PVC Deer Feeder Plans

[BornBad]

Gonna build me a few this weekend. I put out a 100lb of corn and it was all gone a week later, probaly sooner -I just checked it a week later. I got a good ideal how I want to build them, but any tips would be appreciated.

[Rafe Hollister]

You'll see one in the Tick Farm Pictures thread that I posted.

[2BHNTN]

I don't have any written plans but have seen a few different designs. One has a screw on cap with circle bolt on top for hanging and filling, small hole on bottom just a couple inches off a cement step block that set into the ground. The flow of the corn stops and starts by the movement created when deer bump the feeder getting to the corn.

Another design is simulair, has a round hole that protrudes from the tube and is very slightly turned up a couple inches from the bottom. Bumping it makes the corn fall to the ground and its big enough the deer can feed right from the spout.

[Rafe Hollister]

Ours are 4 inch PVC. There should be caps available in the same aisle that will fit on the pipe. Use this for the removable lid. (The one in the pictures, the cap had been chewed on by squirrels, so there's a small bucket to keep out the rainwater.) At the other end, cut an elongated "D" notch. Attached to the bottom, we have a baking pan. Drill holes through the baking pan, and drive about 4 screws up into the pipe. Drill a few holes in the pan to drain water. We just set ours against a tree and secure them with bungee cords. You can build at least 2 or 3 in an hour.

[BornBad]

Rafe; I know, thank you, that contributed to this endeavor.

Ground corn is just getting ate up to fast. I'm thinking of going with a few double cylinder PVS feeders about 5ft high.

[2BHNTN]

I have seen a simulair design to the one Rafe is describing. I like that it cinches against the tree. The two I described typically are hung from a limb.

[fishin]

We built a few of these and they work well for the money:

I am sure some of you make your own feeder. But here is the way I make mine.

5 gal bucket with lid
3 feet of 1 in pvc water line
2 end caps for 1 in water line
1 4 in end cap
2 feet all thread with 4 nuts
1 eye hook with nut
1 1/4 in bolt 1 in long with nut


Cut hole about 1 3/4 in in bottom of bucket (centered) may have to enlarge if corn does not easily fall out.

Drill two holes in top sides of bucket for all thread.

Drill holes in end cap (centered)

Bolt eye hook into one 1 in cap

Bolt 4 in end cap to the other 1 in cap. Then drill holes to the side of the 4 in end cap

Glue end caps to 1 in water pipe

Insert eye hook end into bottom of bucket

Run all thread into one side of bucket install nut, run thru eyehook and install 2nd nut, run thru other hole in bucket.

With all thread sticking out both sides, install nuts to outside and tighten nuts together as a locknut

Cut the slits in the side of the lid so it can be removed very easily

Hang bucket by the handle with rope to tree or whatever

Fill with corn

Replace lid

When deer eat the corn in the 4 in end cap, the motion will allow corn to dribble out the bottom hole.

[hunting170]

BB, if you are in the Mt. Vernon area anytime soon, let me know. I have one I`ll give you. It`s made out of 4" PVC, about 5` tall, and covered with camo tape. It`s illegal to use them in IL, and as everyone that hunts with me knows...I respect ALL game laws.

[2BHNTN]

It's not illegal off season is it Tony ?

[PoisonSnake]

Okay, here is a word of advice. Don't mess with these things. Just get yourself a 55 gallon drum and an OnTime digital feeder. You'll be glad you did.

[hunting170]

Yes it is 2B. That was our DNR`s answer for the CWD scare from a couple of years ago. Their reasoning was that feeders congregate the deer, and increase the chance of spreading the disease.

[coyotewhacker]

Another very simple design that I use is a piece of 4" or 6" PVC pipe with a cap on each end...i.e. a simple sealed tube. Cut a slot roughly half way through the pipe about five or six inches from the bottom. Using a propane torch or hot air gun, heat the plastic along the upper edge of the cut. When the PVC is soft, take a glass bottle that is smaller in diameter than the plastic pipe and make an indentation in the soft plastic. If you do it right, there will be two "channels" leading up into the top of the tube.
Make sure you drill some small drain holes in the bottom cap to let any trapped rainwater out. Like Rafe, I use bungee straps to attach the filled tube to a tree. Painting is a good idea. The critters can eat as much or as little as they choose and don't scatter supplemental food ingredients all over the place. Naturally, these feeders must be removed and all traces of feeding must be gone at least ten days before the hunting season opens. The only reason mine have any dull camo-like paint on them is that I feel the shiny white PVC scares off the animals. If you put these with the bottom cap near the ground, it won't take long for deer, turkeys, raccoons, and squirrels to find the feeder(s) and begin to use them. The capacity is limited only by the length of the tube.