Brownville Food Pantry Webcam – Maine’s Winter Deer Yard

The Brownville Food Pantry Webcam looks over the home ground of Brownville’s Food Pantry for Deer, a nonprofit wildlife refuge on Rips Road in Brownville, Maine. Its main camera, Richard’s PTZ, pans across a mown yard and a small pond with a wooden dock, nest boxes on posts around the bank and mixed woods behind. From December 16 into early April the yard fills each morning with wild white-tailed deer, at times 100 to 200 of them, and wild turkeys feed among them. Outside that season the pond, the woods and the turkeys carry the view. Two more cameras, run as Ryan’s Bird Buffet, watch the property’s bird feeders all year.

About the Brownville Food Pantry for Deer

Richard McMahon has fed deer wherever he has lived in Piscataquis County for more than 50 years, and around 2008 the habit became the Food Pantry for Deer. He now runs it with his son Randy and his grandson Ryan, and it was Randy who set up the camera that first put the herd online. In season the family puts out 363 to 454 kilograms (800 to 1,000 pounds) of locally grown oats a day, along with apples and acorns, shortly before 9 AM Eastern. The property covers about 4.9 hectares (12 acres). Some of the deer have been coming for more than 10 years, and up to 50 wild turkeys can share the oats on a busy morning.

The gatherings follow a Maine winter habit called yarding, when white-tailed deer collect in one area through the coldest months. The pantry is plain about it: yarding happens every winter whether or not anyone puts out food, and these are wild deer, not a deer farm. The family has said it checks with local biologists that what it feeds is good for the animals.

Brownville itself is a Piscataquis County town of 1,139 people at the 2020 census, incorporated in 1824 and lying between Sebec Lake and Schoodic Lake, with the Pleasant River running through it. The town sits at about 238 meters (781 feet) and takes in three villages: Brownville, Knight’s Landing and Brownville Junction. The Bangor and Katahdin Iron Works Railway reached Brownville in 1881, pushed north to the iron works in 1883 and became part of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad in 1891.

The two bird cameras cover the feeders. Ryan’s Bird Buffet looks at a raised station built around a broad seed tray, with suet cages on a post, a hummingbird nectar feeder, a tube feeder and a birdhouse, and mourning doves, goldfinches and woodpeckers turn up in its frames. The Ground View camera sits low beside a pole feeder over a gravel patch, where wood ducks have fed in groups.

Weather and Climate in Brownville

Brownville has a long, cold winter, which is exactly when the deer camera is at its busiest. January averages highs near -3 C (27 F) and lows near -12 C (10 F), so the feeding mornings often play out over snow. Spring arrives late: April highs reach about 10 C (50 F) with nights still around freezing, and the feeding season closes in early April.

Summer is warm and green. July highs average around 26 C (79 F) with lows near 16 C (62 F). October brings highs near 14 C (57 F), lows around 6 C (43 F) and red and orange foliage reflected in the pond. Precipitation is spread evenly across the year, about 1,200 millimeters (47 inches) in total, with no dry season. These figures are 2015 to 2024 averages.

Things to Do Near Brownville

Katahdin Iron Works Road leaves Route 11 and runs to Katahdin Iron Works, now a state historic site, where iron ore was smelted at the foot of Ore Mountain from 1843 until the works finally closed in 1890. Past it lies Gulf Hagas, known as the Grand Canyon of Maine: a gorge of 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) on the West Branch of the Pleasant River, with walls of 40 meters (130 feet) and a drop of 110 meters (370 feet) from end to end.

The Gulf Hagas Rim Trail follows the Appalachian Trail corridor through the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, the final 160 kilometers (100 miles) of the trail, on land managed by KI Jo-Mary, a group of private landowners that charges access fees. Closer to the pantry, Sebec Lake and Schoodic Lake lie on either side of the town, and Milo next door has its own river camera on this site at Trafton Falls.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more North American wildlife and another view of this corner of Maine, try these cameras.

• Elk Country Visitor Center Webcam
• Alberta Bird Feeder Webcam
• Trafton Falls Milo Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Brownville Food Pantry for Deer located?

On Rips Road in Brownville, a town of about 1,100 people in Piscataquis County, central Maine. Brownville lies between Sebec Lake and Schoodic Lake, and Milo is the neighboring town.

What can you see on the Brownville Food Pantry Webcam?

The main view is Richard’s PTZ, a pan, tilt and zoom camera that moves around the yard, the pond with its dock and nest boxes, and the woods beyond. In winter it shows the deer herd and wild turkeys at the oats. Two tabs add the Ryan’s Bird Buffet feeder station and its Ground View, a low camera over the ground feeding area.

What time are the deer fed at the Brownville Food Pantry?

Around 9 AM Eastern time, every day from December 16 until early April, according to the pantry.

Why are there no deer on the Brownville deer cam today?

The big gatherings come with the oats, and feeding only runs from December 16 to early April. Between spring and mid-December the yard is quieter, and wild turkeys, birds and the pond tend to fill the frame instead.

Is the trough view on the Brownville Food Pantry Webcam?

No. The pantry has run other angles, such as a trough view and a road view, as separate streams on its YouTube channel. This page carries Richard’s PTZ and the two Ryan’s Bird Buffet cameras.

What birds visit Ryan’s Bird Buffet?

Frames from the feeder cameras show mourning doves, American goldfinches and woodpeckers at the raised station, a hummingbird at the nectar feeder and a group of wood ducks feeding on the gravel at the Ground View. Wild turkeys come to the yard as well.

Is it legal to feed deer in Maine?

Maine restricts it by date. Title 12, section 10659 of state law bars putting out salt, bait or food to draw deer from June 1 until deer hunting season opens, and again from the close of the last deer season until December 15, with a civil fine of $500 to $1,000. The pantry’s feeding season begins on December 16.

What is the weather like in Brownville, Maine?

Long, cold winters and warm summers, with January highs near -3 C (27 F) and July highs near 26 C (79 F).

Source: Brownville’s Food Pantry For Deer