Brain Crunch...Free access feeding or timed?
 

just been thinking a bit (usually bad things happen when I think so I do it as little as possible<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>) about whether I need to stop pouring corn on the ground and go to the timed feeders. See I believe that the way I am doing it now,all I am encouraging the deer to do is feed at night,whereas with timed feedings the deer would have to come and eat before all the corn is eaten by the squirrels,crows,coons,other deer etc.....maybe that way I could get a leary shooter buck to take a chance and come out in the open during shooting hours? What do all you think?

It's the operator that messes up....not the equipment.Have confidence in yourself and shoot straight.

RE: Brain Crunch...Free access feeding or timed?
 

I've been using an electric feeder for 4 years now. To be perfectly honest with you I have yet to see a nice buck feeding during the day. I don't have a trail cam yet so I'm not sure what's coming to it at night. I do have buck signs all around the area of the feeder and have several does bedding within 45 yards of it.

RE: Brain Crunch...Free access feeding or timed?
 

I use a gravity feeder that the deer can eat anytime they want.I've had better luck with food plots and now use the feeders for desert.The best time to see bucks around your corn is during the rut when the bucks know the does will be coming in to eat.

Hunting is not a sport,it's a lifestyle.

RE: Brain Crunch...Free access feeding or timed?
 

Mike,
I use a ontime feeder and feel that it is the best feeder for its price on the market. It has a lifetime warrienty.
My batt.s last one year + without changing. I can set the anount and times to what ever I want.
If you want to get one get the one with the clock face and get extra clips for it. It is green with a funnel with a slide one it. Cant think of the model right now but will look for it. I would not get the dig. clock one the first one is cheaper and again works great.

OK, now to your ?

I think you will be better off with the feeder. We get alot of turkeys here and if I dump corn or use a gravity one they eat me out of house and corn. I have had them empty a big gravity feeder in one setting. Thats when I went to the timer.
You will get the coons,squirrels,crows,bluejays,ect... no matter what you use. Just the way it is.
I use a feeder and a food plot but I do not hunt them. I am set up on trails between them.
The good ones dont get that way from being dumb. You just have to watch them and see.
Hope it helps and really check out the ontime feeder. The co. is in Lou.
Rick

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.

RE: Brain Crunch...Free access feeding or timed?
 

On demand, the deer will always eat when you aren't there. I think the best setup is a timed feeder that throws so little corn that the deer have to get there early to get any. Then maybe sprinkle a little on the road to get them to stop for a shot when they are crossing the road.

RE: Brain Crunch...Free access feeding or timed?
 

most truely 'wild' mature bucks will still only visit under the cover of darkness even if you feed them. I say 'wild' deer because I feed the deer near where I live now and the big bucks feed there several times a week in broad daylight....BUT these are city limit deer living in close proximity to humans so I believe they are not nearly as wary as 'normal deer'. I cannot hunt the deer that come to the feeder (its illegal) I just enjoy seeing them and the photo opportunities it provides.

To me... the biggest advantage of using a timed feeder is that you can set it to only put out enuff feed to give the critters a good snack. You really dont want the wildlife in your area to become dependant on your feeder as their major food source. A timed feeder that spreads the feed also allows more deer to get a few bites of feed. Pouring the corn on the ground in one small spot or gravity type feeders can cause alot of fights in which the dominant deer eat ALL the feed. One other bonus is that a timed feeder makes a 50lb sack of corn last alot longer becuz the deer/coons cant just stand there and eat til its GONE....and believe me when I say if you have many coons in your area the birds and squirrels will be nuthing compared to what those masked bandits will get lol. They can only eat what the feeder put out and wait til tomorrow for some more.

** I almost got him but I refuse to take a marginal shot **