Use a feeder or not

[Triple 7]

Well I am seriously thinking about not using a feeder at all this year to see if it helps seeing more bucks. I grew up hunting in south texas where the feeder was a dinner bell. The last 5-6 years I have been hunting in East Texas, and have not had one deer come to the feeder during the day. I'm thinking about taking them down and just get in a routine of hand corning a couple times a week. I live about 20 minutes away so I can get out there pretty regular. It just goes against everything that I have ever done while hunting. Thoughts ? Ideas?

Im still gonna keep one feeder up for hogs. They are my fall back when things get slow!

[duckmanep]

hand corn beats a feeder any day in East TX.
also you might want to consider a food plot.

[kparker158]

Keep the feeder going just hunt a couple hundred yards away from feeder. Hand corn it

[txtrophy85]

use a road feeder. it helps put the deer where you want them.

if the deer feed a night hand corning them isn't going to make a difference, they are just gonna continue to feed at night.


I would suspect that the deer density in your area is low and/or heavily pressured

[TXCASTNBLAST]

A buddy of mine had a lease in Onalaska, and the deer responded to corn piles (50lb bag just dumped in a pile) ten times better than feeders. However, I wouldn't recommend this if you have many pigs on your place

[Txjourneyman]

I have 3 stands up at my lease. One at a feeder. The other 2 will be hand corn only. One is about 100 yds from the feeder over a water hole. The other is hundreds of yards from any feeder and sits in an oak grove where the acorns got tore up last year.
I'm expecting better results from from the 2 stands without a feeder.

[Triple 7]

I have 3 stands up at my lease. One at a feeder. The other 2 will be hand corn only. One is about 100 yds from the feeder over a water hole. The other is hundreds of yards from any feeder and sits in an oak grove where the acorns got tore up last year.
I'm expecting better results from from the 2 stands without a feeder.

I have thought about baging up the millions of acorns that I have in my yard and taking them to the lease and spreading them out. This might help with my experiment.

[Txjourneyman]

I have thought about baging up the millions of acorns that I have in my yard and taking them to the lease and spreading them out. This might help with my experiment.

I have actually done that. Use a shop vac. For me the results weren't worth the effort.

[Triple 7]

I have actually done that. Use a shop vac. For me the results weren't worth the effort.

good to know

[charrell71]

The does and fawns will hit my feeder. I see more bucks if I hand corn a trail about 75-100 yards away that leads to my feeder.

[HNT ETX]

Feeder is a no go for mature bux in East Texas, It can happen, but way more the exception than the rule.

You just have to be careful how you hunt and use hand corn for bowhunting, if you put out too much at a time, you will run deer off coming to and leaving your spot.

[SaltwaterSlick]

You mentioned hogs... It has been my experience that if you have hogs, and they start coming to the feeders, the deer will shy away from them, no matter what area of the state you are in. It seems to be especially true in East Texas... I also would not even hand corn an area except when I was going to be there and hunting that spot. The hand corn would only be for stopping the deer in your shooting lane. If you hand corn regularly, the hogs will find that just like the deer will, maybe better. And it's the hogs that are scaring the deer away from your feeders.

[EastTexasMan]

We have 1 feeder on 250 acres and we use it basically to distract the hogs from our hand corn at setups

[Loneaggie]

hand corn beats a feeder any day in East TX.
also you might want to consider a food plot.

X2 adapt or go hungry

[WolfKat]

I set up feeders (mostly for hog hunting) and set up my stand on trails leading to the feeders (usually 100 yards away or so) with hand corn thrown around near my ambush point.