MegaToad Outdoors’ 55M1 Deer Feeder proves 100 percent varmint-proof, and the automatic shut-off tool is something every deer hunter and land manager will cheer.
by Jace Bauserman
I came to Cheyenne, Oklahoma, for the first time in 2014. I instantly fell in love with the red hills, pockets of hardwoods, and vibrant green fields of wheat. It also didn’t hurt that I was hunting with Croton Creek Outfitters, which at the time was owned by Scott and Joni Sanderford. The Sanderfords have excellent deer and turkey dirt, but even better than the hunting experience they provide is the hospitality. They made me feel like family, so much so that they couldn’t get rid of me.
Since 2014, I’ve hunted with Scott and Joni more than 20 times, between deer, turkey, and hogs. They are two of my favorite people in the world, and Scott is one of my very best friends. You won’t find a better person.
Here Comes MegaToad
Scott isn’t an engineer, but he has an engineering mind. In 2017, Scott was fed up with poorly designed feeders. Though most worked, raccoons and other varmints could easily reach into the spinner plate and dump corn. Not to mention, the coons damaged motor wires, etc. Scott was sick of adding wire cages to cover and protect the spinner plate. Not only did the wire cages make it challenging to work on feeder motors, set feed times, etc., but they also killed the even dispersion of the feed.
Convinced there was a better way, Sanderford and his business partner Brad Pierce went to work, and that work began in his garage with two plow discs. Today, Sanderford and his wife, Joni, own and operate MegaToad Outdoors. Those two plow discs have become the M1 Module, which MegaToad sells separately from the entire feeder/module unit. The M1 Module attaches to any hopper with a six-inch flat surface. MegaToad also sells the 55M1 Deer Feeder, which is the 55-gallon barrel, M1 Module, barrel ring, adjustable three-position legs, and ground stakes.
I got emotional the first night I climbed into a treestand and sat over the finished product. Scott and Joni went through a lot of ups and downs to get this just-launched business off the ground. Sanderford actually holds the patent on the downward-sloping discs and the automatic shut-off tool. More on those technologies in a minute.
The goal of this trip was for me to hunt over the 55M1 and take note of any glitches. In addition to hunting over it, Sanderford had me help him build several 55M1s from the ground up and place them at various locations around the ranch.
Over three days of placing feeders and hunting over them, I watched the feeders perform flawlessly. I witnessed no mechanical failures, and you won’t believe the uniform feed distribution. Sanderford’s design throws feed in a full 360-degree circle around the feeder, and it slings the golden corn nuggets a long way. This seemed to make the deer more comfortable, especially at locations where we set up the feeders the same day and then hunted over them the following day. Without wire cages, the feed doesn’t have anything to contact, which helps ensure even distribution.
Show me a nighttime trail camera picture of a feeder, and chances are good it will have one or more coons hanging off the lower module. You don’t get that with the 55M1. The angle of the downward-sloping discs won’t allow even the most tenacious coon in the woods to get his greedy little paw to the spinner. This means no lost feed and zero issues with varmints. If you’re an outfitter and use deer feeders or a hunter who utilizes them on your private ground or lease, the 55M1 is the last feeder you will ever need.
Another massive benefit of the 55M1 is the built-in shut-off tool. The purpose of the shut-off is to prevent your feed from spilling onto the ground if you need to remove a module. There is no more holding bags, boxes, or barrels under the module. Engage the shut-off by inserting the included plate into the slot in the M1 Module, and no corn will flow from the barrel.
I don’t have an engineering mind. I can build and tune a bow, but that’s where my mechanical knowledge ends. Heck, I can barely change a flat tire. Sanderford’s 55M1 is ultra-easy to assemble. It took me just over 20 minutes to assemble the full feeder out of the box. Sanderford can perform the task in just 10 minutes.
Hunting Over A Feeder Is Easy … NOT!
When I hunt in Oklahoma and Texas, I hunt over feeders. Feeders have a purpose, and it’s not to make deer hunting easy. In fact, at times, it makes deer hunting more challenging. Yes, deer do come to the feed. However, mature deer don’t always daylight on a feeder, and even if they do, you’ll have to survive a night of does and young bucks coming in and out. The young bucks seem oblivious, but the does miss nothing.
Most will circle the feeder to get the wind right. I’d say seven out of every 10 feeder sits I make, I have one or more does blow at me. If a doe starts blowing and refuses to leave, as they often do, your hunt is over. If they blow once or twice and bound off into the cover, you’re still in the chips. I write this so you have realistic expectations if you’ve never hunted over a feeder before.
On the third evening of my hunt, I sat over a MegaToad 55M1 in a location where we were getting Moultrie nighttime photos of a heavy 11-point buck. The buck had yet to daylight, but with cooler temperatures and a high-pressure system, we were crossing our fingers.
Something else to mention is the three-position adjustable legs. Sanderford is a cattle rancher, and the location we were hunting on the third evening was full of cattle. Keeping the feeder lower to the ground and using ground stakes kept the cows from knocking it over.
The total height is adjustable between 60 and 81 inches from the ground to the top of the barrel. There are situations where you want your feeder low to the ground, and situations where you want more distance between the dirt and your module. In this case, lower was better, and pictures of cows pushing up on the feeder, captured by our Moultrie cell cam, proved the MegaToad is no pushover. MegaToad also includes three heavy-duty stakes, which you’ll want to drive in at an angle into the pre-drilled holes in the feet.
On this evening, I was hunting a single buck. It was him or nothing at all. The terrain was tall CRP, plumb thickets, and impenetrable pockets of hardwoods tangled with brush and briars. With nothing in the area to funnel deer movement, Sanderford found a high ridge in tight timber between two known bedding areas. That’s where we set the MegaToad. There is an art to placing feeders, and over the years, I’ve watched Scott paint many masterpieces.
At 6:51 PM, I saw tines coming through the brush. The wise Oklahoma brute paused, examined the feeder, and tried his best to get downwind. The wind was marginal, which I like when hunting mature bucks. If a buck believes he has the wind but that wind is just wrong enough for him and right enough for the hunter, you have a good chance of killing a big deer, no matter where in the country you’re hunting.
Another product I’ve tested for the past month and need to fully sign off on and give an A+ 5 Star rating is Nose Jammer. I will have a full review of this scent product that is engineered to block, or “jam”, an animal’s olfactory system. I won’t ever go to the whitetail woods without a can of Nose Jammer in my pack.
The buck slid past my wind. Imagine a cartoon drawing with a slimy green wind passing right between the deer and the hunter. My scent was literally sliding just south of the feeder. Had the wind gotten any more easterly, he would have smelled me, even with the Jammer.
However, on this gorgeous Oklahoma evening, the good Lord shone down on me. The 150-inch Oklahoma buck walked right to the MegaToad 55M1 Deer Feeder and started chomping. The photo below tells you how the story ended.
Final Thoughts
I’m so proud of what Scott, Joni, and their business partner, Mr. Brad Pierce, have accomplished. They stepped out of the norm and solved a problem with a product I’m proud to stand behind. If you’re in the market for a new deer feeder or want to add a MUCH BETTER module to your existing feeder, consider MegaToad!
