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My experience is that bigger bucks will not come to a feeder. I have taken them in at the beginning of the season by pouring it out on the ground with no feeder around. Also during the rut I have taken mature bucks that followed a doe to the bait and also when they would come down wind of where I would bait checking for does. In the south as thick as it is here it makes a big difference. When I go to the midwest it is not as important, but i have seen it work in Kentucky fields as well.
I love it when they follow the yellow brick road.

I have taken some BIG Bucks in Canada off of bait piles.Does not work good in Wi.

I shot my 11 pointer this year beside the feeder,he came in with a doe.

Agreed. But it does work well during the late season here when temps plummet and we get a plethora of snow, particularly in the north woods.

Never killed one by a feeder, get great pics at night though.

And in Louisiana you have to supplement feed because everyone around you does, which sucks in my opinion, because if you have predators, ie. coyotes, they start staking out your feeders and screw up everything.

I've baited them with Doe N Estrous and had luck though.

JM

When we sprinkle corn over the roads and senderos for a few days in a row, the more mature bucks will come out and eat it.

Of course, after two years of drought, they have been really hungry.

Mostly does, young bucks, javelinas, coons, squirrels and pigs.

stumpy

I have had some rather nice bucks come to the food plots and corn piles during the daytime looking for does during the rut. They were after the does and not the food. The nice bucks in my woods are frequenting the food plots now that the rut is over but they are doing it at night. Most of the does and small bucks are also coming at night.

I wish I had one of thoes big feeders with a timer. But, I'd probably end up in jail and/or paying a large fine. It's highly illegal in NYS to feed deer or hunt over a baited area. Go figure.

If your in an area where deer are accustomed to bait it flat out works.
In MI the rifle deer season is during the rut so big bucks are not so much interested in the bait itself, but are interested in the does that are hitting the bait.
Of course you can just put a bait in now mans land and expect results. Despite what some guys think setting up a baited blind takes skill, just as setting up a baitless blind does.
As Skane mentioned after the rut is over and the cold and snow set in bucks will hit baits, but in my experience by this time of the season in MI every thing is a little gun shy and most of the older deer feed after legal hours.

I am just going to put in some random thoughts here, not because I am an expert at deer feeding but just from a lot of years experience. Obviously I don't know how the deer act in your area they may be different because deer don't all act the same way everywhere.

What ever you use for bait, usually corn, it is not a natural food for deer. Maybe in thecorn belt states but not else where and even there corn don't naturally grow in the woods where deer hang out.

You got to kind of "train" deer to eat it and depend on their natural curiosity to make them start. Some never will start.

If you got deer the where ever you put your feeder will be in some old does home range. And some bucks circle. She will be the first to start eating and will train her kids to eat too. When natural groceries get short other does will come in looking for food. That's when you see the boxing matches between your resident and strangers coming in to eat.

Now back to mama training the kids. If one of them is a buck he will know where that feed is and will be looking for it. He ate it as a button and will continue next year. The older he gets the less he will eat, especially when he is on the prod. But he never forgets where that food source is or was. After the rut he will check it but you may never see him at it except at night.

Of course we are excepting that he don't get shot as a forkie the second year.

I have seen the same bucks at my feeders or very close by until they are @ five years old. Never see them again. I didn't shoot them but somebody else may have somewhere else.

I say I haven't seen them that is to say in daylight wearing horns. I have seen them bare headed late in Feb when groceries are really short. Pretty sure it was them anyway.

As soon as natural feed stuff comes out deer will quit feeders. You resident old doe will still hit more out of habit than anything else. She will sure as hell be there with her kids next fall and the ones she trained the year before will be there too. They don't forget where the groceries are.

BCR

Good thoughts by all. One thing about it our deer eat corn all the time. It's one of the main crops of the area. I agree about the conditioning and getting them used to eating the bait as the "grow up". It will be interesting to see who is visiting when. I will know this soon via trail cam. I will keep you guys posted. It is supposed to snow a bunch tonight. Tomorrow may be fun trying to track deer still hunting unless it's blowing too hard. Everyone have a Merry Christmas. Tom

When I first started hunting NW Ontario I attempted to use corn as bait with zero success. Red Squirrels wouldnt even touch the stuff.
Then I noticed that some hunters from Wisconsin where using alfalfa as bait in the same area. I tried that and it worked as expected. IN my home state deer will hit alfalfa as well, but typically only in the winter. Put the stuff out in the fall and they wont touch it.
Like I posted earlier, baiting takes some thought to work right.

Everyone knows big deer wont come to a feeder in the daytime!

That is a fine one for sure. Still pretty young too. Somebody saving him for something?

BCR

BCR,

Hes just not quite heavy enough yet. Maybe a couple more years.

Comprende, he's going to be a hoss if he makes it.

BCR

In Vermont it's illegal to feed deer any time of the year or hunt over bait for fear the deer herds might contact c.w.d. You are allowed to put in food plots to attract deer. People I know who have fed deer do have a high rate of deer being killed by vehicles close to their homes. The one thing about having a feeder, is setting up a trail camera near by to see whats in your area for bucks.

Here is a KY buck my uncled killed on his farm in Fayette county..Shot it over one of those grain blocks that walmart sells..

I'd speculate that about 1/2 of the big ticket Texas hunts we see on TV are working bait. As a youngster back east I always worked edges of clearings and deep woods for deer. Based on a lot of the TV shows, all the deer, hogs, and javalina come to the two tracks to feed each morning and evening. Must be essence of diesel or something. With scare grub and habituation, about anything can be lured to a feed supply.

Not legal for us in Oregon though. One can sit over plots or apple trees, but we can not supplement the pile.

I put out feeders to attract the does. Does are good decoys for older bucks. Especially during the rut. The bucks hanging on my wall were holding back in the mesquite brush watching does and younger bucks at the feeder when I killed them.