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notice no response from tim about ole 4x5.. he aint gonna put me within 3 miles of that deer! LMAO :D

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He was seen pulling the Bait Trailer in that area just this week. [&:] Maybe Icould con the boss out of a semi load to give him some competition. [8D] I've never been in a baiting war. He wouldn't stand a chance!! :D

Tim

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LMAO that would he freeginnuts ! a SEMI LOAD OF BAIT..LMAO thats funny just picturing that! think we'd get anyattention or deercoming tosee us! Naw bud all joking aside, I am sure we'll find a few hungry bucks traveling to some standing corn or something like that... ;)Ya know we'll probably see the big 4x5 but half shed ! THEN WHAT?????

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Ill tell ya what,, you go look for his shed :Dsomething you and Timmy are very good at :Dgood luck guys when your out there ;)OOPS, Did I just call you Timmy? [8D]

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I got dibs on all sheds !! [8D]You just hope they don't fall off your buck on his death run... especially if Tyler is along. :D :D

Tim

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Dan are you baiting me?? [:@] :D :D

Tim

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Exactly :D

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I was going to set this one out, but what the hay ( I mean corn).

GMMAT is right. The SCDNR did release some information stating that hunting over "bait" doesn't give the hunter any advantage and actually puts them at a disadvantage. I've live and hunted in South Carolina my entire life so I have the first hand knowledge that (as GMMAT stated) most of you don't. I agree that most of the people who have an opinion on baiting have never lived/hunted in a state where baiting is legal. They make assumtions from watching the TV shows filmed out in Texas where it looks like deer just flock to the corn in groves. You should also be reminded that most of these shows are shot on properties that are high fence operations. A lot of people also want to bring up the topic of diseases. However (to my knowledge) there has been no confirmed evidence to show that baiting in South Carolina has lead to the spread of any known diseases.

Our weather and land are a lot different than our Midwestern and Northern states so there for our deer are going to be a lot different. Even during the harhest of South Carolina winters there is still plent of "natural" food available for our deer to eat so they don't have to flock to whatever they can find. Our deer don't herd up like the deer in the Midwest/Northern states do either. About half of the state has a deer density of 45+ deer a sq. mile, but our deer still don't herd so known diseases that are spread from contact with eachother or through baiting doesn't occur.

I hunt places that are baited and I hunt places that aren't. I have never (a long with most of the people that I know) shot a MATURE buck off of bait. Our gun season lasts five months so our deer aren't dumb. They know that corn piles and feeders just don't drop out of the sky and it doesn't take them long at all to associate bait with hunters. Our deer are on record even by some of the best biologist in the county as being the most skittish deer in the county. Just like GMMAT's thread about deer looking up. I will gladly open up my hunting grounds to anyone that doesn't believe that our deer look up more than they do down. In most states wearing rubber boots is a BIG BIG thing. Here in SC it's not because our deer are looking up in the trees more than they are smelling the ground. Again, I welcome ANYONE who wants to come to South Carolina and bow hunt the most skittish deer in the country. I am not bosting or bragging, but everyone I have ever talked to who was a serious bow hunter in SC and traveled to other states have all come back saying "man, I wish it was that easy here".

One of the major disadvantages that baiting brings a hunter is that it puts the deer in a more night time travel pattern because they know that the bait is going to be there so why take a risk of moving during day light hours. Another disadvantage is that if you put out a ton of corn a year that means your neighbor is probably going to put out two tons and his neighbor three tons and so on.

To be honest I do wish that they would ban the use of bait state wide (its not legal in about half of the state) so our deer will shift back to a more normal pattern which would boost our quality of hunting.

Another thing that gets to me is how some hunters try to make themselves feel better for hunting over food plots and ag. fields saying "corn piles aren't natural". You are right, corn piles aren't natural. Neither are ag. fields or food plots. Just because man planted it and it grows from the ground doesn't mean that it is natural. There for they are no different from baiting. A lot of hunters also use the argument "ag. fields and food plots feed more". Again, just another excuse to make them feel better for what they are doing. A LOT of animals eat corn so there for a lot of animals eat the corn that hunters put out. Deer, turkeys, squirrels, coon, opossums, every kind of bird, hogs, fox, and rats to name just a few.

This debate will be around as long as their is hunting. Just like the speed vs. mass debate. The best advice I could give anyone is that if you don't want to do it then don't. If someone is doing it legally then shut up and hunt. Stop being a cry baby because you think they have an "advantage" that you could also be taking "advantage" of, but your ego choses not to. For those who think they are not hunting over bait because they are hunting over ag. fields and food plots, go plant some oaks and wait ten years for them to start producing acorns and hunt them, thats natural.

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hey StrutNtom,

Do you know the most ignored sound in the world by human ear? It's the voice of reason. So shut up, you're wasting your breath, I mean key strokes. ;)

Seriously, that was well informed, eloquently put, and the best post of this thread. excluding mine about demz rahfuls, and eliterist peoples,and such of course.:D

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Let me go back and read yours. ;)

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HOw about baiting for bear? I keep hearing about deer for corn, what about baiting for bear.

How about baiting for varmints. Like hunting yotes over a gut pile?

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You just spit on Charlton Heston, Burnie.

Circle your wagons.

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:D;)

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I haven't made one comment on this whole thread and wasn't planning on doing so until I saw that comment on comparing baiting bear and baiting deer. Some places It's a must and an only way to be successful In getting a bear. You cannot compare the 2.

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Not to poke fun, but my brother does it in Canada. He baits and he stalks. Fred Bear did it all the time. I am just making a point about baiting. All the people damning the practice probably do the very same thing. Baiting is baiting by definition.

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You bet baiting Is baiting, no doubt. Fred Bear didn't do spot and stalk In a woods he couldn't see 15 yards In front of him though. That's Minnesota and the way It Is In the northern woods. If I didn't have to do It, I wouldn't. I know better though, been bear hunting for along time. Burnie, I'm not knocking anyone down who baits deer. Canada also has 100 times the bear that Mn has. I've done spot and stalk In the mountains elk hunting, It can be done and trust me It's exciting as hell.

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I trust you. I would love to get up North and hunt bear. I just cant afford it. Ill hunt them over bait, stalk, or what ever it takes. My whole purpose of even posting on these post is to try to get hunters to quit attacking other hunters. I know guys who bait, but detest the use of doe in heat urine. I find that rather funny as well. Just as funny as someone who detests baiting, but will use decoys and doe in heat urine. I can only laugh. I hunt for me, no one else and can not figure out why some people will work themselves up in a lather because someone, some where might be baiting deer. Like others have mentioned, the deer is just as dead. I will bait this weekend. Im putting out corn to get the hogs to come in. Not to hunt them, but to kill them. They are a problem here, and I want to get rid of them. Or at the very least, run them off. I can say ive hunted lots of land that has been baited, but ive never taken a quality deer around bait. I have tagged a doe or two while coming into bait, but the big boys are not quite as stupid. I have never taken a Pope and Young anywhere near bait. This year, every deer I took was far from any feeder. I recently got a feeder going to get the hogs concentrated in one area. I have full intention of getting rid of the little buggers for a while.;)

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Hopefully In the future Burnie I can get your but up here some year. The gas will be your biggest expense.

Good luck with them hogs Burnie!!

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Jeff,

Was this for killing mature bucks or any deer at all?

I find it hard to believe that it's tougher to kill deer period by baiting rather than without bait. I've read where baiting makes it more difficult to kill a big mature buck and I can see where that stems from but ANY deer? I think baiting wins out every time.

As far as the original question is concerned, I see the difference as being huge. If you set a pile of corn out (or a feeder set to go off) then you pretty much know exactly where (and in some cases when) the deer will be. A crop field however is far larger than a pile of corn or feeder and the deer can access the field from the other end possibly hundreds of yards away from your standnot giving you a shot at all.

With a pile of corn or feeder, you simply setup 20 yards away and wait.

EDIT: I didn't read through the entire thread so if this has already been covered, my apologies for being redundant.

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No distinguishing between deer. This encompassed ALL deer.

Like I said.....you can believe anything you want.....and people are gonna believe what they wanna believe. I'm just giving you the facts. Do with them what you will.

I'm living proof that baiting isn't the easiest way to kill deer. I tried it....and the true confessionis.....if I thought I could be more successful baiting....I'd bait.

I know better.

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I fully agree with you, I guess itcan happen[8D]

I have said many times, if I didn't have to bait bear I wouldn't. I feel that it would be easier to spot and stalk a bear rather than bait him, and everything that goes with it.

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Wow, I truly am shocked. So it's been proved that baiting will net you less dead deer (any deer) than not baiting? Then why do so many do it, if it gets less results? I'm not disputing your findings, I know nothing about feeding other than every time I see a pic of a feeder, there's usually a deer (or two or three) under it eating.

Why the hell do people bait deer if it lessens their chance of killing one? I'm stumped....

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I'll try to find the thread where I cited the study. I posted on it a few months ago.

Study was conducted in SC.....and the criteria (I believe) was hunter success on baited tracts v. non-baited tracts.

Study showed a hunter was more likely to be successful (harvesting deer) when they did NOT employ baiting.

Around here, John.....you have people worried about the guy next door and what he's doing. They feel like he's baiting....so they have to "out-bait" him. Then his neighbor has to out-bait HIM.

Just think about it....With the exception Brknarrow (Frank).....I'm the ONLY.....SINGULAR.....UNO.....other person I know in this STATE who doesn't bait deer. I'm not that good......but wouldn't my results lend you to think maybe baiting ISN'T the way to go????

Confession:

I've baited areas before. I did it this year. I've baited areas for my son to hunt....and for friends to hunt.....but the truth of the matter is......NONE of them have ever killed a deer over bait, either! I bought into the hype, too, it seems.....because it's never worked out in a positive manner for me, here.

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If I was trying to go out and kill any oledeer, I believe 100% a cornpile 20 yards from my stand increases my odds, regardless of any study by any scientists. I used to do it, and umm...well, it works. It brings in deer. I haven't baited for 3-4 years now, and have success without it. But that's not to say a cornpile doesn't help. I can't believe people actually believe it actually hurts your chances?

Jeff, you target more specific deer, and older ones at that. I wouldn't consider you as someone who would benefit from baiting. But do you honestly feel if you were going to shoot the first deer, doe spike 14 pt doesnt matter, that came in...that it would be easier without a cornpile than with one?

New hunter first week in the woods. Does he benefit more by throwing out 50 lbs of corn in front of a stand, coming back that weekend and hunting, or setting up somewhere he feels deer will be moving through?


Just a difference of opinion I guess.

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I want to say that the study to which gmmat is referring involved year round baiting/feeding, not just a one or two time deal during hunting season. As far as doing this (year round) then it absolutely hurts your chances;)

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Ok then?[&:] If you say so. Just find it comical with the number of deer killed over bait in my area, knowing these guys knowledge of deer...you're saying take away their corn pile and they have better odds?

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Let's put it this way.....

I think baiting is an art from.....if you're going to get solid results.

Let's think about your average "baiter". I know even my shop owner does it this way.....

1. He has a stand behind his house with a gravity feeder, there. He walks the same path to the fixed stand, there.....and the same path out. Now who's patterned who?

2. Property #2......2 baited sites.....same deal. Same entry/exit paths.

3. Property #3 - one baited site. They ride the ATV to the same spot....and walk in from there.....same path.

Now I'm betting I just described over 90% of how "baiters" operate. If I'm wrong I'd be surprised. Do some people do it differently? Sure. Are they likely MORE successful? Sure. Do I think I could bait in a mature buck? Damn right I do.....especially right now. But it wouldn't be on a site I'd been baiting all season;)....and I wouldn't use much bait.

I've just realized I don't want to mess with it (for several reasons). I like hunting without it.....and I've been mildly successful.

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Never baited a deer, as I can't...

But I can tell you that once they catch on, "any old bear" will likely become nocturnal. There are tricks to baiting the right way...if you do it the right way, it will increase your chance...just not as much as not baiting period, in my opinion.

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some parts of wisconsin banned baiting but do you know how may people probably still bait. the dnr cant prove that people are baiting. i hunt over an apple tree and the dnr consider that thats baiting deer because im hunting over a pile of food. theres something wrong with the wisconsin dnr

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Over an extended period of time yes. Baiting a is a quick fix for harvesting a deer. Year round baiting is one of the worst things you can do in regards to your deer herd because it increases disease transimission, deer are feeding in their own defecation and urine, it usually negatively affects their digestive system (their have been dead deer found that have a full stomach of corn that starved to death. Why? Because they were conditioned to a certain food source that was not natural) and it detrimental to your habitiat as well. Some forms of deer browse, that are able withstand heavy browsing, rely on browse for regeneration and growth and if they do not receive any browse it can take some species up to 100 years to 'fix themselves.'

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I agree on all accounts, and I believe this is the reasoning that led the KY DNR to ban baiting outside of season. Non factor here, as the only baiting allowed is the "quick fix" baiting. I am fine with it, not against it at all, I just recognize that fresh bait piles offer an advantage. Just as hunting over fresh scrapes, fresh cut corn, fresh deer sign, sometimes using scents, etc...plenty of things are meant to offer the hunter an advantage, baiting included.

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I wasn't talking about year round baiting, that seems more like feeding deer than baiting. I'm talking about a guy who puts out a big ole corn pile or a automatic feeder a few weeks or so before the season and keeps it supplied during the entire hunting season. Again bating is illegal here in Illinois so I don't know much about it but it only stands to reason if you only set bait out during the hunting season then I can't see how in the world it doesn't improve your odds of killing "A" deer....any deer.

I'd like to read where it actually hurts your chances (in the scenario I listed) because I just don't see that happening. Seems like every thing I read about it says it works and works well.

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Think about your "average" skill level of your "average" .........

nevermind.;)

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I hear ya Jeff, there are a lot of knuckle heads out there who probably do more to ruin a hunting spot by trying to bait it but that's not my point. If done correctly (like anything else) is should produce better results over not baiting at all. I still can't see how it doesn't.

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I'm not getting into the difference of placing a 100# bag of corn in the woods and hunting by a 100 acre corn field.
I'm not even going to try an explain the difference between a deer and a bear tonight. (whens the last time anyone seen 20 to a hundred bear eating in a field?)

What I will say is, there is about 14 to18" of snow on the ground here, and if it was still legal to feed them, I would have 20 to 40 deer getting a free meal here every evening less than 40 yards from my back door.

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Not me, but you have to admit, that would be pretty flippin sweet. lol

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I've read alot of posts you've written. You're like a deer Wickipedia.:D

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As some who has never got to experience the highs andlows of baiting first hand,could some of you experienced guys explain baiting from a hands on point of view?:)

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I'll discuss it as long as you don't stoop to personal insults the first time the only one of us who has any experience with it tells you something that positively true.....but doesn't fit into how you WANT to think about baiting.

You game?

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LMAO!!:D