Cleaning out deer scat?

[Plain Lucky]

We’ve had to fence off several feeders this year to keep the pigs from taking them over. We’ve also increased our feed times to the point that we are slinging 30-40 seconds per day in total, plus gravity fed protein feeders.

All of that leads me to my question: has anyone ever noticed there being so much deer scat in a feed pen that you have actually considered cleaning it out? Deer are like us in many ways and I can’t help but think that I wouldn’t want to be eating with scat either next to or beneath it.

[Antlers86]

If deer are like us then they won't scat on their food. At least I don't!

[MQ32Shooter]

Man, you must have a lot of deer! Must be in an AR county were the quality and numbers have increased dramatically!

[JustinJ]

I can honestly say I've never heard of that issue. Sounds like you need to kill some deer!

[Smart]

We have a lot of deer but I've never ever been to a point where I thought I need to shovel deer poop out of pen.

[tkuehn5410]

We've always shoveled deer scat when we see a lot of it before a hunt and put it underneath the deer blind to help reduce/confuse deer with the scent.

[dustoffer]

Get your leaf blower and just blow it out of the pen--

[Acameron52]

You’re doing too much thinking.

[Slew]

Feed more pea gravel.


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[AntlerCollector]

I'm still pondering the " Deer are like us in many ways" comment

How?

Well my buddy Ralph did get hit by a truck while chasing a potential girlfriend across the highway.
Cousin Eddie does pee all over his legs and rubs them together.

Uncle Earl is completely bald from rubbing his head on tree limbs.

Who doesn't poop where they eat?

Now that I think about it, I see your point

[tex4k]

If there's that much poop around I'd set a camera to make sure there's not goats coming around, but either way, scoop it up and take it to potential food plot to spread.

[Plain Lucky]

I'm still pondering the " Deer are like us in many ways" comment

How?

Well my buddy Ralph did get hit by a truck while chasing a potential girlfriend across the highway.
Cousin Eddie does pee all over his legs and rubs them together.

Uncle Earl is completely bald from rubbing his head on tree limbs.

Who doesn't poop where they eat?

Now that I think about it, I see your point

Take your pick:

- They are lazy for one. They will do things such as walk a trimmed lane if you provide it or even go out of their way to walk through an open gate rather than have to jump or bend down to go through a fence.
- The males do absurdly stupid things to get to the the females.
- They eat, sleep, and water in places they feel they can do so safely.
- If they don’t like something, they often won’t go back.
- They can be patterned by determining their sources of food, water, and shelter.
- They save money on their auto insurance with Geico... this list goes on...

Yes, my question is certainly an odd one but nonetheless one that I’ve recently begun to wonder. We started feeding in July so I’m not talking a few weeks worth of droppings. And yes, the deer population is fairly high. We border a very large ranch that is not hunted so we draw game for miles. We run cameras heavily so I can confirm the scat is primarily deer, with some help from the coons.

[Greenheadless]

Try using a lawn blower?

[Smart]

Cleaning out deer scat?

Since July? Of this year? [emoji2]

I’ve fed 11 years, 365 days a year and save for the two weeks in that period I brought the feeders home to completely strip/sand them down and repaint, they have never been without feed. I average 10-15 deer a sit.. up to 20plus and like I said above, don’t recall ever saying man I need to shovel this deer **** out of here. And I’ve never noticed my deer shying away from my pens because there was deer **** in them.

Take some pics and post ... I’d like to see what you consider a problem.

[Plain Lucky]

Try using a lawn blower?

Noticed that idea in an earlier post and I think it could work. The pen that it’s heaviest in has a super stand of Bermuda that could make it a little more difficult but it’s worth a shot.