We just bought 25 acres of prime river bottom "undesireable" land. We plan on putting in a feeder or two but are not sure we want to spend the money for the automatic types. I know that a number of you have made feeders and have had very good success with them. Can you provide some pics and even, perhaps, instructions on how you made yours? Thanks.
you can make your own automatic feeders as well. Your only real expense will be the timer. You can go anywhere from 20-200 bucks on those, depending on the quality you want. We build all of our own feeders.
a welders does tend to be essential though...
Homemade feeder? I prefer the ones God makes. Improve the land to produce natural feed. Be patient ...
Bill I've seen some down in La. that were made out of 5'pvc 4" light weight drain pipe cap both ends drill drain hole in the bottom then 6-8" from the bottom make a cut 4-5" both sides and 1 cut along the bottom of the sides and push tab in a couple of inches fill with corn and strap to a tree.
I have also seen them made by putting a tee at the bottom with a 90 cap bottom of tee and use 6" pipe.
Thats about the best I can remember someone else may have pictures it looked simple enough. Good Luck
http://www3.sympatico.ca/konecny/deerfeeder.htm
This is the quintessentail deer feeder of Texas. The only problem is that it also feeds the coons, and squirrels, and the turkeys, and the hogs... you get the idea. 1 bag of corn will fill it, and depending on how many hogs or turkeys you have, it should last about a week. A good flock of turkeys can empty it in about 3 days though.
Thats one of the pvc I was talking about thanks. You're going to feed squirrels no matter what you put up. You wouldn't believe what I rigged up to keep squirrels off the bird feeder.
Thanks, guys. I have a friend who also uses a similar design for his feeders. Essentially he cuts a hole in the bottom of the PVC and the corn gravity feeds out as they eat it.
jmack; The link to the feeder is kinda cool but it seems to me water would get inside be a mess. Up here in New England I can see it filling with water and freezing. Is that a problem?
Try a 4' piece of pvc cap the top & at the bottom put 2 45deg elbows leave the last 45deg about 2" off the ground. when a pile gets big it stops letting corn out.
If I was going to supply the corn free choice I'd just dump it on the ground. I can put out a week's supply with no waste.
I put the corn out along the edge of the field and hunt feed/bed trails back in the woods. Just like the deer were coming to the field for crops. The deer aren't on edge like they often are when they come into a pile. You get shot opportunities earlier in the evening. And for me it's more aesthetically pleasing to discern movement patterns and watch trails rather than setting up over a bait pile.
See if you can get a blue plastic 55 gallon drum with removable top from some where. Cut around 6 3 to 4 inch diameter holes in the sides around the bottom . It will take alot of corn to fill it but it will last around a week depending on how many deer are in the area.It works on gravity when the corn hits the ground it stops. Once the deer start feeding it runs out. Bear will tip it over if you have any around.I have a wheely bow shooter friend that puts two out on his property every year for bow season . The first deer to get wacked by him are fawns and button bucks they don't know any better. The older does actally send in the younger ones first to see if it's safe.Bucks are smart come usually after dark.Deer learn quick.Snow is a helper the deer get scared and run into the corn.I don't hunt with this guy anymore. He wonders why the property isn't as good as it used to be.
Careful feeding deer, here in NY it is now against the law as it can aid in the spread of CWD. No feeders allowed for any animals but birds. Shawn
Shawn: It's frowned upon here in NH but it is not illegal...particularly on your own land. We have a feeder across the pond in back of our house. We hear a lot about upsetting the deer's natural feeding habits, spread of disease, etc. Our experience has been that 90% of the deer that come in to feed don't stay much longer than 15 minutes or so and most of the time they prefer or at least start feeding on natural vegetation. They are browsers and honestly, unless it is warm weather and the are in my chicory/clover they come and go and rarely stay. Every once in a while a few will bed down nearby but the feeding is like a fast food stop most of the time. If I saw evidence of it being a detriment I would stop it immediately. So far, for the past seven years I have seen none of the problems that are written or reported by the experts. I may be wrong but my experience is what it is.
Watch Wallyworld at the end of hunting season. I picked up a dawn/dusk feeder to hang in front of a trail cam for about 35 bucks last year. Add some rope and a battery and you are in business.
Bill,I noticed the same here.They stop by,nibble and move.Ive used a 5 gal. bucket.I cut a broomhandle to 2.5',take the bucket and cut a hole on the bottom,in the middle alittle bigger than diameter of broomhandle.6" from one end put a nail/dowel thru the handle twice length of hole,slide handle into the bucket,fill w/corn and put water tight lid on and hang in tree.At the end of handle put some peanutbutter at first.Then they will learn to hit it w/their nose causing the short end in the bucket to loosen up the corn and let it fall out the oversize hole.That way no waste/turkey/squirrels.Deer mostly eat what they knock out.
i use the same as nontypical and works great htye learn how to use it in no time and only costs a few $$
I am not sure if others have mentioned it, but on the 5" pvc feeder:
1) Drill a 1.5" (or a bit larger) hole in the bottom 5"-pvc cap
2)Take a 1.5-2 foot long 1" piece of pvc- fill it with sand. Cap it.
3) Put the pipe up in the hole and anchor it on a pivot (a heavy/strong piece of wire extended across the inside of the 5") Allow the 1" to stick out the bottom hole about a foot.
4) It can even help to paint the 1" a off color from the rest of the feeder.
5) Hang up the feeder high enough and the deer will actually get trained to bump that 1" pipe with their nose and the corn falls out. You won't be losing feed to other critters!
Hope it helps
I don't know if you have bears or not but they will rip those pvc feeders right off the tree. Other than that they work real nice.
this home made feeder has worked outstanding for me.... i'll do my best to describe.... take a 5 gallong bucket with lid... cut around a 2" hole in the bottom center.... take a 10" peice of 1" pvc and insert it thru the hole... place a "t" on the peice of pvc inside the bucket... so now you have a bucket hanging with a 10" peice of pvc hanging from the bottom center.. fill with corn...what happens is the deer will soon findout all they have to do is tunk the pvc dowel ,the kernels will drop...only a handfull but they will drop...it is a great way to feed deer and keep your feed dry... and a very cheap feeder to make..that works outstanding..you can modify the size of the hole to drop more or less feed......the kernels do not drop thru the pvc, but acutally around the "t"... at the bottom center of the bucket or pail...if you have any problems with understanding this ..just give me a pm.
can you 2 post pic's... I have seen the one jacobsladder talked about.
(http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii152/jacobsladdergrice/100_2530.jpg)
this is a factory made feeder bucket in my back yard..you can see the camo bucket with yellow dowel on right of picture.... they work great...i didnt have feed in it at this time in the pic...but you can see that the animals were use to visiting... it is easy to make a homemade version...
Very cool ideas. Thanks.