buckeye

I would like to see where everyone stands on this issue.

I do not bait nor would I. I had at one time hunted by a corn pile (it is legal in ohio) but I knew right then it just wasn' t for me. Never hunted over one again. It just didn' t feel right to me. It didn' t feel like I was hunting. I can not really explain how it made me feel. I am glad that I didn' t harvest a deer that day, I just know it would not have sat well with me over the past few years.

I am not saying one should or should not hunt over bait nor am I implying that it is wrong to do so. I am just saying it wasn' t for me and to see where others stand on this issue.

Mantis Mayer

This could get interesting.


When I see someone baiting deer I go[:' (]

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davidmil

It' s legal in Maryland. I think it screws up some otherwise good hunting possibilities. It works best late in the season..... but it screws up the deer patterns. In an " Unfed" wild woods the deer get cold, hungry and have to take on fuel. If they know there' s a big pile just up the ridge they don' t have to wander in search of the last acorn. Instead, they wait until last light and just about gallop to the bait piles. Once they find out there are humans near the piles(because you shoot one or they smell the heaavy traffic) they get more nocturnal and cautious. I think it becomes more of shooting and not so much hunting. I just love to see a buck wandering around a sunlit ridge at 3:30 looking for acorns in the fall leaves. You pile up bait he' ll show in poor shooting light surrounded by a dozen does and fawns. To many eyes. It also tends to make us become less like hunters and we develop bad habits. Why concentrate 20 deer in one spot when you can have them wandering through several spots on a regular basis. It gives me no joy to see 30 deer when others hunting with me without the pile see none. In short.... it just screws up the deer patterns. I' ve been around it(baiting) a little, but don' t really think it' s my kind of hunting. Nothing like a buck in the wild cruising for food.

Trebark

Dave,
You' re exactly right. On our lease on the Shore, all the other clubs bait. We don' t, and we' ve seen a substantial decrease in deer sightings on our land. We may have to start, just to pull some of the herd back to us.
Charlie

davidmil

Treebark.... it would be expensive... but you can offer some tasty treats broadcast over a wide area that would really make the deer travel in your area. I think 100 pounds of raw peanuts in the shell cost about $90. You just have to use a little in with the corn and they' ll search out every last peanut first. I' d just sew it on ridges etc in a big dispersal pattern. I usually buy one bag a year for my back yard. I' ll use a half or less of a #2 can of peanuts to every 2 cans of corn. Sometimes they just dig threw it all and eat out the peanuts. They do love those things but they' re pricy. BUT then..... you become a baiter.[:' (] You can' t win. I will say I don' t think you' ll ever find the big boys going to a bait pile in good light.

Trebark

Thanks for the tip, Dave. They just clear-cut our lease last year, so we' ll see what happens to the deer movement now. We only use it for gun season, and it' s more of a hang-out-with-the guys kind of place. We usually get a few big does and a couple of buck off each year, between BP & rifle. I usually end up wishing that I was back here bowhunting. I do see more deer here, that' s for sure.
Charlie

bubbamoose

I kind of on the fence on this also. I don' t like hunting over a bait pile and usually don' t. Sometime in the " surburban" hunting in this part of the state you pretty much have to to pull the deer off of the anti' s property next door. I hunt mostly public property but once in awhile someone will ask me to come over and " help" them with their problem.
B

kreg

I think baiting is fine. Usually I dont bait, but if I do I wouldnt feel any less of a hunter. Some people have always baited, and thats the way they hunt. I dont think anything is wrong with it.

nselvis

I too think baiting is fine. I have on several occaisions seen deer walk directly past my bait, without a second glance and that wasn' t during the rut. So bait doesn' t always bring them in. Hey, we all know bow hunting isn' t like hunting with a rifle, where you can take a 200+ yard shot. 25-30 yards is probably the farthest shot a majority of bow hunters will take. Don' t we all want every advantage we can get in the woods?
ie:cover or attractant scents,grunt calls or rattle bags, camo