Looking for deer feeder suggestions. Picked up another hunting property for whitetail and sika , it’s about an hours drive. So I’m going to set up a feeder on a timer with a cell cam to get an inventory of the new property. Maybe a couple feeders/cams depending on what I find scouting. Any suggestions on what to buy or not to buy?

Not looking to start the argument of feeder/no feeder, so please don’t. Just looking for suggestions from hunters that use deer feeders.

Thanks

My experience is spin feeders attract a lot of deer - but not a lot of older bucks. Spin feeders you can set the timing and duration so it doesnt run out in your absence. I like a standard moultrie. Run clean corn - not field run corn in a spinner or may clog up. Boss buck free choice feeders seem to attract more older bucks - but takes deer longer to get use to them. You cant control the use on a free choice feeder - could run out while you are away. Do you have bears?

No bears

… I’m with you Gary … nothing more than animal husbandry and spy games these days lol

^… hard to argue with that.. I digress lol

They are also effective when all your adjacent landowners also provide feed - through feeders or on the ground. We dont hunt the feed locations - but we do have a motto - out bait thy neighbor and kill your deer early in season

I use a suspended 55 gal feeder with a BOSS BUCK spin cast head best one I've ever used. I only run mine early in the morning for about 6 seconds.

Illegal in my state but then how much corn and beans do they need thousands of acres around these parts

Going with the electric/timer distribution?

I don’t use them but several properties I trap have them. I can only give you some secondhand info. The electric/timer distributors sound like the way to go. The manual or “bump” distributors are easily manipulated by coons.

Before feeders became illegal in Michigan because of deer covid, I found the sound of the feeder was an attractor itself. I had to set timer about 2 hours before dark, it got bucks out before dark, if they waited till dark all the feed was long gone. I had deer come to empty feeders that still timed spun for several seconds.

Do hunt over these feeders or use to supplement the wildlife?

I use a Boss Buck. Its gravity fed and corn, peanuts, or pellets have worked fine in it. I feed peanuts from Jan-Sept the corn generally mid Sept-Dec. That gives them the protein and fat when they need it and the carbs when they need it. Of course Mother Nature provides all that as well, I’m just helping them out with a little extra.
I’m guessing it’s all of South Ga but we have a serious deer problem this year. I believe we had a serious fawn production this year. Fawns are everywhere and we already have a hard enough time keeping the does in check. The manager is about to implement a 5:1 doe:buck harvest. Shoot 5 does before harvesting a buck. Where me son works they have a 10:1 ratio, shoot 10 does then a buck.

You can keep the buck I would rather shoot 20 doe. Maybe 30 your deer are probably smaller. Seems like a simple solution would be alow people to bring youth , older and disabled people out to harvest the doe so the "real serious" hunters don't have to mess with shooting all those doe and can spend more time in the shooting house over the food plot sizing up the racks to see of they are big enough.

Our grand kids might hunt over a feed location. The adults dont. My feeding is four fold - probably first is to compete with a plethora of feeders on adjacent property - fortunately, most of their feeding is fall only. Secondly, protein during spring and summer. Third, hog and coon killing. Four - for the grand kids to hunt.

Gotcha!
Hunting over food plots and baits I'm just not big on those ways of hunting. Thanks

I like the moultrie feeders

Put you an apple block out .

If you want to see what kind of BIG bucks you have as soon as you see a scrape put a cam on it. I used to never put one out until October when I saw the first scrapes being made. I started putting one out and feeding corn when I purchased my own land. But I'm not feeding corn this year just mineral and apple and peanut butter block 1 time a month.

I have used All Season feeders for years. They last a long time. https://www.allseasonsfeeders.com/

What’s a shooting house? Most hunting is done out of climbers. We do have 3 tower stands, but they are individuals in their area. We also have 3 ladder stands and again, those are put out by individuals in their hunting areas. And 2 of the ladders and one of the towers belongs to the manager.

And yeah, we do take youth to hunt but we don’t limit them to does. They have free rein to shoot what they want, anything from a fawn with spots to the biggest buck that walks out.

I realize this was meant as a dig to actually hunting mature deer, but shoot what you want. We manage the property for quality and quantity. The land can only hold so many deer so we do our part. A healthier herd means bigger deer, body and antler wise.

We don’t have “plots” it all natural woods. Even our “fields” are natural vegetation, other than the planted dove fields and no deer hunting on those. We do however deploy cameras to help us figure out where they are coming from and what time. Pick a trail a hang a camera to see if it’s the right trail and if he’s using it at daylight. Give it a couple of days, if he doesn’t show then pick another trail.

We only hunt if the wind is right. A buck I’d like to take came in this morning, but the wrong wind was forecasted so I didn’t go sit. He may score 80-90” and that’s pushing it, lol. But he’s an OLD deer and a bully at that! The OLD MATURE bucks, even though they may not score anything, will run off your real nice 2-3yr olds that are already 130-140”. We try and let deer reach their potential. We even had a doe I named “Granny” that was off limits her last three years of life. I’m guessing she died because she hasn’t been seen since last winter. She was actually the reason I started feeding year round.

So you can look down on or despise hunters who actually try and manage deer, that’s fine. I realize not everyone has the mindset to do it and most can’t keep that trigger finger under control. But, if you ever kill a big buck, just know that someone somewhere supplemented feed and passed that deer long before you ever got a chance at it.

WB,
Most folks that say they'd rather shoot a doe instead of a buck WILL, when presented with the opportunity of a buck and doe standing side by side, will shoot the buck EVERYTIME. So much for "Can't eat those antlers", or "No use for those antlers."

I will acknowledge that some folks have never experienced the challenge of singling out a mature buck and resisting opportunities for any other buck. Hunting just that ONE buck.

Some folks don't have the time to do it. Don't have the interest to do it. Don't have the patience or knowledge to do it. This is a different kind of whitetail deer hunting and most cannot pull it off.

THEY ARE MISSING OUT ON A FANTASTIC CHALLENGE!!!