[tcrocker]

How long and what days/ times should I get my feeder going off? I have it set to go off on tues, thur, sat, and sun, all going off for 10 sec. I don't wont to waste corn but I wont to have plenty out for the game. So far the only thing I have on cam is a couple of hog. And there is still corn on the ground not much but a little.

[tcrocker]

It goes off at 7am.

[chas08]

I've always liked two feedings a day, every day, for about 3-5 seconds, depending on how far the slinger is set away from the spout. And the Feeding times to be, at shooting time in the morning, or just a few minutes before, and about two hours before dark. I've hunted on places where that corn hitting the slinger was like ringing the dinner bell. Though it was mostly always doe's, yearlings, and young bucks.

[wyohome]

I've hunted on places where that corn hitting the slinger was like ringing the dinner bell.
There is even a call that replicates the sound of an electric feeder.

[MCgunner]

The timer I'm using now uses a photocell to set itself for 30 min after sun up and 30 min before sundown every day. That's always the way I set the timer on timer feeders, too.

I've been using a feeder for 20 years now and I've not, yet seen the "dinner bell" effect everyone talks about. There's lots of deer and hogs out there, too. I have taken 'em off the feeder sometime AFTER the thing went off, like an hour. I'm not thinkin' it was the ringing that got 'em in. Shot a nice 8 point a couple years ago at the feeder, but he was rutting and chasing a doe. I don't think he even saw the feeder, LOL!

I've never rattled a buck, either, and I KNOW people do that, so maybe I just ain't lucky.

[AKElroy]

I have mine going off at first light & at dusk everyday for 7 seconds. It thows a good amount of corn, but none is left on the ground so they are getting it all. I would have a shorter broadcast time, like 3-4 seconds, but I have 5 other guns on my 800 acre lease & I am bribing the game by over feeding a bit. Game cam is showing some decent prospects, so I am sticking with it as is.

[Texsun]

waste corn?.....rifle, scope, license, ammo, gas, time off, etc..what's an extra bag of corn six bucks?

[MCgunner]

My buddy gave me 15 bags of his harvest feed corn, about 60 lbs in each bag. Waste corn? WHO CARES? :D

[Double Naught Spy]

Right, wasting corn should not be your biggest concern. Personally, I feel the feeder should go off daily. Others have suggested morning and evening. Mine just goes off in the evening. MCgunner has the photocell setup and that is most ideal and his times are very good. Since I am most apt to hunt in the evenings, I would have mine going off a bit earlier, but that is just my preference.

Even with just once a day, I have extra corn on the ground right now. Then again where we are right now, acorns and pecan are aplenty and corn isn't as much of an attractant as it might be if so much mast wasn't available.

Depending on traffic, available food, etc., it can take a couple of weeks or more for more than just a couple of deer to find your feeder, so be patient.

[chas08]

There is even a call that replicates the sound of an electric feeder.
Ahhhh.... another fool and his money soon parted. It's not just the sound, but also the time of day. And some poor fool in Wyoming or another state where feeding is not permitted, probably bought one hoping it would draw deer, even though the deer had never heard one or associated the sound with food. (LOL) :D

[tcrocker]

OK you guys with big pockets I'm a cheap sob. In my line of thinking why would a deer wont to eat corn off the top of corn that has been seating on the ground and soured? And I have been using the same gun for years no scope, and I hand load my ammo and cast my own bullets. Even been thinking of makeing my own powder. So I guess I'm cheap, or self reliant:neener:

[Double Naught Spy]

In your line of thinking, just how discerning are the deer and just how long do you think it takes for corn to sour? It has been my experience that the deer love the stuff dry, wet, new or old. The only reason it needs to stay dry is so that it will pass through the feeder nozzle to the spinner on your feeder and not clog the nozzle.

If you are so cheap, then have your feeder go off daily, but for a shorter amount of time. Part of the reason for the feeder is to attract the game, but another reason for the feeder is to attract the game around a certain time frame. The deer will associate the sound of the feeder with the presence of food and hence come on a daily basis around feeding time more so than if you are just feeding every other day.

Being cheap isn't the same thing as being efficient and being efficient is often cheaper than being inefficient.

[chas08]

OK you guys with big pockets I'm a cheap sob.
I hunted on a ranch on an invite last year in the South Texas brush country for a doe only hunt. The lease has four paid hunters with four two man blinds. It's just under 400 acres. They feed 15,000, yes, thousand lbs. of corn a year. The evening I shot my doe, we did a deer count at 5:00 pm. More than 70 deer were counted between the four blinds. They were mostly does, yearlings, and young bucks. But they streamed out of the brush like a dinner bell had rung when that feeder went off. So, if you feed them they will come. Providing there is a population to feed. When I had my own lease I would typically feed 2-3 thousand lbs a year. $500 dollars worth there abouts, spread out over the season it wasn't too bad. And no, I don't have "Big" pockets. You just got to pay to play.

[okierifleman]

We have all of ours set to go off every morning and evening for 3 seconds. And, the later in the year it becomes, the more the feeders really bring them in.