Goodbye Digital Timer

I have hunted most of my life and one thing I always did was set my feeder up early. I would usually set it up about 3 months in advance of Bow season which in Texas is usually the first weekend in October. I believe in getting things setup early and after that I wanted to disturb the area as little as possible.

For years I would spend several minutes thinking:
OK what time did the sun come up today? What time did it start getting light? I then spent several minutes cycling through all the AM setting.

Then:
OK what time does the sun go down? What time does it really get dark? Then again I spent several minutes cycling through all the PM settings. Finally I am done… but I almost forgot I need to make sure I have fresh batteries.

Well everybody knows what happens next… RIGHT! Yep that’s right; I get to start over resetting all the times because I changed the batteries.

OK I am done; again, time to head to the house.

Three months later I am so excited about opening morning.  I have waited months for this day and how the Lord has blessed me with a nearly perfect morning. I drove in late last night. Early in the morning I carefully and quietly sneak into my stand so I would not disturb the area. The sky was still dotted with twinkles of celestial bodies, but it will not take long for the first shades of purple, almost like the skin of an eggplant to drop like a thin veil across the land. Soon would come the lavender and eventually the warm glow of orange as the sun brushes away the dew and light frost that settled while the world slept.

I settle in and patiently wait. It is a glorious morning, and I am so ready. I have scouted this area for years and know every tree, every break and every furrow like the back of my hand and I have positioned myself in exactly the right spot-just a few feet below the canopy of the sturdiest tree I could find. The anticipation, the excitement, each breath heavy with expectation is almost more than I can take as I await the beautiful, majestic creature that will surely walk out from behind that very thicket of trees like a king ready to defend his castle. His head held high, standing, as if to say "take me if you dare."

Patiently sitting in my stand, while the sky is still dotted with those aforementioned twinkles, my “DIGITAL TIMER” feeder goes off. At first, I can’t believe what I am hearing. I struggle to make sense of it until I suddenly realize that I forgot to reset the timer. Several months ago 6:30am was perfect. Here on opening day, of course, the days are shorter and 6:30am is now in the dark. I barely manage to contain myself when out of the darkness I hear the gentle, cautious steps of what certainly must be that trophy buck approaching the feeder. All I can do is make out shadows, and there are many. When it’s finally light enough, I just manage to catch a glimpse of the buck of a lifetime disappearing into the thickness of the woods never to be seen again...

Here's what happens:
If you set the feeder on 7/4/20 to go off at sunrise and one hour before sunset: on opening day of Bow and Rifle season the feeder will go off in
the dark, both in the morning and in the evening. Note the change in length of daylight. 

Approximately 1995 I purchased a deer feeder mechanism like none I have ever seen. Having a technical background I was intrigued so I purchased one. I programmed it and after a year I was hooked. I programmed it one time, the battery lasted over a year and when I did change the battery it required no other attention. My original Day II feeder mechanism from Game Country lasted 20 years. A truly “Set it and Forget it” smart feeder mechanism. Imagine never having to worry about resetting a feeder mechanism so you can “Focus on the Game not the Gear”.