deer feeders

warpipe · Post by **warpipe** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:50 pm

Usually late in the season we have lot's of snow and the deer head for the feeder. This year being exceptionally mild without any snow the deer are still grazing in the field's and the feeder is almost ignored. I guess we won't have to cut down any cedar this year!

STEELWORKER · Post by **STEELWORKER** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:52 am

i will start feeding deer here soon, as soon as muzzleloader season is over in a few weeks. corn and mineral licks.

knobby · Post by **knobby** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 7:06 am

M&M wrote:well knobby dumb deer taste good too!!! so I'm okay with them too I thought about making some of the pvc gravity feed type of feeders for next year they would be inexpensive to make and not a major loss if stolen, the trail camera would be nice but my shopping list for the next year is allready much larger than my wife can imagine. so I try to do as much on the cheap end as possible. M&M

I dont like gravity feeders because it makes the feed available 24/7 for the $^%$*^% coons. And let a big flock of turkeys find a gravity feeder lol

Have you seen a bucket/dowel setup before?
The deer can reach it and get feed when they want to but all the other critters cant.

the elf · Post by **the elf** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 7:31 am

Knobby--- Could you possibly post pictures of the--- bucket/dowel setup ?---I have seen the one with the 4 inch pvc pipe and the squirrels and coons just love it and will even chew holes in plastic to get at the corn.

A.W · Post by **A.W** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:47 am

GaryL wrote:
M&M wrote:Yah they look very simple to build I got some planes to build. So simple even a cave man could do it!!!! Ha Ha M&M
Watch it bud my cave men friends just might, I say just might take offence to that attitude, what ya think A.W., PRB

Ug!!!

knobby · Post by **knobby** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:45 pm

the elf wrote:Knobby--- Could you possibly post pictures of the--- bucket/dowel setup ?---I have seen the one with the 4 inch pvc pipe and the squirrels and coons just love it and will even chew holes in plastic to get at the corn.

I dont have any pictures of a homemade one....but here is one made by Moultrie.

That pic should give you a good idea. It is basically a bucket with a hole cut in the bottom. Then you take a length of dowel rod and drive a long nail thru it several inches from one end. Insert the dowel thru the hole from the inside so that it hangs on the nail....the nail must be wider than the hole.

There needs to be alittle dowel(maybe 2-3") sticking up inside the bucket....and the hole must be slightly larger than the dowel to make room for corn to fall out.

Like in the pic....deer bump the dowel and they can get alittle corn to fall out. You can 'bait' the end of the dowel with molassess or peanutbutter to attract them to the end of the dowel.

If you hang it well....the deer can get it while most other critters will have a very hard time with it.

If you dont want to make things yourself....buy the Moultrie.

But as you can see....such a simple device would be very easy to make at home.....probably for FREE with stuff you already have sittin around.

the elf · Post by **the elf** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:42 pm

Thank you-------you are probably right------I probably have most of the stuff in my-------I MIGHT NEED THAT SOMEDAY PILE.------ lol.

poordave · Post by **poordave** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:13 pm

I found pics of the bucker/ dowel feeder in the archives. One addition is necessary. Cut a piece of anykind of metal a couple inches wider than the lid and then bolt it to the lid. I had a squirrel chisel a 1" gap on the side of the lid & then it cut a very nice round hole in the top so he could climb in side. A nice engineering job. Dave

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:18 pm

the elf wrote:Knobby--- Could you possibly post pictures of the--- bucket/dowel setup ?---I have seen the one with the 4 inch pvc pipe and the squirrels and coons just love it and will even chew holes in plastic to get at the corn.

Elf here is a previous posting on instructions for the bucket feeder.
http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... ket+feeder

It is very easy to make and use. Good luck.

knobby · Post by **knobby** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:52 pm

poordave wrote:I found pics of the bucker/ dowel feeder in the archives. One addition is necessary. Cut a piece of anykind of metal a couple inches wider than the lid and then bolt it to the lid. I had a squirrel chisel a 1" gap on the side of the lid & then it cut a very nice round hole in the top so he could climb in side. A nice engineering job. Dave

yes....squirrels are very determined lol and they always seem to find a way

another thing that I have had happen... I hung the bucket with rope and the coons were climbing out on the limb and repelling down the rope like a dam rock climber....as evidenced by coon tracks on top of my bucket.

They eventually got the bright idea of chewing through the rope....dropping the entire feeder to the ground where they could get at it.

They dont give up easily.

But atleast youre not out much $$$ if they destroy it....although it can be very aggravating.

bsmith · Post by **bsmith** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:29 am

I have had good success with 55 gallon 12 volt corn feeders throwing just corn in the am and pm and having a free choice protein feeder all year long nearby. I have hunted this property for years and once I started feeding protein free choice along with timed corn feeders I have kept and held more deer on my property and don't loose as many now to the neigbors. Yeah its expensive and the deer and coons mainly raid the feeders at night but the deer stay close by waiting for the corn in the daylight and eventually the big one will make a mistake!

TPM · Post by **TPM** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:37 am

There's a couple of the bucket and dowel feeders in the area where we hunt (not mine). My wife was hunting near one and she sat and watched a squirrel run up the tree, across the branch and jump onto the top of the feeder. This caused the feeder to move enough to release some feed. He then ran down and ate and repeated the process over and over again until he had a belly full.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:12 am

TPM, yes there are still precautions which need to be taken to illiminate most unwanted dinner crashers

. In that above link, there was instructions on how to make the bucket feeder and how to hang it. This info has been suggested by people that use them all the time and have great success with them.

Now when hanging the pail. Try to make sure your pail is atleast 8 feet from the trunk of a tree to prevent tree jumpers (coons and squirels). Also, hang it high enough that the deer will be able to reach the dowel by raising their head, but the coons will not be able to reach it, even by jumping. I will be putting peanut butter on the dowel to train the deer to move the dowel to get the corn

Using this above method, you will iliminate most unwanted guests from the dinner table.

Country · Post by **Country** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:29 pm

It's illegal to feed deer in my area during deer season. I do feed them from January through March when I have to stop due to the large numbers of bears hanging out on my property. I don't feed them to draw them in but rather to insure their good health going into spring. There is quite a differance to the appearance of my deer in the spring (all fat and happy) and those on adjoining property (ribs showing, sunken hind quarters). My thoughts are that fat healthy deer will produce bigger racks. When I first got the place most Does only produced one fawn while others none at all. Now twins and triplets are common. My task now is to keep the deer thinned out to the right proportion as it relates to the habitat. By the way, I don't hunt my feeders nor my mineral blocks and I have set aside ten acres of thicket for a bedding area that I don't go into at all unless I'm desperate for meat and that hasn't happened yet.

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