Boss Buck Feeder Timer Programming Guide

Program It Like You Mean It, Or You Are Just Feeding Raccoons.

My answer is this.

Set a Boss Buck feeder timer for 2 short feeds a day, centered on daylight edges, and keep the total under 10 seconds per feed until you prove deer are using it.

I have watched more deer skirt a feeder because it sounded like a trash can orchestra than I have watched deer fight over corn.

Here is what I do when I hang a Boss Buck in East Texas style timber or on the edge of an Illinois bean field.

Decide What You Want The Feeder To Do Before You Touch Buttons.

If your goal is daylight pictures and predictable sits, you program different than if your goal is holding deer on a property for weeks.

I learned the hard way that “more corn” turns into “more hogs” fast, especially when I hunted around feeders in East Texas years back.

If you are trying to time movement, I check deer feeding times first because that tells me when deer already want to be on their feet.

Here are the three feeder goals I see most.

Goal one is inventory, which means short throws and a camera watching it.

Goal two is huntable daylight activity, which means feeding tight to legal light edges and keeping it quiet.

Goal three is nutrition, which means more frequent feedings, but that is a whole different can of worms on cost and neighbors.

Pick Your Feed Schedule First, Because Everything Else Follows It.

The biggest mistake I see is guys programming random times that feel good, like 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

That is how you train deer to show up when you are at work and train raccoons to show up when you are asleep.

Here is what I do on most whitetail setups.

I run two feeds per day for corn, and I start at 4 seconds each.

I set one for first light, like 15 minutes after legal shooting starts, and one for the last hour, like 60 minutes before dark.

If you are hunting thick cover like the Missouri Ozarks, forget about a big mid-day feed and focus on the last hour feed.

Those Ozark deer stage in cover, and a big loud spin at noon just pulls in squirrels and gives deer a reason to circle downwind.

If you are on ag edges in Pike County, Illinois, I like a morning feed a little later.

Those deer are often coming off beans or corn and bedding, so I set it 30 to 45 minutes after sunrise to catch stragglers.

Know Which Boss Buck Timer You Have, Or You Will Fight It.

Boss Buck has used a few control boxes over the years, and the button layout is not always the same.

Most of them still follow the same logic, and that is what I am covering here.

Look for these common pieces on the control box.

A power switch or plug, a digital screen, and buttons like Mode, Set, Program, Up, and Down.

Here is what I do before I program anything.

I put in a fresh 6V or 12V battery, I clean the terminals, and I make sure the motor spins free.

I learned the hard way that a weak battery makes you think you programmed it wrong, when it is really just dying under load.

Set The Clock First, Because A 10 Minute Error Will Burn You.

If your timer is off by 10 minutes, that can be the difference between daylight deer and nighttime deer.

That matters even more during the rut when movement is already messy.

Here is what I do step by step.

I turn the timer on and find the Clock or Time setting in the Mode menu.

I set the hour, then minutes, then AM or PM, and I double check it matches my phone.

Back in November 2019 in Pike County, Illinois, I killed my 156-inch typical on a morning sit after a cold front.

My feeder was set to toss at 7:10 a.m., and the buck showed at 7:18 a.m. on the downwind side.

Program Feed Times Like A Hunter, Not Like A Farmer.

Most Boss Buck timers let you set multiple feed events, like Feed 1, Feed 2, Feed 3, and Feed 4.

I rarely use more than two, unless I am trying to keep does close in late season.

Here is what I do on a typical whitetail property.

I set Feed 1 for morning and Feed 2 for evening, and I disable the rest.

If the timer will not “disable,” I set unused feeds to 0 seconds, not 1 second.

If you are hunting high pressure public land, forget about four feeds a day and focus on one feed that you hunt tight.

In places like Buffalo County, Wisconsin hill country public edges, pressure makes deer move late, and extra feeding just adds extra noise.

Choose Spin Duration Based On What You Want To Attract, And That Is The Tradeoff.

Longer throws spread feed wider, which can reduce fighting but also spreads scent and noise.

Short throws keep activity tight, which is better for cameras and stands, but it stacks critters in one spot.

Here is what I do with corn.

I start at 4 seconds, then I watch the ground and camera for a week.

If the deer clean it up fast and I want more draw, I bump to 6 seconds, not 12.

I learned the hard way that big spins create a dinner bell.

My worst feeder year was the year I ran 12 seconds twice a day and bragged about it, until every hog in the county showed up.

My buddy swears by 10 seconds because he wants a wide spread so big bucks can hang back.

I have found that 10 seconds also feeds every raccoon family within 300 yards, and they will camp there all night.

Use The Test Button, But Do Not Let It Turn Into A Habit.

Most Boss Buck controllers have a Test or Manual Spin button.

It is there to check the motor and throw plate, not to “top off” the woods whenever you feel like it.

Here is what I do.

I hit Test for 1 to 2 seconds to confirm the motor spins and the spinner plate is not rubbing.

Then I stop touching it, because random feedings train random deer movement.

Decide Where To Mount The Feeder, Because Timer Programming Cannot Fix Bad Placement.

If the feeder is in the open like a white bucket on a pool table, it will mostly be nighttime deer.

If it is tucked into cover, you can get daylight use, but your wind matters more.

Here is what I do on my Illinois lease.

I set the feeder 20 to 40 yards off the field edge, on the first inside corner of cover, with a shot lane built to 22 yards.

I keep my access route so I never cross the main trail, even if it adds 180 yards of walking.

This connects to what I wrote about how deer move in the wind because a feeder spot that is “fine” on calm days can be dead on a 18 mph northwest.

If the wind is wrong for that feeder, I do not hunt it, because feeders make deer circle even harder.

My Quick Rule of Thumb

If you are trying to kill a mature buck over a feeder, do 2 feeds per day at 4 to 6 seconds, and hunt it only on a wind that keeps your scent off the downwind trail.

If you see fresh tracks and droppings that show up within 12 hours of a feed, expect deer to start staging 10 to 25 minutes before the timer goes off.

If conditions change to heavy rain or a sudden 15 degree temperature drop, switch to one evening feed 45 to 60 minutes before dark, because that is when I see the best daylight pull.

Set It For The Season You Are In, Or You Will Be One Month Late.

A perfect summer feeder schedule can be a terrible November schedule.

Deer are not machines, and their priorities change fast.

If you are trying to learn the basics of where deer want to live, I lean on my own notes plus what I wrote about deer habitat because bedding cover and security beat corn in a lot of places.

If you ignore security cover, your feeder will mostly “work” at night.

Early Season Programming Mistake To Avoid.

Early season bucks are patternable, but they are also touchy about pressure.

The mistake is feeding too much, checking it too much, and walking in there like you own the place.

Here is what I do in September.

I run 4 seconds in the evening only for the first 10 days.

If my camera shows daylight does and small bucks, I add a short morning feed.

When I am sorting buck photos, I still like having the basics straight, like what a male deer is called and what a female deer is called, because it matters when you are writing down what is hitting a feeder and when.

I log “does at 6:12 p.m.” and “young buck at 6:25 p.m.” and it keeps me honest.

Rut Programming Tradeoff, Because This Is Where Guys Get Cute.

In the rut, a feeder can help, but it does not control a buck that is cruising for does.

The tradeoff is this.

If you over-focus on the feeder, you might miss the real movement 80 yards downwind on a scrape line.

Here is what I do in late October and early November.

I keep the evening feed, and I often shut off the morning feed.

I want deer drifting past the feeder, not piling into it before daylight and blowing the whole area up.

If you want a better handle on why bucks are acting stupid, I connect it to deer mating habits because that explains why “patterning” breaks during peak chasing.

I do not pretend a timer beats biology, it only nudges movement.

Late Season Programming That Actually Helps You Kill Deer.

Late season is the one time I will feed a little more, because cold makes calories king.

But the mistake is feeding so much that deer go full nocturnal and never leave the cover around it.

Here is what I do after gun season.

I run 6 seconds in the evening and 4 seconds late morning, like 10:30 a.m., for body recovery.

I only do that if my access is clean and I can stay out for 2 weeks.

If you are wondering what you are really “buying” with more feed, I look at how much a deer weighs and the winter stress in your area, because a 140 pound doe and a 210 pound buck do not burn fuel the same.

I keep my expectations realistic, because corn is not magic.

Product Stuff I Actually Trust, And The Stuff I Regret Buying.

I have burned money on gear that did not work, and I still feel dumb about some of it.

The worst wasted money for me was $400 on ozone scent control that made zero difference at the stand.

My cheap win has been old $35 climbing sticks I have used for 11 seasons.

That matters because getting to a feeder clean and quiet beats any fancy timer feature.

On timers, I like simple controls that keep time well and do not eat batteries.

If your Boss Buck controller is acting flaky, I replace the battery first, then I clean contacts, then I consider a new control box.

I have used Duracell 6V lantern batteries a lot, and they are boring in a good way.

The off-brand 6V I tried in 2021 swelled up in the box and made a mess.

If you are going to run a camera on a feeder, I have had good luck with the Browning Strike Force series for price.

I paid $129 for one, and it ran two seasons before the latch got sloppy from me being rough.

Do Not Let A Feeder Make You Lazy About Shot Placement.

A feeder shot is usually close, but close does not mean easy.

Deer are tense around a spinner, and they move fast at the sound.

Back in 2007 I gut shot a doe and pushed her too early and never found her.

I still think about it, and it is why I force myself to slow down and pick a hair.

If you need a refresher that is written plain, I point people to where to shoot a deer because most lost deer start with a rushed shot, not a bad blood trail.

My rule is simple at a feeder, I wait for the front leg forward and the deer relaxed.

FAQ

How Do I Set A Boss Buck Feeder Timer For Two Feedings A Day?

I set the clock first, then I program Feed 1 time and seconds, then Feed 2 time and seconds, then I set Feed 3 and Feed 4 to 0 seconds.

I test spin for 1 to 2 seconds, then I leave it alone for a week.

What Feed Times Do You Actually Use For Whitetails?

I set morning for 15 to 45 minutes after sunrise and evening for 45 to 60 minutes before dark.

If I only run one, I pick the evening feed every time.

How Many Seconds Should I Run A Boss Buck Feeder For Corn?

I start at 4 seconds and only bump to 6 seconds if the ground is cleaned up fast and hogs are not showing.

If raccoons are camping it, I cut seconds back before I add more.

Why Is My Boss Buck Feeder Not Going Off Even After I Program It?

I check the battery with a meter, then I clean the terminals, then I check for a loose motor plug or chewed wire.

If the screen is dim or resets, that is almost always a battery or connection problem.

Should I Run More Feedings During The Rut?

I usually run fewer, because bucks are cruising and extra feeds add pressure and noise.

I keep one evening feed to hold does nearby, then I hunt funnels and downwind trails.

Will A Feeder Make Deer Stay On My Property In Daylight?

It can, but only if your cover is safe and your access is clean, because deer are smart about pressure.

If you want to think through that angle, I wrote about are deer smart, and my answer is yes in the ways that matter to hunters.

Next, Decide How You Will Keep The Feeder From Training Night Movement.

This is where most feeder setups fail, and it has nothing to do with button pushing.

It is wind, access, noise, and how often you go in there like a raccoon checking a dumpster.

When the weather gets weird, I pay attention to where deer go when it rains because rain changes daylight use around a feeder fast.

If you ignore rain patterns, you will think your timer is wrong, when the deer just shifted beds.

If you want to keep going, I am going to get into distance from bedding, sound control, hog and raccoon problems, and how I set a camera so I can hunt it without getting busted.

I am not wrapping this up yet.

Next, Decide How You Will Keep The Feeder From Training Night Movement.

This is where most feeder setups fail, and it has nothing to do with button pushing.

It is wind, access, noise, and how often you go in there like a raccoon checking a dumpster.

When the weather gets weird, I pay attention to where deer go when it rains because rain changes daylight use around a feeder fast.

If you ignore rain patterns, you will think your timer is wrong, when the deer just shifted beds.

Here is what I do to keep a feeder from turning into a midnight buffet.

I place it where deer can hit it on the way to food, not where they have to leave cover and stand in the open.

I learned the hard way that if you put a feeder right on the easiest access trail for you, you will ruin it.

Back in 2016 in the Missouri Ozarks on public land, I had a spot I could sneak into in 6 minutes, and I did, and the deer went full nocturnal in 10 days.

If you are hunting Pike County, Illinois ag edges, forget about placing the feeder in the wide open “because you can see it” and focus on a shaded edge 20 to 40 yards inside.

If you are hunting Buffalo County, Wisconsin hill country with pressure, forget about walking straight down the ridge and focus on slipping in low with the wind and thermals right.

Decide Your Access Route, Or Your Timer Settings Do Not Matter.

I can program a timer perfectly and still blow the whole deal if my boots cross the wrong trail.

The mistake is thinking deer only care about scent at the feeder, when they care about scent on the way to it too.

Here is what I do on any feeder I plan to hunt.

I pick one entry route and one exit route, and I do not “improvise” on hunt day.

I keep the feeder downwind of my approach, not downwind of my stand.

That sounds backwards until you watch deer hit your ground scent line and back out before they ever get close.

I wasted money on $400 worth of ozone scent stuff before switching to just playing the wind and washing clothes in cheap unscented detergent.

The ozone did nothing for me in real woods, and the wind still mattered like it always did.

This connects to what I wrote about how deer move in the wind because your feeder will have a “best wind” and a “never wind.”

My rule is I only hunt the feeder on the best wind, or I do not hunt it at all.

Choose Distance From Bedding, Because Close Gets You Daylight But Adds Risk.

This is the tradeoff nobody wants to admit.

The closer you put a feeder to bedding, the more daylight action you can get, and the easier it is to blow out the whole area.

Here is what I do when I am trying to kill a mature buck.

I try to put the feeder 120 to 220 yards from the nearest bedding cover, not 30 yards from it.

On my Illinois lease, that usually means inside corners and little fingers of timber where deer already travel.

In the Missouri Ozarks, that usually means benches and leeward points where deer bed and stage in thick junk.

If you are trying to just take kids hunting and see deer, I move it a little farther.

I would rather see 6 does at 40 yards in daylight than educate them at 18 yards and never see them again.

Make The Feeder Quieter, Or You Will Teach Deer To Stand Off And Watch.

Some feeders sound like a wrenched-out garbage disposal.

Deer notice that, and big bucks notice it first.

Here is what I do when a Boss Buck is too loud.

I make sure the spinner plate is not rubbing, I snug the loose bolts, and I level the unit so it does not vibrate.

I also keep the feed level steady.

When the hopper gets low, some units sound different, and deer that are already cautious will hang up downwind.

My buddy swears by running a big protein pellet mix because it “sounds softer.”

I have found pellets bridge and jam more, and then you have to go in there and fix it, and that pressure costs more than the quieter sound helps.

Decide How You Will Deal With Raccoons And Hogs, Because They Will Show Up.

If you feed long enough, you will feed something you did not want to feed.

The mistake is fighting critters by adding more corn, which is like trying to put out a grease fire with gasoline.

Here is what I do when raccoons take over.

I cut spin time back to 3 or 4 seconds, I move feed tighter to daylight edges, and I stop “testing” the spinner at random times.

Raccoons are the reason I do not like long nighttime gaps with big feed dumps.

They will sit there from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and vacuum it clean, then deer show up at 7:30 a.m. to bare dirt.

Here is what I do when hogs show up, and this is coming from years around East Texas feeders.

I shut the feeder off for 7 to 14 days and I hunt the trails and wallows, because once hogs pattern a spinner, they own it.

If you are hunting an area with hogs, forget about “more feed will hold more deer” and focus on less feed and cleaner access.

Hogs can turn a feeder into a churned-up mud hole that deer avoid in daylight.

Set Your Camera So It Helps You Hunt, Not So It Helps Your Curiosity.

Trail cameras ruin more feeder hunts than people admit.

Not because of the camera, but because guys check it like a phone.

Here is what I do with a camera on a feeder.

I mount it 10 to 12 feet high, angled down, and I aim it so the feeder is not dead center, which reduces glare and false triggers.

I set it 12 to 18 yards from the feed zone.

I want full body photos, and I want to see which way deer are entering, not just their noses in corn.

If you are wondering how much you are actually getting out of a deer once you kill it, I wrote about how much meat from a deer because that changes how hard I push a feeder plan in late season.

I am feeding to help me kill one good deer clean, not to run a petting zoo.

When I am getting my kids ready, I also keep the basics clear in my notes, like what a baby deer is called, because family groups at a feeder tell you a lot about pressure and safety.

If fawns are showing in daylight, the spot feels safe, and that is a good sign.

Make One Decision After You Shoot, Because A Feeder Can Rush You.

A feeder shot can make you feel like you have to move fast because you “might get another chance.”

That is how you lose deer.

I learned the hard way in 2007 when I gut shot a doe and pushed her too early and never found her.

I do not get to forget that, and it is why I slow down even when adrenaline is hammering.

Here is what I do after the shot at a feeder.

I watch the last place I saw the deer, I mark it on OnX, and I wait longer than I want to wait.

If I have any doubt about the hit, I back out and give it time.

If you need a plain breakdown for a clean recovery, I still point people to where to shoot a deer because the best tracking job starts with the right shot.

And when it is time to handle the work, I follow the same garage routine my uncle taught me when I was a kid.

If you want the steps laid out clean, I reference how to field dress a deer because a feeder kill is still a real deer and real meat that can spoil if you mess around.

One Last Thing I Want You To Do This Week.

Go look at your feeder site like a buck would, not like a guy carrying a bag of corn.

Stand where you think the deer will approach from, and look for where your scent and noise will hit first.

Here is what I do before I ever hunt it.

I sit back 80 yards with binoculars one evening and just watch the area, because that tells me more than another button press ever will.

If the feeder is pulling only nighttime deer after 14 days, I do not keep “tweaking” times like I am fixing a watch.

I change one thing that matters, which is placement, access, or pressure, and I keep the feed seconds short until daylight starts showing up.

I am not a guide, and I am not selling you a magic timer trick.

I am just a guy who shot his first deer in November 1998 in Iron County, Missouri with a borrowed rifle, and I have made enough mistakes since then to know that feeders only work when you hunt them like you mean it.