ORIGINAL: GMMAT
I hear ya Jeff, there are a lot of knuckle heads out there who probably do more to ruin a hunting spot by trying to bait it but that's not my point. If done correctly (like anything else) is should produce better results over not baiting at all. I still can't see how it doesn't.
Fair question. What's your goal? If your goal is to kill "A" deer.....I'd say you're correct.
Now what do you do? You've killed ONE. See....the problem (IN REALITY....where people bait)....is...they keep hunting the same old baited spot.....the same old way.....entering the same way.....exiting the same way......etc...., etc..., etc... You see the trend.
So now what do they do from that point on? Their baited spot will suffer. Period.
As with anything, if done wrong it can and will be detrimental to what you're trying to accomplish and I understand fully how if hunted wrong, a bait site will not produce. I was just talking about "any" deer.
That feeder out in the middle of nowhere when other sources of food is scarce is going to be an oasis for the deer....and they will go to it. People feed deer all the time and they keep coming day in and day out.
Please cite your hands-on experience with this. Also....the flocking you're talking about.....are people HUNTING while they're feeding them? ReallY? And they keep coming back? Even when Myrtle got shot yesterday.....and Sally, last week? Really? To the same spot?
My only experience (as I noted to in my post) is the on line sites that have sprung up recently showing a baiting station and where you can see deer eating pretty much 24/7. As far as multiple kills from the same bait, it's absolutely possible. I think your giving the deer too much credit here. No I don't think if you hunt it for seven days straight you will see the same volume as you did the first day but if you hunt it correctly and give it time to "cool" so to speak, the deer will indeed come back especially if it's late in the season and food is getting scarce.