Deer feeders are one of the many tools hunters use every year for attracting deer. Although there are states that will not allow feeding, there are many places where it is perfectly legal to feed deer. If you happen to live in a state where baiting or hunting over bait is legal, you can drastically increase your chances of harvesting more deer as well as improve your deer herd’s health during the hard winter months.
There are countless types of wild game feeder designs on the market. However, there are two basic designs we will talk about in this post so you can decide which type of feeder will work best for you specific needs.
The two common types
The picture above shows the two common types of feeders. Yes, the one on the right is homemade but, its a gravity feed design that just about anyone can build.
The automatic spin feeder
The automatic spin feeders have been around for years. They are very efficient and can place the corn on the ground at an exact time of the day. This is a great tool for feeding deer and is very effective. However, there are a few drawbacks to using spin feeders.
- They require batteries
- They often fail to work due to years of weather exposure and run time.
- They make unnatural noises when the spin which will discourage bucks from eating
- They can fail to spin once the batteries begin to corrode due to moisture
The gravity feeder
Perhaps the simplest of the two designs, is the gravity feeder. Gravity feeders are extremely durable due to the simplicity of the design and the lack of electronic equipment found on spin feeders. They do not require batteries and do not make unnatural noises. Yet, there are some draw-backs to gravity feeders as well.
- They are not very efficient in controlling feed output
- Most gravity designs will only allow for one or two deer to eat at the same time
- You cannot control the exact time you wish the corn to be released.
- One deer can dominate the feeder due to the fact that there is small area where the feed can be reached.
Which feeder works best?
I am not going to say one works better then the other. They both work great in the right situation. However, I will share what we have found out using both from the past two hunting seasons.
In the last two hunting seasons, we have found a larger number of deer use the spin feeders verses gravity feeders. There could be a number of reasons why this is but, our theory is they allow for more deer to feed at the same time due to the fact that the spinner spreads corn. Remember, gravity feeders release corn at a concentrated point below the hopper.
With that being said, gravity feeders seem to attracts bucks better then spin feeders. Our theory for this is simple. Gravity feeders are not noisy and seem be appear more natural to deer ,especially, when placed beside a tree. Spin feeders can and will spook deer.
We also determined there seems to be a lot less frustration when using gravity feeders verses spin feeders. They are more reliable due to no electric or moving parts. There is less to maintain. We love them and the results they bring. Our gravity feeders hold 40lbs of corn. The only problem we have encountered is judging how often we should refill them. But, usually in our particular area, we refill our feeders once a week when we check our trail cams. By doing this, we hardly ever run out of feed.
I realize not everyone can fill feeders every week and if you are in this situation then spin feeders might be a better product for you. Like I said earlier in this article, both designs work, you have to determine which design works best for your situation.
I hope this article helps you guys. Please keep in mind our results might differ from hunters in other regions of the US. We feed deer as much as our budget allows and the results have been great. If you enjoyed reading this article and would like to see more articles like this one in the future, leave a comment and subscribe to American Hunting Safari.
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