Baiting
 

i was going to post this in another thread, but decided to make it, its own topic.
Please stop saying that people who don't know how to hunt and calling it unethical, I joined this site just recently and I am seriously considering leaving just because of this.
Just because somebody doesn't hunt the same way you do does not make it unethical or make them less of a hunter.
Different areas require different tactics.
Different people have different time availabilites.
It is simply a choice that people make.
I personally do not hunt over bait, but it is done on our land and I do not see anything wrong with it.
Next thing is people will be saying it is unethical and unsportmanlike to put a worm on a hook and fish, or any other lure for that matter. If you do not want to bait that is fine, but don't attack people that do. I am not saying it is necesary anywhere but in some areas it definatly helps. For myself personally I am glad that there is baiting done on our land as it keeps the deer moving through our land and that increases my chance of seeing deer.

If it is legal, don't worry about what somebody else says. What is so dang "ethical" about sitting in a tree with a high powered rifle or any other weapon to shoot a deer.

Baiting where baiting is legal = ethical; baiting where it is not = unethical. I just want to hunt. If it's in Texas over a corn feeder or sliding down the side of a mountain chasing an elk in Colorado, it works for me. So long as its legal and within the respective game laws, I'm good.

Humans were not blessed with superior strength, speed, eyesight, claws, teeth or camouflage that other predators were. You want to know what hunting is? It's putting food in your gullet with any tool you have available to you. Our one tool that makes up for every other "lacking" attribute in the wild, is our intelligence. Use your head, and do as you see fit by your own time, fiscal, and physical constraints to put food in the freezer. Everything else you do, is as they say, icing on the cake.

Bait is one more tool that we came up with to feed ourselves and our families when hunting was required to survive. Are you going to go back 100 years ago and tell my great grandfather that he wasn't a hunter, because he fed his family by baiting rabbits into traps? Deer to a corn field or favored oak tree? Fish to a hook with some other fish on it?

To anyone who would say so, I say Grow up, and stop trying to measure your own penis against everyone else's.

Well said jdweim. We have never taken a deer over bait, but I dont understand why some people are so against it. As long as people are outside enjoying the sport we love, and following what is legal in their area, then what is gained by critisizing the method?

thanks to those who support my point
and yes i agree laws always must be followed wherever you hunt

and another point to add is if it makes people, especially those just getting into the sport, feel better about sitting and keeps there confidence level high, I am all for that
I am one who likes to grow the sport.

Develop a thick skin when on the internet...Remember, you don't have any idea about the experience of the other poster...I seldom repost to correct or banter with another, after all it could be a 9 year old...

It's interesting though what others want to bicker about...Some threads that get a lot of posts include...

1) .22s for deer...
2) .243 for deer...
3) Buckshot for deer...
4) Using bait as you have seen...
5) Using a crossbow instead of a compound...
6) Using dogs to run deer...

And on and on...Many don't realize that Native Americans even resorted to running buffalo off a cliff to kill them...I'll bet they didn't complain about tactics used to get their next meal...

i see the point you are getting at nchawkeye, however like you said the person on the other end could be someone young, and maybe he is asking about baiting. Now some guy is telling this new hunter, say maybe 12, 13, 14, whatever age that he/she is an unethical hunter and a lazy person because of this. In my opinion that is wrong.
and I do know what you mean about having thick skin on the internet, yes it is needed (although shouldn't be that way), and i do. I always welcome counter points and other views as long as it can be handled in polite manner. This does not include saying something that is plenty ok to do, is an unethical thing to do, just because someone doesn't agree with it.
That is using that term very loosly, actually to the point of improperly, and could deter someone from hunting if taken to heart. Because not everyone has thick skin and they are on the internet as well.

Enjoyed all the posts on this topic guys and it's good to see that not everyone is so judgemental and anit-baiting. I personally have done plenty of baiting as a young kid to try to increase my chances. I then found myself doing it again later in life to make the chances better for my young son who is now 13. I've been told I was cheating and it's wrong and I'm lazy and probably all the same things you guys have heard. I do know back before I was able to afford a 4 wheeler that carrying 50lbs and 100lbs bags of corn for 100's of yds through any type of terrain is a far cry from lazy. As a matter of fact my personal opinion is that the hunter who does bait is far less lazy than the average hunter. I also keep my feeders full 365 days a year and probably help more deer in the winter and in times of the many ice storms we get in my area than I shoot thats for sure. Just seems to many hunters want to make themselves out to be so much better than others strictly based on their tatics in harvesting an animal. We all have the same goal in mind and that is simply to see as many deer as we possibly can and harvest the ones we so choose. Would someone who is against baiting which is legal here where I live on all private ground frown against taking a 2nd or 3rd buck in such states that only allow 1 a year if the law were changed. The way I see it is the law is the law and if it's legal no one should be putting someone else down for trying to increase their chances. It's people like that who condemn us for baiting who are sitting over a 200 acre cut corn field or bean field and somehow believe that there is some great difference between them. Anyhow I am truly glad to see that there are still some people out there that don't think that it's an awful thing to do and again I enjoyed everyones thoughts. Good luck out there people!

I can’t bait due to Illinois law.

If they did I would not need a tree stand. I would just sit on top of a 20 foot pile of corn with a big smile on my face.

Its all about having fun and enjoying the outdoors.

bb