Baiting Deer?

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Baiting for deer here just isn't done. I guess it could work but why bother? The whitetails congregate in the alfalfa fields anyway so if that's what you want just go talk to a farmer and shoot the dang deer. Mule deer seem a bit different than the whitetails here. I guess baiting might work but I don't see people doing it.

Now elk and black bear is a different deal. For elk there is a big ethics controversy as to whether it's OK to put out salt. Never mind the corn, elk are addicted to salt licks. On the outskirts of Yellowstone it used to be common practice to pack up salt blocks to lure the elk into an area. Yeah it's highly illegal but I think there are people who still do it. And black bears love a free feed. They used to take a horse into the back country and kill it for bear bait. You can't do that now, but people still can take in their favorite bear bait in a jar and spread it around. There's all kinds of arguments for and against it. As for me I guess I'm just too dang lazy to try to circumvent the laws to even try things like those. If I get a shot at an elk or bear that's cool. Otherwise, there's always next year for me.
 
Yeah I agree.I say we get rid of all acorn trees,corn fields,soy bean fields,wheat fields etc etc..how ridiculos is this thread.:rolleyes:
 
Yeah I agree.I say we get rid of all acorn trees,corn fields,soy bean fields,wheat fields etc etc..how ridiculos is this thread
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I think there's a misconception here between a food plot and baiting. I've seen planted fields that were so big you couldnt see the other side. Definately narrows down the area to hunt, still need to look for scrapes and tracks to see where they are coming and going.

A feeder on the othe hand is nothing more then a food trough that is always there for the taking. Animals get used to going by there fir their daily snack. I know guys that spend thousand of bucks $$$ (pun intended) on corn to keep these filled in the months leading up to the season opener.

Sorry I feel like this is no different the the catfish pool for kids at boat shows and carnivals. Or the proverbal saying "Like shooting fish in a barrel". I dont see any sportsmenship in it what so ever.
 
Down here in Fl, supplemental feeding is considered almost essential - especially if you have a relatively small place to hunt. Consider our situation. I hunt on a small cattle lease that is only about 250 acres. It is surrounded by much larger properties that have better cover and food (unfortunately, I can't hunt those properties). We have to run feeders year-round just to keep the deer interested in straying over to our area.

The feeders only spin out for 2 or 3 seconds at a times twice a day. It doesn't provide enough corn to really feed them, just keep them interested in the area. By far, most of the corn is eaten after dark. In fact, we very seldom see a deer actually come to the feeder looking for a meal.

It doesn't really "bait" them for shooting purposes. It just keeps them in the area so that we have a better chance of seeing them.
 
Sure your right.and lets get rid of the sunflower fields and milo fields when dove hunting.I dont like people who use a feeder for the sole purpose of hunting.We have feeders all over the place but it not an area used for hunting.Guess you just have to know the difference.
 
Mn outlawed baiting years back and I attended the public input meetings that take place prior to regulation changes.
This was way before CWD . The DNR stated that they wanted to get baiting under control before it became the problem that it is in Michigan. The example given was the hunters on public property were complaining because private landowners were baiting their property's so heavily that they were not getting opportunity's on public lands. They showed pictures of dump truck loads of pumpkins being used as bait.
To the surprise of many of us at the meeting, we learned that it had never been illegal to hunt over a salt lick. Mineral blocks are not bait in the MN DNR rules.
I myself have never baited. I do not see any difference between baiting and planting a garden just for hunting over either.
I do not fault anyone who puts the amount of work into deer harvesting that food gardens require. As long as what the hunter is doing is legal why would I care. I just don't do it myself.
 
it just isnt right!

Put down a stack of $100's in the middle of the 5th avenue in NY City and its the same thing!

Deer ( any wild animal) is drawn to food like people are drawn to money... takes them out of thier natural tendancies...

Hunting is hunting... not baiting... just like fishing is fishing... not catching.
 
I work with a guy that, with his friend, put in a 3 acre food plot with a walk behind rototiller.........that's nuttier than squirrel crap
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I bought a $40,000 John Deere 5410 4X4 with a loader, a 13 foot grain drill, 9 foot disc and an 80 inch rotary tiller pretty much just do do food plots. Nutty? Probably. But, I get a kick out of it.
 
Nothing wrong with saying, "Baiting is not my idea of hunting." But let's don't get into a frenzy to see who can bad-mouth the loudest. There are no prizes or trophies for "Snarkiest Comment of the Day".
 
I do bait but at the same time I don't, it's completly natural. I hunt in an old apple orchard on my Grandfather's tree farm.:D
However, did anyone see the picture of a bait pile with a sign posted next to it that read, "This is not a bait pile, this is a compost pile, anything caught eating my compost will be shot on sight!".
 
I think this is one of those topics where emotions get going.

We can bait here in FL but that doesn't mean you are going to have deer waiting in line to eat at your feeder. When I was on leases, I had feeders and food plots and I never saw a deer at a feeder, never mind shot one over the feeder. I did have a yearling doe feeding at my food plot tho'. All we ever got in our feeders were hogs and turkeys (not to shoot but they like corn).

If it is legal - go for it. Some guys like to hunt for meat and not for the "thrill of the hunt". If they can shorten their time in the woods, more power to them.

I sure wish I could shorten my time in the woods.
 
People will probably think I am FOS, but I could kill fifty deer a year if it was legal and I had any reaosn to want to. My neighbor is not even a hunter and he killed forty some last year and has already killed thirteen this year. I don't make food plots to kill deer over because the odds of a good buck poking his head out in it before dark is just about zero.
They are good for the deer and they keep them out of my neighbors soy beans who will most certainly shoot the crap out of them of he sees them.
 
and for that matter -we need to make sure ranchers dont put out any range cubes or mineral block or salt blocks.They attract deer too.

I mean really, we could beat this horse to death for a month.

Bottom line is this -its a bad case of allowed vs not allowed.Those state that allow it -everyone is fine with it.Those states that dont allow it-those people hate the idea.
What we as Hunters/Shooters should be more worried about is SOTOMAYOR..she is going to be the biggest challenge to the 2nd admen in a long time.This woman is racist and anti-gun.Supreme Court?? I dont think so.
Okay -I am off my soapbox now:D
 
My main concern in this argument is HABITAT health and not the perceived sporting values of various types of hunting. Throughout most of Texas, the main problem we have is too many deer. The overabunce of deer limits forb diversity, prevents recruitment of important trees and shrubs, and lowers overall deer herd health (average weight of dressed does in/around Austin is under 70 pounds). Care to find a Spanish oak or cedar elm tree in the Edwards Plateau (two extremely important deciduous species for insects and songbirds as well as mast production for deer) under 30 years of age in this area that isn't protected by a cage, extreme slope, or some other way where deer can't prevent their growth? Good luck!

The last thing we need is more restrictions on how deer are harvested. Heck, we can't shoot enough given that we are allowed to bait and have a long season length.

We just opened up our bow season to crossbows. They should give us 20 tags instead of 5 and have the season run from Sept. 1 through the end of February. $0.02
 
My main concern in this argument is HABITAT health and not the perceived sporting values of various types of hunting. Throughout most of Texas, the main problem we have is too many deer. The overabunce of deer limits forb diversity, prevents recruitment of important trees and shrubs, and lowers overall deer herd health (average weight of dressed does in/around Austin is under 70 pounds). Care to find a Spanish oak or cedar elm tree in the Edwards Plateau (two extremely important deciduous species for insects and songbirds as well as mast production for deer) under 30 years of age in this area that isn't protected by a cage, extreme slope, or some other way where deer can't prevent their growth? Good luck!
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Last time I checked, feeding the deer helped to increase their numbers, not reduce them. A lot of hunters feed deer all year or at least feed them through much of the fall and winter so as to get the deer used to and continuing to come to the feeders.

And, it isn't just the deer that feed on young Spanish Oaks. They are readily overgrazed by cattle, domestic sheep, and domestic goat.
 
The only thing we can bait in Me. are bear and coyote, no feeders for the wily whitetail, have a friend that got a warning about moving rotten apples from under his trees over to the forest edge if he left them under the tree he could shoot legally but not over the pile go figure only 25 yds difference. Hunting bear over bait is not my bag, I prefer hounds, but coyotes is a different proposition because I'm helping the deer herd.
 
DNS, the "feeding" of deer on Texas deer leases is almost always just from a week or so before the start of the season until the end. Roughly 2.5 months. And, generally, the daily amount from a clock-feeder is merely enough to attract, not sustain.

The area that Austinite is talking about, there oughta be open season on does all year long and maybe even a bounty on them. For a year or six, anyway.
 
Good Grief-

That statement is no where near true or factual.

Those of us who put out supplemental feed do so year round 24-7.

The idea of someone putting corn on the ground two weeks prior to deer season opening is not a hunter at all.The same goes for the person shooting deer under a feeder.I am sure there are a few that practice this procedure and then want to call themselves "hunting" but by far its only a few.
Get your facts straight!!

One of my favorites is this one: we drove to our blind and while doing so we put corn out at the same time.Then we jumped in our blind and shot the first doe we saw,man that was a great hunt.:mad:
 
CornSignTHUMB.jpg

I had my dad make me these signs to keep them pesky deer off my corn piles...
Actually i do not bait but only due to regulations. Silly thing too as walmart has a half isle set up during season of various flavored licks and liquid syrups that are legal as heck.
For me I feel that if you shoot a deer over ANY bait and you claim it as a "HUNT" than your teeth should fall out of your mouth as punishment for lying. I would gladly pour out a sack of corn so long as I could shoot a couple deer over it.
You see, I am not a hunter for sport. I would rather pop the cork on a jug of un-aged corn liquor at a hunting camp and hang out away from the wiminz a few days... I amnot so lucky nor wealthy so I just shoot deer for meat. I don't travel more than a few miles so as not to waste money. I rate my success on pounds of meat in the freezer per dollar spent to get it. I actually total my practice rounds as well as those fired at deer to determine final cost per pound. I really try to stay under .40 cents per pound:o Cheap azz I admit it!
Brent
 
I believe an unintended benefit of the no baiting law in MI is that the deer didn't go nocturnal from eating on huge bait piles at night. Several of us in my area saw more deer during the day than we have for a long time. Consequently we had more fun. It was actually worthwhile to hunt during the day, even all day.

I have baited in the past but am now hoping the ban is permanent.
 
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