I know that hunting feeders is acceptable in Texas, and I'm on that side of the fence too, but. Why does it seem that everyone only hunts feeders and no one hardly ever tries too hunt deer coming from the bedding areas or watering holes? Or transition areas and funnels? Big bucks get big, by being cautious, and that means avoiding feeders during the daytime.

I just never see anyone on here post about their stand that was placed anywhere except on a feeder. You might see bigger bucks if you didn't always hunt feeders. Knowing they are mostly nocturnal until the rut. I don't know, maybe I'm way off the mark here, but I wonder about things like this when I'm bored at work.

Most of us do not have places BIG enough to be able to utilize our property in that fashion. the last buck I shot, last Friday, was moving inbetween two ravines and two groves of hard woods...my stand over looks two feeders but i whacked him going from point A to point B.

In my opinion, but I believe the problem has to do with time available to hunt.

It seems like, that many hunters try to squeeze a weekends trip to the lease and do their hunting and maintenance around their camp and to their feeders and game cams, in to about 48 hours total.

They work all day Friday, and hopefully spent a good part of Thursday night getting all their gear together, then get home as fast as they can, and drive from 1 to 4 hours to get to their lease.

Then they try to get a little sleep, and be ready to go to the blind by 4 a.m. or so, and stay awake until 8 or 9 a.m., then they go to camp for a nap, or run to the closest town for corn or batteries or to eat lunch, etc. etc..

Then they bust butt back to camp to go out from 3 till dark, and then they have to cook supper and check feeders and no telling what else, then they to get a little sleep and be ready to be back in the stand at 4 a.m. on Sunday.

Hunt till around 9 and then get everything loaded up for the trip home.

In my opinion, many hunters just do not have the time to do anything other than hunt feeders, especially if they want to kill a deer, any deer.

I too have a feeder near my stand. However,at this blind, i have two senderas that i generally watch deer use as a right of way. you would be surprised at the smart ones that go thru and never attempt to approach the feeder.

If you are like me, then you will have a feeder in a transition area and/or a staging area. I hunt a foodplot with a feeder about 20 yards from the wheat field and it serves as a staging/funnel area to the food plot much of the time. I also have my command central stand, which is in the middle of the property and has water a couple hundred yards from one direction and the fields in another one.

I've found that deer will enter feed pens and go to feeders at night, but not very often during the day or shooting hours. I like feeders because they give me a good idea on what is out there, be it better or worse than I expected.

people like to see alot of game, feeders and water holes can suppy there need. it takes a good hunter to sit in the woods hoping a buck or sumthing comes across them. i agree that its not likly to see a grande buck come up to a feeder and start eating corn when your in the stand, but the feeder will draw the does , and when the bucks are alittle horny they will come runnin for some action. JMO.

Exactly my point. Why lease a place with the best oppportunity to see a good mature buck only during the rut? Granted you should hunt where the does are during the rut. But I'm talking about hunting the rest of the season.

OMO, you shorten your changes drastically but hoping to score on a big buck by hunting during the rut only. Expand your horizons, catch'em off guard. Maybe I'm trying too hard to understand since I don't have a lease. I hunt public land only, with the exceptions of when and if I get invited somewhere. I guess I'm putting too much thought into it?

i have only been hunting a few years and very rarely have i seen a big buck come to a feeder. i like to sit on trails where i know the deer travel. pretty easy to find if you pay attention to where they come from

I have two stands on the place I hunt. One has one feeder, and then overlooks a pond.
The other has two feeders, one across a canyon, and the other in a mesquite flat, with a big wheatfield next to the stand. The canyon runs right next to the stand with several draws.

Out of the 4 places I have to hunt, the only lace I hunt over a feeder is my place in olney wihch I am giving up after this season. Everywhere else I hunt trails either out of a climber or a ladder stand. I have actually seem nore deer by not hunting a feeder than I have hunting over a feeder. It was a little hard to get accustomed to at first, but now I enjoy not hunting over a feeder. Of course I have to log a ton more hours out in the woods doing pre season scouting, but that is rather enjoyable as well.

I have taken all of my Deer and Axis in the fields on the way to a feeder I have in the woods. I prefer not to shoot over the feeder which allows a safe zone or at least the deer may thing it some what safe around the feeders. I may be all wet about this technique but it has worked for me the last several years.

Mike

I try to do both. I have a small place, 100 acres. I have 2 feeder locations, both are situated in the middle of the 100 acre plot. One is situated at the base of a hill which happens to have a tank to the left, mesquites to the right, oak thicket to the south, oaks to the north, and a creekbed disecting it all. That way I catch animals going to the feeder, crossing the draw coming down from the hill between the tank and the oak thicket, transiting the creekbed, going to and from the tank, and transiting the mesquites to the right bedding down in the oaks to the south. That big 10 I took this past weekend is the first big deer to be taken at the feeder, usually they are like the nice 8 I was watching last weekend and merely transiting the area between feeding (wheet plot) and bedding grounds.

My other feeder location is smack on the edge of a wheat plot so I get animals coming to the feeder, feeding on the wheat, and simply transiting the area as it is a transit coridor with thick oaks and mesquites on all 4 sides.

Earl

Unless I am bowhunting I almost never hunt a feeder this time of year. Tree lines, heavily wooded trails and draws are the way to go in my opinion. You have to invest the time though.

I've primarily hunted without feeders for the past two seasons but the area I hunt has a good buck/doe ratio, lots of traffic, and only I hunt it. I don't knock the those that hunt feeders though and am thinking of putting one up to hunt over with a bow. Not had much luck with the bow last two years and I'm sure that has more to do with my skills. I'd just like to up my bow chances.

My stand(s) are about 150-200 yards from the feeders and the country i can cover is whole lot more than just my feeder area. When we pick spots its by the deer sign we see, not just go out there, throw a feeder up and hope for the best. The bucks run the does through the flats my stands are located. We hunt out of towers to cover much more area than a feeder pen. Feeders keep the does around and where there are does the big boys will follow. That being said i dont recall shooting a good buck at a feeder, culls yes but trophies no. We have went in cleared senderos to shoot down and catch the deer moving through. Watching the feeders gets boring! Gotta keep it interesting!!

I picked my stand spot first-separated between 2 great trails 700 yards apart, a pond 200 nearby I cannot overlook, very thick brush(cover) on one side of an interior fence, other side is somewhat open with 2 creeks meeting into one. I then placed a couple of feeders in the area which acts as treat for the deer, fun for kids, bow hunting opportunities, good trail camera spot, turkeys and hogs enjoy them, but the trails are where the bucks will be, mostly.

See, that's what I'm talking about. I knew someone was doing it the way I would if I had a place. I was just curious about it. Good luck to ALL of you this season, I hope your planning and scouting and patience are rewarded with a buck of a lifetime.

WHen deer hunting, I have a limited number of hours to hunt and a limited amount of space to hunt. Hunting over a feeder allows me to get the most bang out of my time. I do not like to sit at feeders where this is the only attractant fora deer. I like to see deer in the natural and like feeders I hunt to be just an added attraction, but you can bet when the feeder goes off, that will be where I am looking. Deer come to our feeders because they are hungry and because we put them in good places and if they do not get the kind of attention that we want, we move them.

Holy Crap!!
Have you been following me recording my every move??

We have about 500 acres of prime bedding area right in the heart of our lease. We usually have this as no fire zone. Its like ducks if you blast them in the bedding area I guarantee that it will take them a while to come back! We use feeders around the outside perimeter of the bedding area and the outside perimeter of the property to draw off game from the neighbors . Protein feeders are off limits for shooting deer at, but hogs on the otherhand will get shot anywhere! JMHO

No, I just know a bunch of folks that deer hunt, and that is their routine.

I have even hunted with some of them, and have watched them get to the place to hunt, unpack their stuff, and then re-pack on Sunday, and some of the stuff they un-packed had never been moved from the spot where it landed during the unpacking.

Over the years, depending on where or what I am hunting, the only thing I take is my firearm and at least one box of shells, many times I don't even take binoculars.

I have feeders for my guests but when I go I get out the ghillie suit and go to ground. Stalking a deer is a tough hunt out here but usually produce better results.

I have a feeder out the front window of my stand to keep the does around. Out the right window I have a 110 yard 20 foot wide shooting lane that has many trails crossing it. That is where the bucks travel. I keep corn on the ground on it and also apples. I am on the edge of 4 different stands of tree growth. The deer love it there.