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Baiting Mature Bucks.

Creamer

Active Member
1,584
81
Athens
Something I think is interesting, and I will admit I have not read through this whole thread, is the difference between a feeder and a pile. I've been experimenting on this with the yard deer behind the house this fall. I've got a hanging feeder with a motor. I had it set to feed roughly an hour before dark and an hour after sunrise. So in other words, the corn is on the ground in daylight. I'd still not very often see deer at the feeder during daylight. And I've got a camera there, so I'm not relying on visual sightings. If I take a bag of corn out there and dump it, within a day or so, I start seeing a lot more consistent daylight deer. It's like there's a bigger draw to them, knowing it's on the ground and they can see that it's there. Maybe I'm giving them more credit than they deserve, but I 100% see a difference between loose corn on the ground and a feeder mechanism delivering it early morning/late afternoon.
 

Stressless

Active Member
2,126
85
Keene, OH
What I found with spin [timer] feeders rather than gravity feeders is the spook factor, deer within a certain range go on full afterburner away within 200 or so yards or so of a spin feeder when it goes off.... seen this visual and cameras.

Got pics and vids of bucks and does feeding close to a timer and then it goes off - fur blur - bigger bucks take a long time if ever coming back from that negative experience.

Got rid of spin feeders and no similar issues with gravity feeders. Also much less waste feed going to secondary species like coons and such relative to putting it on the ground.

Just my $.02 and observations.

If OH would just get the stones and outlaw baiting I'd be much happier overall.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Something I think is interesting, and I will admit I have not read through this whole thread, is the difference between a feeder and a pile. I've been experimenting on this with the yard deer behind the house this fall. I've got a hanging feeder with a motor. I had it set to feed roughly an hour before dark and an hour after sunrise. So in other words, the corn is on the ground in daylight. I'd still not very often see deer at the feeder during daylight. And I've got a camera there, so I'm not relying on visual sightings. If I take a bag of corn out there and dump it, within a day or so, I start seeing a lot more consistent daylight deer. It's like there's a bigger draw to them, knowing it's on the ground and they can see that it's there. Maybe I'm giving them more credit than they deserve, but I 100% see a difference between loose corn on the ground and a feeder mechanism delivering it early morning/late afternoon.


You're not wrong. I think a lot of people have had this same observation. Even though a pile of corn is unnatural, it's way more naturally familiar than a spin feeder. But gravity feeders don't seem to have the same spook factor.