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Out of ideas. Help wanted. #7621449 10/02/19 02:23 AM
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First year on my lease. Put out feeders in April. A few occasional does and TONS of hogs all summer. I shot a few hogs but way too many so I paneled my feeder pens in August. No more hogs, but not a single deer in the pen in 2 months.

There’s probably 70 lbs of corn under the feeder.

Guys all around me on the lease have plenty of deer pics.

SMH. I’m thinking about putting out some / a lot of attractant to see if it helps them find it...or are they avoiding it for other reasons???

Youth rifle is in 4 weeks and I got on this place for a lot of reasons, my daughter being one big one.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621459 10/02/19 02:39 AM
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Notch the cattle panel so deer can get in and out easier. We cut ours down to about crotch high.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Brandon Adamcik] #7621463 10/02/19 02:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Brandon Adamcik
Notch the cattle panel so deer can get in and out easier. We cut ours down to about crotch high.



Did that a month ago.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621470 10/02/19 03:06 AM
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Stop throwing corn. Get rid of any cheesy “attractants”.

Put up a free choice protein feeder. Try something different.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621476 10/02/19 03:17 AM
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So, I am wondering how much of an area (what size) does your pen cover. Deer do not normally like to jump into small enclosures. They will, but not unless they have no other options. Sounds like they have better options from what you are mentioning, in your thread. Does and fawns prefer to slip under and or through a fence, when they can. Mostly, it seems that the deer don’t like your setup, or they like stuff meone else’s better.

Also, it Sounds like you don’t like feeding the hogs...if that is the case, just thin them out. Many years ago, I quit messing with feeders, as I got tired of the cattle breaking down my pens, tearing the feeders up. (Hogs can do the same thing, just to a lesser extent.) So I just started throwing out a couple bags of feed at several different locations, each time I arrived at deer camp..nothing for the cattle to tear up, and they can’t really get at the corn, if you spread it out enough. Then the hogs showed up, en masse...so I thinned them out (which mostly scared them off to adjoining properties) and I got lots of good hog meat to eat, and left the boars to the coyotes (which I also would shoot for the furs)...because the bait stations were large, usually an acre insize, the deer would show up in groups of 8 to 10 does/yearlings/fawns (instead of ones, twos)...Also the bucks would come in to scent check the does, when they were feeding at my bait stations. Basically, the bucks started coming in more regular than before. So once I started, the feeding stations, I began to put out doe in estrus scent, when I fed out, and even dripped it from my truck on the side of the road as I was leaving the feeding stations. What happened, is that the bucks would temporarily take up residence on my territory, and go into Rut Mode, while I was there...while the results will take a couple days or more to work...a long trip to hunting camp will prove productive...As with anything, the deer will take time to condition themselves to any new strategy. It took me a year to get the deer accustomed to my bait stations, but I encountered many mature bucks, that I had seldom seen previously. Anyway, this method is much less expensive and once successfully adopted, can increase your mature buck sightings. Hope this insight helps!

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621478 10/02/19 03:21 AM
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Clear out the old corn you have under the feeder. Stinky feed will keep them further away than good feed will bring them in.


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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: CharlieCTx] #7621482 10/02/19 03:24 AM
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My pen is 3 panels by 3 panels square (48 feet square). I am planning to go down soon and clear out the corn on the ground.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621484 10/02/19 03:27 AM
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Lot of unknowns here. What part of the state, how many acres, how many are you hunting , how big are your pens, what does the cover look like? Did this all start after the last time you filled feeders?

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: CharlieCTx] #7621486 10/02/19 03:41 AM
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Originally Posted by CharlieCTx
Clear out the old corn you have under the feeder. Stinky feed will keep them further away than good feed will bring them in.



This would be my first action, next I would look at location and set up. Good luck cheers


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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: krmitchell] #7621496 10/02/19 04:13 AM
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Originally Posted by krmitchell
Lot of unknowns here. What part of the state, how many acres, how many are you hunting , how big are your pens, what does the cover look like? Did this all start after the last time you filled feeders?


Comanche. 2800 acres. I hunt about 100 of it. Pen is in a small clearing next to a seasonal creek with thick hardwoods on one side and scrub on two sides.

I have 2 pens. The other is about 200 yards away. I shut it down in August to concentrate on the pen in the clearing. No deer in either pen since early July.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621497 10/02/19 04:15 AM
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I have a cell camera so I know if anything is coming in.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621500 10/02/19 04:29 AM
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Or your cell cams stopped transmitting in July smile If you're not getting hogs or anything for several months, that would be unusual.

Last edited by Binary; 10/02/19 04:30 AM.
Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621525 10/02/19 10:17 AM
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Take out one panel on opposite sides of the pen till the deer are using it again.


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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621528 10/02/19 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Sabot
My pen is 3 panels by 3 panels square (48 feet square). I am planning to go down soon and clear out the corn on the ground.


Are you using hog panels? Sounds like you are setup in a good area.


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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621536 10/02/19 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Sabot
My pen is 3 panels by 3 panels square (48 feet square). I am planning to go down soon and clear out the corn on the ground.


Here’s part of the problem.

Pens need to be 8-10 panels.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: maximus_flavius] #7621543 10/02/19 11:06 AM
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Originally Posted by maximus_flavius
Originally Posted by Sabot
My pen is 3 panels by 3 panels square (48 feet square). I am planning to go down soon and clear out the corn on the ground.


Here’s part of the problem.

Pens need to be 8-10 panels.


I think he is saying 3 panels per side which is a total of 12 panels which is decent size.


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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621584 10/02/19 12:32 PM
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Maybe fill the feeder with a mix of corn and roasted soybean? It can't hurt (except maybe your wallet).


There's only 2 seasons in a year. Deer season and getting ready for deer season.
Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: phathawg] #7621593 10/02/19 12:50 PM
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Move the feeder.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621599 10/02/19 01:02 PM
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Open the pen and let the hogs come in and clean up the corn, then leave it open and let the deer get used to it, then you can close it up or add a couple more panels.



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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Stub] #7621601 10/02/19 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Stub
Originally Posted by maximus_flavius
Originally Posted by Sabot
My pen is 3 panels by 3 panels square (48 feet square). I am planning to go down soon and clear out the corn on the ground.


Here’s part of the problem.

Pens need to be 8-10 panels.


I think he is saying 3 panels per side which is a total of 12 panels which is decent size.

Originally Posted by Stub
Originally Posted by maximus_flavius
Originally Posted by Sabot
My pen is 3 panels by 3 panels square (48 feet square). I am planning to go down soon and clear out the corn on the ground.


Here’s part of the problem.

Pens need to be 8-10 panels.


I think he is saying 3 panels per side which is a total of 12 panels which is decent size.


Correct. 3 panels per side. 12 panels. 2 panels are hog so that there are low areas for the deer to jump in. I cut down severAl other panels as well.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621604 10/02/19 01:09 PM
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I had a similar situation where the hogs overran my feeder with very few deer coming in. I sat on that blind and shot as many pigs as I could and eventually they moved on to another. I still saw several deer but typically passing by and briefly stopping for a look. I ended up taking the panels down and just letting the lead do the work on the pigs. My daughter loved watching the pigs come in and doing the curly shuffle when one or more got a bullet. We have cattle as well so we just run a 2 strand barb wire fence around the feeder. Deer almost always go under it unless spooked. I also feed the soybean/corn mix and while more expensive, the deer cant get enough.

Last edited by h20thief; 10/02/19 01:10 PM.

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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621623 10/02/19 01:39 PM
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When the deer were not hitting my corn I bought square bales of Alfalfa and it usually always works.
Put some of the chunks inside your feeder pen and put some more around the peripheral area that you are hunting.
Make sure it is nice and green and the deer have plenty of water to drink, the Alfalfa makes them thirsty!

Good luck up

Last edited by Stub; 10/02/19 01:39 PM.

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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621644 10/02/19 02:18 PM
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When I bought my land, I was all excited and happy to shoot hogs, so I let them eat all the corn they wanted and I shot them on a regular basis. But during deer season, I didn't see very many deer, and I realized that the hogs where the problem. I fenced off the feeder and that kept the hogs away, but I never had any bucks come to the corn, just a few does. That never changed and I got to wondering if it was too small of an area for the bucks. It was about 50 feet by 50 feet.

After a few years of that, I got to wondering if a hot wire would work better then fence panels. I ran a single wire around the entire food plot, which is half an acre. I used plastic T posts with clips for the wire on the side that sell for a couple bucks each at Atwoods. You just push them into the ground with your foot and run the wire through the clips at the height that you want it. I have it about one foot off of the ground. This has worked better then I had ever hoped for. Super simple to do with exceptional results. Now I have bucks in the food plot with the does all year round.

I also have a spot where i spread out Black Magic. This is what they go to first. They have eaten or licked the dirt away to create a low spot with a deep hole in the middle. I add more Black Magic every 3 months and they keep coming back to it every night regardless of the food plot or if I have corn out.

Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7621862 10/02/19 05:23 PM
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How far away is your stand/blind?

Once the hogs dominate it you might be better off moving it. How many hunters?

You said you were hunting 100 of 2800 acres. If you have 20 or more hunters all putting out feeders then some feeders aren’t gonna get much action except when there’s nothing else to eat.


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Re: Out of ideas. Help wanted. [Re: Sabot] #7622131 10/02/19 09:27 PM
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throw something entirely different.

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