Alsatian

I prefer that deer not be baited and food plotted. Notwithstanding, it is legal in many places. From the point of view of the state, the civic purpose of deer hunting is to manage the deer population efficiently. Too many deer and there are too many car-deer accidents. From that perspective, such artificial ploys are fine and contribute to the desired end -- restricting the population of deer.

I don't think deer are that difficult to find and kill. I never resorted to bait, food plots, or tree stands when hunting deer. In fact, I just went out, found a place to sit given the wind conditions on that day, and sat down. I would choose a place in the shadows, with cover around me to break up my outline, but I wouldn't really build a blind. I took plenty of deer. I didn't take monster bucks, but I was not after a deer with antlers in the 98.0 percentile of antler size. The success and satisfaction of my hunt was not evaluated -- by me anyway -- with such statistical metrics. I took about as many does as bucks. I no longer hunt deer but instead hunt elk which I love even more than deer hunting. I still don't measure the success and satisfaction of my hunts by antler size. I have taken 2 bulls and 1 cow, taking the cow this past October. Honest, taking this cow was my most satisfying elk hunt by a significant margin so far, due to some extra challenges thrown in this year (mostly coming down with a significant respiratory illness that made me think I would have to give up on the second day of the hunt).

It just seems like a shortcut to me (baiting and food plots). Go out in the woods. Pattern your deer. Accept you won't get a deer every season. Oblige yourself to engage your mind and your senses to hunt the deer, adapting to the conditions of the day and the year. It is more fun. How long do you have to sit in a tree stand after the corn spreading motor turns on before the deer walks up and you blast it? Is that the challenge folks are looking for? To each his own . . . but you asked for my opinion, so here it is.

Jose Ortega y Gassett says the hunter knows he doesn't know what is going to happen, and that is essential to the joy of the hunt. Once that corn feeder turns on . . . doesn't the hunter know for sure what is going to happen? Where is the joy in that hunt? That is industrial hunting, modulated to achieve maximum deer harvesting efficiency.