sussexhunter

So this year I finally broke down and got a trail cam. I put out sweet feed early august. Within a week and a half I had 147 pics on there, all deer with the exception of a few squirrels. I was so excited for hunting season to start, I really thought, this will be the year I get a buck worth bragging about. I went out the first day. After that we had a good bit of rain plus life just kept me busy for the next week and a half. I went back out and checked my site and all the feed was gone. This was on a sunday and southern states was closed so I went to walmart and bought corn. I put out a homemade feeder and filled it with the corn. The next week I checked my camera and had 37 pics of coons on there and only a few with a four pointer. I switched back to the sweet feed and still nothing. So my question is has this happened to any of you. The only thing I can think of is either putting up the feeder or switching from the feed to corn might have spooked the deer out of there. I am the only one that hunts on the land by the way. Ideas as well as any comments to make me feel better would be much appreciated!

jrbsr

The deer found a new food sourse that they like better.
Their pattern changes with the food sourse.
And different times of the year they go to different parts of the woods.
Their summer range will be different fom their winter range.

WVCritter

Yep, another food source and most likely someone else has put out another feeder on adjoining property.

Thunderchicken217

Acorns are dropping buddy. Its like ice cream to deer right now. The same thing happens to me every year but they'll be back after they eat em all up. Usually about mid October so just hang tight and be patient. Good luck to you.

MZS

Welcome to bait-mania. You bait, but your neighbors bait more, just about in time for the season to open. Not meaning to bash baiting, but that is what happens. Meanwhile, some fat and happy deer are sleeping off a big feast, dreaming about your neighbors big piles of food.

The other explanation is that your feeder spooked them, and then they found your neighbors food or the acorns as suggested. At any rate, remove the feeder and see what happens. I have had deer shy away from sudden introductions of larger objects as well - you want to introduce such things well in advance.

Mojotex

I sometimes hunt in Ark. where loose feed baiting is legal. I have found that the idea of baiting being the do-all to end-all in a free range situation, as far as bringing in "monster" bucks, is a myth. At least in that area of Arkansas ... Camden. I have hunted there for well over a decade. I have not, and know of no one else that has, seen much less shot at a decent buck over loose feed. We collectively see and kill the decent bucks either feeding on natural grub (acorns, especially), or on a food plot, or marking territory, or chasing does during the estrus cycle.

Now out in the areas of western Texas where I have hunted (free range only), it is a whole different story. I am not sure why unless it is that the loose feed (usually corn or hi-protein pellets) is more palatable than the local browse. I have sat in the mesquite and watched deer pile up, waiting for the feeder to spin. I have seen several very nice 8-9-10 pointers sit back and wait until the feeders goes off ... then make a beeline to grab up what they can before the stuff is all gone. I am not slamming this "spin feeder" way of hunting deer, but it is just not my cup of tea. Cool to watch the deer congregate, but. Then again, it is darn near impossible for me to differentiate this way of huting from what I do a lot of .... sit for hours on a food plot!

timbercruiser

Putting out the new feeder probably affected the feeding. Give the deer a few days to get use to the feeder, spread some corn in the area of the feeder, they will come back in a week or two.

deerdust

#1 you changed their feed and their method of receiving it. As was stated you want to start well in advance of the season your procedure on baiting.
#2 deer know better than we do just what they need to make it through a winter. They will graze the new grasses and hit salt/mineral licks in the spring and into the summer. Then they generally tend to shy away from lick. Acorns are a big part of their diet and it is hard to break what has become habit for them. Chances are they will come back too your feed when thay have had their fill of acorns.