you have created inflated game populations due to the supplemental feeding on certain properties. if you have a ranch that is feeding 60-80 tons of protein and you take that away, deer are going to die off.



I have been on too many properties to count that have a deer population that is being artificially sustained by feeding.


so what was it I said that was unintelligent?

One of the best tracts that I hunt in East Texas is one that costs me zero because of the relationship that I have with the landowner. At one time I kept a feeder going more for the benefit of family members who sometimes hunted the property as well. A neighboring landowner mentioned the feeder might have been attracting the hogs that were hitting his fields. So out of respect for his thoughts, I removed the feeder and have continued hunting the property for years without one. It was also a decision that led to him allowing me to access his property anytime I wish in order to retrieve game. So needless to say, I have stands near the property line with no issues to worry about. And yet every year, the tract still produces plenty of shooting opportunities.

Only "benefit" I see for a hunter in not having a feeder, is cost savings. I would bet though, that the feeder tending entwined with the whole "getting the lease/property" in shape, does a fella good (enjoyment and relaxing wise) and that is hard to put a price on, but I'd bet it would outweigh the savings.

I'll be honest, a bit confused on the objective of the thread and probably missed the whole point? Is this where we have to "pick sides" LOL

a trophy is the one deer that you will harvest using no other means than your grandpa an indian's open sighted Winchester long bow with wooden arrows in a national forest using bullets stone tips you handloaded chiseled yourself

Ego-driven rage??? I don't "need" to hunt or fill my ice chest, but it's a helluva lot of fun chasing after whitetail bucks.

Murderer. Dan would stalk them through the huisache and prickly pear.

I have hunted the Midwest where you have dedicated bedding areas, travel corridors, staging areas, and finally food sources all generally located within a reasonable distance to water. When you have this situation, you don't need feeders to "attract" deer. A little scouting and knowledge of the land; set up with the right wind and your in business. I now hunt large acreage tracts in the Panhandle, and where I hunt, deer, especially bucks, bed in different areas, feed in different areas, travel in different areas, etc.... In essence they are very difficult to pattern. That being said, my two largest bucks, both 6.5 years olds, where never photographed at a feeder to my knowledge, at least not at my feeders; however, I shot both of them within view of a feeder(s) that had lots of does and both of them off the rattle. I don't have an opinion one way or the other, I think feeders are a necessary evil if you hunt where I hunt. Pretty much all Whitetail hunting involves baiting of some sort, be it feeder, Ag field, fruit bearing trees, alfalfa flakes, etc... Finally, feeders may be, at least in Texas, the best scouting tool a whitetail hunter can have along with cameras.

And it can be even more fun when you hunt them instead of letting them hunt you.

Pick a side...I will take the other one

If we didn't have feeders, we would still bicker about hunting too close to the fence, how far hunters can set up apart, cutting deer off, hunt good plots, worry about the neighbors, get pissed at the cows and would probably find a few more things to complain about... But we would save money.

I have hunted the Midwest where you have dedicated bedding areas, travel corridors, staging areas, and finally food sources all generally located within a reasonable distance to water. When you have this situation, you don't need feeders to "attract" deer. A little scouting and knowledge of the land; set up with the right wind and your in business. I now hunt large acreage tracts in the Panhandle, and where I hunt, deer, especially bucks, bed in different areas, feed in different areas, travel in different areas, etc.... In essence they are very difficult to pattern. That being said, my two largest bucks, both 6.5 years olds, where never photographed at a feeder to my knowledge, at least not at my feeders; however, I shot both of them within view of a feeder(s) that had lots of does and both of them off the rattle. I don't have an opinion one way or the other, I think feeders are a necessary evil if you hunt where I hunt. Pretty much all Whitetail hunting involves baiting of some sort, be it feeder, Ag field, fruit bearing trees, alfalfa flakes, etc... Finally, feeders may be, at least in Texas, the best scouting tool a whitetail hunter can have along with cameras.

Only "benefit" I see for a hunter in not having a feeder, is cost savings. I would bet though, that the feeder tending entwined with the whole "getting the lease/property" in shape, does a fella good (enjoyment and relaxing wise) and that is hard to put a price on, but I'd bet it would outweigh the savings.

I'll be honest, a bit confused on the objective of the thread and probably missed the whole point? Is this where we have to "pick sides" LOL

They will concentrate the hogs in the right areas. And just like some deer are not equal, all hogs are not equal.

I think it's to each their own. There is nothing wrong with hunting a feeder. I probably have a different perspective b/c I've
been going hunting on the same land since about 1970. At first, my hunts were in a sleeping bag behind a stump or brush and my dad would wake
me up to see my older brother shoot at a doe, etc. I was fortunate that there was enough land to still hunt and move around some. My dad never supplied
a feeder or stand or camo or transportation of any type when I was growing up. He hunted with us till about 11-12 then turned us loose...Scared me to death walking to my
hunting spot in the pitch black with my flashlight. We'd drag brush around and make a stand. I loved it...it was my passion.

In my mid 20's, I started getting bored with it...same deer movement patterns...I was doing the same thing over and over again. At this point, I started bow hunting. To me
this meant hunting the same piece of land a very different way. I started scouting for spots or trails in the denser areas or down in the canyons. I never hunted any of these areas
with a rifle b/c there was such limited visibility/range. Of course, I started buying camo and I shot my first doe the mid way through my 2nd season of bow hunting. Eventually started using the 5 gallon canister tree feeders. I screwed up so many hunts...everything has to go right for a bow kill. Anyway, I loved it...a new passion

Next came my own kids which ceased most of my bow hunting for several years. With a wiggly 4 year old, I started rattling a lot during November and early december. My son was really good at making noise. I'd done it
a little before without much success. We'd move and rattle...move and rattle...What a blast! It works! Awesome to have a buck fly into the scene usually to only turn and fly back out...but still awesome. Next, I bought my first black powder 50 caliber (percussion) then the flint lock...I screwed up more hunts with that **** flint lock it's not even funny....It's now decoration on my son's wall. Now my son has the passion...especially for bow hunting.

I hunt feeders sometimes I don't. I love it all. It's all perspective...

OK thanks, so he is more concerned about drawing in hogs as the main caveat to having a feeder... I suppose that makes sense, I haven't had the trouble with them as some of you guys have. Knock on wood....

The point of this thread isn't to create a divide, but to remind hunters that feeders are not a "must have", and that there can be significant benefits in not using them. You may have to step back from the need to kill a trophy with ease but the benefits are there just the same.

Like food plots, they were something that hunters began using to "assist" their efforts. But as with so many things, they have become something that would cause many to give up and quit if you took them away.

And who knows, we may be just one CWD outbreak from seeing it happen.

Feeders are also used by the guys who only have a few select days per season to hunt. They want success like you and I want, just don't have the days to put into a full season. Their lease may not be big enough to allow them to spot, still hunt or stalk. It may even be written into the lease rules that they have to maintain a blind and feeder to hunt from. In the 80's I used a coffee can to pour corn out on the roads I as drove down to my stand. In the 60's and 70's we used 32 oz. soda water bottle or even the 24 bottle case wood flat as a feeder. Filled them up one afternoon with corn and refilled them when it was empty. That is when we started using corn as bait, back in the 60's. In the 90's I started using a road feeder. Even had one ranch I was on that had no corn feeders, only protein. I ran a road feeder everyday by the stands to hunt. A road feeder offers even more advantages to the hunter than a corn feeder. You can train a deer to any feeding method you can think of if given time to train them.

Dan,

How many trophy deer "have you killed with ease"?

How many mature deer have you killed total?