Dear hunting prep starts now!

Well, it's hard to believe but it has already been almost 5 months since my last bow hunt. While it was memorable, it wasn't something I want to have repeated in 2013. To avoid a "buck skunk" for next fall my prep starts right now. It actually started the day last season ended; checking game cams for movement, shed hunting, talking with local farmers (aka my Grandpa) for movement and ideas for next fall.

This year we are moving two of our semi-permanent stands this spring as well as setting up two deer feeders, the first of which is pictured below.

It's a 200 lb. automatic wild game feeder. Nothing crazy, we purchased it at Wal-Mart (along with several other clearance items) for only $50. As you can see, I had all the help I needed, we just needed to put it together.

It's been said "you get what you pay for" but this really is a slick unit. It is raccoon proof, and is put together really well. There was only one problem and dad and I fixed that: The Tripod legs had no screws/hinge-pins to hold them in place, just gravity.

We just added a few screws and dad even made some home-made pins to secure the legs into place. This feeder is now built to last. We could have added another section of legs, but it will already be a challenge to add corn at this height, so we passed.

Last: Location. The deer had started to take to a different north/south trail last fall, especially during the height of the rut. So we are placing the feeder just a few yards off an east/west fence line and this north/south trail. Unfortunately, we were a little distracted by the rocks and the water and we will have to wait until next week to set it up and put our newest camera in place as well.

Until then, grab your family, friends, and really anyone willing to lend a hand and GET OUT THERE and get a jump start on next years deer hunt!

Good luck with your 2013 Turkey Hunts! Please post pics to our outdoorsmanswap facebook page! We would also appreciate you listing items at outdoorsmanswap.com!