ORIGINAL: Siman08/OH

Heres my answer to all of you....

#1, When a hunter or nature lover puts out corn in the winter for deer, it takes them off of their natural feeding patterns. They will pattern themselves to the corn (most likely hitting it at night). This is not good however because contrary to what people are made to believe, corn is not "good" for a deer. It has little nutritional value. Deer should be out foraging and eating a variety of plants in the winter to keep themselves healthy. But when corn is made readily available, it turns off that cycle. Also, if the hunter would ever forget to put corn out for an extended period, or stop altogether, it really screws with their feeding habits.

#2, Deerfeeding from feeders/troughs/cornpilesare believed tobe able to spread CWD and other saliva/blood based diseases. This reason alone should be enough to not put corn piles out.

#3, It creates a "fish in a bucket" syndrome. I used to use corn in front of my game cameras. When i saw that i could get 2 bucks and 5 does together at the same time during daylight hours, i stopped. Why? Because their is no skill in throwing out a pile of corn and "ringing the dinner bell"for deer hunting. I am not in this to "feed my family" (though we enjoy, and eat every deer we harvest), or "increase my kill numbers". I deer hunt to have fun in the outdoors, learn about the animal, and my ultimate goal is to be able to ethically harvest a mature whitetail year after year.

Arguments could be made that;

"You must not be from around here", no, i may not be, but you dont have to bait deer to kill them. If deer are so scarce that you believe the only way to kill them is to bait, then i suggest moving to a different are and letting the population rebound. Take our friend Skybuster, his deer numbers are extremely poor, so he TRACKS his quarry. That is true hunting to me. Kudos to him. People who are from Texas and other southern states say baiting is the only way and thats how THEY do i. Thats fine. I don't have a problem with that, any legal choice is okay with me. But inside, i don't view them as the same kind of hunter as me, and thats just opinion.

"Food Plots", this one is tricky, because technically YOU are putting it their and it is acting like a bait station. But, food plots require many factors to work, and if you can grow them successfully in your climate, then they are legally natural and the deer have a choice of which browse to feed on. Also, they are usually larger then a 5 gallon bucket, thus spreading out your chances of harvesting a deer in one. If you put the time and EFFORT into building a great food plot, then i personally feel that you earned the right to hunt over it and use it fair. I have not used one yet, but i plan to in the future. I view food plots just like i view farm fields, you have to draw a line where to cut out ethical and unethical in you own mind.

"calls and scents", i find these ethical because you are using his own weaknesses against him. He has a choice weather to respond or not. Deer HAVE to eat, they dont have to come looking for every hot doe in the county.

"mineral licks", these actually help deer grow antler if you use trace minerals. The only downside is the possible spreading of CWD because of the saliva factor. Studies have proven that MOST deer (Not all, there are exceptions) abandon mineral licks after the summer months. if you choose to hunt over them, that is your call. I do not, but i do have a few established licks.

Once again, everything i said is just my opinion, and nothing else. Everyone is entitled to there own, and it is wrong for me to try and change your own logic on the subject. But, like ive shown, im not afraid to offer mine up for discussion.