# Feeders



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

I put on the old snowshoes today and checked a few our club's wheat feed bales. The birds have been working them over pretty good. Coming back I saw pheasants and partridge in the bean stubble where the snow was lifted from the hills.

I wondered if there isn't a better way to use feeders in key areas in the winter. Understanding you don't want to concentrate game, at the same time thinking that key habitats attract birds anyway. Thought about setting a round bale of straw on end, wrapping it real loose in plastic snow fence, and dumping corn on the loose straw? Would keep the deer out. Maybe. In the spring, remove the plastic and burn the bale.

Thought about plastic barrels with a cage big enough to keep the deer out, but the pheasants could get through the cage. ???


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## redlabel (Mar 7, 2002)

I remember seeing an idea in "PHEASANTS FOREVER" magazine a few years ago.

It showed them using a wire spool tipped on its side and supported by cement blocks. The idea was to use the blocks to lift the spool high enough for the pheasants to get under but not high enough for deer to get at the food.

Utility companies usually give the spools away when they have them.

Pheasants Forever always prefaces these types of suggestions with the statement they don't recommend feeding but this year is probably a good reason for an exception.


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## zack (Oct 17, 2003)

Dick
What we do is use 4 wire cow panels wired together around our plastic drums. The holes are plenty large for the pheasants to get through. On the inside I like to use 5 or 6 wood pallets with a piece of plywood on the top one and then use screws to hold the drum in place. I also screw all the pallets together so a strong wind doesn't blow it over when empty.I cut 4 baseball size holes around the bottom so the grain flows well and I keep the top plugs so rain and snow doesn't get in on the grain. The 5-6 pallets give the birds some security from fox and yotes and the can scan the sky for any hawks. Seems to work well for us.
zack


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## duxnbux (Feb 25, 2002)

zack....I have seen those drums in the Alexandria area...I heard rumors that in snow storms pheasants get trapped under the base with snow and don't make it....any reality to this...

also I have seen pheasants swarming to millet bales in the winter....


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## zack (Oct 17, 2003)

dux

It has happened a handfull of times, but we feel the benefit far outweighs 
this occurance. Our group has over 200 of these setups in the area. Our group is Pope County Pheasant Restoration. We have been at it for over 20 years now. At this time, Pope county has one of the strongest pheasant populations in the state of Minnesota. We also help finance food plots and tree planting for cover. The number of birds this spring has been phenominal. I think our roadside counts will be way up again this spring due to the mild winter we had.

zack


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