A Complete Guide to Choosing the Best Deer Feeder
Why would a deer want to eat in your backyard? It’s not like they have many other options out there. After all, the world isn’t exactly crawling with tasty woodland snacks. Assuming that you don’t mind having a deer as a neighbor, getting them to visit your property and stay for a while is an excellent idea.
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Feeding deer in your backyard or the hoods is a great way to establish a friendly relationship and get some free meat at the same time. Deer feeders are handy tools for attracting these creatures, but not all of them are made equal. You must consider a few factors to find the best deer feeder for your specific needs.
What’s So Great about Deer Feeders?
A deer feeder isn’t just a place where deer can get something to eat. It’s also an opportunity for you to get something from them. Deer feeders are very useful in a few different ways. First and foremost, they help you attract deer to your yard or hoods.
Another great benefit of deer feeders is that they allow you to attract deer at specific times and seasons. This makes it much easier to plan to marvel at their beauty.
Deer feeders can also be incredibly useful for people trying to get certain types of deer on their property. For example, if you’re trying to get white-tail deer on your land, you can use a feeder to attract them.
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While there are a lot of great benefits to deer feeders, there are a couple of downsides too. The one big downside to deer feeders is that they will attract more deer than you are likely to want on your property. Deer, like many other animals, will travel in herds, so if you start with two or three deer eating in your backyard, you can expect many more to join them. Soon, you might have more deer than you know what to do with, so be careful.
How To Choose A Deer Feeder
If you want to find the best deer feeder, you need to consider a few things first. By doing so, you can make sure that you end up with a product that is high quality and can last a long time. Here are some essential factors to keep in mind when you’re shopping for the best deer feeder:
- Materials and Durability
The materials that a deer feeder is made out of will determine its durability. Most feeders are made out of either metal or plastic. While these materials can last long, metal feeders will outlast plastic ones. However, metal feeders are heavier and can be harder to move around.
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- Capacity and Convenience Features
Feeders come in a range of capacities. The more food a feeder holds, the less often you will have to refill it. This can be a big convenience but also a hefty cost. If you have a large area to cover with deer feeders, you will probably want to opt for a larger capacity model.
Otherwise, you will spend a lot of time and effort refilling it. Also, when choosing a feeder, you should ensure that it has features that make it easy to use. For example, a feeder with wheels and handles is much easier to move around than a simple stationary model.
- Timer and Alert Features
Some deer feeders come with built-in timers and alert systems. These can be very useful, especially if you’re using your feeder to control the movement of deer in the area. If you have a stream or a wetland nearby, a feeder with an alert system can tell you when waterfowl are visiting. This can be very helpful if you’re involved in hunting or wildlife conservation. It can also help you make better use of nearby resources.
- Size and Visibility
Deer feeders come in a wide range of sizes. If you don’t want to attract a lot of deer to your property, you can make your feeder as small as you like. A small feeder placed in an inconspicuous area is less likely to bring in lots of unwanted visitors.
The problem with these small feeders is that they might not be instrumental in attracting deer. A deer feeder needs to be large enough to be visible and attractive. Some feeders are also brightly colored, making them even more noticeable.
- Types of Feeders
There are many different types of deer feeders. Some have legs and sit on the ground, while others hang from trees or poles. There are also stationary and rotating models suitable for most situations.
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Also available are manual and automatic feeders. Manual feeders require constant refilling of food substances, while automatic feeders use timers to refill food on the feeder at different time intervals or when the food is depleted.
Conclusion
What’s excellent about deer feeders is that they allow you to get a lot of valuable things from deer without having to do much at all. You can get some free fertilizer for your garden and some extra meat for the freezer. One way or another, a deer feeder can be a handy tool. Of course, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind while shopping for a deer feeder. You want to ensure that it’s durable enough to last, that it comes in the right size for your yard and that it’s attractive to deer in general.
