baiting
12-03-2006, 12:19 PM
#11
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Botetourt County, VA
Posts: 203
RE: baiting
If baiting were legal here in VA, I'd be doing it, it's just as easy as that. So far I've bagged 2 deer this year and I have over 100 hrs on stand or in a tree to do it. If I could cut that time down I'd be all for it. I hunt for meat, so the quicker I can kill my 5 deer the better off I am, but that's just me.
As far as the hunting purists out there who don't believe in baiting, well I just have to ask you these questions.
1. Do you hunt over a food plot?
2. Do you hunt near oak trees that have dropped their acorns?
3. Do you hunt near the edge of a soybean, corn or alfalfa field?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you're hunting a natural food source that in my book is just like bait. The only difference is that you gotta put in the work to cultivate the fields and oaks don't produce every year. This thread will quickly go down hill with name calling and various accusations, as this topic has been talked about forever and their will never be an ethical answer that everyone will agree upon.
Here in VA the idea against baiting is because of CWD and the idea that baiting concentrates deer unnaturally in a baited area, thus increasing the chances of this disease getting a foothold in VA.
One thing that I did notice though is that when I did feed the deer corn after deer season, earlier in the year, they tended to hit the bait very early in the mornings. I'm talking like 2, 3 or 4 AM, as confirmed by my trail cam. A lot of people, and I'm one of them, believe that baiting will make the deer go nocturnal if they know the bait is there.
As far as the hunting purists out there who don't believe in baiting, well I just have to ask you these questions.
1. Do you hunt over a food plot?
2. Do you hunt near oak trees that have dropped their acorns?
3. Do you hunt near the edge of a soybean, corn or alfalfa field?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you're hunting a natural food source that in my book is just like bait. The only difference is that you gotta put in the work to cultivate the fields and oaks don't produce every year. This thread will quickly go down hill with name calling and various accusations, as this topic has been talked about forever and their will never be an ethical answer that everyone will agree upon.
Here in VA the idea against baiting is because of CWD and the idea that baiting concentrates deer unnaturally in a baited area, thus increasing the chances of this disease getting a foothold in VA.
One thing that I did notice though is that when I did feed the deer corn after deer season, earlier in the year, they tended to hit the bait very early in the mornings. I'm talking like 2, 3 or 4 AM, as confirmed by my trail cam. A lot of people, and I'm one of them, believe that baiting will make the deer go nocturnal if they know the bait is there.
12-03-2006, 12:27 PM
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
RE: baiting
Its legal here in MD, but I don't do it and refuse. It does make hunters lazy. They all the sudden build a permanaent box stand and are now stuck to one spot. But for me, I like to move around and chase them where they are leaving sign. Tahts the reason I use a climber. I sometimes think I like scouting more than hunting. And from what I have seen, I kill much more bucks than the big bait hunters. They kill alot of spikes, and does, but I have yet to see em kill a big buck. I mean thats probably different in low pressure areas like Tx. but here in MD in thick bush, it will cause the bucks to go completely nocternal.
12-03-2006, 01:16 PM
#14
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 109
RE: baiting
I don't agree with baiting (in the sense of just throwing food out, NOT actually planting and providing a sustaining crop of food) and i'll never do it, but if it's something you agree with and it's legal where you hunt, go nuts.
'Hunting' is something different to everyone, and baiting is not part of 'hunting' to me. I find a nice looking spot, set up a blind or a tree stand and sit in hopes of a deer crossing my path. They may or may not, but that's 'hunting'. Could I increase my chance of getting a deer by baiting, probably. But to me, that is not 'hunting'.
I've gone several years without getting a deer, and i'm fine with that. Some people just gotta get deer every year, and maybe that's where a bait pile would pay off. Deer or no deer, I always have a good time hunting even though I may not get a deer.
'Hunting' is something different to everyone, and baiting is not part of 'hunting' to me. I find a nice looking spot, set up a blind or a tree stand and sit in hopes of a deer crossing my path. They may or may not, but that's 'hunting'. Could I increase my chance of getting a deer by baiting, probably. But to me, that is not 'hunting'.
I've gone several years without getting a deer, and i'm fine with that. Some people just gotta get deer every year, and maybe that's where a bait pile would pay off. Deer or no deer, I always have a good time hunting even though I may not get a deer.
12-03-2006, 01:42 PM
#15
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Forney, TX
Posts: 280
RE: baiting
ORIGINAL: yakuza wiz
who all here baits deer? and what are your thoughts on the matter?
I for one can't stand it and think that it makes for lousy hunting and makes the deer go places they would not go if it were not being baited, and the chance of spreading disease is a little better cause of it...but i am forced to do it cause if I don't everyone around me will and I'll see nothing.
Kinda sad...and I hate having to do it but do it anyway...makes me look like a hypocrite.[:'(]
who all here baits deer? and what are your thoughts on the matter?
I for one can't stand it and think that it makes for lousy hunting and makes the deer go places they would not go if it were not being baited, and the chance of spreading disease is a little better cause of it...but i am forced to do it cause if I don't everyone around me will and I'll see nothing.
Kinda sad...and I hate having to do it but do it anyway...makes me look like a hypocrite.[:'(]
So if you are going to post your opinion about something at least take the time to put your thoughts together and come up with some good points rather than whining....................
12-03-2006, 01:46 PM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,925
RE: baiting
ORIGINAL: zrexpilot
Here in Texas its almost neccessary. Like up in the hill country or in the brush of south Texas. There are no planted crops, only dense woods, and were talking millions of acres of woods and you have a couple of hundred in a sea of woods. We cant pattern deer, theres no bedding areas and feeding areas. They eat where ever they are and sleep wherever they want. You cant glass cause your only looking at the most a 100 yds. We feed senderos and hope to stop a deer crossing long enough to get a shot. I find hand thrown corn works better than a electric feeder.
Here in Texas its almost neccessary. Like up in the hill country or in the brush of south Texas. There are no planted crops, only dense woods, and were talking millions of acres of woods and you have a couple of hundred in a sea of woods. We cant pattern deer, theres no bedding areas and feeding areas. They eat where ever they are and sleep wherever they want. You cant glass cause your only looking at the most a 100 yds. We feed senderos and hope to stop a deer crossing long enough to get a shot. I find hand thrown corn works better than a electric feeder.
12-03-2006, 02:15 PM
#17
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: SWANSEA SOUTH CAORLINA
Posts: 101
RE: baiting
ORIGINAL: salty
On a couple of different bowhunting threads I have been quite against baiting. It is illegal in my state (NY).......... However, this season has gone sour for me. While I am sitting in the woods staring at trees I think if my negative remarks about baiting and have since decided that it may not be such a bad idea after all. I would never do this since it is illegal but if NY were to allow baiting I would go for it. I would not sit there and blast every doe and fawn off of the bait pile though..
man I am just sick of not seeing any deer.
On a couple of different bowhunting threads I have been quite against baiting. It is illegal in my state (NY).......... However, this season has gone sour for me. While I am sitting in the woods staring at trees I think if my negative remarks about baiting and have since decided that it may not be such a bad idea after all. I would never do this since it is illegal but if NY were to allow baiting I would go for it. I would not sit there and blast every doe and fawn off of the bait pile though..
man I am just sick of not seeing any deer.
12-03-2006, 02:25 PM
#18
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: south east alabama
Posts: 1,268
RE: baiting
T.C. well put.
ORIGINAL: timbercruiser
If it is legal and you want to bait then go for it. If you think about it, every way you hunt can be questioned by someone as unethical. Everybody looks for advantages of some kind.
If it is legal and you want to bait then go for it. If you think about it, every way you hunt can be questioned by someone as unethical. Everybody looks for advantages of some kind.
12-03-2006, 03:24 PM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: NW Oklahoma
Posts: 1,166
RE: baiting
Where I hunt there isn't a single tree you can use a climber in, so you have to hang stands that stay for the season or sometimes permanently. The food source available is black jack acorns. There are probably 200 black jack trees per acre, so it's hard to "hunt the acorns" The feeding and bedding areas are one and the same. My stands are all in large eastern red cedars, so you have to find a tree suitable for astand and try to clear trails to bring the deer by your stand. The deer travel everywhere and anywhere. What I'm trying to say is that the way one person hunts can't always apply to the way another person hunts. Some people talk about still hunting. It would be impossible to still hunt because the brush is so low and thick and so much ground clutter you can't walk through it without making a huge racket. I bait mainly to kill does. Younger bucks come in too, but when you see a larger buck, they're usually not coming to bait, but coming to check for doe sign.