Come on guys! I cant imagine why some here cant see the differences between a food plot and a bait pile. Yes ,both are hunting over a food source but the differences betwen them are huge. I'll try to point out a few:

Bait piles can be replenished daily and can be used to specifically put many deer into a very very small area. Food plots grow over time and while small plots may attract a few deer to a specific spot, the forage will not last long if many deer are hitting it. Larger food plots are needed to attract large quantities and therefore cant possibly concentrate the same amount ofgame into one spot or trail as a baitpile.

Food plots take time to grow and involve a time commitment for the type of forage planted. What may attract game in early fall will not necessarily bring them in December. Once again, that requires a much larger areabut, a singlebait pile can be manipulated by the human replenishing it.

Food plots are a way of helping enhance what Ma nature and agriculture already does and while it may make hunting oppotunities better, they also as a side effect make the habitat better. Bait piles condition game to come to a specific spot for their food so they can be shot, period. As a side effect, some look like garbage dumps.

I'm not against all baiting. Bait hunting can be a sporting situation and the only realistic way to hunt under some curcumstances. As someone said, Canadian bears are next to impossible to hunt without baiting. I have hunted Bears over bait but was not particularly pleased with the baiting part of the experience. The smell, the appearance and just the whole idea caused me to regard it as merely a necessary evil. If there was another feasible way, I would use that method instead.

Pa could well end up with some form of legal bait hunting for deer to draw the deer from posted or otherwise unhuntable areas. While I realize it may be necessary, I personally dont like the idea.