gutshot

With all of the disussions over baiting and such it got me to wondering, what's the difference ( in you humble opinion) between hunting over a self planted food plot, a corn pile or on awhite oak flat. To me if you're hunting the main food source there isn't any difference.

njbuck22

ill bring the beer!

burniegoeasily

I agree with you gutshot. I cant believe this topic is still getting throw around here, but I guess the good topics just wont die. Natural, you plant it, you pile it, or hunt over a farmers field, not much difference. Its food, the animals are coming into it, and your hunting over it. All the same thing. But I guess there are those who feelmore holy hunting over a natural food source or over a field planted by them or a farmer. I just dont get it.


What it boiles down to is; "I do it this way, and if you dont, your not a hunter." Or that is what all the gripes turn to in the end.

LILwillywilly

DEBATE ?!?!

At our property, this question is almost grounds for a fight. We have actually had people, friends, who hunted there regularly, not come back anymore, because we bait so much. Stupid, because we have food plots as well, and they had no problem with them. they say it is cheating, and they would rather sit on a tree somewhere, or stalk them. I can agree with that to a point, I love hunting like that, but unless you are lucky, or you plan it out, and all of the variables are correct, you are not guaranteed a deer. At our property, with our blinds, and baiting, if you can shoot, you are gonna get a deer.

On a side not, our property has ALOT of thicket. we startegically placed our blinds in what clearings we could find. And even though there is alot of deer, without baiting them in some way, they would never get close enough, or enough in the clear to take a safe shot, from the comfort of our blinds that is.

Bottom line is whether you plant it, dump it out, or hunt a natural bait pile, you are still hunting a bait pile...........

I say, if you cant or dont want to go where the deer are, bring them to you.......

ron3775

Here is my thought on it. I hope you can understand my thinking. With the self planted food plot or the white oak stand, you are giving the wildlife the choice of where to browze in it, to where with the corn pile, it has to come to that exact location and thats it. To me it really doesn't matter which one you chose, as long as its done in a fair chase manner.

wis_bow_huntr

Well it would all depend on the situation at hand. If youre hunting a self planted field such as a cornfield or bean field, its more natural to deer. Now lets say you hang a stand in a spot youve never hunted before and place 2-5 gallons of corn smack dab in the middle of a runway, this is unnatural, but yet both serve the same purpose, to get the deer in and to hopefully get the deer to stand still long enough to get a good clean shot.I prefer natural food sources such as clover fields, corn fields, etc. But sometimes I pick up apples from the yard and put the out as a treat. It all does the same thing imho.

GMMAT

I draw the line at whether something is "natural" or "unnatural".

An oak flat isn't hunting over bait in my book (and my book means nothing to anyone else).

To me....there's NO difference in hunting over a 1/2 acre food plot or a 1/2 acre of spread, shelled corn. And just because it's an agricultural field.....that doesn't make it "natural". It's just a food plot on steroids.

Do what you do legally (for your state)....and I don't give a rat's ass.

Germ

gutshot

Have you ever seen a deer "work" its way in to a bait pile? If not that is the big differnce IMO. A deer will be way more relaxed in a big plot or oak flat.

Another differnce is how people hunt with each of them. Baiting you are trying to bring the deer to you, so you can "kill" them.Oak flat you are looking for an entry point you think the deer will use. Food Plot can be a liitle of both. Trying to bring the deer to you or looking for a choke point to catch them coming into the plot.

The last issue is what it does to the management of the deer herd. Back in the 50's, 60's,70, and early 80's baiting was not allowed in MI. Since it has become legal it has ruined the deer herd in the UP, and raised a generation of hunters who can not hunt without it. There is a saying in the UP "every two track road will lead to a bait pile" and it is so true. Baiting is very effective at killing 1.5 bucks. Where if you spend +1000.00 on a plot I doubt your going to kill the first thing that walks in. A bait pile that cost 2.50 of apples and corn you are going to shoot the first deer in the pile.

Baiting to me is a huge issue and one that needs to be addressed here in MI for these reason.

1. Extremely bad for age structure with your bucks
2. Tends to spread disease
3. Some here in MI have lost the ability to truely hunt whitetails. Plain and simply they do not know how anymore unless they have a bucket of corn.

The UP in MI used to be the place to hunt, and IMO baiting has really hurt the UP. Food plots or oak flats can not and will not ever do that to a deer herd, and thatis what I see as the big differnce.

burniegoeasily

Pleasse dont take this as an attack, but what is natural about cutting down trees, plowing the field, and planting a large amount of a plant that do not naturally grow in high density.

Sylvan

Ditto!