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Baiting with corn.

I hunt 3 private properties in Texas where baiting is legal. The deer are stupid in south texas and will come in to a feeder while you are in a tripod 8 ft off the ground with poor cover. I usually go there to tag out on does at the end of the season. I hunt the hill country as well and we run corn feeders there, the deer are stupid there likewise, but very small. A monster buck there is 130”. I also hunt east texas where the deer are very well educated and walk around looking up on the trees. I hunt pigs year round in east texas with corn, and I will take an occasional doe off of a corn feeder. I only bow hunt, don’t let anyone fool you, hunting on a corn feeder is not always productive. When the acorns are falling, corn piles up under the feeders for weeks. Also mature animals will wind you every time at a feeder because they always circle down wind. I have been more successful hunting mature bucks on trails and funnels than feeders. Mature bucks just don’t come to the corn feeders during daylight hours in east Texas. A large solitary boar will very rarely come to a feeder while a bow hunter is near, I usually have to stalk in on big boars with my bow. Their eyesight is horrible. I will say that I have found that it is easier, and more relaxing hunting trails than feeders the dang deer are super cautious while at a feeder and any little movement will send them to the next county snorting.
 
Skrause5 said:
That's w

My buddy said I can hunt on his private land next season. I am going see if I can convince him to let me make a good plot on his land. Feel like they will come out more during the day if there was a more natural food source out there instead of me laying corn out there
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They get wise to both corn and food plots very quick but early season can bring in younger deer. Only on TV can the big old ones be taken over corn or plots.
 
On TV, the hunts are staged in the sense that the deer have been left alone. I have to assume most deer in these hunts are unpressurized, undisturbed for the most part. I actually had that conversation with my 13 year old son yesterday. I told him most of the time when you get a shot at a deer it happens fast. Whether you are in a tree, blind or sitting against a tree like we’re yesterday.

The best time to kill a wall hanger is early bow season.


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Heres the problem with baiting and food plots. Baiting in particular you are changing what is happening on a property. So you can basically throw out what you knew before you threw it out there.

Big deer don't make a habit of showing up at either in daylight hours unless you are some place special. I don't mind hunting with baiters around. You know they are going to sit on that spot all season regardless of wind and hope for the best. Most burn out in a year or 2 when they haven't killed the buck of their dreams.

A deer can consume all the food it needs in about 20 minuets if its just laying there available. With any kind of food they can show up and eat when they are ready. So tell me why you would bet your season on that?

There are certainly some places in the country where its almost a must.
S. Texas is the only place I have been that was like that. 15yds was a long way to see down there. There certainly wasn't any getting in there with them. Never seen a place so thick.
 
Rg176bnc said:
Heres the problem with baiting and food plots. Baiting in particular you are changing what is happening on a property. So you can basically throw out what you knew before you threw it out there.

Big deer don't make a habit of showing up at either in daylight hours unless you are some place special. I don't mind hunting with baiters around. You know they are going to sit on that spot all season regardless of wind and hope for the best. Most burn out in a year or 2 when they haven't killed the buck of their dreams.

A deer can consume all the food it needs in about 20 minuets if its just laying there available. With any kind of food they can show up and eat when they are ready. So tell me why you would bet your season on that?

There are certainly some places in the country where its almost a must.
S. Texas is the only place I have been that was like that. 15yds was a long way to see down there. There certainly wasn't any getting in there with them. Never seen a place so thick.
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Well unlike most people that do that. I have multiple places where I place my corn mostly by pathways where deer walk by so I am never in one spot all season long. So they don't pick up my patterns. Plus baiting keeps on the property especially during winter time.
 
When legal......it's your call. Getting new hunters started it might a good way of getting action in front of them kinda like bluegill fishing for youngsters. Baiting is not a 100 percent way of killing the deer you are after. Does are regulars to corn. But as stated earlier here, bucks are different animals and it ain't no guarantee of even seeing a quality buck. Plots help alot and are a step up in my opinion and during the rut it helps concentrate buck and does in that area if not over hunted or disregarding the wind. In Tn it illegal, I hunted Ky where it was and wasn't a slam dunk to a good buck. In my opinion, and that's all it is, this will be debated for a long time and it's something if legal where you are......its your call only....not ours. I can see both sides....clearly, having been deer hunting for 45 years. It's not as cut and dried as the extreme sides might like this issue to be. If you are legally hunting where you are, pour yourself into being the best hunter you can be. Growing as a hunter is what we all should aspire to do. My 2 cents.
 
I disagree with the comparisons that a food plot and a pile of corn are basically the same thing. That is hardly the case at all. To do so fails to recognize the increase in nutritional value a good food plotting program can mean to a property, fails to consider the variety of wildlife benefited, fails to consider the duration of beneficial time and fails to consider the seasonal habitat improvements for fawns and poults, or feed and cover for quail.

That said, as a new hunter the OP would probably be best served by finding and spending time in the woods with a successful trapper. The google cant teach you how to see whats happening in them woods.
 
BigAl said:
When legal......it's your call. Getting new hunters started it might a good way of getting action in front of them kinda like bluegill fishing for youngsters. Baiting is not a 100 percent way of killing the deer you are after. Does are regulars to corn. But as stated earlier here, bucks are different animals and it ain't no guarantee of even seeing a quality buck. Plots help alot and are a step up in my opinion and during the rut it helps concentrate buck and does in that area if not over hunted or disregarding the wind. In Tn it illegal, I hunted Ky where it was and wasn't a slam dunk to a good buck. In my opinion, and that's all it is, this will be debated for a long time and it's something if legal where you are......its your call only....not ours. I can see both sides....clearly, having been deer hunting for 45 years. It's not as cut and dried as the extreme sides might like this issue to be. If you are legally hunting where you are, pour yourself into being the best hunter you can be. Growing as a hunter is what we all should aspire to do. My 2 cents.
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Right. And when I get my own land and hunt on consistent
BTaylor said:
I disagree with the comparisons that a food plot and a pile of corn are basically the same thing. That is hardly the case at all. To do so fails to recognize the increase in nutritional value a good food plotting program can mean to a property, fails to consider the variety of wildlife benefited, fails to consider the duration of beneficial time and fails to consider the seasonal habitat improvements for fawns and poults, or feed and cover for quail.

That said, as a new hunter the OP would probably be best served by finding and spending time in the woods with a successful trapper. The google cant teach you how to see whats happening in them woods.
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Honestly I don't know what to look for when I am scouting. I know buck beds is the key to successful hunting season. Seems like I cant find them. Why not a good hunt....why a trapper?
 
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Because most hunters today cannot read animal sign in the woods. A successful trapper has to be able to read animal sign.
 
I use it for my grandson and he has taken 3 of his 4 deer from a groundblind. He is 11 years old and took a nice 9 pointer with a .50 caliber Savage ML II at 35 yards.
 
Skrause5 said:
Honestly I don't know what to look for when I am scouting. I know buck beds is the key to successful hunting season. Seems like I cant find them. Why not a good hunt....why a trapper?
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If you only consider yourself successful by harvesting a mature buck then sure, knowing where they bed helps. I hate to see a new hunter with the opinion that, "buck beds is the key to successful hunting season". That's definitely not the case. Finding doe and buck bedding is one piece of a very large puzzle. Dan Infalts "beast hunting" style is one way to hunt but not realistic for everyones scenario, especially those hunting smaller private parcels.
 
Skrause5 said:
Honestly I don't know what to look for when I am scouting. I know buck beds is the key to successful hunting season. Seems like I cant find them. Why not a good hunt....why a trapper?
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Like bigjoe said, lots of folks in the woods dont have any idea what they are looking at or for. This is just my opinion and it's worth what you pay for it but a new hunter has 2 primary goals of importance starting out, learn to read sign and learn to kill. Learning to read sign starts with a basic understanding of where to expect sign and why it should be there. Deer are edge animals so thats always a good place to start. Edges can be creeks, ditches, rivers, lakes, fields, timber cuts, or vegatative like thickets, transition from cedar to hardwood. Areas where 2 or more edges intersect will be great spots to check out. Deer are also prone to using terrain as they travel so ridges and saddles can come into play. Again saddles or ridges with some type of edge adjacent to it are more good spots to check out. Those things cover the bulk of travel so that leaves food and breeding. Learn every type of deer food in the woods you hunt and when they are in season. Food sources, esp. mast is typically a transitioning type of hunt as you will need to continue to move to stay on the preferred type of feed as well as the primary trees of that mast. These are going to consist of trees like white and red oaks as well as other types of oaks, persimmon, honey locust, pecan, etc. Primary food can also be browse plants like honey suckle or dewberry. I have even seen bull nettle be the primary food source on bad mast years. Breeding can sort of be a crap shoot when they are balls to wall rutting but a couple of things to keep in mind are does that are in will typically head for the heaviest cover available and away from their doe groups so bucks are going to be checking those areas and primary food sources as they cruise to find the does that are coming in. Thats a short and dirty version for finding them.

Now you need to kill 'em. The only way to get good at doing anything is to do it a lot. Killing is no different. Pretty much all the states I have hunted give you more opportunity to kill doe's than bucks, take advantage of that and hone your abilities to close the deal. The goal here is to get to the point where you mind doesnt interfere and your eyes control the shot. That tennis ball sized spot in the lower third of the body right in the crease of the front shoulder looks the same on a doe as it does on a buck if that is the only place your eyes are focused. If you are like most folks it will take killing a decent pile of 'em before you get to that point.
 
I have to agree with @weekender21 that finding beds is just one part of the equation. Deer especially mature bucks once they get pressured will change up their patterns. You need to find natural food sources, watering areas. Regular trails used etc. If baiting were legal here in Va I would not hesitate. Deer like most animals are opportunistic, they will take an easy meal if they know it is safe. They take the easiest travel routes for the most part. They do not want to work any harder than they have too. Most of all they want to feel safe. Why do you think deer are all over the suburbs? Food supply and safety.

Here in Va where dogs are being run East of the Blue Ridge during gun season, scouting and beds pretty much go out the window. Deer will get pushed unnaturally from one piece of property to another and they go nocturnal very quickly once the dogs are introduced. The state allows dogs on private and some state lands. So you have to realistically get it done with scouting before Thanksgiving. It becomes very challenging afterwards. A lot of luck comes into play afterwards. Unfortunately for me, with kids and their sports during early bow and muzzleloader I am lucky to get out.
 
My experience in SC, is corn pile = nocturnal mature bucks. Mature does are cautious around baited areas and will noticeably scope the area thoroughly before moving out into the open. It is extremely rare for us to have mature bucks on camera at bait stations in shooting light. We still use them but I normally don't hunt over them. I will if we've noticed a deer in the area frequenting one, but again, not common.

Our "bait stations" are a combination of mineral site, protein feeder, and corn. So they really are feed stations. We can't really put in food plots on the level necessary to provide food, so this is our solution.

Edit: Someone put it to me like this years ago. If you came home from work and suddenly found 12 large pizzas and 2 kilos of cocaine in your living room, you'd be very suspicious. You wouldn't be able to help yourself, but you'd be smart about when and how often you touched it.
 
Corn is an easy way to kill young deer. Or it can be a lot of work to kill young deer.
I use corn as another food source on my lease. It not worth sitting over to kill a buck for a few reasons.
1. Bucks in my area hate broadcast type feeders. They’ll cruise by them downwind or just in sight of looking for does. You’ll occasionally get a picture of them at the feeder but not often.
2. They will eventually trust gravity and trough feeders eventually but it’s a long term investment. Most of the places I have put them the yearling bucks will use them from now on but the 3 year olds will die of old age without using it.
3. Deer like hand spread corn or a pile best. Piles are expensive and can sour harming wildlife. A bag of corn in my area doesn’t last long enough to sour. A bag will be eaten in one night if piled and 3-5 nights scattered. Where do you expect to see a buck in the daylight that you are having to go into twice a week not counting actual hunts?
So why bother? Because hunting between corn and bedding can be as good as hunting between bedding and any high draw food source.
 
Bucks can be very particular where they bed no doubt. With that said I would say a mature buck on avg will switch where he's staying a minimum of 4-5 times during a season not even counting when he's hanging with chicks. Im not talking urban deer here.

I believe the OP or someone said they live near large tracts of National Forest. That is the perfect setup for killing a big deer.
 
EricS said:
Corn is an easy way to kill young deer. Or it can be a lot of work to kill young deer.
I use corn as another food source on my lease. It not worth sitting over to kill a buck for a few reasons.
1. Bucks in my area hate broadcast type feeders. They’ll cruise by them downwind or just in sight of looking for does. You’ll occasionally get a picture of them at the feeder but not often.
2. They will eventually trust gravity and trough feeders eventually but it’s a long term investment. Most of the places I have put them the yearling bucks will use them from now on but the 3 year olds will die of old age without using it.
3. Deer like hand spread corn or a pile best. Piles are expensive and can sour harming wildlife. A bag of corn in my area doesn’t last long enough to sour. A bag will be eaten in one night if piled and 3-5 nights scattered. Where do you expect to see a buck in the daylight that you are having to go into twice a week not counting actual hunts?
So why bother? Because hunting between corn and bedding can be as good as hunting between bedding and any high draw food source.
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Well that's what I am thinking next season. I am going to scatter it because I have been figuring out that the pile gets eaten too fast. And that I am going to feed them all year and follow the track from the corn to where there traveling from and set up in between where there coming from. Feel like that's a better plan because i am seeing more deer on camera at night time then during the day.

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wannabehunter said:
My experience in SC, is corn pile = nocturnal mature bucks. Mature does are cautious around baited areas and will noticeably scope the area thoroughly before moving out into the open. It is extremely rare for us to have mature bucks on camera at bait stations in shooting light. We still use them but I normally don't hunt over them. I will if we've noticed a deer in the area frequenting one, but again, not common.

Our "bait stations" are a combination of mineral site, protein feeder, and corn. So they really are feed stations. We can't really put in food plots on the level necessary to provide food, so this is our solution.

Edit: Someone put it to me like this years ago. If you came home from work and suddenly found 12 large pizzas and 2 kilos of cocaine in your living room, you'd be very suspicious. You wouldn't be able to help yourself, but you'd be smart about when and how often you touched it.
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I have used bait piles in the midwest and tend to agree! Mature deer become nocturnalor at least this is when cameras pick em up on bait piles. The same areas had baiting become restrictive and ultimately banned. Funny, but my success was better without bait piles. I as a hunter had to focus more on deer sign and do believe deer behavior was different. Since moving to NC, I hunt mainly public land, and no baiting allowed. I do know many people that do bait and what I have heard is that if you are not, the deer will migrate to where the food is easy....might be nocturnal, but they are there. Just my experience.

I am not against bait piles because if a pile a corn brings in a deer close enough and gives my kids their first chance at and deer when they become old enough...I will take it! If they get hooked like I did when I was younger, I'll have hunting partners for life!

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But do you guys think it will be a good idea to use my bait areas to figure out where there coming from or where there bedding at by following there trails. Or is that not a good idea. First time hunter trying to learn here.
 
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