Is it a good idea to go without a feeder pen?

I'm debating whether to go with or without a feeder pen. We do have a few cows on the place so I'm a little concerned about that. thought I would get some opinions/votes here on the forum

I always have a feed pen if there are any type of livestock or wild hogs in a pasture. Just cattle hanging around a feeder can be as bad as hogs as far as keeping deer away. Sooner or later they both will destroy a feeder when it gets dry enough and they get hungry enough.

Put pens up, I had cows jump and knock down a flimsy pen and destroy my feeder. Take the time to make sure it's done right and you will have no issues.

Good call pen it is

If you don't, just toss all the money you spend on a feeder and corn in the trash.

I'm not a big fan of pens, so I hang mine from a tree.

I have a feeder that doesn't have a pen around it and haven't had an issue. The cows will come by but they don't hang around long enough to cause any problems. They haven't knocked it down in about 12 years, but they could. I have them around the other 3 sets.

If I had hogs, goats, sheep, etc., I would have one around all my feeders.

If you have cows or hogs, it's the worst idea you could ever have.

You can go without if you get the right type of feeder design. I have found mature bucks are very skittish jumping into a feeder pen and rarely do. Unless they grow up around it, then they will.

I have sets with a pen and without. If you have hungry cows that don't have enough grass, they will be a problem. Hogs will be one as well, so the feeder design has to be able to withstand hog abuse.

You will get more consistent deer visits if your in hog country by building a pen around your feeder. Just not from mature bucks that haven't grown up feeding there.

I guess it depends on the nature of the particular cow.

I had a whopping 2 cows get into my pasture a few years back and 1 of my feeders looked like a soda can that had been run over by a cement truck. Absolute annihilation.

I have heard that the cattle on your lease understand what could happen to them if they do destroy a feeder.....steak, it's what's for dinner

If it only to keep cattle honest and away from feeder use trampoline frames. I have been using them for about five years and have had no cattle damage. No hogs on our lease so that was not an issue. I mainly bow hunt and did not want any type of fence panels or fabric to deflect arrows.

Have hang em hi crank up feeders on our place with no pens. In 10 years hogs have had no effect on the feeders other than chasing off the deer. Had cattle with them for a year or so and no problems with them either. The hogs are preventing deer from using our feeders, especially during the summer, so we are penning most of them.

They learn faster than what most people give them credit for

And one cow goes a loooong way

I might have to build a simple barbed wire pen around a couple of mine before next year unless the LO reduces the number of cattle on our place. They haven't damaged the feeders but I have them staked down pretty solid with T-posts drove in pretty deep at an inward angle ... BUT ... they have figured out what the rattle is when the feeder goes off and come in a whole lot better than the deer do. See below:

We have crank up feeders..on one of the feeders the cows rubbed up against it and let the feeder down and wrecked it and the pig lite..so up went the hog panels..hate em..

Yep, go pens. The LO on our place has a lot of cattle, the lay down around the feeders without pens, deer can show up and ya can't shoot due to the cattle around, can't afford LO cow. Also the cows eat your corn $$$$$.
Make it large enough so the deer feel comfortable jumping in.

Between Goats, Cows and Porcupines, Coons, Rock Squirrels'


I'm in the process of building a Mote with gators..wait...does gators eat corn

Nope.

But they eat deer.

Just my assumption, but I bet one of the reasons I see so many messed up antlers from lease pics is all those pens, wires, extra legs and just a bunch of metal around feeders. I try to keep this stuff to a minimum on my place. The deer have enough obstacles in the natural environment to bang their antlers on and I don't want to add to the list. When I put up a feeder it is for hogs only, the deer on all the places I hunt (5 states) seldom come to a feeder and mature bucks even more seldom. So, all I do is put three strands of cheap barb wire around the feeder to keep the cows out (a nice size enclosure). As long as the cows are well fed and fence trained, they stay away from the feeders. I am very thankful that I don't have to worry about cattle/livestock on my places....another advantage of owning your hunting land.

3 strands of barb wire minimum. Keeps most out on our place.

We have hogs & cows on our lease, I use 3 t-posts and wire to secure my tripod feeder and a varmint cage to protect the timer...feeders made it thru the season and trail cam showed the cows didn't hit the feeders as much as I thought they would have.

The cows WILL get into your food plot/feeder if you don't keep them out. We had this one electric fenced and they broke though it anyway.

looks stuck

Just put up a fence around a feeder as cattle & hogs loved to scarfup the corn. Don't put as salt block in the enclosed area. Lesson learned that cattle will go right thru the fence to get at the salt. Hogs not as big a problem as cattle.

No cow issues

If you have hogs, I'd put up a pen. They'll root a hole under it and the next rain you'll have a pond. I use cattle panels and T-posts. The deer will hop right over.