Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Anyone feed the animals in the winter? I put corn out by my house...they get in every day....

Pic from this morning....

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

i use to feed them but my pap stop giving us corn this winter because he ran out

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

They get in dumped at the rod and gun right by my house....so we get it there...

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

We have bird feeders set out all year and we used to feed the deer, but the DNR banned feeding in our county.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

DNR banned feeding in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan... Deer have had a hard winter already... Glad we got some ran and warmer temperatures.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

I think it's best to have feeding legal...helps keep animals alive though the winter

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Really depends on the situation and the area.

I have no clue where you reside, but there has to be a lot of snow and cold temperatures for a sustained time to hurt animals.

Feeding does help lessen winter severity, but it also promotes disease and likewise things. It can be dangerous, but disease has to be present to be spread.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Here there had been a lot of snow and it's rarly above 32*. The snow also has a layer of ice in it that makes it even harder for the deer to get around...

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

We used to put corn out and we got video of a couple nice bucks, but we just dont do it anymore

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

We used to do corn as well, but not anymore. Ive read that it actually hurts the deer more when you feed them.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

i feed my cows and ducks:Dyes it can be a pain
but actually i just found a well used deer trail that crosses a old fence and so i poured some corn over it hopping to catch so bucks crossing and stopping by to eat and knock off their antlers on the fence i hope i works :D

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

what is the DNR?

before i moved we fed deer during the winter and we had birdfeeders. if we used a bird feeder at our apartment the squirrels would tear it apart

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

we do. they get a shovel full of apples everyday. we only have about 7 deer at the house right now but most of you know that our deer heard took hell last winter so 7 is good! this winter is looking as bad if not worse then last unfortunatly. we are already past the half way total snowfall of last winter already. not good. we go through about 75-100 bushel of apples from about dec-march

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

we also got a least 70-100 turkeys coming in throughout the winter all in different sized groups, i think the biggest group we would get was around 50-60 turkeys, that was pretty cool i miss all the wildlife now, no seeing deer and turkeys when you live up in an apartment building

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

cant believe you traded in the easy goin layed back country livin for endless piles of pigeon chit

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

were on the outskirts, its not all city not where we are anyways. i was making the bed today and looked at the window and there was a huge Northern Harrier Hawk sitting on a branch almost touching the window so that was pretty cool. ultimately if jason stays in chatham for his work then we are going to move out into the country part, there is a lot of beautiful land for sale for really cheap prices. and if we end up relocating to Cape Breton then he was told that we would be moving to a cabin in the middle of nowhere anyway so definately lots of wildlife out there

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

thats pretty cool. just curious, whats virgin land goin for where you are. $/per acre?

also, i too was makin the bed today wondering why the hell am i doing this. ill be sleepin in it again in a matter of hours.....makes no sense to me

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

sky i think the same thing:D

i was baiting for deer but im stopping now becasue bowseason over

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

ya noe... there once was a kid who asked that very same question to his father. And guess what his father said??? His father said, ''"then why do you wipe ur butt after you take a dump?"

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

becasue if dont your gonna smell like s*** and your gonna chafe big time. and if you dont make your bed..............................nothing happnens;)

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

The Department of Natural Resources. In Wisconsin, you can call them either, "Destroyer of Natural Resources," or "Department of Nazi Resources." They do a lot more harm than good.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

im not completely sure i know there was a house for sale a little while ago. big beautiful house, lots of land, tractor trailer garage, two normal garages...$30,000

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

ok thats what i though it was, we have the MNR here Ministry of Natural Resources, same thing.

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

are you flippin kiddin me!!! i built mine w/ land and one garage for 225,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!! i should become a canadian!but i would probably get mugged by angry montreal fans for wearing a bruins sweatshirt.....you know the Bruins dont ya CC!?!?! you know, the only team that really matters!?

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

total truth. no worries there are only a couple montreal fans out here very rare actually i only know one and its my boyfriend. ive only met like 5 people in chatham though, im not a social butterfly so i dont really go looking for friends so there might be a bruins fan out here lol i dont know

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

lmfao!!! hard to believe your not a social butterfly! lol

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

lol you would be surprised. i have to meet somebody a couple times before i only say hi and bye lol

-CC

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

i got some cool pictures of my bait pile in snow that im gonna post up someday

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

here is a picture from my stand over looking a bait pile.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

its illegal here in new york

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Just so you know Mossy, im against hunting over baitpiles. It takes the skill out of it. I dont care what arguements you, or anybody else, give me....i will never change my mind. People here shoot 150" bucks over cornpiles like nothing, which makes anything else you shoot look "small" and "pathetic". Its just not right and it hurts the sport. I rank it right up their with high fence hunting.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Really? I shot my buck over a salt block this year butI put my stand in that location because of a trail I had found nearby. Not to mention the fact the he walked past the salt block and never even blinked. Also what do you consider baiting? Is it corn piles, food plots, salt blocks, trophy rocks.... what is you opinion of one I would like to know because I really dont know what to consider a baited area.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

i think baited means physically having a timed feeder dumping out feed or pouring out corn for deer along those lines. i dont know if salt blocks go under "baiting" but i know food plots dont.
caleb to be honest with you i have never seen a deer eat my bait. i put it out to bring more deer in the area, and to give them a reason to come to that spot. i dont see anything wrong with it at all. its natural, indians could have ripped off corn and put it in a pile for deer, so i see nothing wrong with it. high fence hunting is a completely different thing IMO and bear baiting is as well

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Maybe in your neck of the woods. Different land calls for different measures. There is land that I hunt if you aren't putting out a food source, you aren't seeing a deer.

Call me unskilled... I put just as much if not more time into scouting and hunting than anybody who is a big, bad "non-baiter".

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Heres my answer to all of you....

#1, When a hunter or nature lover puts out corn in the winter for deer, it takes them off of their natural feeding patterns. They will pattern themselves to the corn (most likely hitting it at night). This is not good however because contrary to what people are made to believe, corn is not "good" for a deer. It has little nutritional value. Deer should be out foraging and eating a variety of plants in the winter to keep themselves healthy. But when corn is made readily available, it turns off that cycle. Also, if the hunter would ever forget to put corn out for an extended period, or stop altogether, it really screws with their feeding habits.

#2, Deerfeeding from feeders/troughs/cornpilesare believed tobe able to spread CWD and other saliva/blood based diseases. This reason alone should be enough to not put corn piles out.

#3, It creates a "fish in a bucket" syndrome. I used to use corn in front of my game cameras. When i saw that i could get 2 bucks and 5 does together at the same time during daylight hours, i stopped. Why? Because their is no skill in throwing out a pile of corn and "ringing the dinner bell"for deer hunting. I am not in this to "feed my family" (though we enjoy, and eat every deer we harvest), or "increase my kill numbers". I deer hunt to have fun in the outdoors, learn about the animal, and my ultimate goal is to be able to ethically harvest a mature whitetail year after year.

Arguments could be made that;

"You must not be from around here", no, i may not be, but you dont have to bait deer to kill them. If deer are so scarce that you believe the only way to kill them is to bait, then i suggest moving to a different are and letting the population rebound. Take our friend Skybuster, his deer numbers are extremely poor, so he TRACKS his quarry. That is true hunting to me. Kudos to him. People who are from Texas and other southern states say baiting is the only way and thats how THEY do i. Thats fine. I don't have a problem with that, any legal choice is okay with me. But inside, i don't view them as the same kind of hunter as me, and thats just opinion.

"Food Plots", this one is tricky, because technically YOU are putting it their and it is acting like a bait station. But, food plots require many factors to work, and if you can grow them successfully in your climate, then they are legally natural and the deer have a choice of which browse to feed on. Also, they are usually larger then a 5 gallon bucket, thus spreading out your chances of harvesting a deer in one. If you put the time and EFFORT into building a great food plot, then i personally feel that you earned the right to hunt over it and use it fair. I have not used one yet, but i plan to in the future. I view food plots just like i view farm fields, you have to draw a line where to cut out ethical and unethical in you own mind.

"calls and scents", i find these ethical because you are using his own weaknesses against him. He has a choice weather to respond or not. Deer HAVE to eat, they dont have to come looking for every hot doe in the county.

"mineral licks", these actually help deer grow antler if you use trace minerals. The only downside is the possible spreading of CWD because of the saliva factor. Studies have proven that MOST deer (Not all, there are exceptions) abandon mineral licks after the summer months. if you choose to hunt over them, that is your call. I do not, but i do have a few established licks.

Once again, everything i said is just my opinion, and nothing else. Everyone is entitled to there own, and it is wrong for me to try and change your own logic on the subject. But, like ive shown, im not afraid to offer mine up for discussion.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

i think you might have changed my mind about baiting a little caleb; this is well said and well thought out; i still may bait, but do it a lot less often, and i am going to plant a food plot this spring/fall so i wont have any reason to bait really.
the only thing i disagree with is the deer scents and calls. i most certainly do use deer calls and scents and have had success with both, but i believe that it is instinct for deer to go to the noise or smell of another deer. it is a weakness they have, but there stomach is also one of their weaknesses. deer have to eat but they also HAVE to breed, there not like humans who do it for fun,:Dthey have to do breed to survive. JMO

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

Good points Evan, but 95% of the bucks i have called/rattled at have ignored it completely. The only one who showed interest this year was Freak Daddy, and he came into both because he was the TOP DAWG in the area and he knew it. My intentions were not to chance your mind BTW, just to throw my opinion out there.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

you didnt make me change my mind just made me think about it. really i dont see THAT many more deer baiting and and corn is expensive and if i could be hurting my herd baiting; i will not do it anymore.
actually most of the deer i saw, i used a doe estrus can call 5 minutes before i saw the deer. i think im a little too afraid to rattle because its just so loud and im not sure how big the bucks on my land actually are and the last thing i want to do is scare deer away from me

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

The thing about "How big the bucks are" is irelevant. Even if they biggest buck is a 120 class deer, he could still be the TOP DAWG. I dont know your area very well, your going to have to keep us updated with trail camera pictures so we can see your deer class.

RE: Anybody else feed the animals in the winter?
 

theyve been liking the peanutbutter and lettuece at my house they also eat out of the neibors birdfeeder i try to feed them because we always used to feed them and now they rely on us so i cant really stop.. im probably going to buy a couple pounds of bird seed