Deer Feeder Experience?
05-23-2016, 09:10 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 2
Deer Feeder Experience?
NE Missouri
19 acres of Red Clay Hilly Woodland and some bottom ground with a couple streams.
We have a lake, the woods are mainly white and black oak.
I have been thinking about getting a couple deer feeders for a while now and I was wondering how the feeder effects the wildlife as a whole. I have put some brush piles around and started feeding the birds and squirrels sunflower seeds and it seemed to help with those. But from your experience I would like to know what it did to the rabbit, turkey, squirrel, deer, and raccoon population. I don't hunt raccoons now but I would if they become a nucence.
19 acres of Red Clay Hilly Woodland and some bottom ground with a couple streams.
We have a lake, the woods are mainly white and black oak.
I have been thinking about getting a couple deer feeders for a while now and I was wondering how the feeder effects the wildlife as a whole. I have put some brush piles around and started feeding the birds and squirrels sunflower seeds and it seemed to help with those. But from your experience I would like to know what it did to the rabbit, turkey, squirrel, deer, and raccoon population. I don't hunt raccoons now but I would if they become a nucence.
05-24-2016, 08:48 AM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: a van down by the river
Posts: 8,939
Depends on what you feed.
Corn around here causes far more problems than it cures. A lot of people buy the cheap corn, and some of it has toxins in it like aflatoxin. Deer hunters routinely kill more quail around here than quail hunters do because of buying low quality corn, storing improperly, and then feeding. The corn becomes tainted with aflatoxin and fumonison and the animals eat it. It can harm any animal that eats it, but I have long thought it did a lot of damage to the quail and turkey populations here.
Another thing to consider is this: The animals you are feeding are prey animals. This makes feeders attract predatory animals. Hawks and owls watch feeders all the time, and they get used to the timing. Coyotes and bobcats also like to hang around the general area of a feeder to see if they can catch an easy meal.
I have a feeder, and I use a 50/50 corn/protein blend. I get the corn from a feed store that has been properly tested and handled, and I ensure it is handled properly and stays dry until the feeder spreads it. The feeder is a good one, and it is water proof. It feeds around the house, so the effects of predators is somewhat lessened. I routinely see all forms of wildlife, and have had in the past up to 60 deer a night coming up to feed. Rabbits, turkeys and squirrels are common. By the time the coons come out at night, the food is gone, and the feeder is coon proof, so they don't get much benefit.
Corn around here causes far more problems than it cures. A lot of people buy the cheap corn, and some of it has toxins in it like aflatoxin. Deer hunters routinely kill more quail around here than quail hunters do because of buying low quality corn, storing improperly, and then feeding. The corn becomes tainted with aflatoxin and fumonison and the animals eat it. It can harm any animal that eats it, but I have long thought it did a lot of damage to the quail and turkey populations here.
Another thing to consider is this: The animals you are feeding are prey animals. This makes feeders attract predatory animals. Hawks and owls watch feeders all the time, and they get used to the timing. Coyotes and bobcats also like to hang around the general area of a feeder to see if they can catch an easy meal.
I have a feeder, and I use a 50/50 corn/protein blend. I get the corn from a feed store that has been properly tested and handled, and I ensure it is handled properly and stays dry until the feeder spreads it. The feeder is a good one, and it is water proof. It feeds around the house, so the effects of predators is somewhat lessened. I routinely see all forms of wildlife, and have had in the past up to 60 deer a night coming up to feed. Rabbits, turkeys and squirrels are common. By the time the coons come out at night, the food is gone, and the feeder is coon proof, so they don't get much benefit.
05-25-2016, 12:31 PM
#3
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 2
Thanks for the reply, I will take the corn i use into careful consideration now. I'm not to worried about predators as I will try to control the populations (The hawks and owls may be a different story but it's pretty heavy woods and with the cover I've provided i think it will be fine) and the feeders will only be a couple hundred yards from my house. Thanks for the information though and have a great day.
06-01-2016, 10:04 AM
#5
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,408
Deer hunters routinely kill more quail around here than quail hunters do because of buying low quality corn, storing improperly, and then feeding.
Most of the corn sold in this area is bagged by a company in McAlester, OK. Tractor Supply, Atwoods and several other stores sell the stuff. All the corn bagged by that McAlester outfit is dirty, dusty and sometimes moldy. There is often a dust cloud when the feeder runs. The only clean corn in this area comes from Academy Sports.
i now feed clean corn from a Texas supplier or Academy. Also feed soybeans and stock pellets when available at a good price.
Last edited by falcon; 06-02-2016 at 04:15 AM.
06-20-2016, 02:39 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pa
Posts: 4,647
Lol... I buy corn from them and it is clean!!! No debris... No dust... Just bright yellow dry corn!!!
Been buying it for years and never had a bad bag... Maybe you just have this dark grey cloud hovering over you
Been buying it for years and never had a bad bag... Maybe you just have this dark grey cloud hovering over you
06-20-2016, 07:05 AM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: a van down by the river
Posts: 8,939
Visual inspection of the corn doesn't necessarily guarantee the corn is free of aflatoxin. But the presence of dust and mold increase the chances it might have higher levels of aflatoxin.
06-21-2016, 03:23 PM
#10
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,408
Lol... I buy corn from them and it is clean
http://www.alternativewildlifenutrit...uailKiller.pdf
motley.agrilife.org/files/2011/05/cautionocrn.pdf
http://www.tamuk.edu/news/archive/ar...aflatoxin.html