Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Feeder pen size?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Feeder pen size?

    First time on a lease I have had to set up my pens. Never bothered to count how many panels were used in the other places I've hunted. I'm thinking 10-12 16' panels is going to be ok? Sound about right for you guys? I will have a corn feeder in the center, a mineral block somewhere in there, and a protein feeder along the edge of the pen.

    #2
    12 min for me...

    Comment


      #3
      I think I used 9 on my pens and they are 40' across. My setup sounds like yours, I have a corn feeder in the center, a protein feeder off to the side and a mineral lick in between them. I also do mini food plots with the throw and grow in the whole thing.

      Comment


        #4
        0 for me but when we did them it was 10. Nothing to worry about except cows turkeys and coons

        Comment


          #5
          10-12 and round. Gets much tighter as a round pen IMO.

          Comment


            #6
            I use a combo of panels and barbed wire. I put the barbed wire in shooting lanes from a ground blind. The strand has a hook at one end so I can take it down, so I don't hit it. I also started to use a directional feeder to keep the corn in the shooting lanes.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by TexasCanesFan View Post
              10-12 and round. Gets much tighter as a round pen IMO.
              Mine will be round, I dont want a dominant buck to try to get a little buck into a corner and kill him.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by hoythitman View Post
                First time on a lease I have had to set up my pens. Never bothered to count how many panels were used in the other places I've hunted. I'm thinking 10-12 16' panels is going to be ok? Sound about right for you guys? I will have a corn feeder in the center, a mineral block somewhere in there, and a protein feeder along the edge of the pen.
                IMO, it depends on how many deer you have. I have a 18 panel pen and a 23 panel pen. The bigger the pen, the more likely you are to keep more than 1 dominant deer in the area during the time of year when bucks don't like each other. A dominant deer can, if so inclined, bully his way around a 10 panel pen but he can't continuously bully a 15 panel or bigger pen.

                My pens are oval - protein in the middle and corn feeders at each end. Dominant deer, for the most part, feed at one end or the other and then take turns at the protein feeder. In October, I've had as many as 23 bucks and 12 does in the 23 panel pen AT ONE TIME.

                Bigger is better....IMO.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I agree with Hammer. The bigger the better. If cost is not an issue and the posts are easy to drive, I would go with at least 15-20 panels in an oval shape. Dominant bucks will keep the other deer pushed out in a small pen. If driving posts are an issue I would get a generator and a hammer drill to start your holes. You won't regret having a larger pen, but you will regret the small one once the bucks start getting aggressive for the food.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by hammer63 View Post
                    IMO, it depends on how many deer you have. I have a 18 panel pen and a 23 panel pen. The bigger the pen, the more likely you are to keep more than 1 dominant deer in the area during the time of year when bucks don't like each other. A dominant deer can, if so inclined, bully his way around a 10 panel pen but he can't continuously bully a 15 panel or bigger pen.

                    My pens are oval - protein in the middle and corn feeders at each end. Dominant deer, for the most part, feed at one end or the other and then take turns at the protein feeder. In October, I've had as many as 23 bucks and 12 does in the 23 panel pen AT ONE TIME.

                    Bigger is better....IMO.
                    New property not really sure of deer populations. Its Medina county and we have year round water so I'm assuming they are healthy populations. On the other side of that we have elk and I don't want the pen so big that 6 or 7 elk are in there under the corn feeder tearing it up. Another member has a bunch of pics of 2 or 3 bulls under the feeder feeding, the progressing into sparring. Trashed the feeder when sparring so I'm also hanging about making it a winch up feeder and putting it really high.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by hoythitman View Post
                      New property not really sure of deer populations. Its Medina county and we have year round water so I'm assuming they are healthy populations. On the other side of that we have elk and I don't want the pen so big that 6 or 7 elk are in there under the corn feeder tearing it up. Another member has a bunch of pics of 2 or 3 bulls under the feeder feeding, the progressing into sparring. Trashed the feeder when sparring so I'm also hanging about making it a winch up feeder and putting it really high.
                      I will come shoot the elk...problem solved

                      No, really, elk may be a real problem for your whitetail feeding. I don't know how the two can co-exist without it being a pain in your butt. Let us know how it works out after you've built your pens and had a chance to see what both the deer and elk do.

                      Best of luck!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        We have four sides, each side is two 16 foot hog panels. Works great and is rigged easy to open one part for filling feeders

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Sorry to hijack, but will a t-post every 10' around the outside be too many?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            10 panels make a nice sized pen. 16 foot panels, T post at each end and 1 in the middle. My pen is 8 panels just because that is what fit in my area and I have hundreds of pictures of 4 and 5 bucks feeding at a time. My buddy has a 10 panel and it to me is the perfect size.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I used field fence and barb wire to make an oval shape. It is about 300' around (just wanted to used majority of the roll I had which is 330').

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X