Feeder Times?

[jcbryson82]

Well I am finally going to get me a new feeder this weekend and possibly get it set up and running. Ive never used a feeder before and needed some tips on how often should I let it throw and what times of the day, is it ever too early in the year to set it up or do y'all run yours year round? Any other tips you might want to throw in there I would appreciate it. I am going to be hunting in Northeast Texas in the Sulphur Springs (Hopkins Cty) area.

[txdukklr]

i run mine year round, just a couple of seconds

I set mine for 15 minutes before sunrise and 1.5 hours before sunset

[BIG D]

I like to have mine go off right at shooting light in the morning and and about an hour and a half before last shooting light in the evening.

[walker1983]

I like to have mine go off right at shooting light in the morning and and about an hour and a half before last shooting light in the evening.

x2

[HogHunterBall]

I don't run corn feeders during the summer unless I have hogs around and want to hunt piggies. Have 1 out of my 3 feeders running bc of hogs.

Corn does them no nutritional good during the summer except to keep them around and accustomed to knowing the feeder will always have corn.

During season 1 after legal light in morning and about 1 hour before last light in evening

[jerp]

Will you be hunting hogs through the summer, or only deer next fall? In my experience, this time of year throwing more than 2-3 seconds will result in corn piling up - unless you have hogs. As the summer progresses and there is less green stuff to eat, deer may hit it a little more. I like to feed - even if it's just a little - year round to keep the deer moving through. If you are insistent on keeping at 15 minutes before sunrise/ 2 hours before sunset (like I am) you will have to tweak the throw times every month or so.

[Coach W]

Summer Feed times: 5 seconds or less
7:30 am
8:00 pm

January Feed times: 10-15 seconds
7:00 am
5:00 Pm

Get a sunrise and sunset time table for the year it will really help out. I like to feed right at first light... not sunrise but 20-30 minutes before. then I like to feed an hour and a half to 45 minutes before dark.

(if you have more than one feeder set at the same location feed one 15 minutes different than the other).

I run them year around. In the summer I feed less and towards season I crank em up!

Tips: Get yourself a good funnel to go inside your feeder.

Build a good Coon cage to keep them suckers away from your feed unit (at least as big a round as a 55 gallon drum... the store bought ones are too small, do not work, and allow coons a swing set to play on as they destroy your feeder).

Go with "the timer" or the new sneaky feed on a 12 volt system WITH a solar panel and Rechargeable sealed battery. Make sure all wiring is enclosed in some sort of tubing or flexible stainless loom (coons again)

Buy the Biggest feeder you can find (Krivoman here makes a Great one at a GREAT price) This will save you from filling it up every trip.

T Post and wire your legs in the ground well (pigs will root your feeder at an angle till it topples over)

Leave 1/2" to 1" gap between your funnel and spinner. (keeps your not so clean corn from clogging)

[Cuz]

Year around 3 sec spins twice a day. Daylight and about 2 hours before dark.

[dustoffer]

Only thing I can add is concerning the how often/how long questions. If you live relatively close to the feeder location, it isn't too bad to re-fill, and can run longer spin times. If you live several hours away, it can become expensive in fuel costs to run down and fill it, so might want to run shorter times until around the 1st of September. Also--the amount of corn thrown per spin depends on how large the gap is between the spinner plate and the funnel coming out the bottom of the barrel and the spin time.

You can figure out how long a full feeder will last by holding a plastic bag up around the mechanism and doing a test run--then weigh the corn thrown. Divide the feeder capacity by the amount thrown per day and you get the number of days before it's empty. For example, if one spin session throws 3 lbs of corn and it spins 2x per day, that's 6# per day. If feeder holds 420 lbs, divided by 6 lbs gives you roughly 70 days between fillings, not counting feed lost to wind and birds.

[jcbryson82]

good info guys thanks, and thanks coach for the tips much appreciated!

[jcbryson82]

This is the feeder I am going with, seems to be a pretty descent feeder to me?

[txdukklr]

thats less then a 55 gallon capacity

not to slam on it but I'd spend a little more and go huge.

I have four feed stations the smallest is 850 lbs

[Horitexan]

We run all of ours year-round and we leave the morning throw time at 7am (based on NON daylight savings time) and leave it there year-round. The afternoon feed time we use Sept-May is 4pm (based on NON daylight savings) but I do change them in May to feed at 6pm (daylight savings time) and I leave it there until Sept., when we gear up for deer season. I only change the afternoon feed time to accommodate off-season hog hunters- so they don't have to be out hunting until 6pm, while its so hot. If we didn't have the off-season hog hunters, we'd leave the feeders at 7am & 4pm (non daylight savings) ALL year. Game doesn't recognize daylight savings and they appreciate consistency. Changing times regularly won't mess you up, but it's bettER to leave the throw times consistent all year.

We use a 6-7 second throw year-round. It's a decent amount of corn to keep lots of game coming without coating a FORTUNE!

Good luck!

[Fishndude]

This time of year I run one feed time at 7 pm. I let it go about 6 seconds. Morning feeds get eaten by more birds than deer/hogs etc...

[Brian H]

Lay a piece of hog panel under each feeder leg to keep the hogs from rooting around the legs and knocking it over. Driving a t-post beside the leg and down thru a square in the panel will keep them from spinning the panel or just knocking the feeder over if you tie it well.