Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Corn Eaters of Florida (w/apologies to Corbett)

Yesterday my BIL and I went to the lease to check a few feeders. The feeders normally fire at 5:00, but it was after 5:00 before we got there and all but one had fired. The one that didn't fire had been assaulted by a band of raccoons that somehow got the top off the feeder and totally messed up the timer. They're next on the list!

Anyway, it was about 6:30 when we finally made it to the blinds. My BIL took a tree stand overlooking a feeder, and I set up a small ground blind - well, not really a blind: I just sat behind a young pine tree to break up my outline - 46 yards from a feeder that sits on the edge of a gas line right-of-way. I wanted to try his shooting sticks, so instead of sitting in a stand I sat on a camp stool behind the pine tree.

The mosquitos were out in force (it is Florida, after all), and the dove and squirrels had moved in to forage some of the scattered corn. I learned a long time ago to pay close attention to them as they will be the first to tell you when pigs are on their way. About 7:25, with about 45 minutes of shooting light left, the dove and squirrels scattered so I knew a pig was coming in. Dove and squirrels don't generally run when turkey come in, and the deer never bother with the corn, so it could only be either pigs or raccoons.

This time it was pigs: three of them, all the same size (about 60-65 pounds), one black sow and two gray boar. I'd seen one of the boar before and recognized him as being the one with the gimp right foreleg. He'd evidently broken it at the elbow at some point, and although it had healed it was still a bit stiff. But it never seemed to slow him down. I'd spooked him before, and he was every bit as fast as his brother and sister. I decided he would be the one I'd take.

Once under the feeder he never would turn broadside to me, so I knew I was going to have to take the shot as he rooted for the corn on the ground. He would turn his head to the left briefly, pick up a kernel, then turn back facing forward. The only clear shot I had was of his backside, and I had no interest in driving the bullet up through his spine, so when he finally turned to the left again to pick up a kernel I took the shot.

The bullet entered just behind the left ear, a little higher than I would have liked, and exited through his forehead. He hit the ground and never made a sound (a good sign of a DRT hit), only pumped his legs a few time as pigs often do. At the shot, the other two pigs disappeared. But they'll be back. Their bellies always get the best of them.

By the way, the Primo Bipod Shooting Sticks (trigger activated) work very, very well in a ground blind. I've ordered a set for myself.

Here's a shot at the young boar:




Here's the entry wound:




Entry and exit (M70Fwt, 7x57, 139gr Prvi SP):

That should be good eatin size!

Yeah, he'll cook up pretty well.

and another one bite's he dust. Good on ya' Oughta be tasty.

Coupla thoughts.

Sometimes on the small porkers I'll clean them, then while they're hanging, use a sawz-all and split them longways along the backbone. Season them and throw both halves on the pit. Or put one half in a large browning bag, slather with your favorite mix and bake at 250 until it's fall off the bone tender.

Now as to deterring coons.........

I've seen guys take a 6 foot piece of 4" pvc and put on the feeder legs. When the coons try to climb, the pipe rotates and the can't get to the spinner plate.

I use coon cages



works on the coons



Sometimes have pix of two hanging from the cage trying to pull it down.

Determined and persistant critters.

Best,

GWB

We cannot use tripod feeders on our property, because the bears knock them over, which usually causes damage.
We hang ours 10 ft off the ground between trees.

Congrats Rev!

Thanks, G; determined and persistent they are. Love the pic of one hanging from the cage. That fellow is an acrobat. Almost all of our feeders look like this. We don't have to sheet all of them, but those with coons close by get the "aluminum" treatment. The few we have hanging from oak trees, well, we're just going to have to remount them on free standing frames like this one.

Nice size eating pig easy to drag too.

Ratcoons make great archery targets if you bow hunt just keep both eyes open ,you can climb a tree 15 yards above them -they pay no attention to human scent. Also I enjoy taking my cz 22 and popping them with a CCI Quiet 22lr round I do it the night I fill feeders because hogs won't come in that night anyway -around here at least -panama city beach area.
Good shot -absolute lights out.
Mike

grease on the tripod legs will also discourage the coons

I hang mine between trees on a cable and use a handwinch mounted low on one of the trees to lower and raise the feeder.
I install pvc pipe on the cable on both sides of the feeder.
Discourages most of the accrobats.

We supplement feed on the ranch I hunt in FL and use a similar setup.





Otherwise, the little bandits have a field day with the protein feeder cans.




Where are you located in FL Rev?

East coast, near Sebastian. You?

Same, Vero. Hunt the Pressley ranch near Yeehaw junction.

Vero. My favorite place.

Small world. Sent you a PM

Great pictures MCT3 !

I might have to get some panels and make a deer/turkey set-up like that. The hogs run off everything except the ratcoons and squirrels. Nice buck.

Ditto that.

At one time I kept two pens set up with protein in demand feeders.
And no Mariah, we did not shoot animals out of these pens or even in the general vicinity. They were for supplemental feeding on a 3,000 acre low fenced/no fenced ranch.



IIRC this one the owner of the ranch called Hartford.

He was like a Dr. Doolittle. Had lived there since 1961. Didn't use A/C or heat or watch TV. Would go to town once every two weeks.
He would name all his critters. Had two big boars that would come up and eat out of his hand. One was named Jimmy Dean, the other Gorgeous. No hunting was allowed on this part of the ranch. I would get a kick out of riding with him in his truck when he'd go out. He'd have a 5 gallon bucket of corn next to him in the seat. He'd stop at particular spots, bang a coffee can on the side of the truck and strow corn out the window. Within a couple minutes there would be fallow deer, sika deer, blackbuck antelope, white-tail does and a sounder of hoglets chomping down.

A couple more pix.....





Best,

GWB

Funny stuff ..
How high should the fence be so our small florida deer can get in ?

Hog panel works. It keeps the shoats out. They go right through the 6 x 6 wire mesh panels and hoover the corn right up. Three foot would be good enough to keep hogs out. Forty or so inches will do if you've got cows. I run tee posts into the ground and run a stand of barbed wire along the bottom and the top. Stretch the bottom tight to keep hogs from digging under. Top is for insurance if you got cows. If you got elk, buffalo or a big Brahma bull, you're SOL. If you've got horses you need a pen also as they can reach up and tongue the spinner plate. Four horses will empty a 350 pound feeder in two weeks.
GWB

Really fine pics! Looks like Prancer, Donder, and Blitzen on summer vacation!