Boss Buck (or similar) Feeders

image.jpeg Hogs are my greatest enemy, more so than coyotes. We have them bad, and I despise them. Can't kill enough to make much difference either even though we kill 30+ a year. I pen my feeders. Doesn't keep the hogs from coming but it keeps them from hanging around.

I just penned this one a couple weeks ago.
 
I bought the boss buck 200 lb unit earlier this year. Deer found it quickly. So did squirrels and a few raccoons which i'm not too worried about. In the worst part of the winter, it was too cold for the raccoons. Question, do you guys that have had these a while feed the deer year round? I assume now that things have greened up the deer are less interested in it. Is that a safe assumption?
 
The Tractor Supply store only had 3 bags of Sportsman Record Rack 20 and 1 bag of Purina Antler Advantage 20, so I bought all 4 bags, along with 8 bags of corn. Hopefully they will take to the protein and then I will buy in bulk, as well as buy more feeders.

Triple C, I am nervous about the hogs. I am mentally preparing myself for having to do the corrals.......but am hoping the pigs have disappeared. We never had them for 30 years then they showed up a couple of years ago when I was broadcasting corn round. I quit feeding and shot as many as I could whenever I had the chance. Have not seen them on cameras in many months.....hoping the neighbors (who I think turned them loose in the first place) killed them all off.

Go ahead and build a corral around your feeder. You ain't gonna get rid of the pigs. We should have done this years ago. Built them in early March. Last time down I had over 700 pics. Pigs in pics outside of corral but not a single pic of pigs inside. Deer took to it right away. They just jump in, eat and jump out.
feeder corral.jpg deer in corral.JPG
 
Well, it's been over a month since I put them out. No sign of any hogs.This pic from this morning is the closest a deer has come....I have used spin feeders in the past and the deer were on them within a couple of days tops, but they are not liking these boss bucks yet. A good buddy of mine who hunts several tracts and runs feeders all over GA.....Harris county, Dekalb, Jasper, Butts, etc...said he has never seen deer take this long to warm up to these. He is very familiar with my property, and my deer population, and is just as miffed as I am. Hopefully I can update with some usage pics soon! For the record, I am not in any way trying to knock Boss Buck.....I am just trying to help the next guy like myself set some expectations when he gets started.

bossbuck.jpg
 
image.jpeg Probably over three months before my deer hit this one. Half and half protein and corn. Damn coons found it right off though.....:mad: I raised it 8" since then, so maybe they can't reach it now. image.jpeg
 
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View attachment 15671 Hogs are my greatest enemy, more so than coyotes. We have them bad, and I despise them. Can't kill enough to make much difference either even though we kill 30+ a year. I pen my feeders. Doesn't keep the hogs from coming but it keeps them from hanging around.

I just penned this one a couple weeks ago.
We put an apron around all our feeders in mexico and that stopped hogs and javelinas from getting into pen. Just lay bull panel cut to about 3' on ground tied to vertical panels and that stopped everything.
 
I put out the banks feed bank this spring with 50/50 corn/protein and was hammered by coons. When I switched to 100% protein, they slowly quit using it. Not sure if it was a dislike of the pellets, or the availability of other foods as the spring progressed, but it may be worth a try.
 
I put out the banks feed bank this spring with 50/50 corn/protein and was hammered by coons. When I switched to 100% protein, they slowly quit using it. Not sure if it was a dislike of the pellets, or the availability of other foods as the spring progressed, but it may be worth a try.

I started with half corn and half protein pellets in the beginning, at least in the bottom of the feeder. I put straight protein on top and have refilled it with protein ever since. The coons like the protein very much !o_O

I just looked at it today while mowing. It still has protein in it, and very little on the ground. That, to me, is indicative that the coons can’t get to it. I only put one sack in it after the baffles were installed, and I’m thinking that it would be empty by now with deer and coons eating it. Of course, I don’t know that the deer have been back yet, as I haven’t pulled the sd card, the shiny baffles may have them spooked.
 
The Deer University podcast about supplemental feeding is a must-listen. A couple things that stuck with me we’re that you're wasting your time if buying feed in sacks. And the answer to “how much should I feed?” is “how much can you afford?”

If I recall correctly, I think their main point was not to bother with it until you’ve first done everything you can with the native habitat. I don’t get the feeling many folks adhere to that.
 
The Deer University podcast about supplemental feeding is a must-listen. A couple things that stuck with me we’re that you're wasting your time if buying feed in sacks. And the answer to “how much should I feed?” is “how much can you afford?”

If I recall correctly, I think their main point was not to bother with it until you’ve first done everything you can with the native habitat. I don’t get the feeling many folks adhere to that.
Curious why they say you are wasting your time if you are buying feed in sacks? { I assume protein pellets?} I think I have only bought about 128,546,234,3578,2397,533,789,333 sacks of protein feed over the last 30 years
 
The Deer University podcast about supplemental feeding is a must-listen. A couple things that stuck with me we’re that you're wasting your time if buying feed in sacks. And the answer to “how much should I feed?” is “how much can you afford?”

If I recall correctly, I think their main point was not to bother with it until you’ve first done everything you can with the native habitat. I don’t get the feeling many folks adhere to that.
You've pointed out a few good thoughts and concerns about feeding. The only feeding that we do is in the winter when there's snow on the ground and not much food available for deer. If someone feels like they need to feed in the summer they might have a doe factory or be carrying more deer than their property can handle.
 
You've pointed out a few good thoughts and concerns about feeding. The only feeding that we do is in the winter when there's snow on the ground and not much food available for deer. If someone feels like they need to feed in the summer they might have a doe factory or be carrying more deer than their property can handle.
No , not necessarily. I feed from January thru August in La. for a population well below carrying capacity with abundant natural nutrition available as well as a lot of year round food plots. The deer readily include the protein pellets as part of their daily nutrition and there is no question in my mind that it adds value to their overall health. I propose that the habitat and deer herd is very well managed on my property yet a major stress period in the deep south is late winter thru summer. Supplemental feeding helps move the herd to the 100%.The concept of a 'doe factory ' is totally meaningless to me.

Just for chuckles and to add to the conversation, I feed year round in Mexico on a scale and in habitat that is unimaginable to most here on this site. As has been pointed out many times , while mgt. principles are the same everywhere the practices to optimize outcomes can be quite different from location to location.
 
Go ahead and build a corral around your feeder. You ain't gonna get rid of the pigs. We should have done this years ago. Built them in early March. Last time down I had over 700 pics. Pigs in pics outside of corral but not a single pic of pigs inside. Deer took to it right away. They just jump in, eat and jump out.
View attachment 15756 View attachment 15757
Great looking pen. One thing we had to do after a time when critters [ in our case javelinas, coyotes, etc ] starting burrowing under the pens was to put a net wire apron around the outside of the pen. That stopped all problems. May not be a problem in other locales but for us having pens like yours for 15+ years critters did start digging underneath making way for pigs. Interestingly, by cutting down the food supply for pigs the population has become more manageable.
 
Curious why they say you are wasting your time if you are buying feed in sacks? { I assume protein pellets?} I think I have only bought about 128,546,234,3578,2397,533,789,333 sacks of protein feed over the last 30 years
It was tongue in cheek. Their point seemed to be that you’d better be buying in bulk and not in 50-lb increments.

You, Mr Baker, will always be the exception. I mean that with the utmost respect. Donnie Draeger was the ranch biologist relaying these opinions. He works on the Comanche Ranch in south TX. He was on an earlier podcast about culling that was also extremely informative. He administered some experiments on their ranches that may never be rivaled again, in their elaborateness and expense.
 
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It was tongue in cheek. Their point seemed to be that you’d better be buying in bulk and not in 50-lb increments.

You, Mr Baker, will always be the exception. I mean that with the utmost respect. Donnie Draeger was the ranch biologist relaying these opinions. He works on the Comanche Ranch in south TX. He was on an earlier podcast about culling that was also extremely informative. He administered some experiments on their ranches that may never be rivaled again, in their elaborateness and expense.
The Comanche ranch is about 2 miles from me owned by Lee Bass. Between it and the Faith ranch which is directly across the Rio Grande from me they have done some of the best whitetail research ever . Good people. My good friend Dr. Harry Jacobson set up the program at Ms. State and the work they continue on there is some of the best in the country.
 
I had a hunch you would be familiar. Too cool! I had looked up the owner’s name once before but had forgotten it.

Looks like he has a racetrack there. My kinda guy!
 
The Deer University podcast about supplemental feeding is a must-listen. A couple things that stuck with me we’re that you're wasting your time if buying feed in sacks. And the answer to “how much should I feed?” is “how much can you afford?”

If I recall correctly, I think their main point was not to bother with it until you’ve first done everything you can with the native habitat. I don’t get the feeling many folks adhere to that.
Coincidentally, an article was just published in the July 2019 issue of Deer and Deer hunting magazine written by Bob Zaiglan on the effects of protein supplementation. I've known Bob for years, am close friends with the landowner where the research was done and know the ranch very well. Bob is a solid researcher and the landowner is the most analytical person I have ever known. Together they spell out with great accuracy what can happen with a well designed supplemental protein feed program. Acre for acre the ranch in question may be one of the best properties anywhere.
 
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