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    More feeders or less

    I hunt a small tract of land (160 acres) by myself, and currently have two feeders going. Doing some scouting in the summer, I located an area in the very front of the property loaded with sign. I'm tempted to set up another feeder here, but cant decided. On one hand, I'm thinking I may be dispersing the deer too much that are here, making it difficult to get on that target buck. But then again, the more feed in the area could bring in more deer.

    Thoughts?

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    #2
    I would dump 2-3 bags of corn and put up a camera to see what's there

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      #3
      we own 80 acres and have 4 feeders. with the way we are set up 3 stands and 3 feeders are perfect to cover all areas. the 4th feeder is simply cause my dad likes looking at animals from the comfort of camp.

      My opinion, on 160 acres and terrain permitting, I think you cold get away with 3-4 feeders and stands. it will only help to keep deer around knowing that if food gets limited they know where to go to get more...... (your place)

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        #4
        too many feeders - there is enough "food" for them even without your corn feeders. Human pressure is WAY more important than an additional feeder. Heck you would probably be better off picking your favorite location on the ranch for a feeder and having 1 feeder and doing everything you can to leave the rest of the place alone as a sanctuary for the deer.

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          #5
          More feeders or less

          We hunt 400 acres and at one time had 6-8 feeders but once the pics showed the same deer hitting each one we cut back to 3 feeders to give them less options. Now we can pattern deer well and rarely do we see one on a camera that doesn’t show up at one of the feeders. Feeders are in the middle of big food plots tho- and yes more sanctuary is way more important then more feeders

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            #6
            I've hunted a property of about the same size for the last 6-7 years, usually hunt alone, and have struggled with the same question. I think a lot depends on the size of your deer herd. We don't have a large number of deer so I'm always guessing which feeder they are likely to hit that morning. (I usually guess wrong) I finally decided that fewer is better when it comes to feeders. Instead I put up 4-5 stands around the property away from the feeders on well-used trails. On smaller properties you are more likely to be hunting deer that are passing through as opposed to deer that live there. Hunting the trails gives me a chance for an ambush if I happen to be in the right place at the right time

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              #7
              Personally, I would just hunt the sign, why mess it up with a feeder? If there is a bunch of sign there, then they are circumventing the feeders.

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                #8
                If you're hunting a specific deer this year, less feeders. They should be coming to corn better in the next few weeks, and you have less decisions on where to sit. If your goal is to better the long-term potential of the property, then more feeders feeding year around. I always like to maximize the number of deer that call my place "home".

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                  #9
                  Is the area with lots of sign a bedding area? If so, I'd just stay out of that as much as possible. Create a sanctuary. Have feed available nearby and hunt that and/or the transition area between the two.

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                    #10
                    If you do add the 3rd feeder try to set it up to hunt a different wind from current set up for more options to hunt wind. As others have said the least amount of traffic is better so factor that in also.

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                      #11
                      I vote no feeder and leave as a sanctuary as stated above

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                        #12
                        i have 3 spots, 50, 90, and 200 acres, and have the same struggle every year. i am always wondering if i need to add a set, especially if my main one is slow. just last week i started a hand corn pile way up on the north end of the 90 acre spot and literally had 2 bucks show up that i havent seen on my main camera thats maybe 500 yards away.

                        if you have a climber i would try the hand corn and if something good is showing up on the new spot go in there and get him.

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                          #13
                          Just FYI, I hunt on a 1500 acre lease, but we are given 110 acres individually, so I am basically hunting the same size property as you. The guys that use feeders spook way more deer than those that don't use feeders. Chunk the feeder theory and just hunt or let it go as a sanctuary as mentioned.

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                            #14
                            What I’ve never understood,

                            1. Find sign.... where deer naturally want to be
                            2. Add something non natural to that site?


                            If they are there... hunt them. Deer can be killed without a mouth full of food

                            I get pics of the same deer traveling more land than your hunting a day. So if they want corn and you have corn.. they will go get the corn provided. More ain’t always better
                            Last edited by Low Fence; 12-11-2019, 11:32 AM.

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                              #15
                              I have been thinking this as well. We currently have 400 acres between myself and one other. We are increasing the number of blinds/feeders, to have more options. We had 3, but have added 2 more and will have another set up after season. We have very high deer numbers. It seems like a few deer will “take over” a feeder, so we feel give more options we Will actually hold more deer. Our big bucks will still probably be killed on trails or hand corn though.

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