This is an interesting topic for me and the group I hunt with and we are currently dealing with this issue and a dilemma it is creating.

Although I live in Minnesota, I have the great fortune to hunt 400 acres of great whitetail land in NW Wisconsin. It is not all contiguous, but broken up in tracts of 40 or 80 acres, all within the same general area. There are 5 of us in our group (family members) and have been hunting together for over 17 years.

Since it is Wisconsin, baiting is legal. Our current "dilemma" is that all of us except 1 person does NOT want to bait, however, that person is the matriarch of the family, or as we jokingly call him, the "godfather".

Since we have started hunting together,, we have baited in various places over the years, usually with corn. We also have food plots, a couple small ones with clover or turnips. Given 17 years of hunting and hard core days in the woods for both bow and gun season, I have enough experience to form a pretty good opinion of the matter and enough "data" to feel pretty confident in what baiting does or does not do.

We don't talk about the ethical aspects of baiting, although that might be a small part of the reason some of us don't want to do it. Really, the reason most of us do not want to bait is that we think it hurts us way more than helps. Our lone baiting champion feels strongly different, so much that we actually get into some pretty heated arguments.

Here is my take:

I spend about 15 days a year in the woods bowhunting, and hunt all rifle season. I have seen 2 Boone & Crockett bucks in all my years (none on the wall) and plenty of P&Y's. I have three P&Y's that I have harvested.

NONE were ever over bait!

In fact, I notice a LACK of deer around bait soon after putting it out. I really think that bait will bring in more deer, sure, but not many bucks other that 1 1/2 years olds and small does or fawns. Even though we have 20' foot stands and well hidden ground blinds, they always stare straight at you.

I truly believe that the big boys, and smart does as well, totally associate bait with humans. Again, after 17 years of hard-core whitetail hunting, I feel I have enough experience to really 'see the obvious'. A few years ago, I started avoiding bait areas and, maybe some times I did not see the # of deer as before, I did see far more bucks and far bigger ones at that.

Also, our baiting champion, who lives in the area, puts the bait out WAY too close. If you believe that Whitetails are the worlds best survival oriented animal, it is an easy jump to think that they will avoid any risk of coming across a predator like yours truly and intuitively know there is trouble around.

The best example I have - In 2004, I hunted 100 yards away from where my father-in-law (the baiting champion) puts down a daily dose of corn. The stand is off of a travel corridor coming out of a swamp, and I thought a great place to be in early November during the rut.

In the distance, first thing in the morning, I noticed a lot of does and 3 young bucks running around, in the general vicinity of the corn (which also was a small clover plot). The bucks were rutting bad, and it was one of those days where if I never saw another deer, let alone get one, it was still cool as hell.

The wind was in my face, when all of a sudden, I hear crunch-crunch-crunch to my left. It was a 150 class buck scent checking the area where all the deer were, and he had NO intention of getting closer. He was starting to turn away when I had the chance to draw and shoot. He is now on the wall.

In short - I and my other family members feel that baiting just brings in small deer and actually let's all the smart ones know you are around. We also, and this is jsut a personal thing, like the 'sport' of hunting without bait. Call it a greater challenge. yes I use other things like rattles and grunts, and yes we have food plots (I have never shot a big dear off a food plot in the rut), but baiting does not meet what I am looking for.

My father-in-law, on the other hand, I think he can't stand not seeing deer, and would rather see 3 young nubbins than nothing at all. It drives him crazy. Also, he is a huge structure and habit guy, so any change in his approach doesn't jive.

So - sorry for the long reply, but here are my thoughts.

• If it is legal, it should be a persons choice. I really do not have a problem with it.
• I HATE baiting cause I think it screws with the kind of hunt I want.

Best hunting to everyone,

Broc