I make my feeders out of 4-inch plastic pipe. I put a 2-inch “port” on the side to keep bait dry and food from falling out. Am trying dry molasses with a little trailing scent on the tree above. Will see how long it takes coon to discover and work them. Dry molasses was $13+. For 50 pounds. Can’t get cheap dog/cat food for that

It’s kind of interesting. This dry molasses (Black Jack Molasses) has a slight chocolate odor to it. It should be interesting to see if it draws coon just because of this. Locklear’s Coon Crack has a mild chocolate smell to it also

I use dry molasses a lot works good for me. I had a five gallon bucket left over 1 yr and the coons got in my barn somehow got the lid off and eat the whole bucket of course they turned it over and we're it was on the ground it looked like a bomb went off. They loved it from what I've seen!
Colt

I'll be interested to see how this goes. I pre-baited with corn and molasses last year in three different areas, only one spot was it real effective. The guys around here that bait deer for months on end have a lot of coon in their feeders, but they also don't want trappers in their making kills as they believe it will scare the deer away if they smell another animal died there. So they just keep feeding the hoards of coon. Not sure if there is any truth to that, but good luck convincing them either way. I just keep to my side of the river bottom and trap whatever wanders that way. Not worth the feud.

Like Nd native, I try to avoid conflict with deer hunters even when I have permission to trap. Sometimes it’s exclusive permission to
be on the property! Deer hunters are a strange lot. Many ( in my experience) assume “permission” granted to them gives them exclusive rights. Had a run-in with a bow hunter I’ve had a good relationship with for 5-6 years. He hunts daily for 40 days straight but I’m “disrupting” his hunt for the 10 days between his early 40 and the 40 days after I’m gone.

I’ve learned to lay low and stay out of people’s way. I’ll out-live them or find other permissions. Life goes on!

If dry molasses doesn’t work, I’ll go back to fish food pellets or dog food, and liquid smoke. Was hoping to use those in my DPs as bait on trails.

Keep us posted.

Yes, mixing any other outdoor activity with someones deer hunting seems to be akin to murdering their first born (and family pet). I don't get it.

Is it possible to get a picture of your feeder?

So.thi g I noticed at least here is them lil suckers will find a electric feeder in less than a few days but my take two weeks for a regular one. Once they find it how ever it becomes a regular spot on their travel route

Never tried pre baiting before. How early before season do you bait

I’m starting now just to see if I can spark some activity. So far, the dry molasses hasn’t done much. It seems to attract moisture and form a crust but it’s easily broken. Since I have a month before season, I’ll try different things to see what gets the most attention. Will probably use dogfood in my feeders with the outside sprayed with liquid smoke like Wade Ryan uses—-I should have done that in the first place but I’m also experimenting. Will keep you posted

Let's us know what u find

Kitty Litter bucket, with lid
1" hole on three sides
Wire bucket to tree
Dry Dog Food (Dollar Store)




I tried several different 'baits'. Dry Dog Food had the best results in my area, with this style of feeder.
I had a preconceived notion that Coon were hogs or hoggish when eating. I was wrong.
Watching video of Coon feeding at my buckets, they take their time eating. Reaching in hole and handling one nugget at a time. Eating one nugget at a time. Then reaching for another. This happens even when a litter is feeding. Each taking their turn.

I have been running three feeders since first of August. My feeders are regular round five gallon buckets with lids. I run a 1.5 inch diameter pvc pipe coming out from bottom ( like Sam Woods shows in his Burger King video). I have been running corn in mine with good activity. I have a camera on one with nightly visits from several coon. I agree with Hern I was expecting a larger volume of corn to be eaten quickly but thats not been the case. Its cool seeing them work the pipe. This is my first year putting feeders out....if nothing else it is something to do trapping related to scratch the itch.

Why do you want to pre bait $3.00 coon? LOL

lol good question Beav

They have their time and place. If someone is getting into trapping now I don't see any harm in it and especially if there's children involved they'll love the multiple coons. I haven't pre-baited personally since coon fell off the wagon...just no incentive for me. Watching those coons eat one handful of a time might happen now when food is plentiful, but I think if you follow it up as the crops come out and food becomes scarce you'll see a pretty big change. Once the food isn't as abundant greed will take over, and they can get going pretty good on a feeder. The good news is the more noise and commotion they make the more coons you'll have at your feeder. During the early pre-baiting I would have usually a family of coons, and a few stragglers throughout the night. Once they start to fight you'll have 10-15 coons on a feeder at a time. There's no taking turns then.

I'll use feeders in order to help with the catch when taking out my nephew. Kind of like insurance to help guarantee he'll be going home covered in coon grease. Ha

The value of prebaiting in a down market is to locate as many groups as I can in new areas. Or where the regional crops have changed from corn to alfalfa or soybeans. Well that, and the fact that I’ll trap coon no matter what the price is. I’m like the guy who said if he won the lottery, he’d trap till it was gone! It’s an addiction for me since I don’t golf, hunt or watch football. It gets me out of the house, burns off pounds and keeps me in touch with the farming community.

Guess it depends on where you are, but Teacher isn't far from me. I averaged $13 and change last year. Guess it depends on how cheap you can get the feed if you're doing it for the return....but who in this market really Is, anyhow.

An Update to dried molasses. Too much rain to tell but it looks like something is hitting the feeders. Dried molasses forms a film/firm layer when it gets damp. Damp also includes moisture from the air after you open the bag! It’s easy to break through but it might be a deterrent. At the second check of the feeders, I put a half a teaspoon of Jonesie’s banana oil on the tops of the feeders and it made a big difference in the feeders getting visited. I know because they scraped the paint off the outside of the feeders to get at it—-but didn’t do much in terms of the molasses powder pulled out.

Yesterday, I Poured out the molasses powder and refilled with fish food pellets. On the outside of the feeders, I sprayed liquid smoke. This has worked for me in the past. I’ll know by Monday (assuming it stops raining!!). It’s all ‘education’ to me. If I can locate coon in areas that are now surrounded by soybean fields, it helps me when season starts.

It’s been non-stop rain or at least it feels like it. The fish pellet bait sprayed heavily with liquid smoke and goodies seems to be drawing them in. The feeders were less than half full but I was expecting some scratched up areas. Not yet anyway. I set a feeder where I found lots of activity just to keep them interested after the corn comes out. Will set up a trail camera after it stops raining.

So that when I take my 12 year old son out to all of the feeders on Friday night and let him set a half dozen DPs around each feeder, on Saturday and Sunday mornings he has coon caught everywhere. He loves being able to say he catches more coon on the weekends than his old man does all week long.

Dump some used fryer oil on the ground around those feeders and let the coon put out your trailing scent for you.

I definitely wouldn't do it for $3 coon,but averaging $17 per coon and catching 10-20 just off the feeders plus what I can catch rd trapping there and back per day makes a decent payday while still working full time.

For me, coon meat pays expenses and everything else is a check.

We always hear about the $15 coon but never hear about all of the fuel expense,bait,time,ordering supplies,shipping charges,expense driving to conventions,commission fees,running freezers,heat,licenses,scouting,etc.etc. It costs money to buy bait and put gas in the truck but none of that stuff ever gets talked about.It all comes down to being efficient and income vs. expense when talking about making money trapping.$10 here and $5 there,if one would keep a journal of all that wasted money through out the year,it might surprise some.I work off a want and needs list.Google Earth and a phone saves me a lot of time and money.

This is exactly why I set out some feeders last year. Otherwise I would take my nephew and hope we caught something that day. With the feeders I can just about guarantee a catch or two.

I don't think I could profit from setting them out though since there is time/money in buying the corn that I put in them and gas used to go set them and then refill once.

What about your trip to the fur buyer,electricity,heat,storage,.22 shells,etc. do you figure all that into your profit? A catch or 2 per trip doesn't appear to be profitable.

If you don't figure it, you're lying to yourself.

Trapping doesn't always have to be a money making deal guys. I doesn't have to be profitable for some as long as you enjoy it. How much money do you make bow hunting, fishing, camping, or any other hobby you may have? Sometimes it just comes down to enjoying the time spent and the catches made.

Well if your already going from point a to point b ( which air port sounds like hes doing )and your able to trap roads you spend say and extra 20 min setting up coon feeders one day. Coon feeders don't have to be complicated. A 5gal bucket with two pieces of pvc stuck through them. You can usually find old 5gal buckets with lids on an on the side of the road down here so that free and most of us all ready have scrap pipe so free again for a feeder.

As for bait you can go to a feed store and ask if they have any damaged bags of corn sweet feed dog food act. They usually have a few a week that are just taking up space or attracting rats.you can usually get it for real cheap or free.heck you can drop of a 55gal drum and tell em you'll haul off all their spilled feed theyd throw away weekly if they put it in the drum for you. You can go to the ole dollar General and ask if they have any damaged bags of pet food and they usually have one or two a week.even if you buy your corn,it's like 7.99 for 50bls of cheap deer corn here and you can fill like three or four five gal bucket feeders per bag. And they don't have to be filled 24/7. Once they know their food their their gonna keep visiting regularly. If your doing meat like air port is if each location get at least one coon a week . Fort one pays for bait and the next three is money for gas or what ever. Again averaging 17 bucks for just the carcass skin,gut,gland,bag and freeze. Really you could toss the fur and not even waste time handling fur if you want. Not to mention you can usually have folks ready to buy them carcasses before they had a chance to freeze. Especially around the holidays.
It's a lil different of a ball game than fur

I let the deer hunters feed.

Truth be told, keeping track of every expense shows how much trapping costs me. Even with a loss for the season, I still get some some $ for my efforts. And yet, sitting in front of the TV or driving to fishing spots on catchless days, or all the time in tree stands when I used to bow-hunt, and rarely bringing game home cost just as much with NO financial return.

Update on feeders. The fish food pellets are being hit pretty well. I got a gallon of liquid smoke for $12 last year and adding this is helping, I’m sure. I can smell it from 10 ft away and no doubt the coon can too.

This.

Making a profit on fur is nice, no argument here; however I can't put a price on the look on my 12 year olds face when she walks up to a coon in a trap she set. Or when I watch her skin, flesh, and board a pile of $4 coon. Or when she averages $6 on her lot of coon and wants to use the money to buy more traps. It's not always about the money.

x2!!!!

I use to use feeders, but now dig all my baits in. I believe it makes the site work longer because the smell of what ever you are using gets in the soil. I have had coon Fox, coyote Bear and deer dig in the spots for months because the smell is in the soil. Molasse and persimmon oil mixed with meat fish or grain really works well in feeders or ground.

How often do you guys refill the feeders?

I was wrong Wolfdog, I didn't know Teacher has a Meat Market. Good Luck

I re-apply about a quart to the loose soil about every 10 days.