Welcome to the forum Shishkabob!

With a few minor exceptions - Baiting is not legal in Illinois.
I would like to have the opportunity to decide for myself whether or not to hunt near bait.

Challenge, Double Creek??? Methinks that's a matter of low importance in today's bowhunting world. 300 fps bows, carbon arrows, mechanical releases, mechanical heads, scent blocking this and that, treestands, camo to match each and every tree and bush in the forest, calls, scents, decoys, gps, radio communications, lazer rangefinders, aerial maps... the list goes on and on and on! ALL these things are for one purpose - to reduce the amount of challenge in taking an animal with a bow and arrow and stack as many odds as possible in the lap of the bowhunter.

Automatic feeders are a very nice fit into modern bowhunting equipment and theory.

personally i dont bait. its more of a challenge and more rewarding not to. i dont mind if you do. ive gone with a buddy of mine and he hunts over a bait pile. i guess it shouldnt be illegal, but there should be restrictions on how much. by our place everyone around us baits. so that draws the does in and the does draw the bucks.

What's the difference in hunting over a food plot you planted, hunting over a clump of white oaks that are dropping acorns, or hunting over corn. Poring out corn is no different than planting a food plot and hunting over it. Deer change their patterns to the specific food source. If a certain group of white oaks quit producing , the deer are going to find the next group that is producing. Being able to harvest more deer because of bait is helpful in controlling the deer population. IMHO

Baiting should be legal IMO. In some areas this may the only way to get deer to frequent the property you can hunt. If you want to put out a nutricious food that the deer will benefit from I do not have a problem with than. In some instances the bait being used may not be healthy for the deer and this I have issues with.

An alternative to baiting would be to improve wildlife habitat on your property in the form of cover and food sources. Some may call this baiting and I can understand that arguement. I have planted two small food plots for the deer in my area. These are food sources that will be avaiable to the deer throughout the year and provide them nutritiuos forage they will benifit from. This is the first year I've planted food plots. I have no intentions of hunting over the plots. They were planted to supplement the deers diet and to improve the health of the herd. By improving the habitat the deer will frequent the aera more and provide better hunting opportunities. I will hunt from the same time tested stand I have for the past 12 years. I'll hunt the funnels and travel lanes that have produced for me in the past, hopefully with more sightings of bigger healthier deer as a result of the habitat improvments.

And IMO also. I believe there are ways to increase your odds without sitting over a bucket of feed.

This is dumbest argument of all time. Ok, so you mean your bait pile is the equivalent of me hunting over my 7 acre food plot? Are you kidding me? Do you spread you bait pile over 7 acres? I doubt it.

Baiting is the same as hunting over oaks?...... What!? ......My land has hundreds if not thousands of oaks on it. Do you have hundreds of baitpiles? I doubt it......

The "master" baiters need to come up with better arguments than that.

BTW A.R. Hunter, this not directed towards you, you post was one of MANY I have read with the same point of view. Welcome to the board.

Actually, yes. You planted that food plot to change the deer's feeding patterns and bring them out of those oak trees. Same concept. You're just using a larger bait pile.

ArthurP, yes many products and advances in archery do reduce the challenge associated with hunting. IMO the ULTIMATE challenge would be harvesting mature bucks using bare bow. However, I am not up to that challenge. I will reduce the challenge enough to give me a decent chance at being conistent. That is why I use compounds, etc.

It's like my jogging. I jog every day. The Boston Marathon would be the ulitmate challenge. However, I am not up to doing what it takes to accomplish that. I am very satisfied just running a 5k or 10k. I get what I want out of it and it challenges me.

With that said, to each his own with baiting, BUT don't expect me to respect what you killed over bait the same why I will respect what someone killed under natural conditions.

Come on now Arthur, you know that is BS. My food plots serve another purpose for me, I use them for nutrition. I don't have a stand any where near my plots, but even if I did, there is no comparison b/t a 7 acres food plot and a 7ft bait pile.

I never said I've hunted over bait. As a matter of fact, I don't. I don't hunt over man-made food plots either. I don't disrespect you for hunting over your food plot. You shouldn't disrespect someone else for hunting over a feeder. That's the point I'm trying to make.

But it still changes the deer's feeding patterns, draws them to a certain area and makes your scouting MUCH easier. Just like a bait pile. BS flows two ways on this food plot vs feeders issue.

Even if I used feeders or food plots, I'd scout the trails coming into it and hunt the trails instead of hunting over the bait itself. I'm sure the food plot will have more trails to choose from.