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Baiting For Deer, Do you do Bait?

Matki15 said:
I grew up hunting in south Louisiana where corn is king, and can tell you that bait isn’t some magical key to killing every deer in a square mile like some of y’all think. Those deer know that corn on the ground means humans near by, except for the random young does and bucks. I don’t bait anymore, but can tell you bait is still a fair chase method. Nothing is forcing those deer to come to the bait during shooting hours. If I remember right there’s several studies saying baiting is a hindrance to deer movement and mature bucks actually will go out of their way to avoid bait sites. I’ve actually seen that first hand
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That’s why you let other people bait and hunt 75 yds downwind of their bait pile.
 
kbetts said:
After reading the thread I think less than half actually have any clue on what baiting entails, how it works, or why and when it's effective.........yet lots of emotion and strong opinion. Guys send me pics of big bucks on corn every year...one MAY get killed. One gentleman I know has two feeders around his house and shop for the local does. Bucks are there every year on the doe group. I've yet to draw on one despite the opportunities I've had to hunt there. The feeders are making no real difference as the deer want to be there anyway.
I hunt a 400 acre farm right on the marsh these days and we could realistically put a mountain of corn if we wanted. We don't put any. As soon as you do, everything will wait till dark to move. Different area and deer movement is different.
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lol. Hunt TX. They have to tell you which bucks NOT to shoot.
 
Plebe said:
lol. Hunt TX. They have to tell you which bucks NOT to shoot.
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On some properties they do, those properties are also the ones with very limited pressure across the several thousand acres they bait, and on that acreage its often not ideal habitat for deer with little to no food. So in order to survive, why wouldn’t they go to corn piles where they have almost no bad experiences associated with it? People still say the same about the Midwest, watch any hunting show on tv and they see a 20 acre block of woods surrounded by cornfields on all sides with 20-30 deer in the fields at all times. Is it really easier because of the corn? Or is it the lack of large continuous tracts of healthy timber stands for the deer to be able to live, hide from pressure and forage naturally? Neither one of those scenarios are typical hunting situations. Bait can be easy, if you’re smart and have access to unpressured deer. But bait isn’t the magical deer killer some people here seem to think it is while sitting over their 50 acre corn or soybean field. What’s the difference between hunting a bait pile and a hot white oak that the deer are passing up every other oak to get to? They both might concentrate the deer but nothing is MAKING them come in and eat that food during shooting hours. I used to hunt over bait. When I stopped and started hunting deer the “right” way I immediately started seeing more deer every hunt. And bigger deer. The bait isn’t magic it’s just another tool in some peoples arsenal
 
Matki15 said:
What’s the difference between hunting a bait pile and a hot white oak that the deer are passing up every other oak to get to?
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One big difference is that the hunter puts the bait pile where they want it; with acorns the hunter has to actually go scout to locate the hot oak tree and then find a way to successfully set up on it.
 
Matki15 said:
People still say the same about the Midwest, watch any hunting show on tv and they see a 20 acre block of woods surrounded by cornfields on all sides with 20-30 deer in the fields at all times. Is it really easier because of the corn? Or is it the lack of large continuous tracts of healthy timber stands for the deer to be able to live, hide from pressure and forage naturally?
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It’s really easier because there are 20-30 deer right there in one place, instead of being spread out over 5 miles. With that many deer in one place I don’t need a corn pile, I need a good approach and the right location for a set up.


it’s really hard talking issues like baiting on a website where the contributors are commenting from all over the continent and a few from overseas.
 
The difference is a pile of bait can be accessed 24/7, just like a food plot.
A bait feeder that drops bait at 8:30 am is different.
 
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Matki15 said:
On some properties they do, those properties are also the ones with very limited pressure across the several thousand acres they bait, and on that acreage its often not ideal habitat for deer with little to no food. So in order to survive, why wouldn’t they go to corn piles where they have almost no bad experiences associated with it? People still say the same about the Midwest, watch any hunting show on tv and they see a 20 acre block of woods surrounded by cornfields on all sides with 20-30 deer in the fields at all times. Is it really easier because of the corn? Or is it the lack of large continuous tracts of healthy timber stands for the deer to be able to live, hide from pressure and forage naturally? Neither one of those scenarios are typical hunting situations. Bait can be easy, if you’re smart and have access to unpressured deer. But bait isn’t the magical deer killer some people here seem to think it is while sitting over their 50 acre corn or soybean field. What’s the difference between hunting a bait pile and a hot white oak that the deer are passing up every other oak to get to? They both might concentrate the deer but nothing is MAKING them come in and eat that food during shooting hours. I used to hunt over bait. When I stopped and started hunting deer the “right” way I immediately started seeing more deer every hunt. And bigger deer. The bait isn’t magic it’s just another tool in some peoples arsenal
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I was only pointing out that mature deer come to bait. Even if it’s “situational.” I only point it out to round out the discussion.

But, I guess I don’t completely follow the logic.

When deer come to bait…the bait is MAKING them come. Kinda the point of bait.
 
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dalton916 said:
100% against it, but I am a realist so I’ve come to terms with it since it is keeping a large number of people paying for leases and sitting in a shooting house overlooking a corn pile with a crossbow instead of them hunting on public land.

See? We can all get along.
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I feel attacked!
 
The way it always seems to work when I have had the couple opportunities to use corn is this....establish bait sight, start getting the deer u wanna see, then the pigs find it and run off all the deer and they have free reign, until a bear finds it......the bear either destroys everything and u start over or u did a good job of.making ur feeder bear proof and then the bear and pigs have their power struggle to see who controls the feeder. Killing pigs is pretty fun but u spending lots of money to attract deer and the other critters outcompeting ur deers gets frustrating and expensive with not hardly the returns u were wanting....

Public land and sitting over feeders isn't even comparable imo.......and sitting in the same tree, watching the same feeder over and over again is pretty dang boring. But it's hard not to get excited when that thing goes off and scares u (even though i know the exact time it's gonna throw it still startles me ever time hahahahaha
 
Plebe said:
Yes. I am aware it’s a rule change in UP. More of a removal of a ban instated due to herd disease concerns.

As well, in the LP…

“Hunters with disabilities who meet specific requirements may use bait in the Lower Peninsula during the Liberty and Independence Hunts only. Eligible hunters may begin baiting for the Liberty Hunt five days prior to when the season begins. Eligible hunters may begin baiting for the Independence Hunt five days prior to when the season begins.

Bait volume at any hunting site cannot exceed two gallons. Bait dispersal must be over a minimum 10-foot by 10-foot area. Bait must be scattered directly on the ground. It can be scattered by any means, including mechanical spin-cast feeders, provided that the spin-cast feeder does not distribute more than the maximum volume allowed.”
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This is pure hypocrisy by our NRC & DNR. We cant bait in Michigan due to risk of spreading EHD or CWD, but the lil heathens and handicapped get to??? We have a serious herd problem in parts of our state, mine included. Be nice if DNR would quit caring about revenue so much and address the issue. Maybe if u hunt a region where its out of control, like my grounds, we could get 2 bucks n 2 does with each combo tag. Or have the kiddies shoot does only in the youth hunt. Anything is better than whats going on currently.
 
I used to bait a lot, and killed several deer, but I've mostly stopped for varying reasons. Number 1 is on a bait pile, when deer come in they're usually on edge, so they're more likely to spook, duck the arrow, etc... where as in a natural situation they aren't. Number 2 is due to the number of hogs we have. Its not if hogs find it, its when. Now deer will still come to it when hogs aren't around, but not as often as they would otherwise. So now, If I put out bait, it's in order to shoot hogs, and if a deer eats it then cool, but I don't actively hunt the bait for deer. I've killed several hogs this summer off a bait that deer were using too.

I would be fine if they banned baiting tomorrow here in AR, but they never would. Farmers, feed stores would lose to much money, hunter participation would drop off, the people that would hunt and bait their 5 acres will have to hunt somewhere else when no deer use their place, so public would get more crowded, and harvest numbers would drop drastically.

I also hate that states use CWD as a reason to ban baiting, IMO a scrape would spread CWD much more than a corn pile. Theres plenty of deer in areas, particular mature bucks that won't hit a feed pile, but there gonna hit a licking branch, they're gonna rub their preorbital glands on it, chew on it, pee and paw in it, a long with every other deer that comes through that area. Then when they branch out to another area a mile away, and another deer herd, They're gonna do the same thing again, a long with all the deer in that area.
 
I hunt 3 private pieces and the occasional public spots for deer. I have two feeders on one piece of private, my home place, behind the house. No bait on any of the others. I don’t have a huge moral hang up about it. Im mostly just cheap and lazy.

And yes. My wife owns a crossbow. But she’s pretty and real bumpy so she can do what she wants. Especially since I look like a 1940’s catchers mitt.

Addendum. No e bikes in our clan.
 
Slabzilla73 said:
This is pure hypocrisy by our NRC & DNR. We cant bait in Michigan due to risk of spreading EHD or CWD, but the lil heathens and handicapped get to??? We have a serious herd problem in parts of our state, mine included. Be nice if DNR would quit caring about revenue so much and address the issue. Maybe if u hunt a region where its out of control, like my grounds, we could get 2 bucks n 2 does with each combo tag. Or have the kiddies shoot does only in the youth hunt. Anything is better than whats going on currently.
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Well said. Particularly the lil heathens shooting only does. This state has so much promise with different philosophies and mindsets.
 
dalton916 said:
At least you were open about the crossbow and you don’t let it stay in the house with you, lol.
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You can't burn enough sage without the smoke alarms going off to rid the place of that kind of evil hex. You bring that thing indoors and lamps start turning themselves on/off, walls oozing blood and the TV be talkin' while it's unplugged.

Shenanigans afoot.
 
It’s illegal here in Louisiana on public, I know people that do it. I’m against it 100%, for me it feels like cheating. But idc what you do and if it’s legal in your state go for it.
 
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