Thread: Luring deer to a feeder

I am taking care of some deer that are a problem on some private bush blocks. I have successfully got deer to eat daily from feeders I have made and installed. In the feeders is maize. My feeders are installed strategically at spots that have good shooting lanes and cover (bowhunting). To get them to the feeder I have been using a 'cookie trail' of maize, from a nearby deer track. Red and Fallow deer do not seem to smell the maize, rather stumble across it and follow the trail.

Rats and possums however are cleaning out my cookie trails of maize in some places, and deer never seem to find the feeder. I have tried putting a salt block next to one, and used molasses, but no joy. I have filmed deer walking within 20m of a feeder they are yet to discover.

For this reason I would like to add a strong scent to lure in the deer to the feeder. Reading around US material I see that what works for whitetail in some states (like citrus), doesn't work in others. Some regions the deer like cherry or grape, because that's what has grown there for a long time. Other places it actually repels. I have tried raspberry jelly mix here, as some hunters in the US swear by it, but deer here don't seem to care for it. I'm yet to try peanut butter (possums and rats go nuts so to speak for that too - so can't just screw a plastic jar to a tree like they do in the US). Brassica is not an option as I'm bush hunting.

I would like to hear from hunters here (not Oz or anywhere else) with success in using all season home made attractants for Red and Fallow deer.