Deer Baiting-Yes or No?
 

I am a college student studying Wildlife Biology. Im having to give a presentation on wildlife baiting in general. I wanted to get some real life opinions weather or not you think wildife baiting should be allowed or not. This is not just secluded to deer baiting, opinions to any type of game species you hunt is more than welcome! Thanks!

no bait needed to kill big bucks and good luck on your presentation

If it is legal where a hunter hunts I would say absolutely nothing wrong with bating. It is a hunters preference if they want to or not.
Live it up! Doug

I don't like it one bit, helps spread disease and can turn the animals nocturnal. I wish they would just ban it, but I know that isn't going to happen.

I've hunted over bait as well as food plots or agriculture fields. I see nothing wrong with it. Some people say it causes diseases, yet Texas is a state that uses more bait than any other yet there havn't been reports I"ve heard of about disease in Texas. To bait is to lure or entice which would include anything not natural including bait, agriculture fields, sex attractants, food plots, sacked food attractants, peanut butter, mineral sites, calling, rattling and other baiting. The old saying of "it depends on if it is your ox that is being gored" applies here, IMHO. If it is legal where you hunt and you have no personal problems with it, then go ahead. Just don't tell anybody else how they should legally hunt.

I don't do it but I have no problem with it. Leave it up to the individual. The only kind of baiting I'm really opposed to is when time-released bait is used. Like a corn feeder that drops corn at the same times every day. That's like shooting fish in a barrel.

I do not like it at all. Its just a cop-out to putting hardly any work in/ Anyone can put a stand up and throw 10lbs of corn on the ground. It is more ethical to me to do your homework and find a place with trails, scrapes,rubs, scratching(turkeys) etc.

It's no different than food plots. Food plots in NY are legal, baiting isn't, really? Why? If I throw down No-plow or any other product, I'm not creating a food plot which I'm going to use for food, I'm baiting the area to feed the deer and hopefully have them around come hunting time. Ted Nugent has the best answers when it comes to this subject. Look up his views to get the best side favoring it. Me, I can go either way. I'd even say No to baiting and No to food plots too. As long as it's across the board. Having some states say Yeah, and some Nay, is for the birds and makes no sense at all. Just my 2 cents. Good luck on your presentation.

If its legal I have no problem with it.

It's called state's rights.

And I don't even think it should be state's rights but the individual's right to be able to decide. Why should the state be involved at all? If it doesn't have to do with safety or herd management the state should stay out of it!
Live it up! Doug

it is legal in some states and illegal in others, which, in the end makes it the choice of the land owner, and if that land owner is a hunter, or has bought the land specifically for hunting purposes, can plant any type of attractant he/she wants to. This is the same as dropping off a salt block or mineral block. So, states like mine, Iowa, baiting is not legal, but a land owner who leases or has bought land here can plant any attractant he/she wants. DNR does not regulate it. It is all baiting in my mind. Need to see some consistancy in laws before anything will change. No bait is the way to go:s8:

I call BS on the spreading disease.....Deer live nose to nose and are in close contact all the time.

I have used bait at times but most times I don't because it cost a lot and is a lot of work. Some guys that hunt a small tract can put out some corn and help his hunting. Guys with larger areas can put out food plots but not everyone has this option.

baiting deer
 

I hunt a managed pine tract that is surrounded by farms and other pine tracts. These are thick brushy areas where deer can roam. No real pattern to set up on, so by dumping corn it keeps does in the area, sure you can kill deer eating :but mostly I hunt trails leading from bedding areas. If I didnt dump ( i spread over an area) I probably wouldnt see many deer. This recent muzzleloader season I saw 22 deer mostly all were spikes buttons and a few does. I dont really want to kill the does yet because the make the best bait!!

When i started, i was 100% against bating.

Then i saw how much it worked, and if done right, it works TREMENDOUSLY.

Im still against it, but i grow more and more inclined to try it everyday...

Deer are primarily nocturnal already. Throwing corn out, putting up a feeder, or planting a food plot is not going to make them any more nocturnal than they already are.

Agree 100%

Baiting DOES NOT guarantee you will kill deer, deer will walk past 100lbs of corn to eat acorns or anything thing else they prefer. Planting food plots is the same thing as baiting IMO.

If it doesn't spread disease then why would it be banned in areas with CWD :confused:

IMO, baiting cheapens the hunt. You are changing the patterns of the deer vs. learning there's. In areas with overly high deer populations, I think it can be a good thing, especially for those who have little time in the woods or you really need the meat. I bait early in August and September by my cams to see what's out in the woods I'm hunting. I put out corn at the end of last season, only to thin some additional does at the farmer's request. It just didn't feel much like hunting, when there was two feet of snow on the ground and my corn was the easiest food to access.

Mike

I don't now, nor have I ever used bait. It may be legal but it remain unethical IMO. There for I am 100% against baiting.

I agree with you, but I didn't feel like opening that can of worms. Plus, my response more appropriately addressed the "across the board" comment.

And you're not changing patterns with calling, rattling and scented lures?

I think you are going to get different answers depending on what state a person lives in. If they live in a state with legal baiting, they are for it. State with illegal baiting? against it.

For me, I live in a state that does not allow baiting and I am not a fan of it. Ever watch a bear hunt where they hunt over bait stations? Boring as heck. I would rather hunt an area where I don't know what is going to come by and I don't know if anything will show up. To me, if you hunt over bait, you pretty much know deer will be around when you go hunting. I would rather hunt, not shoot.

Just my $0.02

I planted 35 apple trees this past year. Is that considered baiting? How about in 5 years when they begin producing apples.

I just picked up 7 5-gallon buckets of apples to take with me to the north woods which I plan to put out under these immature apple trees. Is this considered baiting.

Both will have the same result which is too keep the deer in the area and away from my neighbors corn piles.

If legal, it's the hunter's choice.

Guess it's time to remove the trophy rocks I've been putting out this summer. The rocks served two purposes, to supplement the deer's diet and to bring them in close for pictures on the trail camera. I'm starting to enjoy my trail camera activites almost as much as hunting.

Good luck with what ever hunting method you choose.

If I lived in a state where it was illegal I'd move!:biggrin: Btw I don't do much myself.... I might throw out a few apples that's about it. But I believe it should be up to an individual if they want to or not! There should be no law against it anywhere!
That would be fair to all because if they want to they can if they don't want to they don't have to!
Live it up! Doug

It is illegal to bait here and if it was legal I still wouldn't do it. It seems like it would take the fun out of hunting sitting 20 yards off a corn pile and pickin out which deer to shoot. Only time I do it is during pre season when I have my cameras set up and I want to see what I got on my property, but when bow season comes in I don't stick it out anymore.

Folks that think baiting is like shooting fish in a barrel may be surprised. I have one ladder stand I bait and also use my climber to hunt patterns when bow hunting.

The biggest thing with bait is usually you arent getting a shot at a half decent buck. They just seem to know not to come into the pile and the deer that do come in often will do a better job of noticing you are in the stand when you are, since they know what it smells like and looks like when you are not there.

It really depends though, baiting for a lot of folks isnt like you see on TV when some 500lbs feeder next to a water hole on a 500 acre ranch in Texas. Lots of folks may only have a few acres to hunt in hardwoods and if this isnt the deers usual stomping grounds they have to do what they can to bring deer to them. Not everyone has an area to stalk deer, some folks don't have 500 options of where to use their climbers. Heck a lot folks work hard and get 3 hours a week to hunt and properly scouting just isn't in the cards for them. And yes some guys just don't care, dump a truck load of apples and kill everything that comes into them.

Im of the mentality that I dont care what other hunters do or don't do. Baiting is legal in my state but X-bows are not. I know some guys that use them any way and really I don't care what they do or don't do in the woods. As long as they leave me alone they could tie up live doe in heat and it wouldnt bother me. I just like minding my own business for the most part.

I don't like doing it personally, but if it is legal and others want to do it I have not problem with it. I am a little on the fence about food plots though as it is almost the same thing as a pile of corn in my book. Though I did put out my first plot this year. It doesn't seem to be coming up though.

i live in kansas and it is legal to bait here. i have feeders that i fill which costs me about 50 bucks a barrel for a few weeks. i also had to make these feeders myself which they cost about 75 dollars a piece to make ( i have 2). i have to make trips to the feed store i have to spend money on gas to get to my hunting spot about 30 dollars a trip to replace batteries (more $$$) and check cameras. so having feeders involves time, money and work. now i have been out hunting this year probably 10 times and of the ten times i have only had deer come to my feeders while im sitting there 1 time. Now this is during the early season so right now they dont have to come in on my feeders to eat. So right now all my time money and work that i have been doing are not really paying off for me. what im getting at is not all baiting is just throwing a bag of corn out and the deer come running. it requires time, money and work ( you ever tried carrying two 50 pound bags of feed 200yards thru a plowed field just to turn around and do it again 15 minutes later? not fun!) and its not always succesful.

"Due to the unnatural concentration of animals associated with feeding, the probability of disease transmission among deer and other wildlife species, such as turkeys and raccoons, increases."

"Concentration of deer due to feeding can increase social interactions among deer that can lead to increased aggression and fighting resulting in broken antlers, injuries, and deaths"

"Feeding can disrupt normal movement of deer. Studies have shown that deer use portions of their home range more intensively when fed. Feeding deer can also result in overpopulation. As nutrition is increased, reproduction and survival can increase. If surplus animals are not harvested, deer can become overpopulated, which will again lead to habitat degradation."



And don't even try to compare baiting to planting a food plot, as they are not even remotely similar. Deer already will have natural food such as corn, alfalfa, and soy beans planted in most areas. A food plot is simply more of this, and one of the big reasons they are used is to help feed the deer through winter. Baiting is done is a very small area, where as a food plot will cover a much bigger portion. This small portion helps spreads disease. It is a fact, not an opinion.

A couple of points I would like to make.
There is a misconception about baiting spreading disease. This is ONLY possible where there are known cases of disease ALREADY occurring in a deer herd. It has NEVER been documented of happening in a healthy deer herd. Thus the potential for spreading disease is already present through normal deer herd activity if there are known cases already occurring.
Number two is you make 3 statements but you show no proof. You only parrot what the States say is the reason for banning baiting. Why because there is no REAL hard evidence to prove any of the things you CLAIM happens as a result of baiting. Show me the proof of what you claim or quit spreading these false truths.
Live it up! Doug

In regard to Duster's post, I would like to know which states ban baiting only during the season. Please post for your state. In Virginia, baiting is only banned DURING HUNTING SEASON. That means you can put a whole mountain of corn out 9 months of the year if you want to. So if the state, at least my state, were concerned about the points in Duster's post, putting out salt licks and corn and whatever else would be banned ALL THE TIME.

Maybe where you are at but a lot of folks don't hunt around farms. So putting any food in any location is the same here. If it grows or gets dumped out of a bag makes no difference to a lot of us.

Natural food source around me is mainly acorns. You got to remember it does not look the same off the front porch for everyone on this site. The only soy beans and alfalfa near me are at the grocery store. There is some corn but most of it is gone pre-season.

As far as spreading disease...does it seem to be a huge problem in the states that make it legal to bait? Are there any numbers comparing cases in baiting and non-baiting states?

I honestly don't know the answer to the numbers question but quoting some internet comment really doesn't answer the question. Heck we can prove and dis-prove global warming for a month if we are just going to use random quotes from the net. All the quote said was increase the probability...I mean so if it goes from .00001% to .00002% of a chance, there is an increase in probability but...not really. Hard facts are one thing but I didn't see any in the information you posted.

I think your an idiot! Yea if you use bait your a lazy hunter, i guess this means if you use bait you dont spend any time scouting or preparing for the season. So you dont think its right to bait for animals with items already found in there natural habitat. If you where out hunting and saw a harvester sitting in a field with some corn spillng out of it would that be ok since it wasnt intentionally put there? Get a life this is a forum to help and give each other advice or share stories. NOT TO BASH ON SOMES HUNTING TACTICS!:rant:

Theres cwd in ky and baiting is legal, how the hell can it help spread disease

No definite Yes or No answer
 

The game agencies have the reasons and their reasons for allowing hunting over bait or no hunting over bait.

Having seen a blind in west Texas, the hunting is nothing like hunting in a place like Ohio or Pennsylvania.

Besides, most hunters hunt one state. And few have a clue why some rules were instituted.

I hunt where it's legal. Baiting isn't the problem, it's slob hunters that put out 50 gallons when 2 gallons is the limit. Sometimes I bait but not much anymore. I tend to put out a quart of corn so they stop by to see if some is there. Baiting has gotten much less effective because slob baiters put out so much corn deer gorge themselves all night and sit all day with a bloated stomach. The deer also come in less during the day because with all the timber wolves running around the dumb deer that come in twice a day are figured out real fast and are the deer with their hides scattered all over the woods. Deer now days spend very little time around a bait pile, especially in the day time because of wolves.

Listen, people should be able to bait if it's legal. Not everyone has the time nor the money to til and plant, and yes it's the same. When u plant a plot with the intentions of hunting over it. What is the difference with pouring corn out? Just cause you put in some hard work into a plot doesn't make it different.

I bait cause the law says I can. I also have stands where I don't bait. I take bigger bucks off the non baited stands. When you pour corn into the middle of the woods deer aren't stupid. They know humans poured it. The reason some stands are baited is because u can place a camera on it and see whats in the area with out spending hrs placing cams on different trails.

I the end we all love to hunt deer. Bottom line I support your passion and respect your time and effort. You should respect mine. Good Luck!

The big difference between food plots and baiting is that food plot are a plus for all wildlife year round.Baiting is just meant for the hunter and the hunter only.So you tell me whos more ethical the guy throwing out buckets of corn for month and then stoping.Or the guy useing plots as a land management tool offering food when most animals need it winter.It always seems those that plot are also big into making the habitat better on there land also trees,native grasses and the like.