This young whitetail deer has visited the feeder a few times. I’ve caught him on the trail camera on different nights and things always go the same way. Each time he came by he stuck his nose in and started to eat, then he got to shoving it around and knocked the thing over.
I’d come out in the morning and find it on the ground. It wasn’t empty since you can see the other deer eating from it, so I’m not sure why he kept pushing on it and knocking it down. His nose couldn’t possibly be too big for it.
Once he knocked it down he wouldn’t eat from it. He’d wander around it wondering what had happened. Since now it looked different, he didn’t trust it. He’d leave but come back almost every night. I was feeling bad for him cause the food was right there but he was at a loss as how to get at it. The poor little guy left more than once with an empty tummy.
Another group of deer came along and although they’re a bit wary because it looks different, they still help themselves to the corn, even though the mom doesn’t seem to get along all that well with her little one.
Other deer don’t have a problem eating from the feeder at any time, but this little guy just couldn’t get the hang of it.
I have a simple set up for my feeders, pvc piping with a block inside to keep the feed from falling down onto the ground. I put a cap on top to keep the rain and snow from getting in. It worked great, mostly. It bothered me that the little fellow was having problems with it though, so I came up with a different setup and I’m happy to say that solved the problem.