Feeder or no feeder

[texasdeerhunter]

I have hunted East Texas my whole life. I have never killed a good deer under a feeder in East TX.
I am a firm believer in hand corn.
However, I do still have feeders. I just don’t hunt over them. I use it more to keep the doe around.

I was basically going to type the same thing he said. Feeders are ok and I use them...but I hand corn the spots I really expect to kill bucks. However, I’m fortunate that I can be at either of my leases within 20 mins and can hand corn any day of the week

[futureagg]

Following along.

We have seen this as well in Cherokee and Houston County. Hand corn a spot 100 yards away and have pics of really good bucks at the hand corn, and not a single buck at the feeder.


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[sqiggy]

Been hunting east Tx all my life (40+ yrs) and have only seen one mature buck under a feeder. Think that was in the drought years when we didn't have a acorn crop 2 yrs in a row. Hand corn works good, but still, can't beat the acorns that they will go to first.

[Snowflake Killa]

We shoot all our mature deer under feeders.

[Triple 7]

I have hunted in Nacogdoches for almost 20 years. It’s always been over a feeder though. Last year I had a bad year. I didn’t see a single legal deer all season. However, there was another guy on the lease that had two setups that I had to drive by on my way out. All he did was a foodplot. Almost every time I drive by he had deer eating out in his food plot. I spun corn and had nothing. That’s why I’m thinking about going without.

[EastTexasMan]

I hunt hand corn and acorns. Feeder is elsewhere to distract the hogs


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[sambo73]

I was going to post a similar question this morning. I think I am going to run a couple feeders just to keep the deer there and hope to keep pigs away from hand corn. I am hunting maybe 50ac.

Do you think the it's the sight of the feeder or the sound that keeps the mature deer away?

[CSanders]

I’m not trying to hijack your thread but you guys that have hand corn spots, how are you hunting them? Pop ups or in a ladder stand/lock on?? I have a spot I want to hand corn this year but don’t have a decent tree to put a lock on in.

[CSanders]

Elk love this hand corn spot, just not when I’m there. They only seem to show up 3 or so days after I’ve hand corned the spot. I’ve only had a few pictures of the cow at a feeder one time.

[Drycreek3189]

I'm with this, but most of my hunting is an hour away and I just can't make that happen three days a week. Best I could do to thwart the hogs is fence mine. Hogs hardly ever come around them now.

I should have added that I grow food plots everywhere I hunt. That's where I generally kill deer unless it's a doe. All of my feeders are 150/200 yards from a blind. That's rifle hunting only. I have a bow blind on my home place with a feeder and one in Trinity Co. with a feeder. All the rest have food plots also. That's where I see most of the deer.

[eastxhunter]

Feeders are worthless in east texas

[Low Fence]

I was going to post a similar question this morning. I think I am going to run a couple feeders just to keep the deer there and hope to keep pigs away from hand corn. I am hunting maybe 50ac.

Do you think the it's the sight of the feeder or the sound that keeps the mature deer away?

The fact that deer get mugged at them plus they are (mostly) a constant traffic of hunting, filling, trail camera checking scent bombs is what keeps them away. Basically, they know they are being hunted and they learn to avoid them to survive.

Here my tactic most of the time:

Start hand corn now- find bucks, determine if there one in area I want to hunt (depending on your goals this could be easy or hard)

Stop feeding- if they are there, they are there. All contributed feeding will do is educate them and draw non target animals

Move cameras to find travel

Once you find a consistent trail, move again and try to find bedding.

LEAVE THEM ALONE

Hunt- hand corn when wind is right as close as you can to bedding along trail that is best for my approach and retreat


Some areas the deer are born looking for feeders, East Texas is different they are born knowing there is a hunter in charge of that devise. Due to decades of sloppy usage and hunting tactics. Most don’t have the land for multiple set ups and winds .... so we hunt when we can. Opening day, 89 degrees, wrong wind... I’m going hunting!! Years of that has trained them to be nocturnal or just avoid ( just my opinion)

[sambo73]

The fact that deer get mugged at them plus they are (mostly) a constant traffic of hunting, filling, trail camera checking scent bombs is what keeps them away. Basically, they know they are being hunted and they learn to avoid them to survive.

Here my tactic most of the time:

Start hand corn now- find bucks, determine if there one in area I want to hunt (depending on your goals this could be easy or hard)

Stop feeding- if they are there, they are there. All contributed feeding will do is educate them and draw non target animals

Move cameras to find travel

Once you find a consistent trail, move again and try to find bedding.

LEAVE THEM ALONE

Hunt- hand corn when wind is right as close as you can to bedding along trail that is best for my approach and retreat


Some areas the deer are born looking for feeders, East Texas is different they are born knowing there is a hunter in charge of that devise. Due to decades of sloppy usage and hunting tactics. Most don’t have the land for multiple set ups and winds .... so we hunt when we can. Opening day, 89 degrees, wrong wind... I’m going hunting!! Years of that has trained them to be nocturnal or just avoid ( just my opinion)

makes sense

[HoustonR6ryda]

I hunt the trails in Leon Co. It has been good all my 40+years of hunting. I worry if my feeder will walk away in East Tx- I have considered food plots,but cousin has cattle. Camera's on the trails and pay close attention to the wind,IMO.

[xman59]

feeders do work and some of them very well,, however some spots deer do not respond to feeders


the best scenario in east texas is mature white oaks, surrounded by thickets,
a feeder within site and a well hidden stand on it,,, within the same area hand corn but not within about 75 yards of the feeder, before you place the stand figure your most common wind direction and sun angles,, hunt the hand corn