I have not been hunting in a while having to work on my daughters roof and a lot of jobs around the house. We still have to shingle after I fixed the sheathing and rafters.
I have two deer so my freezer is full and only the neighbors are left to get meat for.
However, my friend has never been successful when I put him on stand. In all the years I take him hunting he has never hit a deer with his bow or revolver. Talk about buck fever!
I bought a feeder which is legal here in WV and want to set it up for him. I was wondering how many days it will take for the deer to start to use it. I want to set it up in advance for him but don't want to have to change batteries too much. How long will an alkaline battery last for two feedings a day?
Plinker, are you there?

bfrshooter,

If you are talking about feeders one find by Cabela's, the sames we are using here, the 6V alcaline battery will last a couple of months., say 3 months at least.

Good luck

Hi BRF,

A feeder might be just the thing for your neighbor to give him more opportunities to see deer and get over his buck fever. Terrible phenonomen, that buck fever...so i've heard. Never personally experienced it, although i have suffered such unusual luck as to have my cams lock up and numerous other unfortunate disasters right at the moment of truth.

It won't take the deer long to home in on the feeder. I moved one and had them eating at it within a week. The batteries last a good long time; i've had the same ones in for two months at a time, easily. Cold weather is hard on batteries, and they can go out unexpectedly. I bought enough 6v rechargeables to be able to change them out. That way if you have a cold spell, you can remove and recharge them, whereas with the regular alkaline you're left wondering do i change them and maybe they don't need changed or leave them in and take chance they poop out when you're counting on them.

Your neighbor shouldn't feel bad for hunting near the feeder since he isn't very advanced and it is a good way for him to get more exposure to deer sightings. But as you know, a feeder is not likely to attract anything besides some freezer meat. The bucks don't come there during legal shooting hours.

I hope he has a good turn of luck with it. Keep us updated.

Penny

Sounds good for the batteries. I have to convince the wife that I need some rechargables. Wally world was out of them.
My feeder and stand is right near a big scrape. I have seen several nice bucks during the day there. But you should know by now that I don't like buck meat and let most walk by. I am a confirmed meat hunter. I have killed many nice bucks in Ohio and here and none are as good as a doe of any size.
I want my friend to have a chance at a buck although he will shoot anything that comes near. TRY ANYWAY! I am going to hide within range some day to watch him and have a good laugh. Most times though, I really feel sorry for him.

The more time he spends with the deer the more he will get over it. I get pretty jumpy at the start of the season but it gets better the more deer I see.

the chef

I think that is why I hunt from tree stands. I get the excitement when they are approaching. When on the ground, deer do not affect me at all. I will walk past them to go to the tree even if I might get a shot. I have shot a lot of deer from the ground but there is no thrill at all. I think it has something to do with the "ambush concept."
Even in gun season I will use revolvers and get in a tree. I sold my rifles because it is just shooting, not hunting. I got no pleasure shooting deer at 200 or more yards. I would rather let a deer that is out of range of my bow or revolver walk and have the fun of watching rather then reaching out to touch it. Hunting with handguns is as much of a thrill as bow hunting. And believe it or not, handguns are more effective then a lot of rifles without destroying meat. I butcher right to the hole!
When the excitement is totally gone, I will quit hunting. After all, it is the reason for hunting. Any boob can shoot a deer at long range, but when you are close and personal you also give the animal a chance too. Any wrong move or noise will let the deer survive for another day.
I am losing count in my old age but know I have gone over 355 deer kills with over 222 taken with the bow. And I really HATE to butcher and have not shot sometimes because I didn't feel like doing the work. I have actually let the bow down on the rope and had 17 deer feeding under me, bumping into my bow and walking under the ladder. But I was still hunting and having a good time. It's funny that antlers never bothered me and I never wanted to be a trophy hunter. I have always found that does are harder to get a shot at, a buck in range is too easy. Many times I have had a large doe come in with a buck and have shot the doe. Is it just me?

Go look in Cabelas and get an on On Time Elite. They use AA batteries (I use Coppertops) and they last from beginning of archery season (Oct 1st until end of January. We are in South Tx so if you are in a place with cold weather, you might need to change out more frequetly. They also have a lifetime warranty that is no B.S. I ordered a part through their 1-800 number while I was at the ranch hunting and 3 days later when I got home, there it was. The feeder has no exposed parts except the spinner plate (everything is enclosed in an aluminum pipe about 5" in dia), and is simple to program.