My dad was the best hunter I’ve ever seen.

Well, my dad was the best hunter I’ve ever seen, who never shot a deer. Although he did pass once on a spike, hoping that Brutus was close behind marking his territory. My dad’s love of hunting had nothing to do with bringing home the venison – although it would have been nice, just once – he just wanted to sit in the woods and collect snow in his beard.

There is no trophy on the wall in my cottage, no meat in the freezer, not even an expelled 30-06 shell case buried somewhere in the dirt. The only thing that remains of the early mornings and mid-afternoons spent with my dad in the cedar and pine forest of Northern Cheboygan County is an old hand-built wooden blind and a spray-painted camo PVC pipe deer feeder attached to a tree. It has, in all honesty, fed more raccoons, squirrels and blue jays than Michigan white tails.

I recently purchased a few acres of wooded land in the Northern part of Macomb County so I could start memories of my own. And after signing my life away, the first thing I thought of was, ‘where am I going to put a deer feeder?’ I had a perfect spot picked out just on the edge of my property, back by a slowly moving river, right off a deer run that was very well worn.

The Deer Feeder

Now, I had never made a deer feeder before and my dad’s PVC masterpiece was made so long ago that I don’t remember a time when it wasn’t part of the landscape, so I was left to my own devices. I figured I would take inspiration from what I remembered, and apply some good ‘ol fashioned common sense. With that, I came up with the idea for a galvanized metal garbage can deer feeder.

It was off to Home Depot with my shopping list:

  • 1 31-gallon metal garbage can – with the top
  • 1 roll of heavy duty aluminum/foil duct tape
  • 1 oval to circle 45-degree duct pipe
  • 1 circle to square 45-degree duct register
  • 1 box of galvanized nails
  • 1 pair of tin snips

Circle to square 45-degree duct register

Once I got out to my property, I traced around the oval duct pipe on the bottom of the garbage can where I would need to cut it, and went to work making a hole – it was easier than I thought it would be. Then, I cut slits in the oval part of the duct pipe and slipped it up through the newly cut hole in the garbage can and bent over the sides. I laid in a few layers of aluminum tape on the inside of the can to hold the new spout in place and attached the circle to square register – basically making a trough for B*mbi (I disguised his name for copyright purposes, but you know who I’m talking about).

But here’s where it got interesting – paint doesn’t stick to galvanized metal without some extreme prep work. So, I got 2 camo rolls of Mossy Oak Graphics Break Up (2’x5’) and went to work applying it all over – the result was killer.

As you can see from the pictures, I found two trees and wedged it betwixt them and nailed from the inside of the can into the trees. It holds like a champ. And there it was, a metal garbage can feeder that I think my dad would be proud of – even if I do more feeding than hunting.

I’ll let you know how the season pans out – stay tuned.

FYI – 31 gallons equals about 160 lbs of corn.

This post was guest written by Paul Perzyk, an avid hunter and writer.