Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Auto feeders vs Gravity feeders?

Which feeder do you have the best results drawing deer to the fields? I currently have gravity feeders, and the deer eat the corn in a couple days. I was thinking that if I set the timer on a auto feeder around an hour before dark I would have better luck getting the deer to come out during daylight. Does this help?

I've always avoided the gravity feeders or dumping on the ground. Every wild critter and his momma will empty it in no time.( and attracted hogs which I DO NOT want) My first auto feeder took two six volt batteries to run and lasted about six months 'till new batteries were needed, the next used 8 AAs but barely lasted the season, the new one is solar powered and is still running strong at 3 years.

I like auto feeders. Not only do you control the time, you also control the amount. If feed it collecting and not being eaten up, it is time to move on.

Get an auto feeder... then they'll have to eat when you want them to. With a gravity feeder they eat whenever they want. powdr

LOL, even with auto feeders they can eat when they want to. DEpending on how hungry they are at any given time.

I have a 1000 pound self feeder and 2 auto feeders within view of my stand.

I see about the same action time wise... but the self feeder will show a few more during middle of the day if the others are all cleaned up.

I feel that having a self feeder around helps keep them in your area better because there should be food there at any time they come by...

I use a self feeder and do not hunt over it. It is just there to feed the animals. I do have a game camera on it and hunt trails to and from the feeder. I seldom get any daytime pictures. miles

Using a gravity/self feeder around here I would be concerned that the coons might start topping 100 lbs!

rost: how often do you fill a 1000# feeder?

Thanks for the replies. I have had a cheap auto feeder before and it was more trouble than it was worth. I have a Sweeney fish feeder at my pond and it has worked for around 12 years now, so I think I will try one of those next year. At least it will allow me to control the amount that I feed.

Thanks,
Buck,

Gravity feeders can be a problem if you have bears. They will swipe the corn out of the spout. They can push on an auto feeder, especially the ones with a barrel winched up under a tripod, and topple it. Coons are bad enough, bears can be quite destructive.

DF

I shouldn't have a problem with bears, but coons are eating as much as the deer I would guess. I like coons and hate to shoot them, but I need to do something.

Hard to say, as unfortunately where I have the big feeders we have to be off the place Jan 31, and not back on until Oct 1. I set my auto feeders to where they last that long, simply by weighing feedings and setting run time to work out feeding twice a day, for 240 days or so...

At home in a drought year, I can feed each protein feeder, up to 50 pounds a day in bad years. Other years, like this past one, I doubt I've gone through 400 pounds in each one all year long. But they are set up in soybean/claypea food plots that had food all year too...

Its really variable.

Back to 1000 pound auto, this year I had it set such that during season, I went through 1100 pounds of corn in 3.5 months basically...

I want to buy a 3500 pound protein self for the place we are not allowed on in the summer, to last longer.

RE coons, auto feeders have pipes on teh legs to keep the coons off them.

And there is a self feeder out there thats a lot of cash, 2400 I think for a 3000 pound version, thats fairly varmint proof the way its set up. I simply can't justify almost 2500 dollars for a feeder right now....trying to split that big feeder with 2 other hunters on the lease, the metal ones are half the cost which is workable.

We keep feeders out to take pics of game and hold does on our place. The bucks use them only at night for us. To answer your question, we get far more pics at gravity feeders than auto feeders. I always make the trough high to keep the hogs from eating out of them. For places with bears, winch up auto fdrs work well.

Auto feeder with a coon proof slinger. I lay down two hog panels side by side under it to prevent the hogs from rooting. I latch the feeder legs to t-posts to prevent cattle from knocking it over. Every time I get to the blind the feeder is doing what it's supposed to do.

The gravity feeders use more corn, the auto feeders break more. We converted all ours to gravity feeders, they do draw hogs.

I"ve had HCR brand timer/motors/on my own barrels for so many years now I can't recall.

I can say the only thing that "breaks" is the batteries may go dead depending or the timer just dies eventually after 10-15 years of use.

FWIW.

That's why I bought a Sweeney. 12 years afield with never a hitch.