What are the risks of feeding deer?

I no longer feed the deer (using corn feeders) on the ranch I hunt mostly because of the price and the cattle and feral hogs making trouble at the feeder. I have the advantage in that I live close by and can roam the entire big ranch looking for animals anytime I desire so I don't need to draw them to one area from another. Both neighboring ranches have hunters that use feeders but they mostly hunt from blinds or stands which is the norm.

I understand why feeders are used in most situations and I do not have an ethical issue with any of it but do question the practice. In areas of the country that have CWD (chronic wasting disease) it is illegal to feed deer because it might bring them in close contact with livestock and spread the CWD.

Here in Texas I wonder if using a corn feeder to bring in deer that also puts them into close contact with feral hogs or livestock is a problem waiting to happen. Or if the feeder corn itself is a potential problem considering that much of it is marked "not for livestock" or "human consumption".

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Considering how many feeders are currently up and running and how many tons of corn are being fed to deer in Texas without a problem, I'm guessing that there's not much danger associated with the practice.

There has always been a concern within the wildlife biologist community with it. Still, it seems no different than deer and hogs cleaning up acorns under the same trees.

The biggest negative IMO is the added attraction that brings in hogs and the damage they usually create to pastures, roads, etc.

That's the biggest reason I don't want to put corn out anymore.. it draws in hogs from everywhere along the river bottom..

Always tickles me the use of feeders without a feed pen..

Hogs and Javis love it

They are there regardless if you feed corn or not. Feeding corn just makes them more visible for you.

Yup!

The biggest risk is to your wallet.

I have pens but I've definitely thought of raising the speed of the motor to get some of it to go outside of the pen so I can have a chance at getting a hog or two..

If feral hogs could catch some sort of disease and all die, that'd be great.

There's no question that Texas hunters are hooked on feeders as a result of the relative ease in which they help them shoot deer. For that reason, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who takes issue with their use, as long as it keeps the money train moving. The day feeders become illegal, will be the day hunting license sales take a nose dive in Texas.

I still remember the day that my dad bought our first feeder from a guy down the street. He was tinkering with it in the living room one morning, and set the motor off throwing some left over corn all over the living room. I had hunted with him for a few years but that season would be my first to actual carry a rifle with the intention of killing a deer. I think that's one of he main reasons he bought that first automatic, spin cast feeder.

Opening morning we hunted the hay field right in front of the ranch house. I shot a forkhorn and we saw the biggest buck we'd ever seen on the ranch in over 10 years but he didn't go to the feeder. The forkhorn was parked under the feeder for an hour I bet and departed coming straight towards us. I shot him with the 30-30 at 60 yards. We added feeders to the other stands across the property.

The funny thing is that 3 of the best 4 stands that we had didn't have a feeder at them. The other good producing stand had a feeder but all the noteworthy deer were shot out of opposite window down a long sendero that ran through the brush between a big, creekbottom and overgrown, mesquite infected field and the big hill that was choked with cedar and a known bedding area. Deer, especially the big bucks, were always weary of the feeders on that ranch and would only be seen at one in the 15 minutes of dawn or dusk, and usually following a doe. With that said, with the property being the family ranch and multiple kids hunting it having feeders was a good way to keep kids occupied, seeing lots of deer and getting shots at stationary deer within easy range.

For good and bad, feeders are a mainstay of Texas deer hunting and always will be. There's no way TPWD ever outlaws them. Also, hunters buying corn and stopping in local businesses and spending their outside money on corn and other things is a huge economic driver in small, rural towns all over the state. There's a reason that towns hang banners across main street welcoming hunters every fall. Some towns probably see 50% of their external income fall in the 3 or 4 months prior to and during deer season.

I like the way you think.

If supplemental feeding was outlawed across Texas, I think we would see a gradual decline in overall deer numbers. I don't know if any comprehensive studies have been conducted, but common sense tells me that mortality rates should be reduced and fawn production increased by supplemental feeding, even in states like Texas that have relatively mild winters. There might be some offset due to fewer deer being killed by hunters, but I don't think it would be enough to make up for the increased non-hunter deaths.

I love hunting without a feeder but you need to be on a property that it can work. One with some rolling terrain, oaks, open areas with shelter in between and large acreage. My friends place meets all of that and it works fine. It's a lot more fun to see deer in all directions instead of looking at a single spot.

Hunting around feeders is an economic boom for Texas. You can hunt more people in a feeder-blind situation than you can in a spot and stalk situation, plus the sale of blinds and feeders has to figure in on help the economy out in Texas along with corn sales. Protein is another push that makes money for lots of feed stores and draws people to areas that can raise big deer. Most areas of Texas have a decent population of whitetails that flourish with good weather years and with numbers, there is always a chance for diseases to spread, but one lovesick buck in a densely populated area can reach quite a few deer and diseases could be passed on and on. With the number of coons and foxes the chance of passing on rabies looks like it would be much better, but it has been a while since a rabies outbreak. WAter is always going to be an attractant, good years or bad. We would all like to hunt in a more natural setting, but feeder-blind situations allow a lot of us to afford hunting leases. I enjoy safari style hunting for mule deer, but can't afford to spend that much for a hunt. Attractants gather animals, just like nice areas to live in gather people. Same thing could happen to people, but some still live in areas of great population and we have the reasoning to know better.

That depends on the individual. Some guys are completely content looking up occasionally from their iPhone to see if the deer they've been seeing on camera for several weeks has walked up to their feeder or into their food plot. Others prefer to spend time looking for deer sign to pick a place to setup a stand and see how well their knowledge pays off.

Personally, I do both. When I just want to sit back and have the deer come to me, I'll hunt a food plot. And when that gets boring, I'll go hunt a ladder stand in an un-baited area that I picked out recently, or in a spot that has paid off before.

Call me spoiled, but I grew up hunting the Hill Country and Edward's Plateau without feeders. We had a 400 acre lease on the Mason/Llano Co. line that had a few stands, but no feeders. I later had leases in Gillespie Co. with stands, no feeders. We hunted 100,000 acres out of San Angelo with no stands and no feeders. Then I hunted a ranch in Hays Co. with brush blinds and no feeders. We always managed to get a buck. Maybe not the biggest or the oldest, but we filled tags.

Many times you'd set up at the base of a tree, overlooking a creek bottom or some other natural feature with game sign. Sometimes you saw deer, many times you didn't. When I hunt now, I want to see deer. Even if I'm not interested in shooting any of them, I want to see them. I could go back to hunting without feeders, but why would I?

The level of excitement that comes with seeing deer where you've see them so many times before, doesn't come close to the excitement in seeing them where you've never seen one.

Dan, I get excited about seeing big, old, mature bucks.

Doesn't everyone?

I think the price of ethanol would go down if Texas quit buying corn.

Excited and mad also when there is a perfectly good feeder full of corn and the the muy grande wants to stay in the brush 200 yards out walking the other direction. Makes me wonder what is the point many times. They literally might visit our feeders one time each in 3 months. But it is Texas. I did get lucky this year finally using a feeder but first time only.

I quit using feeders two years ago - food plots only now. Big positive difference because the hogs are much less of a problem. Fencing the feeders with pens did zero good because my deer were very reluctant to jump in the pen and the hogs just rooted under anyway. I still hand corn some bowhunting and maybe for a specific deer. But if you don't think running corn feeders in east TX doesn't keep more hogs on your place you are mistaken.

Add in the cost, the work, etc. and it was something I should have done years ago. Food plots just work much better on my place without all the hassle. Simply put, east TX is just a different ball game compared to central/south TX.

Like many, I have never seen a big deer at a feeder, but they would check them for does during the "magic" time - but they do the same thing with the food plots. I have had mature deer visit the food plots and eat. Not regularly, but they will do it.

Corns market value is 50% of what it was in 1960 how much lower you want it to go

there is only two kinds of land, pasture what ever you want to call it, one that has hogs and ones that will get hogs, hogs travel, when its rainy, they root and destroy land regardless.

NG, food plots are not possible or even practical in much of the state. Too many rocks, not enough rain, too much brush...the list goes on.

Yes, feral hogs are just like cockroaches in many ways, the first being that the only good one is a dead one. And if you leave food out where either can find it, you're far more likely to have a problem with them.

This is my first year not to buy protein feed or corn except to bait push in pens for hogs but I did buy $1200. worth of seed and fertilize. I usually catch enough hogs to pay the feed store bill for the covercrop and if your in a area that will grow covercrop put your money into as big a plot as you can. You won't have to worry about deer. They will be there. All my neighbors now claim I stole their deer. I plant around 15 acres, one field has 8 acres in it and this is my 5th year to plant and its got better every year.

Yes. That's why I was careful to acknowledge the difference between east TX and the rest of the state.

Couple of my neighbors have corn feeders and they shoot a lot. I know what they are shooting 90% of the time. Which is cool for both of us, as they love shooting hogs and I'm glad for them to have them and shoot them on their place.

I really grew weary of the deer lifting their heads, vacating the territory and 2 minutes later a sounder of hogs coming in. Doesn't happen anymore.

$300 in hog panels will do the same around a feeder and last a lifetime though. Just run a feeder or two with no panels to keep the hogs concentrated elsewhere. That's what we do. I would love food plots but we tried and never rained so nothing grew. $600 of seed gone plus all the fencing from cows. I am sure these past two years anything would have grown though. If I owned my place and had a tractor I would figure out a way.

Thanks for all the great responses!
It is good to know that many of you face the same challenges with hogs and deer around a feeder. The post about having to use feeders just to afford a lease caught me off guard but I completely understand. Hunting a small place does make it necessary to bring the deer to you since you may not be able to go to them.

Those feeders bring in the doe. During the rut the bucks are going to be near the doe. They may feed at night but at least they are in the area...hopefully.

This community has largely ended the cycle of deer overpopulation/starvation by using feeders. I don't mind spending money to improve the herd but it will suck for the deer if the practice is suddenly abandoned.

I think food plots are the way to go if where you are hunting will support it. Lots of benefits to all the wildlife and the nutritional value is so much better than just corn alone. The last two seasons I spread rye grass and let nature do the rest and it grew pretty well. I need to fertilize what I've got started this year to see if that helps. I like the long term benefits of food plots verses seasonal feeding.

Hence why I would never hunt East Texas

I think that CWD issues are few and far between. Most of the problems are associated with High Fence Breeding operations.
It keeps some of the folks at TP&W employed, so it is probably not a bad research project.