I’ll be the first to admit, I am a sucker for hunting gimmicks. I love em!
Deer blocks fell into this class and I’ve bought enough in my time to build a grand pyramid of compressed deer goodness to rival similar structures in Egypt.
I always just assumed that if the deer took a bite/lick off the block then perhaps it was worth the money to let the coons obliterate the rest.
I always wondered, do the the deer really eat these things and if they do how often?
Well the fine folks at West Feeds in West, Texas volunteered one of their Apple Flavor Deer Protein Blocks for us to try. I was stunned by the results!
West Feeds Apple Flavor Deer Protein Blocks
For the sake of being completely transparent, the deer and exotics at Rancho Bandido have never had this brand/flavor of block before.
As a matter of fact, it has been at least a few years since I have “served” any sort of block to them concerned that the coons would just pummel the block and didn’t want to waste the money to feed those darn bandits.
Early July 2020 found me speaking to the fine folks at West Feeds about their West Feeds 20% deer protein pellets and I asked them, “what else do you have?”
He mentioned their Apple Flavor Deer Protein Blocks and my mind instantly drifted off to visions of fat feed bandits gorging themselves sick on the block under the bright Texas moon light.
Knowing the quality product West Feeds produces I asked for a block to test…coons or not!
As you can see, these blocks contain the necessary elements needed to help deer with body and antler development.
But I wondered, would the deer and exotics take to them?
Axis deer are like human kids.
They’ve got a sweet tooth and in my opinion are more attracted to sweet attractants than whitetail.
The axis deer pounded that block!
The whitetails were no slouches themselves!
During the test we had multiple whitetail does visit the block, sometimes even twice in the same night!
The kings of mob feeding, however, have to be the black buck antelope!
I was reminded that black buck antelope and axis deer do not have a normal breeding season in Texas such as our native game species do.
It’s often said that both species are basically pregnant year round.
One could very easily make the argument for year round supplemental feeding to help pregnant antelope and axis does.
We are thinking about putting these blocks near all major water sources to help our black buck and axis with their supplemental nutrition needs and do just that.
Ha! Ole Jr. cleans up the scraps!
But not before Pops gets his fill!
OK, this block must be good…male black buck antelope do not stop herding their harem for anything!
These are just a small sample of the pictures we got from a week’s worth of testing.
The block only lasted a week! So, yeah, I’m a believer and will be buying these blocks to support our supplemental feeding program.
But wait, where are the coon pictures?!
Well, the block was targeted by coons and the occasional opossum BUT they did not consume anywhere near the amount I worried they would…like the entire block!
In conclusion, West Feeds made a believer out of me. Their Apple Flavor Deer Protein Block works…and is affordable enough to be used at every feeding station!
Check it out over at https://westfeeds.com/product/apple-deer-protein-block/!