Summer. The days are long by their very nature. Thinking about the coming fall makes them even longer. There is a way to help keep the hunter’s mind focused on the coming fall and help out the wildlife at the same time.
It’s project time!
If you hadn’t noticed by now, we here at Feed Bandit love to test feed! We got to thinking about developing a better way to test multiple products at the same time so we could have real, measurable results. Thus, the Feed Bandit Feed Trough idea was born. Time to hop in the pick up and head to the hardware store!
As with any good DIY project, not having any good measurements is the key to having fun!
For this project I purchased treated lumber so it would withstand the elements a bit better. I got 6 – 2×8 and that worked out well as each feed “square”.
I wanted them to be large enough to fit one standard sized bag at least of feed to test. I had the wood screws already so the only other item I needed was two rolls of mesh screen.
I chose to use mesh screen to allow water to flow out and to cut down on the weight of the trough.
After making all the cuts screwing it together was simple. I used two screws per side per section to make sure it was solid.
Next, I rolled out the mesh screen and used a staple gun to get it in place.
I then got some self tapping screens and washers and permanently screwed it down. Next time, I would used larger washers.
Yeah, I know what you are saying, “what are you feeding, Giraffes?” So, I did make it a bit tall but I thought I read somewhere that black buck antelope were 3′ at the shoulder.
Nope. Still, she is almost ready to sail! I used up the rest of the black spray paint in our garage and prepped to take it down to our hunting grounds of Rancho Bandido for her maiden voyage.
Let the games begin! Check out part 2 to see what the animals preferred…corn, deer protein pellet, alfalfa pellets or Double Tine Innovations’ Ultimate Deer Feed?
Will the Feed Bandit Feed Trough hold up?
DIY – Feed Bandit Feed Trough Part 2
We conducted this test in June as the drought was about to once again reappear. After positioning the game camera, we loaded our test feeds!
The results were fascinating! We got well over 500 pictures and the animals wasted no time in pummeling all of the feed choices except the alfalfa pellets.
The most desired feed in this test was Double Tine Innovations’ Ultimate Deer Feed as it did not make it much past night two! Once again, the axis deer inhaled this feed as they did on our first Double Tine Innovations’ Ultimate Deer Feed trial.
Hey axis deer hunters, pick up a bag…or 10 of Double Tine!
Axis buck cleaning up the rest of the Double Tine Innovations’ Ultimate Deer Feed. Notice the corn and deer protein pellet…barely touched.
Black buck antelope loved the Double Tine Innovations’ Ultimate Deer Feed too BUT the trough is just a smidge too tall
Black buck Jr.!
Whitetails does came in too. They were just tall enough.
Little Native Texas Whitetail bone growing in the back ground.
Ma-ma? How cute! This black buck is suckling the deer protein!
AH, its about time the turkey showed up!
(In English accent) “Say there old chap, would you mind terribly not putting your bushy tail on me corn?”
We could post many hundreds more pictures but we will get the rest out via our social media. So, lessons learned=Cut down Feed Bandit Trough legs.
We had so much fun with this session that we wanted to do it again but we wanted some better pictures…
And look who showed up?! Mr. Feed Bandit himself. He found our feed! We made some improvement to the Feed Bandit Trough and mounted a new camera piece for some closer shots like the one above.
DIY – Feed Bandit Feed Trough Part 3
August in Texas can be down right miserable. Hot…dry…and hot some more. This summer was no different. The extreme heat burned off much of the surviving greenery and water was starting to become scarce. The animals are really hitting the supplemental feed hard.
You can see just how dry it was in the picture above. For this particular set up, we set up the Feed Bandit Trough at a new location and filled it with deer protein pellets and corn. Like normal, the three year old had to test the product!
In keeping with Feed Bandit slogan, “We’ll Find Your Feed” This corn bandit wasted no time helping himself to some free chow. Post deer season we will see if we cannot remove him from the heard
Much to our surprise there was a day or two lag in the action…for hoofed game that is. Look who came back for more!
But, once the targeted species found it…they found it!
Mr. Texas thunder chicken. Surprised he did grab a bite.
Mr. Black buck Jr. Check out the temp at noon. SON!
Ladies lunch at the Feed Bandit Trough!
Nice looking black buck. Being that black buck antelope are native to India they do not mind the 113 heat!
Native Texan deer! Good looking does!
Howdy boss! Interesting deer we have here. So, I am guessing that this guy is around 3.5 years of age. For the place we hunt this rack should be bigger even with the semi drought we had. This fella might make the chopping block.
Axis deer delight! You can tell how upset they are that we ran out of Double Tines’ Ultimate Deer feed! Sorry gals!
Axis buck!
Perhaps my most favorite picture! Black buck antelope, whitetail deer and axis deer all in the same picture!
Axis buck Jr!
Black buck antelope date lunch!
Well, the Feed Bandit Trough was an absolute hit! We are looking forward to doing more testing of feed. This being said, if you are a feed producer and you are interested in seeing how Texas game like your product please shoot us an email!
Our animals are still plenty hungry so if you are a feed dealer or manufacturer and you’d like us to test your feed please let us know!
The Feed Bandit ranch, Rancho Bandido, is an outstanding place to test hunting gear and various wild game feed types on not only native Texas animals such as the whitetail deer and Rio Grande turkey but also on exotic game such as the black buck antelope and axis deer.
If you’d like us to review your product, let us know here!