I agree 100% on the authors thoughts of bucks being on the bait early till the does find it. I've been running cameras over corn feeders for years and see this every time I setup a new spot. You get the bucks on camera for maybe 4-5 days and from there it's hit or miss with literally 500+ doe pics to every buck pic.

Off topic (sorry jeff) but I've got access to hundred of acres of apple trees that I can snatch up apples from. The author made mention that deer will choose apples over acorns. I'm interested in the experience of you guys with apples, I've tried it a time or two over the years and they deer don't seem to like them as good. What say you?

After I read that I guess I have seen some of that when I've baited new area's. A big rush of bucks at first then filter down to does. I know last year I put out a bait pile and a camera in a new area and with in a hour the was a 140" on it. By the way I sat on the otherside of the property that day.[:@]

Where I hunt we don't have crops or reallyanything nutritional for the deer, that being said we run a year round supplemental feeding to help with this. I will agree withthe author to the fact that a mature deer will more often than not come to these areas in the night time,if I am targeting a buck I will hunt the trail systems to and from these sites just like anyone hunting a cropwould do. I have found that if Ihand throw out some corn the bucks would be more apt to come to that rather than a everyday feed site in the day time. I supposethe author could very well be onto something with that article. In the area that I hunt I do seedescentbucks (2 1/2-3 1/2 y.o.)feeding with the doe's though, maybe that is a regional thing, I am not sure but I have a ton of trailcam pic's of bucks and doe's feeding together at a year round feed site.

In your situation texas.....the bucks don't have much choice....especially if you feed on a timer. First come - first served is a powerful incentive to come early and come often.

They also don't have the luxury of utilizing other (additional.....though less "easy")food sources.

I agree that special situations woud yield different results than what the author is stating. A free meal around here is tempting to a deer.....but they have many alternatives.

Very true, the region I hunt is really a poor region for whitetail nutrition, it could very well be that. Our year round program is done through bulk type feeders, they are there for the deer 24/7 and we don't hunt any of these feed sites ever, so there is virtually no pressure on these sites other than filling them. I will also add that once the deer start getting "frisky" it is a whole other ball game all together....Either way it was an interesting read!!!

I agree with his tactics 100%:

15-20 lbs of corn in a high traffic area and hunt it 2 days later after adding (throwing) a few pounds to freshen up the corn scent.

Mature bucks around here will not come to corn during daylight. I just don't get sightings/shots/cam pix of them at corn - period.

We use the tactic to get young/old/new hunters a shot and to deplete the doe population.

I don't bait I feed, year round. Corn and protein feeders. Where I hunt the only thing the land will support is goats. The big bucks don't come to the fedders usually. You have to get away from them and hunt the trails.

If you're going to bait (any game animal) this is essential, IMO.

Some of his findingsI agree with, some Im not sure about. These pics are fromover a50 daysof baiting at one location, Im still getting all the same bucks, and occassionaly news ones coming in all hours of the daylight up until a few days ago anyway when I last checked my cameras. I do agree that when the Does are on the corn, the bucks arent there very often at the same time, but not always. You can definately notice Does posturing up and pushing bucks out, and competition does get fierce at times, but I notice more Does visibly fighting more with each other. I get about 1200 - 1500pics a week from several locations and its normally the same. If there is corn down, the bucks are on it, if the pile goes dry I get zero pics except for a few passing shots where they are checking for food. Here is the important part for me anyway. I start to see less and less bucks in daylight right around now (1st week of Sept)regardless of what I have down, more so I think because they are shedding and life changes after that especially for the older bucks as the bacheloer groups start to break up, and this pattern is repetetive every year for me at all my hunting spots.Even at spots where I just put corn out for the first time for about a week, if I did it around the beggining ofSept the bucks start to show up less and less during daylight,and sometimes notat all. These pics are just an example of one morning from 7AM to 10AM at the same location, after 50 days ofbaiting it stays fairly active mornings and afternoons as long as I have corn down but this will all start to change in the next days or week as I mentioned. I drop 50 lbs down every 5 days or so and it goes dry after 3 days usually. I obviously have good Doe to buck ratios lol.