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.

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No. it isn't.

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Not unethical, just unfair.

LT

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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Christ if baiting wasn't legal... 90% of the people on hear wouldn't kill deer... Then this forum would be dead;)

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oops, I guess its up to 2574 useless posts.:eek:

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Hell just range to the bait pile. That's where his head's gonna be, anyways.

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your so full of it i cant help but laugh...

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I'm going to post some pics for you guys in a couple weeks;)

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I think Mr.Longbeard is doing a little baiting right now.Who is going to get drawn to his pile?

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We cant bait here in MN, so it seems like cheat'n to me too. There has been alot of debate on it here and the majority ofMN hunters want it to be illegal. I have watched hunts on TV with guys huntin over a deer feeder. All I can do is shake my head. That aint huntn to me.

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Dont always agree with ya beard, buts thats some funny sh**.:D

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Whats so funny about it jughead? Longbeard needs to get a grip on something besides his chicken.

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MOHO.....it's kinda like like discussing hot women with Oprah's boyfriend.:eek:

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been bowhunting for about eight years now. my first year i would throw out a few apples here and there and got a decent buck, but was also in the woods a lot more. haven't baited since and haven't killed a buck, but also haven't been able to be in the woods as much.Personally don't feel that baiting increases your odds all that much. But if its legal and floats your boat go for it.

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N-A-T-U-R-A-L........that's the difference. Baiting is considered to be put out for deer to feed on that is un-natural. Acorns are naturaland if the summer is dry, might as well not waste your time there. Corn fields, considered natural...not intended for deer consumption just well known. Funnel area, how many hunters...(avg. hunters) you think know or at least can spot a good "funnel area"??? That's a hunter's challenge to find where deer bed, feed, and travel.Some people have had mixed results baiting, some good and bad, but I still think generally it's wrong.

RE: baiting
 

Never a true statement to be told.


Who cares how you enjoy hunting as long as you aren't breaking any law. I huntwith the aid of food plots, aren't thay really just bait piles in away. Granted it is a 20 acre bait pile and I dont hunt directly on them.

I am with GMMAT on this one, it would make it harder with a bait pile.


I am hoping to sell my land some day and hunt only on public land so I can prove myself worthy enough to be called a hunter.

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GMMAT....Im a lil confused here? I thought I talked to you about buying corn/peanuts for the deer? Im sorry I may be misunderstanding your post?? Please explain???

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if im not mistaken he has a feeder in which he does not hunt over.

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I feed the deer 12 months a year. The first year I hunted.....I hunted near the bait. Last year I put a stand there for my son. It never got hunted.

I won't hunt within200 yds of it, this year...and most likely won't be that close, much.

If you call what I do "baiting"...go ahead. I don't hunt over my food plot, either. It's not the reason I fill my feeder or plant my plots.

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Ok gotcha that makes sense to me! Im not bashing just wondering, I also hunt with bait! Hey its legal!

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It seems to me that the idea of shooting a deer standing at feeder just gives more ammo to the antis. I personally just respect the animal enough that if i am going to kill him i should have to work for it, Im not saying what you guys are doing is wrong its just not for me.

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Here in Pa you can bait till 30 days before hunting season I know I use apples all summer long for my spot. It helps me see what I am looking at for the year. I put my Cudde backs over 2 different bait piles. I would not want to hunt deer over bait though. Takes away from the hunt I think!

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Im pretty much in your boat. I dont care how the others hunt, I care how I hunt. Baiting is not for me. InMYopinion it takes away from the hunt and is not natural. Where it is legal, bowhunters are entitled to do it. I dont know whysome get so defensive, everyone is entitled to their opinion and the forum is supposed to be a place to post it.

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I have hunted in a lot of different situations. If I could grow a nice food plot in an area that only had thick cover in isolated places then I would, but I hunt in the Texas hill country. For the most part it is a rock with very little reliable rainfall. If you worked real hard I guess you could get a food plot once every 5 years or so. The deer on our lease can bed anywhere, they can eat anywhere. There are very, very few nice little patterns to find. You just can't say well they bed over there in the thick stuff and eat over here in this field. To get there they pass though this tight little funnel ,and stage in the woods on the little flat. If you want a pattern you have to create it yourself. Also we try to let all of the young (less then 4.5) bucks walk. It can be real easy to make a mistake when you can olny see the buck for a second or two.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest I feel better.....LOL. I did want to add that the thiing that will kill hunting is not the antis it is the in fighting between us. As long as someone is legally hunting the best thing you can do is support him or her. If you don't like the way they legally hunt then don't hunt that way yourself.

-john

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I understand where alot of y'all come from about the baiting issue but that is b/c y'all don't need to bait. There are places where the woods are so thick that the deer never need to come out. I hunt in a place like this. There are no open fields or crops, just thick swamps or pine thickets. I promise you, if I didn't have to throw corn out to get the deer out of the thickets, I wouldn't, corn gets expensive, but if I didn't, I could sit out there all season and never see a deer. I might hear them walking around in the thicket, but they aren't going to come out.

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I look at it this way. Besides clearing our sixty doe tags, feed stations or baiting keeps the does coming. The Bucks (During the Rut) want those does and hang around too. Enough said!!!!
Eric Stacy AKA DeerDope

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Here's a novel thought.

As long asour hunting brothers are hunting legally within their state's regs......why don't we mind our own business and congratulate them when they kill one?

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Thank you, I agree. Why give people hell no matter what their choice is. Everyone has their own style of hunting.

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The Anti Hunters had a chance until deer started eating suburban housewives' gardens.


Hunt how you want, so long as it's legal.

RE: baiting
 

IMO, it depends on your defintion of "baiting" or "baitpile".

Up until last year, I usually kept a small scattered "pile" about 35yds from my stand. (During bow season) Problem I found was this: nearly every morning I'd jump deer out of it when I was almost to my stand. There's nothing worse than hearing that infamous (sp) "blow" in complete darkness B4 you even get in your stand.[:@]:( Sometime's they'd come back an hour or two later sure, but MUCH more weary. I do NOT plan using this approach this year. Tired of cutting my own throat.

RE: baiting
 

I bait with great results. As long as it is not overdone in your area it can be an effective way to hunt. I use every "legal" measure I can to take a deer. Deer are elusive, and anything I can do to pattern them greatly increases my chances.

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I put out a couple of feeders every year,but I can't remember the last time I actually killed a deer at my feeder,and that is because I don't hunt them.I use them to try and keep the does in my area and I try to hunt back in the woods and intercept them or most importantly try to catch thet buck that is trying to catch that doe.I have hunted where I could see my feeder before and can't recall one buck that came to it in shooting light.The does and yearlings that come in are really on edge too.i believe deer are way more alert coming in to corn than at any other time,food plots work much better at drawing doth bucks and does and they are much more at ease in a food plot also.

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Just wanted to add one thing.If they made baiting illegal in my state it would not bother me at all and I would still kill my limit of 6 deer per year if I wanted too,but probably wouldn't kill 6 even though I have that opportunity every year just that I choose not to.