New Thread about Food Plots

[BCinVT]

tughill,
I live in northern VT.,and I'm in the snowbelt too.The deer around here seem to need to yard up in the winter.I don't try and feed them anything in the winter,cause iIthink it might be better for them to yard up,even if it isn't around here.They always seem to come back toward spring.And I do have a few deer that don't stay in the yard.They like to come and eat the tops of the trees I've been cutting.If your area is anything like mine,we're only talking about 5-10  total deer anyway.And this winter was fairly mild.Got the big snow in Dec.,but didn't really get hammered again till last week(21").

[isawlogs]

Thanks Queaver ,

I will try one of those here , but I can see that our friendly bear just might have a snack and some fun opening this up .

Jeff ,
    Can you put a pick of those five gallon pails with a chain you have up in the U.P.  I just dont remember how you put it together  :-\ : 

 

[Jeff]

I dont have any photos of those, but I can describe them.

5 gallon Pail Bump Feeder
1. Take a 5 gallon pail with lid. 
2. Epoxy a 3/4 inch washer to the center of the bottom on the inside of the pail.
3. Drill the hole out in the washer.
4. Drill a hole in the center of the lid.
5. Attach a small eye bolt to the lid, with the eye on the inside of the pail.
6. Seal the eyebolt hole with silicone.
7. Get 6-8 feet of chain in a size that will easily pass through the 3/4" washer, but not to easily.
8. Attach one end of the chain to the lid, and pass the other end through the hole in the pail.
9. Attach a weight to the end of the chain. We have used large fishing drop weights, big hex nuts, or even a chunk of hardwood. 
10. fill the pail with corn or pellets, place the lid, putt the chain tight.
11. Hang via the pail handle or better yet, strap to the tree or a post so the bump weight is about a foot off the ground. Higher when you have snow.
12. Be sure to check even 100 yards out when the pail comes missing, because a bear will take them quite some distance.  :D

[tughill]

I'm not looking to stir the pot here, but I'm curious what people think about the ethics of setting up feeders.  I myself am unsure.  Here in NY feeding deer is illegal, with some fairly harsh penalties.  Not that that means it is unethical, mostly means to me that we have too many laws.

I am assuming that most are not setting up a feeder 25 feet from the deer blind/stand, just trying to grow the best deer possible, which doesn't seem too bad, but I can see how it could be abused.

I definitely have talked to some....uh...unscrupulous hunters who set out a pile of corn a few weeks before deer season right next to the treestand, and to me that seems like shooting ducks in a barrel.

I guess my real question is how does using a feeder fit into a QDM (quality deer management) program?  I've read a couple articles books on this...but nothing that mentions specifically the role feeders may or may not play.

Thoughts?

[isawlogs]

I have no more issues feeding deer here then I do feeding my horses .  ;)   Now with feeders like those shown and mentioned , not only deer can have acess to the food , I rather have a bear or raccon eat the corn/pellets then have him/her tear up my bird feeders here at the house or take my garbage box for a round or two , wich they always win . If deer or a turkey come in and have a bite or two , fine with me , many little mice and squirrels with appreciate the free lunch also. 

[Jeff]

Our U.P.feeders supplement the natural food for all our wildlife.  Being from Tughill you should understand how the extremities of climate can adversely effect local wildlife.  We do the best we can to help out all of our critters except that of the wild canine variety.

What makes a hunter that puts out food unscrupulous unless it violates the laws of the land? Hunting for sport and hunting for food may equate to two different things.

[Qweaver]

We had a huge black bear come through here this fall but I have not seen any sign of him this winter.
Larry said not to let the feeder get empty because the deer are capable of kicking the culvert over when there is food left inside that they can not reach.  Ours is working great.  I had to put 2 more bags of grain in today.
BTW, we do not shoot deer at this feeder.  It is in our back yard.  But the deer can be sighted all over the property almost everyday even before we put up the feeder.  We have so many deer in this area of the state that hunting is pretty easy.  You don't need feeders.  We just want to help them make it through a hard winter.

[SwampDonkey]

Hard winter? I could see if it was Michigan, Maine, Vermont or up state New York, then I could swallow the hard winter line. Deer ain't that helpless, otherwise they wouldn't have a chance in New Brunswick. ;)

[CLL]

In Missouri you have to make sure there is no sign of baiting, feeding, or whatever at least two weeks before hunting season, be it bow or gun. They will absolutely fry you if you get caught baiting. The agent that I know here found a tree stand with apples, corn and sweet feed around it, he waited three weeks to catch the guy. Result, the guy lost a $700 bow, his stand, license for one year, and a $1000 fine. 

[Qweaver]

I guess whether it's a bad thing or a good thing depends on where you live.  I hunt in W.Va., Texas and Ohio and it's OK to have feeders in all three I think.  We always had them in Texas.  My friend in Ohio has feeders but we don't usually shoot deer at the feeders.  We have never had them on our club lease in W.Va. but could if we wanted to.  We did plant food plots.  I have not shot a deer at a feeder in years but I would not feel bad about doing it.  We eat 2 to 3 deer every year and if the season was nearly over and I didn't have my deer, I might get one coming to the feeder.  But that is not a problem with the current number of deer that we have.

[thecfarm]

We only feed them in the winter.They just stop coming to the fed on their own.Had 17 come up to the house the other day.The deer was here long before I built a house here.They always had a beaten path in the winter time a couple 100 feet behind the woods.They like the acorns up and down the driveway and right behind the house. I know they would get by without my help,but we enjoy watching them come up to eat.It's interesting to watch the differant ones come out.Most don't stay much longer than ½ hour.Than that group moves on and a few minutes later another group will come up.They always have to pick on the rut and try to drive them away.No wonder they are small the bigger ones won't leave them alone.