1.) bluecat - 01/18/2018

I took that nice hard white fat from the deer I killed in Nebraska. Ground it up and added peanut butter and birdseed to it. Formed it in a cake pan. Cut it in sections and froze.

Goes inside a wired suet feeder. Birds have really enjoyed the suet cakes and go through one a week. Just an idea of something you can do to get the most out of your deer.

2.) crookedeye - 01/18/2018

you no when they go back to there roost there going to be talking how gamey supper was..

3.) Swamp Fox - 01/18/2018

LOL ... They say the fat is one of the main things that will turn venison rank for humans. I never would have thought about using it for bird feed. But I guess suet is suet. :tu:

4.) crookedeye - 01/18/2018

when i feed birds i use bacon fat and ribeye fat and sunflower seeds..not none of this 3rd country deer fat and cheap peanut butter..

5.) Swamp Fox - 01/18/2018

If you use Jif or Skippy you can get away with deer or possum fat ... But if you go generic on the PB, you have to use prime fat to make up for it, or the birds won't eat it.

6.) bluecat - 01/18/2018

They are loving it. When it was so cold, I trudged out to the feeder, snapped in another cake, walked back to the house and turned around and they were already on it.

7.) bluecat - 01/18/2018

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;54301]If you use Jif or Skippy you can get away with deer or possum fat ... But if you go generic on the PB, you have to use prime fat to make up for it, or the birds won't eat it.[/QUOTE]

I don't know what brand of peanut butter that was, but in the future, I'll be more choosy...

8.) Swamp Fox - 01/18/2018

"Choosy moms choose Jif."

9.) crookedeye - 01/18/2018

[QUOTE=bluecat;54304]They are loving it. When it was so cold, I trudged out to the feeder, snapped in another cake, walked back to the house and turned around and they were already on it.[/QUOTE]

wait to you have one of those mean woodpeckers on it..they crash the party..

10.) crookedeye - 01/18/2018

somtimes i,m watching my feeder and a phukin woodpecker comes in...im like what the hell...all the little birds fly off..next thing you no all the greasy fat is gone..

11.) crookedeye - 01/18/2018

damm woodpeckers

12.) bluecat - 01/19/2018

The red headed woodpeckers are the sexiest.

13.) bluecat - 01/19/2018

[QUOTE=crookedeye;54313]somtimes i,m watching my feeder and a phukin woodpecker comes in...im like what the hell...all the little birds fly off..next thing you no all the greasy fat is gone..[/QUOTE]

I put a little treadmill by the food so they can work some of that Christmas fat off. I don't like lazy free loaders.

14.) Swamp Fox - 01/19/2018

It makes you think about animals that have to scratch around on the ground for food, using all their fat reserves up while heavy snow's on the ground. For instance, I can't imagine what turkeys are eating around here right now. The ground won't be accessible for another few days, unfrozen water's scarce, etc.

15.) bluecat - 01/19/2018

Good point. I see the birds eating snow sometimes. I've got a water tub out with a water heater in it. There are times when the whole tub is ringed by birds drinking.

I don't know how the deer get enough moisture when snow isn't available. I wish they would find the tub but it's probably too close to the house. I need a solar powered water heater next to the deer feeders, where solar recharges the batteries to power the stock tank heater.

I have a lot of hedge trees and in August my area was covered in hedge balls. By October the squirrels had eaten every single one.

16.) Swamp Fox - 01/19/2018

Deer get a lot of their water from plants. Years ago, I read how much, but don't remember now. But it was a major percentage-- Significantly more than 50%, as I recall. Around here they have some green to eat in winter.Some kinds of honeysuckle, though it's hard to tell if they don't eat the evergreen kind all the way down or we have mostly the non-evergreen. I'm pretty sure I've run into both kinds late winter. Jessamine. Greenbrier (smilax). Holly. Cedar. Rhododendron. Woody browse.

17.) Swamp Fox - 01/19/2018

The video and text here is good info ...


[url]https://www.qdma.com/northern-deer-get-water-winter/[/url]

18.) DParker - 01/19/2018

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;54320]Deer get a lot of their water from plants. Years ago, I read how much, but don't remember now. But it was a major percentage-- Significantly more than 50%, as I recall. Around here they have some green to eat in winter.Some kinds of honeysuckle, though it's hard to tell if they don't eat the evergreen kind all the way down or we have mostly the non-evergreen. I'm pretty sure I've run into both kinds late winter. Jessamine. Greenbrier (smilax). Holly. Cedar. Rhododendron. Woody browse.[/QUOTE]

Which goes a long way towards explaining why I've [I]never [/I]seen a deer at any of the numerous ponds, creeks or other little bodies of water scattered throughout the woods I hunt.