guidelines, better reasoning would make a huge difference. I realize it has just been brought up, and there will be alot to come out, but thats the big thing. Most of us feel left in the dark IMO. I personally like the dates you proposed, and would love to see that. It makes more sense, because then if its out in the field, busted.
