So I'm new to hunting , I'm not green but no expert either. So I got lucky and got access to some private land in east Texas to hunt . It's not a lease and no one has it it in over 10 years . So my buddy and I drove the 2.5 hours out 3 weeks ago to check it out . The land owner said it was loaded with hogs , does and bucks. So we found a pond ( landowner told us it was there ) it had 5 trails coming to the waters edge . And had fresh hog, doe and buck tracks . So we set up a Camara and thru corn down . We left and came back a week later and we had hogs , does and bucks on the Camara !!!!! So pretty excited we decided to put up another camera and a feeder . We left came back a week later and Nothing !!! My buddy says it was in the 80s and rainy that week so they were bedding down. It will get colder and they will start moving. So we set up the ground blind and did some clearing to get a good shot . We set the cameras and left . We plan on goin back in 2 weeks to do some serious hunting . My question is do yall think my buddy is right or did we spook em with putting up that feeder? It goes off 2 times a day just at safe light and right before dark. Here are some pics. Thanks

Depending on the location of the feeder in relation to the trails in and out of the pond, the deer will bypass the area because of the feeder. It should be placed in the general area in the vicinity of the trails but not right beside them or on them. It is something new and the deer will get used to it and return in a little while. Acorns are dropping now so they may not hit the feeder until most of them are gone. If you have more cameras, put them in different locations around the pond, the deer are still coming to water but are most surely taking another path to it.

If it's been up a few weeks they should adapt to it pretty quick, especially if you keep corn in it.

That one buck looks right at legal for an AR County.

Word to the wise. You need to take t-posts and stake those feeder legs down. When the hogs find that feeder (and they will) It will be dumped over and destroyed in a matter of days.

Also could be the camera isn't operating properly, or, folks sometimes forget to turn them on; I speak from experience.

You're gonna have a great time. Good luck!

Yes you spooked them.
Yes they’ll be back if you don’t spook them again.
No, there’s no place in East Texas that’s had no one on it in ten years.

Congrats on your place to hunt. I know how excited you must be to see all the critters. Don't worry, either they'll be back or new ones will come in. Sneak into your blind an hour or so before daylight opening morning & you might be filling out a buck tag at first light.

Thanks yall for the info, if we get lucky I'll post pics.

When you stake those feeder legs, be sure to drive the stakes at the same angle as the feeder legs so they lay flush against them. Do not stake them vertically unless you want to create a hell of a safety hazard when filling it. There have been cases where hunters fell off a ladder and became injured by them.

Good luck this season.

Congrats on the place to hunt and critter pictures and agree with the above comments. On the staking the feeder down Dan brings up a good point about the stakes. I have seen the issue with hogs and cows knocking over feeders. The last stakes I put in on a feeder I just drove them in straight and used the battery sawzall and gut them off at the legs,

Good luck