Combatting bate piles

[Mattyq2402]

I posed this on another forum recently and wanted to ask here. I hunt 65 acres in southern ohio. I am surrounded by a block of roughly 2000+ acres of timber. On my hill im the only person that does habitat work and adds food plots. My ground is a rut hub and i usually get good november movement. Issue is all the surrounding properties use corn piles and every year i lose my good 3 year olds to corn. The daily movements seem to be disrupted more in the last few years but ive been able to capitalize. How do you reccomend dealing with this. Should i put out corn in my destination plots so the draw is there? If so how early should i start this if im gonna be there nov 1.

Talked to a buddy who kills a solid buck every year. He says everyone in oir area is baiting and natural movement hunting is a thing of the past. He says corn is king and trumps his plots and orchards. What should i do?

 

[Nutterbuster]

If I was you, I would plant one big food plot in the middle of my 65 acres, do whatever I could to make the rest of it thick as hair on a dog's back, put a corn feeder in the back corner of the plot, and lay off that area until prime time. Maybe cut some lanes and hang some stands on the perimeter to cut off deer moving to the plot.

I have a 100 acre lease. It gets hunted opening archery and rut. Too much pressure on a small plot of land is the best way to see lots of deer on a trail camera between 10pm and 2am. Multiple food plots give deer options, which is kinda counterproductive as well. Our hunting quality went up when I convinced my dad 1 big plot was better than 3 small ones. Bigger fields also draw more deer.

Corn is a fact of life down here as well. Every deer I have ever examined the stomach contents of has had gold in it. If they have lots of food, all you can do is give them shelter to rest in.

 

[BOWHUNTER14]

I hate to hear that especially since you actually put in work for the deer.. But I guess if you can't beat them join them. And if you can make you are thick like nutterbuster said you should be able to hold more deer

 

[Nutterbuster]

Also, not to be a killjoy, but in my mind there is next to nothing you can do management wise on 65 acres. You can't hold deer on that, as you've seen. I might be inclined to skip the plots and put bait in the middle of the property and then do everything in my power to make it thick and nasty.

A plot or two won't amount to anything in the overall health of the herd you share with your neighbors. You're not going to grow bigger deer or better racks. You're just baiting them with a plot. Unless you can plant cheaper than you can bait, I'd consider putting the effort into something like hinge-cutting and thinning the canopy

 

[BTaylor]

You need a source of sweet potato's and make a big pile in the corner of a big plot like Nutterbuster mentioned. They will walk right through a corn pile to get them sweet taters.

 

[JBDaddy]

Unless you can plant cheaper than you can bait, I'd consider putting the effort into something like hinge-cutting and thinning the canopy

I'm no wise man, but my thought is, if everyone else is opening a deer diner, you open the deer hotel. I'd hinge cut, plant thick, create cover, create bedding opportunities away from the edges, and manage lanes around the edges - hunt them headed to feed or headed back. If water's not abundant, I'd sink big plastic tubs into the ground and create water holes. That's not a 1-season payoff and it'll be annoying to lay off intentionally to HOPE they see it as a sanctuary, but if it'd be unique in their range, that's what I'd consider.

 

[kyler1945]

My guess is if you never hunt your property, and the surrounding areas are pressured like you say, your odds of seeing and killing deer the first time you hunt will be tremendous . They Will use your land to bed if it’s thick and untouched. Each consecutive time you hunt it your odds will go down tremendously. I think you’re looking at 1-3 quality hunts before you’re doing therapy with the squirrels.

If it were me - I’d hunt other ground or fish until the absolute prime day/time to hunt. and I wouldn’t set foot near the property until then. Sounds like prime spot for a cel camera. Install Now, and wait till the deer tell you to come hunt.

 

[swampsnyper]

Just hunt at night.

 

[EricS]

I have a small lease as well. 102 acres divided by a road. The north half only has a couple possible stand locations. The southern half we hunt more. This year we will be hunting from the outside in and with exception of the rut most of my hunts there will be within 100 yards of a road just to keep pressure down.

 

[shwacker]

I'm no wise man, but my thought is, if everyone else is opening a deer diner, you open the deer hotel. I'd hinge cut, plant thick, create cover, create bedding opportunities away from the edges, and manage lanes around the edges - hunt them headed to feed or headed back. If water's not abundant, I'd sink big plastic tubs into the ground and create water holes. That's not a 1-season payoff and it'll be annoying to lay off intentionally to HOPE they see it as a sanctuary, but if it'd be unique in their range, that's what I'd consider.

I’m on board with this. But end of the day it depends on how you like to hunt. You can kill them over corn if you want to be like the neighbors, but over time they get very wise to it, especially the 3-4+ y/o. I think long term you’re better off being the bedding property. I’d rather hunt near bedding than food.


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[kyler1945]

I'd also recommend ready Bob Sheppards book. It will help you understand what happens to your odds when you hunt small areas repeatedly. It may not change your habits, but at least you'll be informed about them!

 

[Mattyq2402]

My guess is if you never hunt your property, and the surrounding areas are pressured like you say, your odds of seeing and killing deer the first time you hunt will be tremendous . They Will use your land to bed if it’s thick and untouched. Each consecutive time you hunt it your odds will go down tremendously. I think you’re looking at 1-3 quality hunts before you’re doing therapy with the squirrels.

If it were me - I’d hunt other ground or fish until the absolute prime day/time to hunt. and I wouldn’t set foot near the property until then. Sounds like prime spot for a cel camera. Install Now, and wait till the deer tell you to come hunt.

I have a 12 year old clear cut regrowth on one side that is about 1000 acres and a select cut regrowth 10 years old on the other side of me. The clear cut has to be tough to hunt and i know the out of state guys use corn.

As far as mine, i have hinge cut it and made it much thicker over the last 6 years. I am the first hunter on it at Nov 1st so thats likely why I do see what I see but my age class just doesnt seem to go past 3 to 4 years old. John Eberhart talks about his second Ohio trip on some podcasts, thats me. John gave me some habitat strategies and next week im having a lane cleared extending into my woods from my current orchard to add crabapples next spring just as John told me to do. It will be in shooting range of one of the trees John tacked for me which I shot my 2019 buck out of. The other location he tacked is a hub where everything comes together and ive shot two bucks out of that tree in 3 years. As Im finding out that corn is being used everywhere I am contemplating broadcasting it and setting up in the staging areas like a few of you have mentioned.

Ill have two cell cams and will likely deploy them in the two locations John has pinned for me.

Anyone else have to transition their style due to this issue? Or do u keep hunting the way u do?

 

[GCTerpfan]

I have a 12 year old clear cut regrowth on one side that is about 1000 acres and a select cut regrowth 10 years old on the other side of me. The clear cut has to be tough to hunt and i know the out of state guys use corn.

As far as mine, i have hinge cut it and made it much thicker over the last 6 years. I am the first hunter on it at Nov 1st so thats likely why I do see what I see but my age class just doesnt seem to go past 3 to 4 years old. John Eberhart talks about his second Ohio trip on some podcasts, thats me. John gave me some habitat strategies and next week im having a lane cleared extending into my woods from my current orchard to add crabapples next spring just as John told me to do. It will be in shooting range of one of the trees John tacked for me which I shot my 2019 buck out of. The other location he tacked is a hub where everything comes together and ive shot two bucks out of that tree in 3 years. As Im finding out that corn is being used everywhere I am contemplating broadcasting it and setting up in the staging areas like a few of you have mentioned.

Ill have two cell cams and will likely deploy them in the two locations John has pinned for me.

Anyone else have to transition their style due to this issue? Or do u keep hunting the way u do?

There's not many bucks that make it past 3 or 4 yrs old in heavily pressured areas regardless of whether the neighbors are bating with corn. Around here there are very few 3 yr olds that are killed on corn piles, it usually doesn't take a buck long to figure out to only visit a bait pile after dark. If you are killing bucks every year why are you thinking about changing your strategy? Adding corn to your property won't keep bucks on your 65 acres, they are still going to spend time on the neighbors and most likely get killed at the same rate. Baiting on your property could end up being counter productive and cause activity to become nocturnal.

 

[Mattyq2402]

Makes sense. 10 to 15 years ago we carried giants. 174" on the adjacent property, numerous 160's, sightings of 150's often. Then the pay hunters from out of state started and things changed when hunting turned to leasing. I havent had a 140+ on camera in three years. I travel 2000 miles to hunt my property so im thrilled with any p n y but the age structure has changed so much in the last 15 years. I have a buddy coming in with me who will be hunting one of the corn pile properties next to me. as far as i know he should be the first hunter in there but cant be certain. I dont know if I should run corn just to hold deer or if we should try the natural route. I am planning on having some mock scrapes set up in places some SH guys pinned and if we get cell cam images of natural i reckon we will know how to hunt it coming in.

 

[Mattyq2402]

Makes sense. 10 to 15 years ago we carried giants. 174" on the adjacent property, numerous 160's, sightings of 150's often. Then the pay hunters from out of state started and things changed when hunting turned to leasing. I havent had a 140+ on camera in three years. I travel 2000 miles to hunt my property so im thrilled with any p n y but the age structure has changed so much in the last 15 years. I have a buddy coming in with me who will be hunting one of the corn pile properties next to me. as far as i know he should be the first hunter in there but cant be certain. I dont know if I should run corn just to hold deer or if we should try the natural route. I am planning on having some mock scrapes set up in places some SH guys pinned and if we get cell cam images of natural i reckon we will know how to hunt it coming in.

 

[Topdog]

Well my strategy for this scenario was a bit more radical, about 12 years I made my mind up I was done with this sort of thing and left, yup left, I quit cold turkey and went where there is no food plots, where the neighbors dont have pictures first of the bucks I kill, where I could hunt rub lines and scrapes and not stop scouting at the top of a ridge because of a posted sign, this magical place for me is called the big woods, and I will never hunt any other way again. It was hard the first few years, accepting only seeing one or two deer a week when I could be home seeing 20 or 30 a sit, but guess what, I went from killing 2.5 year old bucks that the neighbors all had named like pets to killing 5 and 6 year olds, granted this doesnt happen every season but at least when it does its on my terms and not because the neighbor drove there side by side to close to the corn plot and spooked him my way, I also understand that this mite not be an option for most, but for me it was life changing.

 

[floydfreak]

I wouldn't be worried about baited corn. From the info I've seen corn isn't high on a deers list of foods they want to eat. They eat it because the fields provide cover and they can usually find it when everything else in the ag fields has been harvested.

If you can plant a food crop winter wheat is like crack for deer where I hunt. It's one of the few greens that can survive well into the season and they seem to just love digging it up.

If you can find something to plant that the deer actually like to eat later in the year I think you can convince them to stick around. Assuming they have bedding and cover near by of course.

 

[Mattyq2402]

Well my strategy for this scenario was a bit more radical, about 12 years I made my mind up I was done with this sort of thing and left, yup left, I quit cold turkey and went where there is no food plots, where the neighbors dont have pictures first of the bucks I kill, where I could hunt rub lines and scrapes and not stop scouting at the top of a ridge because of a posted sign, this magical place for me is called the big woods, and I will never hunt any other way again. It was hard the first few years, accepting only seeing one or two deer a week when I could be home seeing 20 or 30 a sit, but guess what, I went from killing 2.5 year old bucks that the neighbors all had named like pets to killing 5 and 6 year olds, granted this doesnt happen every season but at least when it does its on my terms and not because the neighbor drove there side by side to close to the corn plot and spooked him my way, I also understand that this mite not be an option for most, but for me it was life changing.

I chase coues deer where i live and I am the only hunter sign I have found. My buck i shot in january was a booner and had no teeth, same as my velvet last summer. Its awesome and if I find sign or see a truck I just dive deeper. Wish I had the unpressured in both places. Not sure Ive got an answer for how I will combat the corn piles but definately have some good ideas to get me started.

 

[Recurveaholic]

Have you maybe considered planting corn! If you have a big enough area to plant they also like to use standing corn as cover! Just something different to think about! And I have never seen a persimmon tree that wasn't hammered by every deer that knew about it!

 

[Topdog]

I own 50 acres, basically I was in the same situation as you except are deer quality was significantly less than what your describing, what worked for me was zero pressure on my land, no cameras, no scouting trips, nothing, I stayed out of there the couple months leading up to season, I would watch the wind, weather, deer activity from my truck on adjacent property, and when the time was right.... Go in. The first couple sits would be action packed, and every sit after it would slow down to nothing special. The secret was picking the right day to go in. Being surrounded by baiters my land turned into a sanctuary, but being so small it’s tough to go in without bumping deer, it always happens. Thats what worked for me. I had loggers flatten about 10 acres dead smack in the middle to make future bedding, that was about 10 or 12 years ago, it’s getting just about right. It’s tough staying out of there, curiosity gets us all, but thats what I do, I know where I am going anyway and since it’s only 50 acres theres nothing new to learn, it’s either gonna happen or it isn’t.