Hypothetical question for the seasoned deer hunters

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My neighbors up in Rockingham County hunting beside me have 2 of these set up within 100plus yards of my 2 foodplot fields
The stand and feeder look to be within 60 yards apart from the one that is closest to the property line and my ' decoy ' camper😜.
Question is for my seasoned hunters....
Would you hunt a set up like that?
Looks like someone who has been watching too much TV deer hunting but I may be wrong.
 

pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I don’t personally use feeders or even bait at all anymore, but I know a guy that hunts out of similar setups in multiple states and kills respectable bucks every year.
 
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jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I don’t personally use feeders or even bait at all anymore, but I know a guy that hunts out of similar setups in multiple states and kills respectable bucks every year.
I know it works in Texas but I have yet to see them work here in NC. I had a feeder set up for my dad up there in Rockingham just so he could see deer and turkeys. I had our feeder about 100plus yards from the box blind. He never saw anything but does and turkeys.
He NEVER saw a buck.
 

pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I know it works in Texas but I have yet to see them work here in NC. I had a feeder set up for my dad up there in Rockingham just so he could see deer and turkeys. I had our feeder about 100plus yards from the box blind. He never saw anything but does and turkeys.
This particular feller hunts NC, SC, and GA mainly. He keeps his out year round and feeds year round.
 
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UncleFester

Old Mossy Horns
I don't use feeders, but will put cob and loose corn out. My Spypoints are constantly blowing up this time since tossing out cob corn.
 
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Dan Apple

Old Mossy Horns
No feeders ever.
Ill use a tripod if it’s safe,, but I try to blend it in with the habitat. And I like the deer around 100 yards out of I can work it out. Too close is asking to get busted by deer you ain’t going to shoot before the big one shows.
 

77f150 beast

Eight Pointer
I would hunt the ladder/blind setup on the edge of a cutover maybe but feeders are a no go for me.Ive never been a fan of setting up anything just out in the open.
 

wcjones

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
i dont use a feeder but i have killed a lot of deer out of what amounts to a tripod....dad sticks one out in the middle of the field every year when the farmer gets done harvesting and parks his mule right beside it and manages to kill deer every year...but he aint exactly trying to kill a big buck...hes just killing deer
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Hunt a real tall (close to 40 feet) box blind on woodline coming off the pond dam I walk in on. Big bean field this year on both sides...300-400 yds. on one side and 150-200 yds on other. On a rise out in middle of field and deer cannot see across it without coming out of woods on both sides...hardly ever hunt it without seeing bucks crossing from one side to the other. Ideal setup...hunted it for years and have killed a buck out of it most years. We got 2 nice ones this year. Put out cob corn now catching bucks getting hungry. Good hunting late in season early morn and at last light. Can exit and enter and never know you are there.
 
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jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
No feeders ever.
Ill use a tripod if it’s safe,, but I try to blend it in with the habitat. And I like the deer around 100 yards out of I can work it out. Too close is asking to get busted by deer you ain’t going to shoot before the big one shows.
Thats right. I didn't venture into their 2nd setup since it was farther from the property line but the the one I did see was very close to the property line and my decoy ... camper. I thought their setup was just too fake looking. Having that monster stand within 60 plus yards of the feeder is just odd to me.
I use a feeder mounted on a tractor trailer tire and have it 200 yards away from where i set and can not see it. I can see if deer are moving to it but once they get near the feeder they disappear.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Never used a feeder but hunted out of a ton of permanent stands and tripods.

I know several guys that do nothing but sit in permanent wooden tower stands on fields and kill good bucks every year.
You know how it is here, just about every field has a stand in it.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My smallest euro mount buck was killed out of a tower stand that I built. I’ve definitely not seen as many out of that style of stand as I have out of other more hidden types.

hunted a feeder for a couple of years in what seemed to be a good place. Never saw anything of size there. Wasn’t any trouble to see a buck, just a bunch of scrubby young bucks.
 
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JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Took down a 25 foot box blind that sat in the middle of a field saddled over a ditch. Could cover the whole field out of it, but replaced it with 2 well hidden ladder stands. Seen more deer in that field this year than the past 10 combined.
 

30/06

Twelve Pointer
You won’t see me hunting anywhere near a spin feeder. Guy I hunt with in KY will put out spin feeders and a giant blind in a trailer. Just drop the whole mess somewhere, no cover, no brushing in. He has killed some good bucks but only a couple out of that set up and they were looonnggg shots that had nothing to do with the feeder.
 

UltraSlug

Six Pointer
I know it works in Texas but I have yet to see them work here in NC. I had a feeder set up for my dad up there in Rockingham just so he could see deer and turkeys. I had our feeder about 100plus yards from the box blind. He never saw anything but does and turkeys.
He NEVER saw a buck.

We have feeders on our lease. Typically I dont see big bucks on MOST of them. But we have 1 feeder in particular that we have multiple daylight pictures of respectable bucks with their nose right in the feeder.

I shot my personal best this year just as he stuck his face in the feeder. It was during muzzleloader though.

I think since everyone around us also uses feeders it sometimes makes a select few less wary if they aren't being shot at everytime they go by one.
 

buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
I know it works in Texas but I have yet to see them work here in NC. I had a feeder set up for my dad up there in Rockingham just so he could see deer and turkeys. I had our feeder about 100plus yards from the box blind. He never saw anything but does and turkeys.
He NEVER saw a buck.
This is and has always been my experience with feeders also. A few does sporacticaly but never a shooter buck.

This is why I'd rather not use feeders.

The blind ?

If it's tucked back into the tree line so it's not sticking out. Maybe.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I use feeders but no way I could make a tripod feeder work where I am, the bears would destroy it in a week. I hoist mine up between two trees and set it to go off for about 6 seconds at noon every day. Even then I have to make sure there's not a tree close enough for them to climb to get to the feeder.

I generally consider feeders as meat sources, a way to hold and draw does. If I'm looking for horns I don't hunt anywhere near them...
 

Packfan

Eight Pointer
The guys who have the lease on the tract behind our main farm (and my house) have done exactly what @jug described in the opening post. Same blind, feeder, setup, and all. I think it was meant to be a bow stand to cut bucks off coming to our at fields at dark. I have not seen them hunt that stand at all since the 3rd day of bow season. They do get to park on our farm to get to the place so I kinda get to monitor what goes on. Besides, they would be a straight up danged fool to sit in that thing once muzzleloader comes in anyway. They would be sitting right in my FOV 225 yards from me. Even IF I shot away from them, the blast from the brake would ring their bell.

No feeders for me. Been there, tried that, went back and tried it again because of curiosity and got the same results. No feeders.
 
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sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You described about 20% of hunters' setups in NC.

The deer won't worry about the stand as much as the feeder though. A lot of big deer are killed out of an elevated box sitting in the open. Feeders like that are just junk, but I'm happy for the neighbors to use them if it means bucks make it through to next year.
 
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wolfpacker

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Tried a spin feeder for a time. Cheap one would get water in battery and not work got a better one but deer never really showed up to it. Went back to just dumping on ground and pvc feeders.
 
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ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
I use feeders but no way I could make a tripod feeder work where I am, the bears would destroy it in a week. I hoist mine up between two trees and set it to go off for about 6 seconds at noon every day. Even then I have to make sure there's not a tree close enough for them to climb to get to the feeder.

I generally consider feeders as meat sources, a way to hold and draw does. If I'm looking for horns I don't hunt anywhere near them...
Same here with the bears. I've even tried your method and had cubs climb out the cables like a giant squirrel, and slide down to the feeder. I've gotten several on camera doing this, while mom looks on. Coons are just as bad
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
They can get used to them..we put this one out on Labor Day weekend. The second picture is daylight on Dec 5th.
 

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MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Now Im curious, what do you guys that dont use elevated box stands use when hunting fields?
Stictly climbers and loc-on's?
 

JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Now Im curious, what do you guys that dont use elevated box stands use when hunting fields?
Stictly climbers and loc-on's?
I use strictly ladder stands, tucked a few feet off the field edges. I have one stand, they walk right past the stand at 10 yards, but I have another that is going to be moved after the season. Deer will come out and look straight at it. Have even seen a couple just poke their heads out and turn to look before ever coming into the field.

I use climbers this time of year to get further back into the woods.
 
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