East Texas Hunters: alternatives to hand thrown corn for mature bucks

[Black-N-Red]

I’ve hand fed fir years now & I only use 1/2-3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket a week & spread it between 5-6 spots with cameras & as season approaches I narrow it down to 2-3 spots that I’ll hunt & use the same amount of corn.


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[GarGuy]

I’ve hand fed fir years now & I only use 1/2-3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket a week & spread it between 5-6 spots with cameras & as season approaches I narrow it down to 2-3 spots that I’ll hunt & use the same amount of corn.


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A 5 gallon bucket would be gone before he got home with only the bucks eating.

[Muskles]

PVC pipe feeders are fairly cheap and easy to make. Mine would only hold about 50#, but you could put several out at each location. Not sure that's really going to slow down the amount you have to put out though.

[Reaper]

PVC pipe feeder or a 2 liter coke bottles with a hole in the top

[sqiggy]

I'm not using corn. I do 2 things.
1. Find their favorite food source
2. Find their favorite scrape
Hunting over scrapes before the rut is outstanding, but you have to find that one or 2 they will use during daylight hours.
If you're lucky enough to find a tree or 2 that they love, you will see all kinds of deer moving in and out.

[corps2010]

Hang a chain between two trees 15'-20' in the air. Attach an 55 or 85 gallon drum to a winch and crank it up as high as it'll go. Buy a ghost feeder and use it. (they have a new funnel system that makes it even quieter). Mature bucks will feed under it no problem in East Texas. (I have been using this system for years now and killed several big deer under em but using a traditional spin feeder instead of the Ghost. I would think heavily pressured bucks will respond better to a quiet feeder so I'll be swapping over to the Ghost Feeder)

[Razrbk89]

Is switching over to plots an option? Beans in the spring, wheat/clover/turnips in the fall keeps lots of tonnage on the ground for me. Gotta have the right spot, though.

If it was feasible, it’d save you money and going in and out every week. 500 pounds a week at 4$ a sack or whatever it costs will add up quick!!

[JamesM]

In

[Antlers86]

I strictly hand corn my pens. Every 2-3 days I pour a bag. Some days I may only pour 10 pounds. I have 4 feed stations and 100# a week keep the bucks coming daily. I also have 2 stations with gravity protein. They will jump in the pen for it. If you have the time to make 2-3 trips a week just cut back and feed less.

[bswift355]

A ghost feeder is an option. Lifted high up a tree. There’s a thread or two that discusses them in detail.

We are trying several of these. We call them squirrel feeders. They must be bullet proof as the squirrels will chew through anything plastic or if wires are exposed.

[sharpstick35]

what about a timed protein feeder with the bottom open so it falls on the ground. the winch it high uo a tree. set the timer to put out 5-10 lbs at a time. during off peak hours.
than hunt the trails 100 yds out from them.

[jjaimes]

I've used gravity feeders with success. I might start looking into the Ghost feeder based off some responses here

[bollomb]

what about a timed protein feeder with the bottom open so it falls on the ground. the winch it high uo a tree. set the timer to put out 5-10 lbs at a time. during off peak hours.
than hunt the trails 100 yds out from them.

This could work..

[JayB]

I have 2 Redneck gravity feeders that Big Bucks LOVE. I just moved them to a TPost mount because the dadgum squirrels eat the plastic...but 80 lbs corn will last 3-4 weeks and the hogs cant get to it. I just moved to tpost last week so I have not been able to see if keeping varmits off will make corn last any longer....the amount they could get was pretty limited anyway.

[gigem95]

I have 2 Redneck gravity feeders that Big Bucks LOVE. I just moved them to a TPost mount because the dadgum squirrels eat the plastic...but 80 lbs corn will last 3-4 weeks and the hogs cant get to it. I just moved to tpost last week so I have not been able to see if keeping varmits off will make corn last any longer....the amount they could get was pretty limited anyway.

How does t-post mount keep squirrels from eating the PVC?


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