Texas Hunting Forum

feeders on the ridges or in the ravines?

Posted By: Rob Lay

feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 02:45 PM

I have a property in southern Oklahoma that runs west to east. A large creek runs parallel to the south border. My property drops off from north towards south feeding the major creek. On my property there are 4 different deep ravines (15-40' deep) that are drainage from higher ground all the way down to the major creek. The ridges between the ravines are a little more open grass and then drop offs into the ravine with the really thick hard woods.

I think straight forward to use the hardwoods on the ravine edges for good tree stands that overlook the open ridge and down into the ravines. My question is if the feeders should be down in the thick ravines or up on the open ridges? Right now I have them on the ridges and the does and small bucks are killing the feeders, but I wonder if I would have better luck on the bucks down in the ravines?



Posted By: Satch

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 03:24 PM

I hunted a place in Mills County and my feeder was in one of the biggest and/or deepest ravines on the ranch. I consistently pulled in more mature bucks there than the guys hunting the higher elevations
Posted By: 4Weight

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 03:41 PM

I agree with Land Surveyor. Ravines tend to be funnels for all game and bigger deer IMO. It also keeps animals out of the wind.
Posted By: Hill Country Stalker

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 03:53 PM

If you can manage to get your feeder down in the ravine and leave yourself a good clean shot, then I would go that route. I agree with the previous posters when they say you will likely see more deer hit the feeder if its in heavy cover vs. out in the open
Posted By: dogcatcher

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 04:16 PM

Originally Posted By: Hill Country Stalker
If you can manage to get your feeder down in the ravine and leave yourself a good clean shot, then I would go that route. I agree with the previous posters when they say you will likely see more deer hit the feeder if its in heavy cover vs. out in the open


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Posted By: Perfect 8

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 08:15 PM

I would disagree ... simply because your ravines are your bedding and travel corridors for this property. I agree that you will have more deer at the feeder, but I think setting up, checking cameras, refilling the feeder, and even walking to the stand is going to push the deer out of their only natural bedding area.
Posted By: redchevy

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/05/14 08:31 PM

We had problems with feeders that were in too thick of brush. We would see 1-2 deer at a time but never more. Got in and cleared some brush or moved a short distance to a larger opening and deer sightings went up quite a bit. I don't think they liked being that confined at a feeder sort of like small feed pens. (these were non penned feeders)
Posted By: Rob Lay

Re: feeders on the ridges or in the ravines? - 12/06/14 12:24 AM

I appreciate the experience everyone.
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