Couple of questions around enlarging feeder pens, if circular what is a good diameter circle and circumference to house both a barrel spin cast corn feeder and gravity protein feeder? Also, has anyone ever used a combination of hog paneling and wire fencing? I have some of both and was wondering if I could save a few bucks using both of what I have. No cattle on place. Finally how far apart should t posts be, 6-7ft.? Thanks for input

Believe I should have between 125-150 linear feet of paneling and wire fencing to work with...If I'm running these circumference formulas correctly, this should render me with a circle having a 35' or so diameter and square circular footage of 1000' ft or a little more. Seems plenty big enough to me.

The easiest answer is fence in your corn

I made some large pens this year not far from you and the most I’ve had was 5 in at the same time. The larger deer still hang at the feeder like a magnet.
I put some wheat and oats in the pen and early I had more interest in that until the acorns and rut set in

I didnt look closely at your numbers but it seems way too small. We used 13ea 16' panels. If you overlap a foot then I think thats 195' circumference. My pie are square aint real good but I think the diamater is 64' or so. Thats probably a little bigger than needed but it really is nice. I think bigger is better and everyone on here will define "bigger" different and some will say it doesnt matter. I watch all combos of genders and age chase each other around that big pen. They have room to run away without jumping out. Im convinced if it was small they would jump out and just not jump back in. As you know, just listen to all and go from there.

For two feeders I would want at least 12 16 foot panels so 192 foot circumference. We have one that big and corn barely stays inside the pen it throws so far. T-post every 8 feet.

I think this one is 11 panels plus a 12 foot gate. Set the gate posts first and then lay out your panels. As FR referenced, make sure to overlap them. If using a gate, try not to place it between the pen and the blind.

Mine are 25’ radius, 50’ apart, 10-16’ hog panels.
There is room for 2 feeders but wouldn’t hurt to be a little bigger.

The easiest way to set it up is to wire your panels together in a circle first, then drive your t-posts around the inside and wire to the panels……I recommend 10 panels or more……wire with panels combinations like you asked about will not keep the hogs out and will be difficult to make sturdy and tight IMO….

For pens the bigger the better and in my opinion the shorter the better. If you don’t have stock on the place it doesn’t take much at all to keep hogs out height wise.

We have a single spin feeder in our pens made with 7 panels round. Zero overlap and only one t-post at the seam of each panel. Been up for 5 years and the only thing to get in so far are deer and hogs small enough to fit through the panel. We learned a lesson, in javelina country must use hog panels as grown javi will squeeze through cattle panels.

Maybe a dumb question but do you worry about hitting the hog panel with a bullet? The material on those is almost as thick as a pencil. While it certainly wouldn’t stop a bullet I could see it deflecting one.

I don’t have any feeder pens on my place but am contemplating adding some. I have a couple hundred t posts piled up and a post driver for my skid steer so the building part will be easy I just was a little concerned about shooting through the panels.

14 panels here with 2 strings of barb wire over that. If you think there is a possibility of future cattle, I would make them square or octogen so it's easier to put barb wire on the top. And t-post every 8ft. I also made a gate big enough to drive through to fill the feeders.

When Using the hog panels( short 36" i think) in combination with an elevated blind, you will be able to shoot over the top of the panels. Might have to wait for the deer to move to the backside of the pen before a clear shot is offered, but it typically works out fine. I never try to shoot through the panels.

Here is how I have built feed pens and been doing this since the mid 90's. I have built well over 100 this way. I have done them with only 1 t-post per panel at the overlap of the panels but 2 per panel is ideal on a place with cattle. I prefer round when the terrain, cover and ground allows it. I use 10 panel minimum but prefer 13-14 34" hog panels. IMO many people make the mistake of leaving to much brush in the pen and surrounding it. Deer have poor depth perception and feel more comfortable jumping to a pen with less clutter and more room...ie 2 feeders and no trees or brush inside it. The larger the pen you build the more deer will use it. If you have older mature deer that will use the pen then you need to eliminate as much stress as you can. Raising deer around a feeder and using a feed pen is key to getting mature deer inside the pen daily. Keeping 100% of the corn inside the pen is the key to keeping hog traffic to a minimum. Keep feeders in the middle of the pen is critical if you have a cattle on the place. I never shoot a deer inside the feed pen. I always road or hand corn outside the pen and that is where I shoot 100% of the deer is on corn outside the pen. If you are shooting through the panels staging then it is just a matter of time till you hit a panel. If your pen is large enough and you can elevate your blind high enough, you may be able to shoot at a deer inside the pen. Elevation will dictate this. I like a road feeder due to the fact that I can put the deer where I want them in relation to wind direction.
I always start by driving in one T-post first where I want to hinge the gate panel at. I use concrete wire ties and tool to put the pen up fast. Years ago I was able to find galvanized wire ties to build the pens.


I overlap at least one spacing and tie it in 3 places.

I lay the panels out in a circle and then tie them one after another till I get to the gate panel.

I tie/latch in the gate panel with one wire to hold it in place.

I then take and move the panels around to form a circle or oval that fits the opening in the brush or pasture I am putting the pen in.

On this pen I used a bunch of 50" cattle panels I had and cut them in half. So the pen was only 25" tall. No cattle on the place but had hogs. It worked great on larger hogs but the pigs could get thru the large spacings. So about 3 yrs later I replace the panels with 34" tall hog panels. Here is what it looked like when I was done. I used shorter T-post but used one taller one every 3rd panel and then one on each side of the gate panel.

Here is how I spliced and tied the panels at the T-post. I would then come back with 14 gauge galvanized tie wire and tie in 3 places at each T-post.



In my younger days I would be able to build a pen in about 30-35 minutes if the opening was cleared out and the panels/posts were already at the site. The concrete wire ties and tool made the initial pen build very quick. If you can find galvanized wire ties then you can build the pens really fast. If you have a lot of pens to build it will make short work of them.

and there you have it

Yes.
My grandkids have shot deer in these pens, but my oldest son shot at the biggest buck he ever seen while hunting and hit one the wire on the hog panels

We are one and one on hitting the panel. Wife shot a buck a few years ago hit the pan so square and still got the deer. Nephew shot at a really nice 9 point this year and hit the panel, deer didn’t act hit no blood or hair. I grew up shooting through panel and mesh wire pens on properties with sheep and goats before hogs were even on the scene still haven’t hit one.

It happens and here's what it looks like.

Isn't that a photo of damage from a bullet which exited the pen?

I am going to need to cut some cow/hog panel before the next rifle season. I am assuming the most common way to do this is with bolt cutters? If so, what size cutters do best (24” vs 36”)? Thank you.

I use 24'' with little effort.

We have never hit a hog panel but all of our setups are from elevated blinds and use natural terrain so we are 10 to 20 feet higher in elevation than the feeder location. I personally would never shoot thru a panel since we go over it.

I would not hesitate to shoot through a panel at all. Odds of hitting a wire have to be less than 1/100 just based on the space. Sure it could happen. But you are not going to ruin your pen with a bullet strike. And I am not going to pass up a shooting opportunity due to a 1/100 chance of striking a panel wire.

1/100 chance..... Im not even thinking about doing the math but that seems off. And I also really doubt that anyones hesitation would be to keep from hurting the pen.

Paranoia will destroy ya'. Let the panels bother you and you will be more likely to hit them. I believe I have shot one deer in a pen and that was just this year.

My son hit this on the biggest buck he ever shot at