You could have enough stand locations so you can move to where the deer are. You said you are hunting 7 hunters on 175 acres. Sounds like a lot of land. You could have several stands for each hunter. I own 42 acres, with 3 hunters. We currently have 7 tree stands and one ground blind, with more planned for the future. Rather than sitting in one spot all season, get out and hunt the entire property. I think you will have a lot more fun.

Baiting is legal in Michigan, but I don`t allow bait on the property. I bought it to hunt, not to sit in one spot over a bait pile.

" As a general rule, you don' t make the deer come to you, you go to the deer." Good observation, FL/GA Hunter. Isn`t that why we call it hunting ,not shooting?

I' m not going to put anyone down for hunting over bait, however I prefer not too. I use supplemental food during summer months as nutrition and I may throw out some deer cane during summer months to aid my trailcam, but once the season comes near I do not refresh the bait. Not only is it illegal to " hunt" bait here, but personally I feel that it takes away from the whole experience. I can understand though if you just plain and simple dont have the time to invest, but at 15 I made sure that I was ALWAYS in the woods. I have always hunted the same 330acre lot, and thanks to my teenage years, I know every single inch of that property. Like I said, Im not trying to put down your style, but take the extra time to find out exactly what the deer are eating NATURALLY, find there beds and feeding areas....more importantly, find thier travel routes, and set up in there!!! Trust me, once you get this down pat, it will increase your chances by along shot!! Good Luck!!! I sometimes wish I could go back and do it all over again!! We all learn new things about these animals day by day, but the basics that you learn now you will always use and look back on, not only that but they hepl determine your skill as a hunter. Stick in there and it' ll happen

Rack Attack hit it right on the head....Baiting becoming illegal could of been the best thing that ever happened to you as a hunter!

As someone stated earlier, you have to go where the deer are. Now is a chance to learn how to hunt and not sit on a bait pile. You need to find where the deer are moving through and using the wind set up some stands to get them. I hunt in Va. where baiting is illegal so we have to go to the deer, we have to hunt. I will tell you this, once you learn how to hunt with out bait you will kill bigger bucks, older bucks generally will not eat from bait piles from what I have heard except at night, that is how they get big.

If you want big bucks and want to employ bait you have to set up AWAY from the bait, where the other deer enter and exit the bait area. The big boys will stay off a good distance but can and will monitor the traffic in and out of the bait.

well as everyone knows baiting is legal in TEXAS and i don' t see the differance between baiting or hunting over a food plot or crops it is the same thing IMO

On my place hear in TEXAS i have feeders and food plots most of the stands are over feeders ,,,but some of the ones i have are deep in the wood over tails,rubs and scrapes,,,they also produce good deer just as the baiting areas do

I have taken a few deer with my bow over bait, in a way it does take from the fun i think. I mostly only do it when im really in need of some meat. Usually i will just put out some shell corn in an area where i want to hunt for a few weeks before season and then completely stop before opening day. The deer get used to coming to the feed pile and make it part of there route to bedding and other feeding areas. One downfall that i have seen is that i have never seen a racked buck on any of the feed areas, only does and yearlings and buttons. Alot of the people i know that have feed piles say the same thing that you rarely see bucks on them unless its late at night. Im not saying thats always the case thats just what i have seen. You definetly dont want to dump a huge pile of feed that is a waste of time and feed, i usually take half a 5 gallon bucket of corn and spread it out over a spot about 20 yards in diameter. That way they have to search and mill around to get it all it keeps them there for awhile and keeps them coming back because they dont get stuffed. It also keeps them going to their usual feeding spots cause its just basically a snack between meals. Like i said i just mostly use the bait to get them coming to an area where i want to set up, especially if im hunting an area that i dont know that well, or were they have alot of area to rome, it helps to get them on a path that you can easily pattern them by. It doesnt always work but it does help out .

trac209, baiting may be illegal period in your province but here in Saskatchewan it is the opposite...baiting is legal! Just an FYI

Now to the post, I have baited in the past (don' t now for various reason that I care not to get into) and it was never a gravy train or as easy as some would like you to think. First of all the effort that goes into to baiting deer is as high and in some case higher than that of regular hunting styles. You still need to do your homework: scout, transition routes, feeding grounds, bedding areas, water sources, wind direction, etc as with other forms of hunting. However you must also keep baiting, watch the entrance times/direction, cover your tracks, ask permission and the list goes on. While some may find success in harvest A " deer" over a pile throw in the genral travel route of game, harvesting THE " deer" takes the same diligent efforts with baiting vs. non baiting techniques. I never found it dramatically increased my odds on mature bucks, deer sights went up not mature buck sightings! I actually found I spent more time preparing for my hunting timing when baiting and less time actually hunting...ok I am going into reasons why I don' t anymore, I will stop there!

My take on it is: if legal it is just another technique that a hunter can CHOOSE to employ if desired to harvest game by, it is just that a choice. I don' t really see it much different than hunting a food source, food plot or even the use of scents/calls. If the playing field is level (meaning we all can do the same if we desire), than I really see no problem with the baiting practice, nor do I see it as wrong or a threat to my hunting areas. The only way I would if it was proven it impacted the health of the deer and thats it.

While we have seen a rise in deer population and disease in my area, their is no proof that baiting is the cause. In fact in most areas dealing with CWD, etc it is the fault of management of the herd and urbanization. We always blame nature for impacting our way of living, but never think of how we have impacted theirs!!!! To think CWD is directly the cause of hunters baiting is crazy. When the deer or game are above the land mass carrying capacity, baiting may not help in disease spread any but the underlying fact is we/DNR/Government are partly to blame for allowing the herd to get that point in the first place.

I guess I look at both sides of the fence, I choose now to just hunt hard and use my knowledge base to try to get a mature buck. However this is in noway reflects or suggests my buddies who employ baits, are lesser or lazy hunters. I can make this choice and know that baiting doesn' t require any less work, knowledge or experience than my way. As such no skin off my rear when one of baiting pals shows up in my driveway with a trophy animal, as far as i am concerned he worked & earned that deer.

I think a person can become a much better hunter without bait.
Like rack-attack said " in a way"
I think that people should try to hunt without bait, it makes the hunt a lot more challenging and a lot more rewarding in the end

No difference between a feeder and a food plot. I am ROTFLMFAO. Whens the last time you heard a food plot go off and watched the deer come a runnin? Give me a break.

Hey...just for the record what the heck does ROTFLMFAO mean??? It took me forever to figure out the ' IMO' one!!

I' m not used to all this computer jargon!