Anti-coon idea for feed trough

OK guys, this has probably been done, but I wanted to throw it out there anyway to see what you think. I am going to build a basic feed trough, 42 inches high and 2x4 foot size.I am going to wrap aluminum flashing around the outside of the legs all the way up to the top of the trough,creating a skirt of sorts. This should eliminate anything that a coon can get a grip on to lift himself up (unless he is a just a monster sucker). Not worried about squirrels jumping up. Thoughts and critiques welcome! Thanks...

Deer won't be able to eat out of it at 42" high very well unless they are very large bodied mature bucks. Second, the coons will just learn to jump up on top of it. If it is coon proof it is deer proof IME.

While you are at it, just put a BP trap at each leg and catch them before they get a chance try and climb.

Mature deer are the only ones that I want to eat out of it. The younger ones get a free pass from me anyway, so they can stick to their normal diet.Also, the legs of the trough will be covered as well, so nothing offering a grip should be exposed.

I also think over time they will get enough mud on the legs to allow them to grip to get on top. Had that happen with regular corn feeder legs years ago when I put grease on them. It was a never ending battle with coons. IME the only way to stop the problem effectively is to catch them till they are not a problem. Mature bucks will be the most difficult to train on a new feeder also IME. A mature buck will not do as well as a young buck raised on feed his whole life. Even mature bucks will have a difficult time reaching over a 42" height then down inside the trough to eat. A huge Texas buck will be 34" more or less at the top of his shoulders. Just remember a coon has nothing but time to screw with a feeder to figure out how to eat out of it. Good luck.

Man I agree w STX
Noble idea but man those bastages are resourceful

Elimination is the key and eliminator spinners and dukes Sir

The skirt will be all the way around the outside of the legs and sides(one big sheet wrapped around). No individual leg will be exposed.If I lowered it to say 40 inches,would this help any?

A coon can jump pretty high when they want to. I would think at 36-37" high a mature will have trouble eating out of the trough area due to the added depth of the trough. You can build 42" high and continue to cut the legs off till you see a deer eating out of it. Best would be to build the trough very low then continually raise to you have no coons in TC or the bucks can't eat. TC will catch any pics coons eating out of it, if they do. Deer are not nearly as tall as we think they are.

Here is a pic of a 4-5 yr old buck in my area that is standing behind a 34" tall hog panel. The deer in my area are not that large of bodied as other areas and large than bucks in some areas in the state. He is probably a 120-125 lb dressed weight buck.

He has raised his nose to start to jump the panel in this pic.

I guess it would be smart to stick with hanging gravity feeders.They seem to be the best option against coons.There's money to be made for a man if he could figure a sure fire way to keeps coons out and allow deer easy access.

If you feed protein, you either accept you will be feeding deer and coons or put out your DP traps and kill them until they stop coming to eat.

You can be sure that many have tried to figure out a coon proof free choice protein feeder. They are too resourceful and determined to keep out.

You have to manage the problem- the coon. You manage deer so you need to manage the coon population down to where they can get by on the natural food source they have availabe to them. Not many are managing their varmint or predator populations like they need to be.

Hmm, very odd management practice, but hey, to each his own. To the coons; in my 20+ years of hunting, I have not seen a single feeder that is coon proof. A few are coon resistant, but never seen one, especially a trough or gravity feeder that comes anywhere close to being coon proof. Coons are kind of like hogs, you just got to do the best you can and keep the herd thinned out as much as possible.

Only way to get rid of coons is trap trap trap and then trap some more. if you got a feeder of any type, they will get their share or more of the corn.

I use 4' pvc pipes on each leg with a wire at the top of each attached to the feeder. By attaching the wire it lets the pipe spin...I don't think the coons get to the feeder / spinner plate but they still get to the corn on the ground. Depends on who gets there first coons, hogs or deer.

Truly a age old problem...
The Eliminator Plate is a God Send but as said total elimination is the key..

On gravity protein feeders, can't you put a set of spikes around the spout that will keep coons from being able to get to the protein?

Feeders are a great place to coon hunt.

You can but will probably end up with bucks with damaged antlers when they are in velvet trying to eat out of the spouts. Seen it tried but never any success to stop coons.

I have been very lucky to not have a coon problem but on my buddies lease he just puts pvc pipe on his feeder legs.

I can't believe how many coons some of you guys have in your pics.