RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

Pretty damn sureyour opinionwasn't formedvia experience! Curious how you drew such a matter fact opinion of this matter?

BTW I take no offense in your comments,I don't bait for deer. HoweverI have baited a lot for bears and deer, my experience does notjive withyour hypothesis.

Side note: when I target bears specifically I use bait, it is the most productive way to hunt remote/dense forest areas here in saskatchewan. I don't hunt deer in these same areas however if i did or had too, i would bait. These areas aren't condusive to spot n stalk orambush style hunting that most of us use. However placing a bear or deer bait anywhere doesn't work, it takes lots of scouting &knowledge of animals/land. As a matter of fact hunting such an area requires more prep then hunting agricultural or forest fringe areas where I spend my time deer hunting each fall.

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

I used to hunt over bait, till they made it illegal last year in Michigan in the lower peninsula. I have to admit that we had better luck last year without any bait. The deer seemed to move more through out the day looking for food.

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

i usually hunt over our food plots or our farm crops. i dont think thats really baiting deer. but thats where all the deer are usually so thats where im going to be

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

No. Never have.

Ihave had bait on my property, but i removed it once i discovered that feeding deer in the winter does more harm then good.

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

Always love to see the cat fights that baiting vs non-baiting threads bring up. :D

I guess by some of your definitions, I also hunt bait. You see, ..... Fulton county, IL is composed of 860 square miles of some of the richest farm ground in the World.... does that count??? We do everything we can on our property, from Food Plots to selctive Timber Management practices to increase the nutrional attraction of our property to attract whitetail and turkey so I guess it's all one big "baited area" ?!? ;):)

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

No...it's illegal in California anyway....except for coyotes.

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

Here in Fla it legal.I just pour out corn,place land mines around and later come back and pick up the pieces I want.Gives my more time to drown puppy's.[:o]Now thats lazy.:eek::eek::eek:

RE: Do you hunt over Bait?
 

Well said...

Sorry to bring up this topic again, but had to voice my thoughts given it's been a hot topic at camp this year.

If you're hunting on crowded land, such as public property, where it's difficult to move around to the best 'natural' hunting location, baiting acts as an equalizer. Studies have shown that it causes deer to alter their normal movements, so deer will move through areas they normally wouldn't. This is also why non-baiters can sometimes have a more difficult time in seeing a lot of deer in an area that is heavily baited. That said, I agree with some of the others here that baiting usually results in seeing mostly yearlings, with only the occasional big buck. Think about it: big bucks got to be big by avoiding bait piles. ;) Occasionally one will get stupid and wander into a bait pile, or more often, chase a hot doe into one. I firmly believe, however, that this is the exception and not the rule.

I hunt in an area that is heavily baited, and I've observed that more bucks, especially the larger ones, are shot near bait piles, but not at them. In other words, they're catching does coming and going to bait, but are avoiding the bait themselves. I have hunted with guys that bait starting several weeks prior to season at blinds that have been at the same location for years. The deer know exactly where everyone is, because the first thing they do when coming into the bait is check out the blind and the trail leading into it. Not so surprisingly, these guys spend a LOT more hours on stand on average before they harvest a buck than guys that come into the adjoining property, throw up a pop-up blind, and shoot a buck with little baiting or prep work.

Coincidence? ;)

Oh nuts, not this topic again.