Feeder Times Affected By Time Change

Question: Do you all change your feeder times due to the time change? If so, when? This is a much discussed topic around our camp. I would like some good info from all you seasoned hunters. Thanks in advance.

No but I do change the amount of corn being fed. Throw less in the Spring assuming we have had rain.

No but I do change the amount of corn being fed. Throw less in the Spring assuming we have had rain.

Now is the time to change them to when you want the deer to show up. For me, it will be 7:15 AM and 4:15 PM and no, not daylight savings. May consider adding a second feeder time in the AM which may cause an adjustment (earlier) on the 7:15 AM setting.

I adjust mine year round according to sunrise and sunset times. That way deer are used to me adjusting times. Post season I will run corn feeders at dark or just after/before it since deer are more comfortable feeding at night or in darkness. Plus in late spring to summer heat, the bucks mainly feed when it is cooler or at night. Never had an issue with deer adjusting to feeding from nighttime to daylight. Late summer I move my feeder times to about 10 minutes after shooting light in the morning and then about 45 before shooting light ends in the afternoon. I also add additional feeding times after or before those times. Keeping does around the feeders this time of the year is my goal. Deer are nocturnal for several reasons....heat, pressure, don't live on your land, etc...

Definitely my experience also.

I'm of the Lazy School. Set it for when you want it to go off in the season, Standard Time, and leave it. Don't be the guy constantly roaring up to his feeder on a 4-Wheeler. Less human activity = seeing more deer.

And don't set the morning time so early that at the end of the season you can't see squat until long after it's gone off.

I think they get used to my diesel and my Tacoma. In addition, they seem to appreciate the sound of the road feeder.

Wonder what your neighbors are doing? They "seem" to be wounding/killing the bucks you have on cams all summer

If your throwing corn at 4:30 PM right now the deer won’t show up until almost dark. The birds will be eating more corn than the deer.

I adjust mine year around to throw about 15 minutes after first shooting light and 2-2.5 hours before dark. This way less corn is wasted.

During the season I usually drive up to the feeder and spread extra corn with the road feeder. Deer get use to us and it hasn’t effected the hunting at all.

There are some great points being made on this thread! Thanks fellas!

Same here. I adjust several times during the year to account for shorter and longer days and time changes.

This.

Like others, I'll adjust mine as days get longer or shorter, but I never adjust for daylight savings.

If it's set now for 715/615 on correct time it will go off 615/515 when the time changes without touching it.

I change them when times change. i bow hunt so i will be bowhunting all of October. When its the last weekend before we fall back, I will adjust the feeding times a week before I leave. Gives it a week to relax.

Depending on the feeder location, we would occasionally set one to go off at noon for about 5 seconds. For taking pictures of all the birds and turkeys, it always got their attention, and broad daylight was best for photos. Emerald jays are stunning in full sunlight!! It really kept the raccoons out of there too, while not putting very much on the ground.

This is pretty much me which is also similar to STx except I’ve never fed at night like he does. Never thought about it till he mentioned it once before. I don’t feed much in off season so it’s not critical I don’t think.
I also don’t feed as late in after noon as some do—I have it go off two hours before dark.
I don’t understand how y’all keep from adjusting your times to allow for a huge change in sunrise/sunset over course of season. Without looking it up, you would have to have it go off an hour after daylight and it would still go off predawn as days shorten.

It is hotter in early season and deer tend to move closer to last light. That is why I feed twice in the morning and sometimes twice in the afternoons. People who kill their bigger deer early in the season are feeding when those deer are active....closer to darkness. If they fed an hour after daylight those mature bucks would already be in their bedding cover. Rut starts are no telling where those bucks will be.

I may be off track but i set my feeders to standard time with A.M. feed time going off at 7:15 and evening feeder going off at 4:30. Deer don't know anything about time changing. No matter what we humans do/know about time change the corn hits the ground everyday at the same time.
Did I miss something

adjust mine as the days change. dont change time due to the time change. usually do a second small feed in the morning

i dont bother to change times with time change. That change is all BS. [in your head] From spring to summer days gradually get longer by a few minutes. I will turn run time down , and onlyfeed twice a day from Feb. to September. Mostly cause protein feeders are full in Jan. to Sept. and they get hammered. Come bout first 7 or 10 days of sept. i adjust for 30min before daylight & set timer for 6 sec. twice in am twice in pm.[ 4;3o & 630pm. Come open of bow season i can hardly contain my excitement!!!! So now you got a lot of opiions / ideas. Hope you aint too confused by now LOL.

I hand feed and have deer waiting for me to show up, they come running to the truck.

I do for the simple fact that I like to have my morning time set just as day is breaking. I like it to go off when it is still a couple minutes before legal shooting light. I've always thought that will just a little cover of darkness it might allow a smart old buck to leave his guard down a minute or two longer than he should while munching the golden nuggets. lol

If sunup is 6am then I will set my feeder for about 5:25am or so.
I set mine for somewhere around 1 hour before sundown in the afternoons. If they are really hitting the feeders hard I will have a another feeding set in the morning about 1-1.5 hours after sunup but only feed that one for 3-5 seconds instead of the full 10-15 seconds on the main feed time before daybreak.

We adjust our with the time changes. We have two spins in morning and evening during the season to keep the deer around.

Same time year round here. 7:00am & 3:30pm for the last 20 years.

Please, someone that knows how to do a poll, do one for this. Love to know how many leave feeder throw times the same all through season and how many make adjustments to account for the days becoming much shorter as the season progresses and the daylight and dark times vary.

I do the same when I go to a spin feeder or driving by a feeder and see deer, I will spread corn with the road feeder. After a while when I drive up to a feeder or by one deer will come out. I have done this since the early 80's with 5 gallon bucket and coffee can or a road feeder in the early 90's to date. I was changing feed times and length of feed last week and had deer walking around the feed pen about 25' from me.

True. If you’re feeder is going off at dawn the day before the time change, it will still be going off at dawn the day after. The feeder has no concept of time change, just us humans who adjust our time telling devices.

When it comes to cameras though, I do like to update the time so that time stamps do reflect correctly all year without me having to think about it.