Feeder out, but no game
 

I just put a spin feeder out about two weeks ago, filled with corn, and see no evidence of deer or turkey visiting the feeder. How long does it take and what can i do to speed the process of helping the game find it?

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

Tealboy, how far did you put It from the house and what are you
putting out as feed? Have you ever seen deer or turkey there?

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

put out some apples and stuff that give off more smell, that is what i do for a week or 2 until they find it then it is corn only

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

In my experience, spring is not the best time to start trying to draw deer to corn. In my area, there is so much browse to eat that they usually don't show much interest in corn. This year has been an exception though; I have been getting about 250-300 camtrakker pictures per week at my "corn pile". But, I have been feeding at the same spot for a year. I would say to give it more time.

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

my deer aren't eatin the corn i have out but are really wearin down the saltblock right now
last fall i put some apples that had fallen off the tree and were just becoming rotten and giving off a good smell and they were all gone when i came back the next week

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

Tealboy, this is a good situation to clear up the misconception that "if you put up a feeder, every deer in the county will come to it!"
When good natural food is available, deer will usually abandon feeders!
I once put up a stand for bow hunting over a feeder in late summer (Texas Hill Country) That evening, I got on the stand and was over-run by deer! I figured that come October it would be like "shooting fish in a barrel!" When October rolled around, the accorns were falling, and there wasn't a deer track within a hundred yards of that feeder!
Another fallacy is that, "you can put out a feeder anyehere and draw deer in." Unless they are about starving, deer will not go far out of their way just to eat at a feeder.
If your feeder is in a good location, be patient, they will come!

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

Tough time of year to start.To much new shoots and browes,Plus the doe are becoming anti-social and prepairing a birthing spot.

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

A lot of people have alread mentioned it but now is not a good time to put out a feeder way to much natural browse. I went through the same thing last year with a new feeder I put out on my land. Right now they have a set routine once a couple of them start investigating that is all it will take. Be patient and if you have the resources I would put up some trail cams on the trails in and around your feeder find out what kind of activity is going on around you.

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

You say two weeks ago you put it out? Where I live and hunt in the Mid Atlantic, green browse doesn't grow until mid to late April, meaning they should be all over the corn for the past two weeks. This is especially so, considering they had to endure the winter with little food and any acorns on the ground rotting after a few months of having fallen.

I JUST heard a news report (4/15) about possible freezing in mid to eastern Maryland. The weatherman said "Why not out in western Maryland and West Virginia? Because the growing season hasn't started there." It WILL freeze in those areas, but is not as much a concern because the buds are not developed enough to be vulnerable. If your feeder is in an area where the growing season hasn't taken hold, I'd be concerned that nothing has been eating the corn.

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

Sorry I forget everyone does not live in Texas

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

Tealboy....Try Blue Seal "Coarse 14"....it is a sweet feed that they can't resist. They will hit it all year....It's like crack for deer. And it is cheap. $8 for a 40lb bag.

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

I did the same exact thing and they were gone the next week to. Maybe rotten apples are the way to go!!!

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

Where do you buy that stuff at moose??

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

well guys i have had deer activity at my feeder now for about 2 weeks and had to go and refill it yesterday. i found the salt block i had out was knocked over and it was about half of what it was when i put it out this spring. also the deer had killed all the grass in about a 1-2 yard circle around the feeder.
last year i had constant activity where i had it but it was only one doe and her fawn that came every other day now it is in a bottleneck between two woods where is shot my deer last year and went through 3 bags of corn in 3 weeks where as last year i went through 3 bags of corn in the whole summer. so i think position has alot to do with it as someone previously said

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

cwtaylor.....any farmers exchange or feed store will have it or can get it if you ask them to.

RE: Feeder out, but no game
 

I recently installed a feeder at my camp. One of the locals near my camp stopped by to tell hunting stories. I asked him if he minded me picking up some of the loose corn that his harvester missed or dropped in his field. He had no problem with this. I stopped down later that day with a burlap bag on the back of my four wheeler. He came out of the barn and handed me a bag of mix he uses as a suplement for his black angus. His comment was: "this will get your new feeder started." Let me tell you, everything in the woods was at the feeder the following week when I went up to camp. The mix he gave me had molasses mixed with oats and a mix of other feed. The sweet smell of molasses lured game in like kids to a cotton candy stand. I purchased a 50# bag at the feed store and spike the feeder when we are at camp. It doesn't take long for the woods to come alive.