I just built me a new feeder pen with cattle panels. My question is should I cut a hole so hogs can access or would that be a mistake for my deer hunting. I like the idea of shooting pigs if there are no deer but I don't want pigs to take over the feeder and run off all my deer. What is your experience with hogs and deer? Will they eat at the same feeder at the same time? Should I set up a seperate feeder that is not in the feeder pen?

It has been my experience that deer and hogs do not normally eat at the same time. However, there have been times when they happen to be there at the same time. The hogs either show up and run the deer off and then clean up the corn or they show up first and clean up the corn.
What I have done, is installed remote switch on my feeder...after the hogs have eaten their fill, let them leave, set the feeder off again and wait.
By the way, why do you have a pen in the first place if you are thinking abhout putting another feeder outside the pen??

Hogs have always run off my deer from feeders.
Welded wire panels are the only thing I've found to keep them out.

We do have cows. I have read on here that some people with cows have no feeder pens. I also have protien I run in late winter and spring so if I don't have a feeder pen those cows will eat all my protein.

I have heard cows don't like to eat the corn. I am just trying to think of alternatives.

I would not cut a hole to let the pigs in.. If you have them on your place, chances are you will see them sometime while in the stand.

If you are set with wanting to have a pig feeder, I would set another one up with a barb wire feeder pen to keep the cows out and let the pigs in.. Good luck!!

Build the pen small enough that the feeder slings some of the corn outside the fence.
Somebody posted a video a while back of hogs jumping over a fence to get the corn. So even a fence might not keep them out.

Once the hogs get a wallow under the feeder the deer will not eat there. The deer will pick up what corn is thrown beyond the wallow but if you want the deer to hit it leave the hogs out of the picture. Put up the second feeder for the hogs.

Dont make the pen so small that the feeder throws corn out of it. Make the pen large and position the feeder in the pen so it throws some outside the pen and some inside the pen. This way the pigs will come but not destroy your feeder set up for the deer. And by the way our cows dont have any problem eating corn at our ranch. Good luck.

Hunter30 -
Cows love corn! And they will do almost anything to get to it. Only a 5 strand barbed wire pen or cattle panel will keep them out. And each corner of the pen has to anchored properly or they will just eventually push it down. Of course hogs can get in a 5 strand wire pen, so you have to go with hog panels to keep them out. If you want to be able to hunt hogs and not affect your deer hunting, set up a feeder that is hog friendly, but will keep the cows out. Hog panels cut with openings should work, just know that calf will get in that opening. Don't even worry about deer hunting this feeder. IMO, deer haul a$$ as soon as they see a hog. We have 14 feeder pens set up on our place, and 3 of these are not hog proof, the rest are. Sometimes we will stop feeding the hog feeders 6 weeks before deer season so most of the hogs go elsewhere for free food. RTP's post about the size of the pen is dead on. If you don't want cows or hogs around a deer feeder, make the pen large enough so no corn gets thrown outside. You can also raise the spinner plate, or on some spinners adjust spin rate so they dont throw as far. Good Luck!

fence or no fence, you'll have opportunity to shoot hogs if they are on your place.

Cows:
I blamed cows for year running my feeders. I have seen them walk right through a barb wire fence to get to it.

Hogs:
Cows were moved of our property
The last 2 years on my lease I have had 2 feeders destoyed by hogs.
They will get between where the legs and T-post meet a literal push the feeder over.

Make a hog trap... and pin up your feeders if you want pork.

For the last four years I have hunted on some family's land that they have a few head of cattle on. I never onced put up a strand of barb wire up or anything else to keep them out. I'm not sure if it is true or not, but I was told that it is phyiscally impossible for a cow to pick corn up off the ground if the corn is not in a pile. I never once had them come and eat at all. However they would lean up against my legs and other stuff like that. On another place we use to hunt, we would actually hang our feeders off of a good limb in a tree. The cows never tried to eat the corn out from under them either. We hung them up so they couldnt lean on them and push the feeders over.

I had heard the same thing about cows not being able to pick up corn to eat it unless it was in a pile. I can assure you that cows will pick up kernels of corn to eat when not in a pile. They usually will not stay around to eat much when it is spread out on the ground but they do eat some and the deer on our place will leave the feeder location when the cows show up. But I know it is different everywhere. We have had to stake down all of the feeders that we do not have a pen around because the cows knock them over which tears up a lot of equipment fast.

seen them first hand pick it up they dont bit it they use their tongue lost two feeder last year to our cows ate all of the corn I might even have some game cam pics

Dont make the pen so small that the feeder throws corn out of it. Make the pen large and position the feeder in the pen so it throws some outside the pen and some inside the pen. This way the pigs will come but not destroy your feeder set up for the deer. And by the way our cows dont have any problem eating corn at our ranch. Good luck.


Exactly what we do.

I have seen many trail cam pictures come from my ranch with whitetails and hogs eating together. I have also seen many with cows eating the corn. I don't think the hogs bother the whitetails to much.

2 feeders 1 in a pen 1 no pen.

kill all the hogs and call it even!!!!

ac

The only reason I fence off my feeders is because of horses and cows. i dont have a problem with hogs. One of the places i hunt lets the cows graze the whole property (75 acres) without sectioning off the pastures, so during the dry months, when the grass is not growing to well, they will do everything they can to get at the corn. 5 strand barb wire with proper fence postings is the only way I have been able to keep them out. I try not to let any corn get outside the fenced in areas. I dont want them to get the craving.

When I began hunting an area with pigs I thought it would be nice to have more shots. If I never see a hog or have to fix another torn up feeder that will be fine with me. Put up a quality pen with cattle panels. If you have pigs they will come around, no need to make it easy on them. IMHO

I ran barbed wire around my feeders to keep cows out yet it still lets the hogs in and the deer come in and eat also. Now, I've never had deer in there when hogs arrived. I may need to do what was suggested earlier, put panels around one for the deer and barbed wire around the other for the hogs. Still had plenty of deer coming in during the season though.