The land I own is mainly full of deer bedding; somewhat dense spruce/pine/birch woods with plenty of cover and the deer have more or less "moved in". A couple of days ago I counted 30+ places where deer have slept, all over my property, right after a snowstorm so these "beds" weren't more than a few hours old.
Currently I don't have a feeder. The land (an island, connected to mainland by marsh and a gravel road) is surrounded by farmland, meaning that deer have plenty of feeding places until the snowfall and after that a local hunting club keeps a number of feeders, the closest one is about a mile from me. There's plenty of deer on my land, but mainly during nighttime. Sometimes afternoons as well, but it seems that they move to feeders during hunting hours and return around midnight.
I, of course, would like to keep my hunting opportunities open, which means that I've been planning to put a feeder on my land. The only problem is that it'll have to be near the bedding area. About a quarter of a mile or less. I've tried to buy more land, but to no avail; 300-400 acres surrounding my property is nature conservation area, which is not for sale and no-one hunts there. It's mainly wetland so it's no surprise deer have chosen my plot for bedding.
What are the possible downsides to close proximity of feeder(s) and bedding? There are no large predators around. It's been a while since anyone has seen lynx tracks and there's no known wolf or bear population within at least 50 miles, so this won't be a honey trap for them. There are whitetails and roe deer around, so many that having apple trees and a small vegetable garden is a sheer impossibility, deer will eat anything and everything. They seem to like the place and the whole idea about a feeder or two is for keeping them around during daylight.
What do you think? All ideas and advice are very welcome.
Currently I don't have a feeder. The land (an island, connected to mainland by marsh and a gravel road) is surrounded by farmland, meaning that deer have plenty of feeding places until the snowfall and after that a local hunting club keeps a number of feeders, the closest one is about a mile from me. There's plenty of deer on my land, but mainly during nighttime. Sometimes afternoons as well, but it seems that they move to feeders during hunting hours and return around midnight.
I, of course, would like to keep my hunting opportunities open, which means that I've been planning to put a feeder on my land. The only problem is that it'll have to be near the bedding area. About a quarter of a mile or less. I've tried to buy more land, but to no avail; 300-400 acres surrounding my property is nature conservation area, which is not for sale and no-one hunts there. It's mainly wetland so it's no surprise deer have chosen my plot for bedding.
What are the possible downsides to close proximity of feeder(s) and bedding? There are no large predators around. It's been a while since anyone has seen lynx tracks and there's no known wolf or bear population within at least 50 miles, so this won't be a honey trap for them. There are whitetails and roe deer around, so many that having apple trees and a small vegetable garden is a sheer impossibility, deer will eat anything and everything. They seem to like the place and the whole idea about a feeder or two is for keeping them around during daylight.
What do you think? All ideas and advice are very welcome.