DaveABQ
Albuquerque, NM
Ok, so I use the cheap Moultrie plastic feeders and as you know, the come with cheaper thin round steel tubing. At my lease, the guys swear that the hogs all destroy their feeders by hammering on the legs to tip over the feeders.
While I don't doubt that hogs are smart enough, I believe that securing the legs properly is part of the issue. Some of the guys use thick one piece square or round steel tubing. I've been out to the lease several times when there have been feeders laying on their sides, the guys on the lease say that the hogs are knocking them over, yet I have yet to see one pic from a game camera of this happening. But what I did notice is what I believe is happening, heavy winds are blowing over the feeders.
I have up 3 feeders, all using the cheap Moultrie round tubing that comes with the feeder, and I've also secured other feeders in the way that I do my Moultrie feeders and not one has went over. The problem is see is where you drive a T-post in straight up and down and wire it to the feeder leg. To me, that doesn't do much more than not having a T-post. What happens is when the wind blows or a hog pushes on the leg, the feeder lifts right up and the legs slides through the wire.
What I have don't on my feeder legs is first drill holes where each leg slides in to the next and put a bolt through it, then I drive in the T-post almost perpendicular to the leg, I drill a hole through the feeder leg and I wire around the T-post and through the leg, there will be no moving. I'm not saying that a big boar that is strong enough can't collapse the legs, as I believe they can, but what I'm saying is that in most cases where I have seen feeders on the ground is when the wind was heavy. I had seen no indication of hogs in the area or on camera before the feeders were down or if there were hogs, I didn't see in the pics where they have pounded the legs.
Putting in the T-posts, would be even better angled from the inside to the outside of the feeder area, but then you limited the access under the feeder.
Here is an example of one of my feeders:
I do believe big hogs can knock over feeders, either knocking it enough to get above a T-post, or collapsing the legs. But I've seen feeders over on their sides even with the big steel thick legs, but the T-post was just wired around the leg, which in that case their is really nothing holding it from blowing it over.
Earlier this year I was at the lease, we had 60+ mph hour winds, I went out, two feeders were on their sides, one had a game camera on it, no hogs were present.
So wanted others experiences? My feeders are still running and we have some big hogs on the lease.
Notice the pic of the boar on the bottom left of the pic above, at first I thought he had shiny nuts lol, but looks to be an infection or boil or something, thoughts? Thanks for your inputs, I'm an amateur when it comes to feeders, even though I've shot a boatload of hogs when I lived in florida, I never used a feeder, I would just walk around the property I had access to and shoot them, during the day, as there were so many, or I would sit in a tree stand in a heavily populated area of hogs.
While I don't doubt that hogs are smart enough, I believe that securing the legs properly is part of the issue. Some of the guys use thick one piece square or round steel tubing. I've been out to the lease several times when there have been feeders laying on their sides, the guys on the lease say that the hogs are knocking them over, yet I have yet to see one pic from a game camera of this happening. But what I did notice is what I believe is happening, heavy winds are blowing over the feeders.
I have up 3 feeders, all using the cheap Moultrie round tubing that comes with the feeder, and I've also secured other feeders in the way that I do my Moultrie feeders and not one has went over. The problem is see is where you drive a T-post in straight up and down and wire it to the feeder leg. To me, that doesn't do much more than not having a T-post. What happens is when the wind blows or a hog pushes on the leg, the feeder lifts right up and the legs slides through the wire.
What I have don't on my feeder legs is first drill holes where each leg slides in to the next and put a bolt through it, then I drive in the T-post almost perpendicular to the leg, I drill a hole through the feeder leg and I wire around the T-post and through the leg, there will be no moving. I'm not saying that a big boar that is strong enough can't collapse the legs, as I believe they can, but what I'm saying is that in most cases where I have seen feeders on the ground is when the wind was heavy. I had seen no indication of hogs in the area or on camera before the feeders were down or if there were hogs, I didn't see in the pics where they have pounded the legs.
Putting in the T-posts, would be even better angled from the inside to the outside of the feeder area, but then you limited the access under the feeder.
Here is an example of one of my feeders:
I do believe big hogs can knock over feeders, either knocking it enough to get above a T-post, or collapsing the legs. But I've seen feeders over on their sides even with the big steel thick legs, but the T-post was just wired around the leg, which in that case their is really nothing holding it from blowing it over.
Earlier this year I was at the lease, we had 60+ mph hour winds, I went out, two feeders were on their sides, one had a game camera on it, no hogs were present.
So wanted others experiences? My feeders are still running and we have some big hogs on the lease.
Notice the pic of the boar on the bottom left of the pic above, at first I thought he had shiny nuts lol, but looks to be an infection or boil or something, thoughts? Thanks for your inputs, I'm an amateur when it comes to feeders, even though I've shot a boatload of hogs when I lived in florida, I never used a feeder, I would just walk around the property I had access to and shoot them, during the day, as there were so many, or I would sit in a tree stand in a heavily populated area of hogs.