Night Time Feeder

[Croakers]

I have 2 really nice bucks , one big 6 the other a big 8 point hitting my corn feeders between 11 PM and 4 AM., from camera pictures. I have sat down there 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM seeing nothing but tree rats, does, a spike and a Y point. Do ya think some kind of lure might bring them in during shooting hours. Never used lures before. If so what kind and how much to turn a night feeder into a daytime shooter. Oh, I'm still bow shooting so 30 yards is my max. shot. 51 years of hunting, never too old to learn something from the young bunch. Thanks in advance, T.

[crabby and son]

Any mature buck that feels pressure or human intervention will feed at night. You will still get young does and small bucks to the feeder during the day. It sounds as if you have been hunting this feeder for a while and the mature bucks know it. You are not going to change their pattern with any scents or lures. They have been through gun season and are even more wary now. Your best bet was the rut for a big buck to slip up. Stop the feeder and find a natural food source as these big bucks have been rutting hard and need to eat before a long winter. I have NEVER seen a big mature buck at a feeder in daylight.............Gary

[jkapl001]

Do you need someone to help hold the flashlight? From what I hear a shot 12 ga shell makes a great sleeve for a mini mag light......just here say.

[Croakers]

Well I gotta agree with you to some point. I went thru this about 5 years ago. I had been seeing a super 8 point off and on thru Oct. and Nov. Did not hunt much in Dec. and it was before I had a trail camera. Then one eve, mid Jan. colder than a well diggers ass, there I sat with my bow. 4:58 PM he shows up, hungar must have got the best of him, and I hit him dead center with an Spitfire. He had lost a bunch of weight from Oct. Don't need anyone to hold a flashlight for me, if I get him it'll be on fair chase terms and with a bow. Like I said, never used lures before, always just waited them out. Guess I'll wait this one out or next year he might be a 10 point.

[Will S]

I am not a feeder hunter but it seems to make sense that you need to change the time that the feeder is dropping corn. Maybe you should set it to feed in the morning so there is not feed left on the ground at night?

[Salmo trutta]

You don't want to be hunting when it goes off though as it will spook the deer.

I'm with you though. I think those big bucks are night time feeding and that's that. I think that's what all of them do in my neck of the woods. I have this gem of a hunting area near Potoamc, MD in a residential neighborhood. Most of the lots are 2 acres plus with stream valleys. I'm set up on a spot that is on a forested cooridor and the only way in and out that provides cover to the neighborhood. I've yet to see a single decent buck in the day. By night fall, driving around I see them everywhere.

Maybe try apples and lots of them. Maybe stop feeding for a little while. Who knows. Tough situation there.

[crabby and son]

I have seen many feeders go off and the deer come running to them. It might scare them the first time or two but then they associate the noise with food. This is if they don't feel hunting pressure at the feeder. I have friends with feeders that don't hunt; they just like to feed and watch deer and turkeys.I have never hunted a feeder but have put corn down in an area during the late season. I never hunt over the corn but hunt between the corn and the bedding area so they don't associate the corn with danger. I also hunt a corridor in a neighborhood where there is one way in from the park and I rarely see a BIG buck in daylight. If I come after dark I see them once in a while roaming the neighborhood.........Gary