Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Do spin feeders spook deer?

No, spin feeders won't scare deer. They get used to them, just like they get used to hunters coming and going, vehicles, tractors and other stuff.

Mature bucks also will come to feeders.

Yup, for the most part. Also in South Carolina.

Texas is the acid test for what mature deer will/won't do, as they have been running feeders longer than any other state.

I am attempting to duplicate this behavior on my place now.

I think it depends on how long they've been exposed to them . Put one out in the hardwoods where deer haven't ever seen one this fall and expect to stack up mature bucks standing under them waiting on breakfast and you'll be disappointed .

Mature bucks avoid the middle of food plots you been killing every doe that steps out on. If they are avoiding it, it’s because you have it in the wrong place for the most part.

I like to buy the feeders that you can hang, and I generally put them high in an oak tree, nearest I can to a thick spot, where there is already a trail system I know bucks use, and that I can access using the prevailing wind I plan on hunting the area to access undetected. This scenario is usually a good trail crossing a saddle on a south facing ridge. They are usually crossing from East to west or west to East. I try to approach from the south on a north or northwest wind. If you put your cameras on the south side of the trail, the only time you have to put your scent where you are feeding is when you have to add feed to the feeder.

Hang your feeder about 10’ up in the air, as close to the base of the tree as possible or up amongst other branches.

If you do all this, you’ll see more bucks at your feeder.

If someone parked a truck in your kitchen last night, when you woke up this morning and eased down the hallway, you reckon you’d notice it and be suspicious? Same way with a deer and a gigantic corn feeder stuck in a plot all of a sudden right before hunting season opens.

I’ll add this, the smaller the plot, the more intimidating the feeder likely is to a mature deer.
Put it in the middle of a big field, they will still avoid it likely, but they may still come in the plot and feed. I’m talking about acres versus 1/4 to 1/2 acre plots.

I have mature deer trying to eat the corn out of spin feeders when it hasn’t spun out as much as they want. They come religiously every day at all different times. But we don’t shoot deer off of feeders. Maybe they feel comfortable. I don’t know.

I say yes as to mature bucks. Why take the risk. Ive converted my feeder to gravity style you can poor a buck pile off to the side where they don't have to be exposed. That said I don't really like to hunt over corn, its a pain, it attracts hogs, theres the added cost, and having to feed up all the time puts me and my truck in my hunting areas too much, not to mention the loss of the challenge. Bait on!

I’m not saying it’s not possible I’m just saying it’s not typical. I too get pictures of them all the time at night on spin feeders. Hunting season and daytime are a different story, but then again I got the same when you weren’t allowed to bait.

Yes.

No they do not.

This one wouldn’t get near a feeder last year but this year he’s getting braver. He still won’t get too close and no daylight pics this year which is way different then last year with no feeder.

So this year it took about a week and a half to get any mature deer on camera at the feeders. Pretty well lines up with what I saw last year. They let the young ones try it out for a few days first and they eventually will break down and get some of that corn.

Here's a bit more evidence of what a mature deer will and won't do during hunting season near cameras and feeders.

This is on a low fence ranch in Texas, and they are actively hunting the property. All these bucks are known to be at least 5 years old, and all the pictures are within a few yards of the feeders. One of the pictures was taken by a camera mounted on the leg of the spin feeder.

Yes they do.

I guess it just depends on the bucks.

Some yes some no

Deer act different On either Side of my property
On one side I got deer (Bucks) sticking their snout up in gravity spout (Feeding)

Other side and I never pulled the trigger on that side of property - the deer act scared of the feeder and this is it’s second year out - just took camera off that feeder to try to help it

I remember going to the third Alabama Deer Expo and listening to a presentation by some Moultrie guy. At the time, you had to have feeders out of the woods 10 days before hunting. He made the point it was illegal to hunt around a feeder, but wasn't illegal to have a motor in your pack. He would pull his feeders before hunting, but would take a feeder motor and battery to the stand with him because he felt the deer were conditioned to the sound and would come hunting food.

I prefer spin feeders and have several pictures of deer around them at all hours of the day. But I can also tell you it is rare to have a daytime picture of a buck around the feeder. I do think it depends on the cover around the feeder, as well.

Mature deer will feed mid day at a feeder if they are not heavily pressured as I’ve stated before

After the pics I and others have posted of obviously mature deer at a feeder in full daylight during hunting season, I'm not sure how anyone could still think that feeders "scare" mature bucks.

Put some in acreages where deer have never been exposed to them and see what it does to mature bucks during hunting season.