Feeder

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kirk1978

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Ive never used a feeder, picked one up today. Anyone ever used this one? Is it worth a crap?

20200523_181752.jpg
 

retrieverman

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That should be a good feeder, but I bought three used 55 gallon feeders last year with that kind of lids that leaked pretty bad. I ended up replacing them with lids that go over the top the barrel. Problem solved.
 

kirk1978

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That should be a good feeder, but I bought three used 55 gallon feeders last year with that kind of lids that leaked pretty bad. I ended up replacing them with lids that go over the top the barrel. Problem solved.

The lid roles over the outside of the drum and has a gasket. Hopefully it will hold the water out.
 

Hangfire

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I've written before about the rough deer shack that a buddy of mine and I threw together up in the mountains around Wilburton that I'd stay in a week during black powder and modern gun season by myself because he only hunted opening and closing weekend of both seasons.

Anyway, being frugal (cheap :)) we ordered nudge feeder kits and installed them in the bottom of 55 gal. plastic drums that we got from work that bulk windshield washer fluid came in.....when we got to the woods we'd dump a couple bags of corn in them (we built 2) and hoist them up with a rope that was tied to the top and then tie off the rope to the tree and lay a corn & molasses block a few yards from the nudge feeder, kinda like the attached picture but we used 55 gal drums instead of 5 gal. buckets.

Being 2 1/2 hours away from camp we'd drive down on Saturday mornings, fill the feeders, do some scouting, do a little improving on the shack and then head back and home around supper time.

After the first week we drove back down to refill them and apparently we'd hung one too close to the tree or too low and wild hogs had somehow got a hold of one and pulled it down, busted it open and ate all the corn......there were hog hoof prints all around the feeder and the ground was really torn up but luckily the nudge paddle and plate that held it onto the drum was salvageable so we built another one the following week and hauled it down and set it up.

Oh have I mentioned the bear yet ?

Melvin had gone back for the week and I was down by myself and one morning at day break I was up in a 2x4 stand that we'd built really high up in a old cottonwood tree which was about 50 yards or so from one of the nudge feeders and molasses & corn blocks.

Not completely light enough to see well I caught a dark shawdowy movement to my right and thought to myself, "oh crap here comes a damn hog to spoil my deer hunting" but the more I watched the critter move across the bottom towards the feeder I finally realized that it was a bear.

He'd apparently hit the feeder before and knew how to work the nudge paddle because he'd stand about half way up and bump the paddle with his nose till he felt he had enough corn on the ground then get back on all fours and eat that and then do it again.

He did that a few times and then waddled over to the molasses & corn block and laid down on his belly with the block between his front paws and chewed on it for a few minutes kinda like a dog would with a bone, it was graveyard quiet in the bottom and I could actually hear him crunching on the block.....after eating what he felt was enough he ambled off back across the bottom to the heavier timbered the woods.

I don't recall if I got a deer that year or not but just seeing the bear that close for 10-15 minutes really made the whole season for me.

nudge feeder.jpg
 
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