TACS
I'm in the same boat. Just got my tri-pod deer feeder destroyed by bear this past week along with another member of our camp. The tri-pod legs looked like pretzels.
I use a 55 gal metal drum which holds almost 350Lbs of corn. I've tried the boat wench setup before and although it works ok, it's still a pain in the but and a lot of work to wench a 350Lb barrel up and down.
I'm not going the boat wench rout again. I'm going to hand a 2X6 between two trees and perminently hang the barrel from it. Gong to angle the chains at about 45 degrees down to the barrel so that I can still easily get the lid off. Then, simply going to build a 2 X 4 ladder that I can just lean against the 2x6 for refilling the barrel.
I'm told that bear will climb the tree to try to get to the barrel. Good chance that a 2x6 won't hold 300Lbs of corn AND a 300Lb bear...LOL. I was also told that to stop a bear from climbing your deer feeder tree, do the following:
Cut some 2x4's or 2x6's into 2 ft lengths, drive some 20penny nails through them so that the points are exposed on the opposite side. Then nail these bords in a solid band around the circumference of the tree about 6 feet off the ground. With all the sharp points sticking out the bear can't get a grip in the tree to climb it.
Now I've never tried this, but is sounds reasonable that it would work, and I'm definitely going to try it when I put my barrel back up.
Maybe some of the Bear hunters here could shed some light on this?
firstshot
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Make your first shot count!
