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- - using bait (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/whitetail-deer-hunting/270317-using-bait.html)

what do yall think about using bait

What do you think about stirring $hit?

dont think much of it thank you for askin JagMagMan i was just wonderin how many people use bait and how many are dead against is me for one thing am nuetural on it i just dont give a damn

Quote:

ORIGINAL: JagMagMan

What do you think about stirring $hit?

LMAO!! Good one .

I use bait; I just don’t haul the bait to where I hunt! I hunt an apple orchard with Corn fields on 3 sides and a couple of chestnut trees thrown in for fun. Is there really a difference between the tons of bait I use and the guy who drags a 50lb bag of corn to his hunting spot?

thanks for not being a dick hole

Bait, to lure or entice. Seems to me that would include corn, sex lures, food plots, agriculture fields, mineral licksand a whole lot of other items. I don't have any problem with it.

They just banned baiting here in Michigan and ill be honest, its a somewhat tough transition. Im not saying I CANT hunt without bait, but when it was legal, why not use it? I know a lot of guys are either not hunting because of it or are having a lot of trouble seeing deer now.

I dont have a problem with baiting.

Hmmmm , I,d say to lure or to baithavetotaly different meanings .
Bait would be apple piles , carrott piles , or any food source that has been physical put there .
Lure is a scent that would entice a deer by its smell to either sexualy arouse him or cause him to want to see who the intruder is .
I dont have a problem with either as long as you State law allows it .
I just think that someone using a bate pile or feeder that shoots a book buck should be under a separate class ..
As someone not using bate .

First let me say I live in Mo where baiting is illegal. That said if it were legal I would do it. I have discussed this on several other forums and have enjoyed all the input both pro and con. IMO using bait is no different than hunting over a 1 or 2 acre food plot. Before everyone starts telling me how wrong I am hear me out. I am not against food plots, I just feel hunting over any food source is baiting. I know many will disagree. They will say all the effort to prepare the land,fertilize,sow the seed,etc. and the fact that it will remain after the season means it's not bait. I must disagree. I don't think the amount of labor it takes to provide the food source should decide if it's bait or not. The same could be said about leaving an area of a corn field unharvested. Whether you pour it out of a bag or let it fall from the stalk it's still corn on the ground. Many will want to point out how hunting an 80 acre field of standing crop is not baiting since you can't control where the deer enter and leave. This is true but I'll bet you'll improve your odds by scouting which "highways" the deer are using and having a stand there. In my experiance most food plots are 1 acre or less. While they do grow out of the earth, the plants are not normally "native" and are chosen not just to benefit the deer but to attract them.
What about disease you may say. Won't baiting increase the concentration of deer into a small area thus increasing nose to nose contact perhaps increasing the transmission of disease. If that's the case why is it legal to feed deer the rest of the year? Do deer only contract disease during deer season? Of course not. Deer congregate naturally and use many communal sites(browse,mineral licks,water,etc.) and disease is transmitted in no greater numbers.
Yeah, well baiting "steals" away deer from other areas, depriving other hunters of an opportunity to take a deer. Really....don't we all try to draw deer in. We use scents and lures, food plots, man made licks, calls. All are used to drag deer in range. Many against baiting will also tell you bait is not a guarantee(when not tellingyou it makes hunting to easy) you will draw in a "trophy buck" and may turn the deer in the area into nocturnal feeders. Well I realize a large segment of today'shunters consider hunting a "sport" and use some scoring system to rate thier deer. I am not one of those. I am willing to take does,buttons,toe heads, what have you. If you wish to put limits on which deer you will take more power to you. I'm after meat.
IMO many of those opposed to baiting hate the idea that some practice they use is in fact baiting. They will tell you it's not ethical. I would relate a question I heard on another forum. A fellow owns two farms. On one farm he has a small apple orchard where deer eat apples that have fallen form the trees. If he sets up a stand and hunts over these apples he's fine. If however he gathers up those same apples and takes them to his other farm and puts them under another tree he's suddenly unethical. They're the same apples! Where's the difference?
As far as putting those "trophy bucks" into a different list. Boone & Crockett would consider a deer taken in a state where baiting is legal to have been taken within the rules of fair chase.
It is not my intention to pi$$ anyone off or to judge what practices they use. I am only hoping to show that if it's legal it's just another option that can be used to hunt.
I do have one question I have been unable to get an answer to on the other forums. I use a product called "Buck Snort". It's a non-nutritional gel that smells just like a food source(apples,sweet corn,acorns,etc.). My question to those who oppose baiting is it ok to use an attractant that smells like food but isn't and why. Thanks for any input

remington, baiting is illegal where we live anyways. and im sorry but it really does seem like your trying to get something started here

I dont use any type of bait, scent, lure, etc. I'm more than happy to hunt the edge of a cut cornfield, however, that is using the local terrain rather than creating an artificial attractant. And there is a big difference between dealing with a deer that is coming to feed in a 40 acre field versus a deer coming to a feeder. Having said that, i dont really care what other folks do.

I voted "No" and don't because it is illegal here in Alabama. They have put a bill in to be voted on for the past years, but it keeps getting shot down.

My dad, brother, and i have a gooseneck trailer with 16 55gal. drums full of cleaned corn, so yes i use bait. In fact, i don't know anyone who doesn't bait. Baiting is legal on all private land here, and i have killed bucks on public land without bait(all with my bow too). Using corn is no different IMHO than sitting beside a corn field or hunting fruit trees(like i do on public land). Just another food source IMO;)

Here in Arkansas it is legal to bait deer, however it is not legal to bait doves for example. Heres the catch, a buddy of mine which farms, baits out a 20 acre field with wheat every fall to dove hunt on. They do not grow any wheat for sale, just 20 acreas for hunting, but it legal for them to do it because they are farmers. Hunters up in the mid-west hunt over cut corn fields which is legal and ok with me to do, but where I deer hunt in the ozarks of Arkansas there are no farm crops at to its way to rocky. So what the difference in putting out the corn versus hunting over a cut corn field? Both are hunting over bait are they not? Just for the record I keep pellets in my feeders through the summer and corn and pellets mix through the winter. I dont hunt the feeders all the time either.

Gee all the people who say the debate over baiting has been beat to death must be right. In the last week there has been 7 or 8 posts asking questions about peanut butter, c'mere deer, corn, etc. I did notice that one of the guys who stated he didn't bait on this thread then discussed how a supplement he used in a corn feeder didn't didn't seem to work on a different thread.;)

If hunting over a cornfield is baiting.. Then I have access to thousands of acres of pre-baited hunting land. I should have no problem getting the buck of my dreams this year.

The only time you will get a deer to come to a corn pile here in South Dakota, is in January when there is two feet of snow everywhere and the local elevator still has some corn piled on the ground.

i dont have a problem with baiting or shooting them in a cage ,i dont do any of it.no im not above anyone else just to lazy to bait and to cheap to killem in a can.im glad most people can talk about things with reasions why or why not with out the name calling . i have posted on other forums aboutqdm and why i dont like it and some good things about it,i was called every name you can think of. no one ever said i was right or wrong?sometimes we need to talk and think.

Well said dirgo. Sometimes theDISCUSSION is important.I understand I will not change anyone's opinion if they are opposed to baiting. They won't change mineeither. My only hope is that if their against it they mayrealizethat if it's a legal practice where they live, thatthose who chose to use it are only taking advantage of another"legal" practice you may notchose to use. I would also like to provide anyone who mightbe on the fence some pro reasons toallow it. With all this said I must insayIlive in a state where baiting is illegal. I hope someday my state will change it's stance on baiting and finally allow it.

Baiting is fine, unless it is illegal where you live. This is the same debate as bows vs. crossbows, and rifles vs. shotguns/ muzzleoaders. You don't here golfers arguing over whether using metal woods is unethical. If you don't like baiting, then don't bait. One of the great things about hunting is you get to set (most of) your own rules.

ive been hunting over it this year but before my first and only two deer where not shot overe a bait pile

Where legal, I don't see a problem with it.

I own 80 acres and this year I put out a feeder and a couple trophy rocks in a small persimmons grove next to my 9 acre pond. My stand is about 300 meters away overwatching the avenue of approach. My neighbor also put in 12 acres of corn on my place this year, which was just harvested and left a lot of residue.

Since SEP I've been tracking the use of my little "bait station" using a game camera. To date I've taken a bunch of pictures of deer, to include a nice 10 and 8PT and a couple other little bucks using the area. I've gotten up to 5 deer at a time using the trophy rock and feeder. Unfortunately, not one picture was taken during legal shooting time, not one.

This morning I went out before sunrise to check on the property. I saw the 10PT working a scrape, and two smaller bucks in the cornfield feeding. Nothing at the feeder. While I was there, the feeder went off and all 3 deer went about their business, no "dinner bell" effect, no stampede. Last year I had the feeder up for the late season and about the only animals that did respond like a Pavlov's dog were a couple fat lazy mallards, a small covey of quail,and a squirrel. The deer showed up whenever they felt like it, pretty much like this year.

Granted, this is a small sampling, but I don't think baiting is quite as effective as some make it out to be.

Chuck