I've come to the conclusion its NEARLY Impossible to shoot a MATURE buck over BAIT!
 

I cannot get a MATURE buck on CAMERA over a BAIT PILE..His signs are there but I cant get a pic of him on BAIT..

We have come to that conclusion too. Set a cam up maybe 50 yards off, you might be surprised. The only big bucks we have seen over the bait have been following does, not sticking around to eat. In the late muzz season, we have seen mature deer though coming to bait, my bro killed his biggest buck last year on the last day of muzz, -9 degrees.

Check out the pics in the tail camera forum.. There are a ton of decent--monster bucks that are feeding on the baits... But I do agree with you, big bucks mostly likely won't hit the bait until late season and or at 2 in the morning.. However, if you have does coming in--the bucks won't be far behind them this time of year.. If you are trying to hunt them then try to set up just down from a feeding area (in this case bait and or field) in between their bedding areas and travel routes... Set the cam there..

I baited in ky well feed the deer as i did so all year. I had a 6 point and a 8 once. They where there but at night. But it was my second year and 12 does and 6 spikes every other morning was fine with me.

I agree with this to a point. There is one buck around my land this year that i cannot get a picture of. I know he lives in a certain patch and I got tons of pictures of him in the spring over mineral licks and through the summer as well but as soon as August came he didnt go in front of the camera again. And i know he is still there because ive seen him in the patch 4 or 5 times since my last pics of him. The mature ones are smart!!

Are you familiar with the baiting and deer feeding laws in Illinois?

First of all...your are from MI...there's no such thing as a mature buck here!
Second, they get mature for a reason...

I wouldn't know never hunted bait, but I am thinking a Mature Buck would put 2 and 2 together pretty quick.

Dan

Try hunting with real bait...Does. The best bait around. Where there are does there are bucks. Good luck

Are you useing Flash CAMS or IR?