baiting
12-10-2008, 07:46 AM
#196
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 494
RE: baiting
Wow, this sure is a "heated" debate. While I have not read all the above posts, I have a comment. I can only comment on my personal experiences. To those that call the baiter lazy, they have never carried 100#'s of corn through the woods to their location, lol. I used to hunt with a guy that did jut that 2 times aa week at multiple locations in northern Wisconsin. Between the cost of the corn, the time and money to drive 2 hours north 2x a week and the effort(sweat) to tramp in the woods, I myself did not see it worth while. When my father first started baiting a stand 20 years ago, it worked, plain and simple. He shot a lot of deer up north over a corn pile. Now, not so much. Are there less deer? Maybe, but I believe it has turned them nocturnal. The bait disappears each night, no sightings during daylight hours. The trailcam proves this also.
Wow, I am rambling, lol. So, if done right, can it work? Probably, only you know for sure. My dad still thinks it does even though he sees very few deer over the bait.I do think that deer "learn" what the corn pile means----danger. If you use a bait pile and it works for you, great! If you have been using one and not seeing deer, like my dad, try something else. I truly believe that in the big woods of Northern Wisconsin, if you are not able to get a huge amount of bait in the woods without giving yourself away, it will not work the majority of the time. So in our scenario, it does not work like you would hope. It would be too expensive and/or illegal to do it where it would start to work. I say illegal, because to really work, you would needa feeder to distribute the bait over a longer period of time and maybe even have a cover on it at night, so the deer can only feed during the day.
hope this made sense, I'm dizzy from writing it. If it works for you great, but I really would have better luck up north if people did not do it any longer since to me, it makes them much more nocturnal. This may be only becaue the ones doing it are not doing if correctly, my dad being one of them. I think he "checks" the corn pile even more than hunts it, the deer probably watch him walk in on the same trail at the same time every day to the same stand with no regard for the wind, and wonders why the luck does not change????
Wow, I am rambling, lol. So, if done right, can it work? Probably, only you know for sure. My dad still thinks it does even though he sees very few deer over the bait.I do think that deer "learn" what the corn pile means----danger. If you use a bait pile and it works for you, great! If you have been using one and not seeing deer, like my dad, try something else. I truly believe that in the big woods of Northern Wisconsin, if you are not able to get a huge amount of bait in the woods without giving yourself away, it will not work the majority of the time. So in our scenario, it does not work like you would hope. It would be too expensive and/or illegal to do it where it would start to work. I say illegal, because to really work, you would needa feeder to distribute the bait over a longer period of time and maybe even have a cover on it at night, so the deer can only feed during the day.
hope this made sense, I'm dizzy from writing it. If it works for you great, but I really would have better luck up north if people did not do it any longer since to me, it makes them much more nocturnal. This may be only becaue the ones doing it are not doing if correctly, my dad being one of them. I think he "checks" the corn pile even more than hunts it, the deer probably watch him walk in on the same trail at the same time every day to the same stand with no regard for the wind, and wonders why the luck does not change????
12-10-2008, 07:50 AM
#198
Guest
Posts: n/a
RE: baiting
ORIGINAL: GMMAT
Lets say you had access to 100 acres of corn......and the deer were using only one trail to access it. You hunt that trail every day.
Ya think they "might" change up their pattern?
Difference in hunting ag fields and baiting is the size of the "pile". So let's say you have a man "baiting" who sets up multiple bait sites (increasing the size of his "pile"). He hunts only the bait site that he can access playing the wind....never hunting a bad wind....and never over-hunting a spot. That guy is upping his odds. I dont' know ANYONE who does this, personally. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be done with precision.
Most people who actally bait are as dumb and lazy (the people I know who do it) as you give them credit for. Their results reflect this. That's why I profess that it isn't an advantage for the "average" guy baiting.
Lets say you had access to 100 acres of corn......and the deer were using only one trail to access it. You hunt that trail every day.
Ya think they "might" change up their pattern?
Difference in hunting ag fields and baiting is the size of the "pile". So let's say you have a man "baiting" who sets up multiple bait sites (increasing the size of his "pile"). He hunts only the bait site that he can access playing the wind....never hunting a bad wind....and never over-hunting a spot. That guy is upping his odds. I dont' know ANYONE who does this, personally. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be done with precision.
Most people who actally bait are as dumb and lazy (the people I know who do it) as you give them credit for. Their results reflect this. That's why I profess that it isn't an advantage for the "average" guy baiting.
I have yet to see a mature buck hit bait in the day. Not saying it can't happen. I just have yet to see it.
12-10-2008, 07:56 AM
#199
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
RE: baiting
I never called anyone on here dumb or lazy. You have to read what I wrote (and even highlighted).
So are YOU the one arguing how easy or how hard baiting is?
I have yet to see a mature buck hit bait in the day. Not saying it can't happen. I just have yet to see it.
12-10-2008, 08:30 AM
#200
Guest
Posts: n/a
RE: baiting
ORIGINAL: GMMAT
I never called anyone on here dumb or lazy. You have to read what I wrote (and even highlighted).
So are YOU the one arguing how easy or how hard baiting is?
I never called anyone on here dumb or lazy. You have to read what I wrote (and even highlighted).
I have yet to see a mature buck hit bait in the day. Not saying it can't happen. I just have yet to see it.
So once again, there has to be some more too it than "don't overhunt spots". Maybe you can enlighten us since you have proclaimed how you know are not ill informed.
I have always felt (not know or big expert like you proclaim) that baiting hurts your chances, spreads disease, for killing a decent buck. Sure, does, and spikes are taken, but not all of us here are after does and spikes.