RE: Why bait?
 

Generally, I've noticed that the people who oppose baiting the most are the ones who live in states where it is illegal. Then they like to call the others unethical.

RE: Why bait?
 

The main reason we bait is keep deer on the property. We hunt near the bait but not over it. We focused on it earlier in the year and we have more deer on the property than last year.The neighbors must be missing some:D

RE: Why bait?
 

Early season it works well to fill those doe tags. Later on when the rut is going, the feeders help keep does around the area, and I guess you might say the does are the best bait around for rutting bucks.

RE: Why bait?
 

I'm not reading all the replies to this thread. Let me tell you why NOT to BAIT. It simply works against you in the long run. When deer find a bait they certainly will hit it. BUT, that makes them learn they don't have to get up and wander and feedand cover ground to find food. They quickly learn they can wait until the last call and gallop up to the buffet. What you in effect do with bait is throw der off their natural patterns of browsing and wandering during daylight hours to fill their need for food. Once a deer is killed or they smell you there they become real spooky around the bait. They'll wait until dark and gallop in to feast on the pile of goodies and you can do nothing. I hate baiting in the woods I hunt.

RE: Why bait?
 

That hasn't been my experience.

RE: Why bait?
 

geee whiz davidmil,

I have never thought about it like that. You see, For the 16+ years me and my extended family have feed the deer on our leases , so the children can hunt, we always assumed the deer we were seeing during the daylight hours were real, not imaginary.

What you fail to see or understand, is that the deer are in competition for the food. You have a feeder that only puts out so much food per cycle, and lets say there are 10 deer wanting to eat that food. Welleachdeer knows there are other deer wanting to eat that food, so they actually race there to get it first. I have had deer standing under the feeders waiting for it to spit the corn out so they can eat before the other deer get there. I have also had deer waiting in the edge of the woods , waiting to hear the spin plate throwing corn, only to step out as soon as it stops. In fact I have pictures right now of deer stepping into the camera frame at 7:02 am, and the feeder activated at 7:00 a.m.

The deer learn to associate the sound of the feeder, with food on the ground, and they bust butt to get there before it is all gone.

So you don't like baiting, Fine. Don't bait. But please, don't try to tell me how things work when feeding deer. I think I have this one covered. Plus, you dont like it, and you dont do it, so how could you possibly have any idea of what you are trying to talk about. Your statements are laughable. So please go try to impress someone else, who might not know for certain that you are full of crap.

In the mean time, I think I'll go fill up my feeders this morning. I need to make sure the deer are around when my kids gethere to HUNT.

Unfortunately, these days, I am no longer amazed bythe people who find it so easy to be judgemental towards other people or ideas, and who have almost nothing to say if not for negative comments. How can such people ever find the peace we hunters speak of, while sitting in the middle of God's creation. All of life is not meant to be a battle, and everyone else can't always be wrong.

God Bless

RE: Why bait?
 

I disagree with you 100% on your remark about mature bucks not comming in to bait piles during daylight hours, heres one one of the mature bucks I took in 2002 over a bait pile during rifle season. Our neighbor that year had apples out and shot one that makes mine look a dwarf. His was a 14 pointer. his scored 172, mine scored 128, I dont care what anyone says about mature bucks not comming into bait piles during daylight hours.

RE: Why bait?
 

I am not a baiter,it is not legal in my state.In our area we have folks who like to see deer and bear and they purposely feed them.For the most part these folks are not hunters just people who want to see wildlife who they are contributing to taking their natural defenses away.I am not anti baiting,I don't choose to do it because for my own personal set of beliefs it wouldn't be as rewarding to take an animal coming to bait.Having said that I do use and have killed many deer coming in to lures and to calling.
We have so few whopper bucks in my home area that most experienced hunters are of the mind set that they cannot be killed by the use of anything unnatural,I guarantee though that if estrus doe's are there or have come through there so will mature bucks and not just under the cover of darkness.
Bait is an attractant,food plots are healthier for deer and more consistent in the nutrition they deliver but they are still an attractant.Hunting downwind of a runway leading in to a food plot is no different to me than hunting downwind of a corn pile.I know it took a lot of back breaking work to create the plot but the primary purpose is to deliver better nutrition and to attract and hold more deer.
Feeding over a spin caster in Texas or a corn pile in the Canadian provinces is not my thing,but I don't have any less respect for those who do it that way.
I also don't like running bear or montain lions with dogs,but I know from freinds of mine who have hunted in that manner for mountain lions it is far from a slam dunk and probably the most physically demanding form of hunting there is,trying to keep up with dogs`for miles through the thickest,nastiest and steepest terrain you can imagine.You better have eaten your wheaties if you go on one of those hunts.

RE: Why bait?
 

This could be one reason:

RE: Why bait?
 

tsoc,

What you have said is very true. But I will say that I and others I know but certainly not everybody , also feed to hold the animals in the area, and to give them better nutrition. Just like others use a food plot. If I was only interested in feeding to bait, I would not shell out 10.00 / 50# bag for 20 % protein purina deer chow. I would feed cheap stuff, like a lot of other people. But I have been feeding since early summer a mix of corn and deer chow, and yes it gets expensive.

But here-in lies the rub......
I lease the land I hunt, with two friends. As the land is leased, we are not allowed to go in and clear land for food plots. We are not allowed to go in and make improvements. The land was hardwood logged several years ago, there-fore there are very few oak trees left to supply a mast crop for the deer. So all the deer are left with is rough browse, and what we supply through feeders. I have three 200 lb. feeders that I keep full. If we don't feed the deer, they will migrate to the land around ours that are still ripe with acorn trees. And when the mast crop begins to drop, they still will to some extent. There is just not enough to go around or to last very long though. Once the acorns are gone, they come back to the feeders like a buffet line. Deer density's down here are rediculus... I can go out and sometimes see 30 deer in a mornings hunt. I, and others, have seen 50+ deer before, but that is not the norm. Seeing 6-10 deer in a group is not uncommon. We are lousy with them, but our Game and Fish Commission does not see a need to thin the herd. They want numbers, not quality. So baiting is allowed and legal here. But feeding the deer is almost more of a necessity here than a desire to bait. But when I take the children out to hunt, it does help bring deer in for them. And as they get older, I can teach them the preferred way, scouting and ambush, to find and hunt their deer.

I appreciate your views.... Thanks,

God Bless