baiting
 

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.[:'(]

RE: baiting
 

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.

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If you don't want to don't.

RE: baiting
 

It is legal, and I do. I do more for Camtrakker photos than hunting.

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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.

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the bad part is even if you do put out bait here there is still a huge chance you will see nothing.
cause everyone around here baits the heck out of their stands.
i only do it on two of my stands and only one seems to have deer coming to it.

RE: baiting
 

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.

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I have two "Bait Piles" on my property. I use more for suplementle(sp?) feeding & pictures. I have only shot Does on it the bigger bucks don't seem to come in until after dark.I have stands located about 100 yards in every direction.

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Even though it is illegal in NY, I am putting out corn after this season near my game cam to see if there are actually deer in my area. i am almost convinced my woods are bare besides squirrels

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This same old Debait comes up every year at this time, Yawn!!!
Simple enough, if it's legal, and you want to, do it! If its illegal, don't do it!

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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.

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.

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Completly against it because anyone can go out and bait it takes a true hunter to pattern the deer and find them without interferring, baiting is interfearing.

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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.

RE: baiting
 

That is a pretty weak excuse for having to bait. "Everyone around me does it, so I have to do it too." Bull crap, If everyone pushes deer off a cliff are you forced to? The thing is people use every legal means necessary to "make deer go places they wouldn't normally go" That is part of hunting, you use scents and attractants to make deer go places they normally wouldn't go, you use calls and rattling to make deer go places they normally wouldn't go. Get the point>>>>>>

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....................

RE: baiting
 

Good point, for instance I live in Iowa and theres about a billion acres of corn and beans growing around here.I could put 1000 lbs of corn out if it were legal and not gaurantee seeing a deer anywhere near it.Everyones lives in different areas that frequent these websights and a lot of them dont understand the differences in the areas, its easy to say no I wouldnt do that but if your faced with a different set of obstacles to hunt you might change your tune.

RE: baiting
 

"salty" don't worry too much about it ,it has made my deer go nocturnal ,I went this morning and finally sawa deer it was a buttonhead so it got a free pass this time .That's the first deer I have saw since sept. 14th. they are eating acrons here .Every one here is saying they are not seeing as many deer this year ,I see plenty of track's but they are not very tastee lol hang in there that's what they tell me .lol:D:D:D

RE: baiting
 

T.C. well put.

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It's illegal here. Mostly the only people that bait are the high school punks who only want the bragging rights. Most of the relatively adult hunters are respectful enough not to.

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.

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FWIW I think I read that it was legal to bait in 38 states.

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I bait. Its legal here in tx. I tried (I mean TRIED)to put a food plot in but the deer ate it down to quickly and the drought didn't let it grow. If I could get a food plot in Id pull my feeders in a heartbeat but that wasnt possible this year.

RE: baiting
 

I fish with a worm on my hook so I guess I am not a real fisherman, Horse$$$$!
I hunt with opensighted 30-30 so maybe I am not a real hunter.
Horse$$$$!



You hunt the way you hunt and I will hunt the way I hunt and as long as we do not break the laws everyone should be happy....

RE: baiting
 

I feel your pain.
Lion says your not hunting cause your using a spear, caveman says your not hunting cause your using an arrow, indian say not fair him use gun. Shotgun hunter says it aint hunting cause your using a center fire, rifle hunter says your cheating your using bait, bait hunter says your cheating cause your just sitting and waiting over a food plot. it goes around and around every year.
What I dont understand is when did I have to start giving a deer a chance. its not a game for me. I hunt to kill and eat and hang one on the wall. Whatever improves my chances I am going to do that. I am HUMAN the ultimate predator.

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Amen Brother or Sister

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Goodness gracious, you guys get your feelings hurt too easy ladys. Why do you care so much that we feel your slob hunters?:D

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So lets not hunt deer the old fashioned way by hard work........

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Every Year We

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And this year we're still

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no planted crops here to "sit" on. i think baiting should be illegal everywhere. if baiting wasn't allowed anywhere, than nobody would have an unfair advantage and people wouldn't have to say, " i only bait because i have to because everyone around me baits.".

RE: baiting
 

That is an asumption that baiting isn't work or hard. Usually comes from those who have never actually baited or at least done successfully! Laying down the slop is anything but the end of the work when baiting is employed. The same amount of care, attention and work required to picking a spot to hang a stand is involved with where to place your bait. It requires scouting and knowledge of deer movements to be truly successful. Once the bait is placed it requires constant attention as well, Many who bait here spend far more time attending to the bait and in prep. than actually hunting over it. If the bait placement is done properly movements can be seen in legal hours, if not it is a colossal waste of time. Doing your homework and being able to pinpoint safety areas are paramount to success. Deer around bait are very wary so everything (wind, travel routes, etc)must be considered when using this technique. Hum sounds just like hunting in stand in transition areas to me. Misconception that you ring a bell and they come a running, well at least in my neck of the woods.

No I don'tpersonally bait, though I have bothas aguide for whitetails and bears and personally in the past. My reasons to not bait are b/c I hunt a lot of areas vs just 1. I like the mobility and not being hemmed to one area in regards to attention, scouting and hunting. Also the cost and time factor weighed in, I made trips to my baits every 2 days once they were established that amounts to a fair bit of input on my part during hunting season. I still spend far more hours in preparation than actually hunting just choose not to employ bait as one of my techniques at present. I may again in the future if it remains a legal practice here in Saskatchewan but it won't be b/c its easy.

As far as hating it but needing to do it?? I hunt an area that is heavily baited around it and have no troubles finding deer. Though like I said above it takes effort and prep to learn the pattern of the deer and then formulate a plan that willlead tosuccess. SCOUT, SCOUT, SCOUT and then SCOUT some more;). With whitetail season in its final week here, you can bet your last dollar I will be putting in some boot time prior to christmas as the deer are still in rut patterns and that information is valuable to me for 2007', much more so then later a sthey yard up or worse yet they go into summer patterns. Basically with the close of one season the next one begins for me. Try it you might be suprised at what you'll find.

My couple pennies worth:)!

RE: baiting
 

Great Post - and all true.

Compared to a small food plot it's Alot of expense - "Boot Time" - how to - how much - when - where etc...

BTW - to all the "Wholier Than Thou's".

Many just jealous because its illegal where they hunt.

RE: baiting
 

Buwahahahahaha !

Never been to SouthTexas huh ? You cant even scout most areas. The brush is thick, really really really thick ! Solid thorns. You cant just walk through it. You have no idea what I am talking about. We have to bulldose the brush down to get a shooting lane,( sendero)a place just to walk through,we put up a stand and feed the sendero and hope to get one crossing and stopped long enough to get a shot. Theres NO scouting, no glassing, no patterns, no planted crops.
You really are narrow minded.

RE: baiting
 

That pretty much sums it up here in south Texas.

best of luck