baiting
 

I know i am new to this site and relatively new to huntingso i am not trying to offend anybodybut i hear a lot of people talk about about baiting deer and i guess i just assumed it was illegal every where since it is in Indiana, my real question isntunethical to bait animals it seems like it kind of takes the hunt from and it is just shooting. Again i am not trying to offend people just currious.

RE: baiting
 

No. it isn't.

RE: baiting
 

Not unethical, just unfair.

LT

RE: baiting
 

if it was legal in my state i would make em a deer cake....sugar, salt, molases, corn, apples, peanut butter, but its not so i cant but i dont see it as a bad thing ill take em the best way i can/could get em.

RE: baiting
 

Let's just say it's legal to bait deer where I live. I don't do so....because it's easier to kill them NOT over bait, here.

I've done it both ways.....and hunting baited deer is much different than un-baited. Not what you expected to hear.....but true in my scenario.

RE: baiting
 

Very true in my case as well. So many people hunt over feeders and there is so much hunting pressure that the deer probably expect to be shot at coming to a feeder. I hunt over bait very seldom, usually if I am trying to get a doe for a little table fare.

RE: baiting
 

O geez, thanks Andrew for bringing up this topic this season. I did last year it had major results but I was a little more straight foward.....

I don't believe in it. It's the way I was raised and the way I've always hunted has beenNOT to bait. Yes it's illegal here in Indiana, but I don't see me ever doing it if it becomes legal. And yes I know and understand that a lot of people where brought up to legally bait, which is fine, but I still don't agree with it. It is just my opinion. My opinion because a nice pile of fresh corn, salt, mineral lick, etc.seems far more inticing to deer than whatis their natural food source....Ialso think it takes away from the hunt.....IMO

ok, i am ready, let's hear it.

RE: baiting
 

If you think about it, you probably alway's hunt over some type of bait. If you hunt over a corn field or acorns it could be considered baiting. If you hunt a natural funnel that could be considered baiting. Because what you are really doing is trying to attract an animal to a certain area to be ambushed. If you know that the deer are using a certain trail and you choose to hunt off of that trail you are hunting where you know that they are going to be. What's the difference in hunting over a feeder? You know that the deer are going to be there for you to ambush.

RE: baiting
 

I'll check in on this when it gets to about 15 pages.To answer the question you asked which is a verylegitimate question.A good case can be made on both sides of the baiting discussion.Hunting over natural food sources versus bait or food plots.Food plots have a longer and more far reaching benefit to the herd but they are not natural.
From a herd management point of view the issue is more emotional/supposedly moral versus scientific.Game departments want numbers to be at certain levels,dead is dead whether shot from a stand of oak tree's or while shot over a corn pile.
Many would say that without baiting for certain species in certain area's they would never be visable enough to control their numbers.Bears are an example of that.Others would say that you can make better decisions on what you choose to shoot by being able to observe an animal for an extended period of time over bait.
If you are using lures to draw an animal in,whether it be food scents or sex scents that is fine line.
The biggest concern I have with baiting is altering the deers natural movements and possibly creating a dependence on a food source that likely will not be consistent.
Baiting is illegal in NYS but we have plenty of non hunters who feed.WHich puts the animals in position to be patterned much more readily by humans as well as other prey.
For most of us it is likely an issue based on what we are used to.Personally from a satisfaction point of view I wouldn't choose to do it but wouldn't think any thing less of some onedoing it.

RE: baiting
 

To me this is kinda like discussing the advantages and disadvantages of 4 wheel drive.......with a guy that drives a Ford ******.