PREFACE; If I had done a better job in the early season, I wouldn't be asking this question.....
The deer where I hunt are fed extensively year round by people that live in my neighborhood. The deer hang out all hours of the day and even bed in the neighborhood wood lots/brushy areas. You can see them eating in people's back yards morning, midday and evening. This area can not be hunted since it is illegal. There is nothing to draw them away from this food source into the woods I have permission to hunt(outside the neighborhood) at this point in the season.
Would you put food out to bring them in? Yes, I am asking for opinions.
FEEL FREE TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINION. DO NOT POST JUST TO ARGUE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS A DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHY. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND I HAVEN'T MADE UP MY MIND ON THIS. I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ALL POINTS OF VIEW BEFORE I DECIDE TO "STICK TO MY GUNS" OR GIVE IN WITH COUNTER-MEASURES.
:confused:
:campfire: :archer:
I would -- baiting is not something I typically do. However, in certain situations I have and would again. It's a personal choice (as long as it's legal in your area). If you see it as okay, then go for it. No one has the right to tell you otherwise.
If you still have some freezer space, and see that as your only real shot at getting an opportunity, then I say go for it. Enjoy the hunt and post a pic of you kill!
Yup.
If it's legal in Ohio, it wouldn't bother me a bit to throw out a square bale of alfalfa near my stand. It doesn't have to be right under your tree. You could catch them coming and going.
I doubt it will work though. If you had all the beer, chips and burgers you could eat within arms reach of the couch; why would you EVER go to the garage?
Good luck though.
OkKeith
What'dya going to bait with..........sausage gravy and biscuits? :laughing:
In this case yes. I'd try to see what the handouts are. They're probably getting some "treats" and not really food.
How far away would you be from these neighborhood areas where the deer are hanging around the neighbors bait?
I say like OkKeith....you dont have to hunt directly over the bait. Catch them en route....but again like OkKeith said, not sure if it would work this late, but you could try if investing in the attractant is no issue! Go for it!
And if no dice this year, make it a project for next year....get em checking that area for food or treats (that youve been lacing the area with all late spring thru summer and into early fall) and curb their routine of stopping at the block party banquets......it would be a fun experiment and a learning process if nothing else....
if its leagal give it a shot,cant hurt nothin.
Not legal here, if it's legal there only you can decide if it's what you want to do.Everyone will have an opinion, but in the end it's what you feel inside that will make the choice to bait or not!
Lots of cracked corn and wild bird feed is what they get in "da hood" from our locals.
Funny Greg! :campfire:
QuoteOriginally posted by VTer:
What'dya going to bait with..........sausage gravy and biscuits? :laughing:
He wants deer to come in not Biggie H. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
And if it's legal do it !Molasses yum yum
When in Rome... As long as it's legal of course.
If it's legal yes.
if it is legal in your state and you are ok with it than yes........
If its legal, and in this situation, I'd do it.
If your neighbor planted a giant food plot that drew all the deer to feed and had a large bedding area, but wouldn't let anyone hunt there would you bait an area to get deer movement where you had permission to hunt? That is the delema that has developed in parts of Kansas by outfitters that bring in truck loads of corn and plant food plots. I say do what you have to if you want deer travel in your hunting area. Otherwise the rut is your only friend.
If it's legal, and you feel right about it, go for it. Sounds like there's some need for a bit of population control anyway.
Good one Tim!
I hunt over bait some..I would, especially in your circumstance.Ricky
Bait the does and the bucks will follow.
If its legal. Not sure you'll pull em out of there but worth a try.
i would bait them but just be sure that if you stick one its not so close to the houses that are feeding them that the deer runs to someones yard and falls over dead.that would be my only concern.
Buckeye: You have to make this call yourself based on your own ethics. I would only suggest that some things that are legal aren't ethical, and some things that are ethical aren't legal.
Papa Bear beat me to it. I have no prob with baiting them to a spot to hunt but would hate for them to wide up in someone's front yard tacking out. Aim small miss small--Fill the freezer man!!
You do have two options. Drive 'em out or bait 'em. I'd use cracked corn and something I head about call Big & J or J & Big. Believe it's available at Cabelas.
Bowmania
Absolutely!
I feel for you . I'm in Jersey and we have a lot of retirement communities that are surrounded with good deer woods . I was doing a job in one last spring and the woman I was working for called me to go to the back yard as there was a deer there acting funny . As I came around the house the acting funny part was actually giving birth by the back patio .I kept my distance not wanting to screw things up . The problem here is that the deer grow up feeling safe around the houses and don't wander into the woods too far . That coupled with the fact that baiting is now legal here it seems anytime you find good deer sign it is usually going to someone's feed site . If you don't bait and hunt runs you're probably cutting off someone else 's spot . Your best chance for a good deer here is the first week . Guys put out so much bait that the deer just feed at night . The ends have to justify the means and the means have to justify themselves .
If legal DO IT! :thumbsup: KY
QuoteSounds like there's some need for a bit of population control anyway.
[/QB]
Well put.
I would not, simply because I despise the practice! One ,for the very reason you mention, it concentrates the deer away from those that don't, then,for the potential of spreading disease (CWD comes to mind),Also, its expensive, and i'm a tightwad,and then ,its unsightly and ruins the natural beauty of the hunting surroundings, and , ethics, if everyone has to check from one locale to the other if its legal...., lastly, I would just feel like I cheated my self out of actually hunting, by sitting over a bait pile. I Actually pity the new crop of bowhunters, and rifle hunters that hunt this way, and this way only. They are missing out.
I would, if they're not feeding together on your corn pile they'll just feed together somewhere else. Deer are social animals and I would think that if you could get them to start coming to your area others would surely follow.
Find their water source and use mineral attractant. I put out a mineral block, one of the small ones that's like a brick, and the deer have pawed it in half. It's only been out a few weeks. They have to drink soon after the mineral lick.
Around here if you don't bait then someone else's bait pile will draw them away. I'm fortunate enough to hunt an area that the deer travel frequently all times of the day so baiting is not a must.
It must be legal or you wouldn't be asking. Therefore, do what feels right to you. I wouldn't because it wouldn't feel right to me.
i wish i could bait. i have a doe tag and im having troble trying to fill it with all the gunhunters walkin aroun. sorry to burst your bubble but as far as i know your not allowed to bait deer in ohio. at least that what ive herd.
QuoteOriginally posted by $bowhunter$:
i wish i could bait. i have a doe tag and im having troble trying to fill it with all the gunhunters walkin aroun. sorry to burst your bubble but as far as i know your not allowed to bait deer in ohio. at least that what ive herd.
It's been legal to bait deer in Ohio for a couple years now. You can't bait turkeys.
1. In Ohio you can bait deer on private land but not public land.
2. The deer polulation is rediculous here in the neighborhood. We counted 12 bucks and 9 does walking in a line/groups behind one house in the course of 5 minutes. That is a conservative number. I think there were more does. One area of the woods where they like to hang out the most has zero brush/undergrowth left. They do need thinned out.
3. The reason I asked the original question is that I am on the fence about this. I have little chance without baiting, but I WANT to take a deer without resorting to baiting. Ethically, I am fighting with myself. I don't want to cheapen the experience in any way if I can avoid it.
Still not decided....
Sounds to me like you just answered your own question and we have 3 pages of those who condone baiting. Where I live there are more bait piles than deer, and everyone uses the same ol excuse if you don't bait you'll never kill a deer. A hunter can scout and hunt a place for several years and then go in one year and find a huge bait pile with a ladder stand 15 yards away and that territory is "claimed". I never have baited and never plan to start and my freezer is always as full as I want it to be. Yeap it's tuff at times but I sleep good at night.
I'd find a new place to hunt.
I wouldn't. I don't like the consequences of baiting and the concentration of game species.
Yeah, yeah, everyone else is doing it. You could just as easily say if you won't stand up for doing things right, who will?
Just my opinion, but I don't need venison that bad.
Bait the deer and enjoy the venison. There's a reason Ohio has urban deer zones and antlerless tags. The best way to hunt deer near urban areas is to bait them, especially when properties are small with residential close by. There is a management side to what we do and the fact is there are times when it is all about the kill.
BTW... The concentrations of deer already exist in urban areas in Ohio. That's why they need hunted. Baiting these deer has nothing to do with that. Big difference between hunting urban deer and wilderness deer. Not even remotely the same situation.
Lots of good points mentioned.
A clean kill from these woods still leaves me with a SLIGHT chance it could wind up in someone's yard. Most likely, even on a bad hit, there are plenty of places a deer would "lay up" instead of going back into the neighborhood where they might be bothered by dogs etc.
Luckily, the wind is bad tomorrow so I can think about it a bit. I will hunt it straight up without bait at least one more time for sure and go from there.
I gotta say I'm suprised so many people understand the baiting issue in this case. I though more people would still be dead set against it.
I agree with the "If it is legal, you can do it" comments.
However, I would not bait anything ... just from personal experience, I've found that baiting isn't all that successful and isn't all that rewarding.
I feed my rabbits and doves and quail every day, calling "Here Babies", and they learn to trust me. I just can't bring myself to hunt something that has learned to trust my actions. I'd rather that they regard me as a Predator if I intend to kill them ...
I'm not wanting to start an argument, just stating one Old Man's opinion ...
The one big thing that jumps out at me here is the deer density, I have a couple pieces of land i hunt that the reason i'm there is a homeowner asked me to thin out the herd because it had gotten to thick, I love and prefer hunting baitless and have to anyway in michigan, but come december when they're asking me how many deer i've shot and it's 1 or 2, I would love to dump out some bait and stack up a few in a couple hunts. Fill every freezer in town with deer that need to be managed. So I guess I'm saying, need to kill some deer=bait, want to enjoy hunting in its purity and maybe less action=no bait. If I had the option I would do both.
Urban management is a different situation altogether and I have no problem with legal baiting for that case. Also in my experience you don't have to worry too much about wounded deer heading for people's backyards. Mature deer seem to have an escape route already in mind and you can be sure it is one that gets them away from human development as quickly as possible.
A young deer on the other hand... they are the dangerous ones, and can do anything after being hit... like run back into the neighborhood to try to join up with the rest of the herd.
Heck yes I would. As far as cheapen a hut don't thinks so. I baited for bear in AK. Made a 55 gallon drum into a feeding station that hung on the side of a tree. Put dog food and grease from deep fryers in it. It was a lot of work. Bear were using it, but I heard one spoke off as I came in to my stand.
I put corn on the ground in west TX to try and draw a mulie just outside of el Paso, spread a bag of cracked corn. No deer. Put a salt block by my son stand last year, in hopes to get one to stop and offer him a broad side shot. Deer used it and it was in a area we seen lot of deer already. None never used it while he was in the stand.
I Kansas near where I live there is an assisted hunt that takes place. I paid back the group for taking my son out while on my second deployment by guiding one of their youth hunter. The group gave up apples corn, and I used C'mere deer. They hunt private and public lands in riley co. They assign the guide location and sometimes a blind that was used in years past. I was on a new piece that had not be hunted by the group. Two weeks out we all start putting out feed. This is to offer a youth a chance at a deer that is not moving. Again would have to dump out 5 gallons of corn on the edge of a bean field we hunted. We spooked the only we seen the first morning of the hunt. We did not make it off the paved road and he was bed in the edge of a corn field. Just he look in this kids eyes to see the corn pile shrink that weekend was great. To walk him up to the pile and show him new tracks, is still a great memory. My point to this book is there is a lot more work to baiting than just puting food on the ground and shooting a deer.
I have kill deer coming and going to acorns, crop fields, and other baits that man and nature put out. I use doe pee and have never killed a deer over it. I have had small buck come into it and like that. It is still bait. Unless someone never sits in a tree or blind and only spots and stalks or still hunts they use bait, natural or man placed. Have fun either way, I do.
I would use peanut butter in your case. It has strong smell and deer love the stuff. f
Good luck and happy hunting,
Kelly
I'd do it all day long...Large apple pile and some sharp BH's. :thumbsup:
I don't believe in feeding any wild animals including birds. It creates a unnatural habitat and they become dependent on humans. This includes food plots. Free ranging deer for me.
I know that the farmers corn field is a large food plot and so is his soybean field but he didn't plant it to bring deer into range to shoot.
Thats just my opinion, anyone who hunts over food plots and its legal is still my hunting brother, same as someone using a different bow than me, his choice.
The comments about urban deer hunting are good.
I'm an anti-baiter, the disease and parasite impacts can be devestating on a local herd, especially one that is over-populated and crowded into small spaces like the one you are describing. Then there is the ethic I developed during the first 20 years of deer hunting in Indiana where baiting has always been illegal. Those years formed my opinion on this practice just as folks who grew up in baiting states were so influenced by that culture.
However, when hunting an urban deer herd many things are out the window as far as a "normal" hunt are concerned. Hunting over yards, lots of eyes watching, residential lights, the contorversy of using binoculars when spoting game in backyards (yep, nasty incident in our Capital over this a few years ago), competing with flower gardens, bird feeders and photo-bait piles. You also have some in the neighborhood who hate the deer(after 6-7 years flower and shrub replacement can change a person's opinion on the nice deer). Some in the neighborhood don't want to see the deer "hurt" by a hunter but would welcome a sharpshooter (duh). Others would like to see the deer trapped or darted and translocated, even though 27%+ of such deer end up dying in less than 8 weeks.
Maybe the gloves are off when hunting these deer? I hope you have other, more wild places to hunt so your total deer hunting experience isn't this urbanized one?
If you can't move to the deer why not bring them to you.I don't bait and hunt only mature bucks which is highly unlikely one will show up in the daylight.But if you just want to shoot a deer.GO FOR IT.
If it were legal and the deer were a problem in the area, it would then become my duty to do what it took to get the job done. We are not allowed to bait in NY and this can be a touchy subject but if we could I would for sure just to optimize my chances with the limited time I have to hunt.
There are PLENTY of people in the neighborhood that would be happy if I could shoot a good dozen of these deer. There would still be plenty left. My neighbor had $300-$400 worth of trees destroyed by a buck last year. The guy who owns the woods I hunt wants the deer gone. He is the first house into the neighborhood and he can't plant any flowers or decent shrubs. Either the deer eat them, rub on them or sometimes even bed down on them. He would let me hunt right in his yard, but it is just into the town limits and not legal.
FYI; I do have other locations to hunt, but this is the most economical since I can walk to my hunting area from my house.
That's tough, I think any hunter that wants to harvest an animal wants to do it " naturally" without the aid of bait. I personally would struggle with sitting over a pile of corn or feed and shooting an animal over it. I'm not being critical of others, this is just my personal opinion.
If baiting is legal where you hunt, I would establish a permanent feeding area and hunt them as they come and go as mentioned in some of the other posts.
That;s just me :campfire:
Buckeye, I am in a very similar situation to you. A subdivision runs the length of my property. It is not a typical subdivision, It is cut up in 10 acre tracts. Several of the neighbors feed deer. The house that is closest to my hunting area throws corn out every morning and evening. I have seen deer run from my property to his at feeding time. This is very frustrating. I see deer pass up the acorns I am hunting over to go eat corn. In Alabama it is illegal to hunt over bait. I think it should be illegal to feed deer during deer season, PERIOD! I know just how you feel. I don't plan on doing it but baiting has crossed my mind too. Just last night after sitting in a stand all day and only seeing one doe I drove past his yard when leaving and saw about 10 deer eating corn. :mad:
I used to hunt a woods right next to a neighborhood where the deer ate freely and roamed during the day. Was not uncommon for us to be walking into the woods seeing deer in back yards.
My brother and I set stands both tree and natural about 150 yards into the woods along the line. We were very successful with out bait since it was illegal.
I lease a property in Illinois for bow hunting and we have the farmer put in some food plots near some of the Wooded edges to help keep the does around. This in turn draws Bucks from all over during the rut. I am also part of a lease in Ohio . At this lease we scatter some corn around on the old logging roads to keep the does around. All the neighboring properties have feed piles when it gets near to gun season. We Hunt mature bucks so it is very rare to get a shot a a mature buck on a feed pile during daylight. I think it would be fine for you to put some corn out to keep some deer on your property. Thanks, RC
There are cut bean fields that haven't been turned over yet to the north of the woods I hunt. So there are beans still laying on the ground in the field. I would have thought that deer would be hitting this food hard. Not the case at all. Every night I watch and the fields are empty. Then I drive to the store and see them hanging out eating cracked corn and bird feed in peoples yards! Very frustrating. :knothead:
Early in the season when the fields were green, I would regularly see a half dozen does and bucks out in the field. Most were still in yards, but at least some were hitting the Soy beans.
Where are the deer bedding at?
QuoteOriginally posted by Boone the Hunter:
The one big thing that jumps out at me here is the deer density, I have a couple pieces of land i hunt that the reason i'm there is a homeowner asked me to thin out the herd because it had gotten to thick, I love and prefer hunting baitless and have to anyway in michigan, but come december when they're asking me how many deer i've shot and it's 1 or 2, I would love to dump out some bait and stack up a few in a couple hunts. Fill every freezer in town with deer that need to be managed. So I guess I'm saying, need to kill some deer=bait, want to enjoy hunting in its purity and maybe less action=no bait. If I had the option I would do both.
Lots of good posts in this thread but this one above is the best one in my opinion.
Deer are over populating in the more urban and developed areas. More deer/vehicle crashes are happening than I'd like to see. People are suffering injuries from these crashes and sometimes death. Deer overpopulation can lead to herd disease and starvation too.
Thin'em out and fill your freezer or someone elses.
I have "baited" a many a time, all the others i was in a climber over apple trees or oak trees...no different than baiting. unless you are stalking or tracking deer through a bedding area you are doing no less than baiting in some form or another. I respect the others decision not to bait...to each their own. But in my opinion baiting will probably be your only shot at success in this situation. Good luck buddy and straight shooting to all!
God Bless
thanks guys i didnt realize yo can bait deer in ohio. my bad. must of read the site wrong. thanks
yep bait em in.
They are bedding in a small block of timber that is illegal to hunt near the school. The ones that are bedding near me are down below in the bottom where I DO NOT have permission to hunt.
buckeye,
I understand your moral struggle. I grew up in VA and baiting was not legal there either, but parts of the state you could run dogs after deer go figure. In a population that is dense and already on food plots it does not do anything negative. I mean you may not get much choice on hunting there if CWD breaks out in this heard. Heck put some corn out in a spot and see if they will even come in to. It may not bring them in any way. Put it out as far as you can from you stand but where you may be able to see it if they use it. Then decide.
Kelly
I baited for the first time this yr. For what I have seen, and I kept a trail cam on the feeder all season - I have yet to see a deer at the feeder during daylight hours, period. I mean on the trail cam as well. They will not hit it during daylight. I planned on just using it to fill the freezer; but instead I have seen all my deer hunting areas where baitng is illegal.
I will keep the trail cam on the feeder and keep the feeder full as it is fun to see what comes in on the cam. Mainly does but been a couple nice bucks. They were there to run does not feed.
Anyway good luck, whicheevr you choose.
J
If you have to ask the question, then you don't agree 100% with baiting to begin with.
Its legal to hire a "call girl" in Vegas, doesn't mean I would...
I wouldn't bait them until the deer herd health is at risk and is very apparent in their appearance. (CWD or the likes)
My $0.02
Good luck with your decision, and shoot straight!
QuoteOriginally posted by J-dog:
I baited for the first time this yr. For what I have seen, and I kept a trail cam on the feeder all season - I have yet to see a deer at the feeder during daylight hours, period. I mean on the trail cam as well. They will not hit it during daylight.
J
I do not bait, I do hunt a hayfield, but it is a large 50 acre field so I still need to pick a spot, not like sitting over a little pile. Anyways I hear the wheelie boys at work say the same thing about them coming in at night, said the yearlings hit it during daylight hours.
I can understand your thoughts buckeye hunter, I went thru the same thinking process a few years back, I ended up coming to the conclusion it was a pain to bait so it made my decision easier, now it's illegal here in Michigan and that's fine with me. But I don't hunt suburban areas so that too makes a difference in my hunting style. I know the suburban areas here are the same as you describe.
Good luck with your decision, you can always try it and if it don't feel right after you get one then go back to non baiting and chalk it up to the growth/ learning/ maturing of your hunting lifestyle. I know I did things a few years back (like hunt out of trees) that I don't do now, I'm glad I hunted out of trees, I know the experience, and know I get more satisfaction from Ground hunting (plus feel safer) I would say this is the same thing, give it a try, your answer will come after you experience it.
Dan
I agree with most, if it's legal then the only thing wrong with it is in your head. It ultimately comes down to what your philosophy is.
Personally, in the situation you just described it sounds like the deer are getting everything they need from urbanites, so you wouldn't be offering them anything different than what they are used to getting. I don't see that as anything different than hunting over a food plot myself.
I say go for it.
If it were legal here, I would do it, but it's not so I plant a food plot every year. Sometimes that brings them in, sometimes it doesn't. I just sit and hope for the best.
Went out tonight and watched the same deal again. They bedded low and headed for the neighborhood. No chance I would have had a shot even if I had been hunting them.
I had fun since I was there to hunt squirrels tonight anyway. I lost 4 arrows, but it was fun!
I would in a heartbeat! I have the same problem here in southern WV. We have no agriculture to speak of, just lots and lots of mountains. Deer are really hard to pattern here, if you were to set up on a trail you might see a deer every few days. Everyone on the lease that I am in bait deer with corn & apples so It's kinda like I am forced to do it also. I have a corn feeder just to keep the deer moving through my area. I will tell you though that a mature buck will not hardly come to a feeder in daylight hours, at least here anyway. Any trail you will see here is going from one feeder to another and is used mostly by the does. Secret is to look on either side of the noticeable trail for a faint trail and set up on that if you want a shot at a good buck. This year though is entirely different, there are so many acorns that you will slide down the hill on them! A deer could just lay down under a oak tree and never get up!
I think your dilema is based on the fact that they are there, and they are tempting you..... I have the same 'problem' here. I sat in the woods all day today, 20 degrees, blowing and snowing like crazy, and saw 1 doe. I come home every night, and they are in my driveway. Even if you did manage to harvest one of the neighborhood pets, you most likely would be disappointed, since it would just not be the same as the personal reward of using your skill to harvest a wild animal in it's natural environment. Your neighbors should learn to remedy their deer issues by planting shrubs and trees that aren't 'candy' to deer. And if they 'feed' deer, tell them it's not a healthy thing to do, it leads them to spreading disease amongst the herd.
QuoteAnd if they 'feed' deer, tell them it's not a healthy thing to do, it leads them to spreading disease amongst the herd.
They probably won't care, I told my neighbor that and he still feeds them. I wish I could tell you how to solve the problem but baiting is problably going to be the only way to get them on the property. The only good thing about my situation is that the deer sometimes cross my property to get to the neighbors corn.
If your trying to fill the freezer---go for it!!
I hunt public land mostly, but sometimes due to weather or work, I just can't get out there. then the freezer just looks emptier........
What I do have is 4 acres, mostly wooded, surrounded by woods and fields and a couple neighbors. I have lived here 5 yrs and have shot 1-2 deer off my little homestead everyyear. Some have been baited, some not. When there's room in the freezer, you're pressed for time, money,etc....to do the "real" hunt, and baiting is legal------no question in my mind.
Plus-----I don't know about your little herd, but the deer that go through my place are some cagey, wiley critters!! They look relaxed in someone's yard, but I'm telling you--I've been busted more times in less hunts by these dang old, wiley does that hang out in my woods, than I've ever been out in the big public land woods!!
Because of that, I have not felt the least bit disappointed about a deer killed over some corn in my woods---they are eating it in the fields anyway----only they dont' have to look as hard----just gives them more time to look for me!
No. Just because everybody's doing it doesn't make it right. It's bad for the deer herd, and fosters "Bambi" ideas in the non-hunters. Giving the deer an excess of food year-round just increases a population that already is too high, and almost guarantees that when disease hits the overpopulated herd it will spread quickly.
If there's a neighborhood association, maybe the subject could be brought up there. Get a biologist in, to explain how feeding is bad for the deer, and maybe your neighbors will wise up.
Convenience is great, but I'd either find another place to hunt,or live with it as long as the situation stays the same.
Baiting = man-made manipulation of animal movements...using food in this case...to make it easier to kill an animal.
Black bears on bait piles...antelope at water tank...African plains game at waterhole/feed station...grizz on a gutpile...leopard on bait...deer at a corn or beet pile. All of these scenarios are caused by someone manipulating animal movements toward an isolated food or water source, with the intent to kill the animal.
Some guys might try to pick it apart, but baiting is baiting...very simple. I've never seen how a guy can approve of baiting bears in Quebec but not deer in Ohio.
I think your deer situation is very common. I think there are alternatives to baiting, but putting out food is probably an easier remedy. You need to understand your own internal workings: does baiting deer agree with your sense of fair chase? Is it legal there? Any other ramifications? If all the lights are green, you have no reason not to bait. If it doesn't feel quite right, then you might need to listen to that inner voice.
I personally don't bait. I don't have a moral or ethical opposition to it. I actually think it's a very traditional way of hunting, stretching back hundreds of years. I just don't get a thrill out of waiting for an animal to arrive at a precise location I've prepped with food. As a harvest strategy, it's effective and I have zero argument with it. All bets are off if CWD or other cervid diseases are in the area.
For the record: I have fed deer and turkeys, but I've never tried to kill one over bait.
Probably not.
No. It's just not hunting to me. But to each their own.
I would, I feel it would be effective herd management.
If its legal were you are,why not.
Down in Emerald Isle I usedto work at the fire house. The place was over run with deer that could not be hunted. The folks did not "feed" them, not on purpose. The deer did however help themselves to the shrubbery of the homeowners yards.
Now they allow 2 police men to bowhunt a certain area of the jurisdiction. No baiting required to kill these.
Got to be a way of gettin em without bait?? not that I am opposed to that idea - just thinkin maybe midday still slippin?
J
Sure. Wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Try corn and sweet potatoes. If you can get a hold of the vines, put them out as well!!!
Do it
In the city I work (Central Ohio) we have a well managed park and private property bow hunting program. Despite the program, the number of deer killed by cars beats the hunters every year. Without baiting, the deer are nearly impossible to pattern.
One nice wooded park area with a cornfield is bordered by a state route and a highway. We need to get at least dozen deer out of there. I got two saturday (nuisance permits and sniper rifle) and have been asked to get 4 more the "easy way" with the rifle.
Long way to say the health of the herd is not the only factor, the number of accidents, damage and other associated factors can weigh heavily into the "what is appropriate" decision making.
I love to hunt with my longbow. Have not taken one deer with it yet, but EVERY trip out with the bow that results in no deer is more satisfying than dropping two withing three minutes with a rifle.
When I'm out with the rifle, it's not hunting, just plain numbers management. It does put meat in the freezer and that's one less deer someone will hit at 65mph in their vehicle though.
Go ahead and bait them if it's legal and responsible in your particular situation.
I would try to get more permision in areas your see the deer or move on to another spot and hunt this one in the early season when they are near the bean fields.
Then I would see if I could help change the law that allows baiting.
I'm glad montana does not allow baiting. It just becomes a vicious circle of always trying to get more bait then the next guy.
No baiting under any circumstance. If you cannot find a deer hunting like a man then take pride in getting skunked. To shoot a baited animal is no accomplishment. Rather like going to the hen house and grabbing a chicken.
Now if deer hunting to you is simply a chicken-grabbing experience and you have no real ambition related to honor and sportsmanship, then bait away. Plenty of slob hunters do this all the time.
A couple thhings I suggest would be take some shelled corn or whatever and scatter it over a very large area, sometimes as big as an 100-150 yard stretch. This draws deer to your woodlot but doesn't give you the advantage of knowing the 5 foot circle that every deer is coming to, or what I have done in the UP before is hunt the trails that the deer take to the bait. I have done that before to catch the smart bucks that hang up a couple hundred yards back till dark . Both ways eliminate you sitting over a pile of bait and give the deer plenty of ways to out smart you.
Boone the Hunter: baiting is baiting no matter how you try to justify it.
Try stalking or still hunting, try a stand at a known crossing. But to bring animals into food really speaks poorly of you. We already have every advantage in weapons and pure intelligence. Man is no match for any animal in the smarts department. So we should try to level the playing field and catch our shots in a manner somewhat fair to the stupid animal. Killing a deer coming into corn is very unmanly.
I'm stunned by the number of supposed sportsman we have on this forum who bait and use dogs to chase down game.
I always considered the traditional archer the most sporting and honorable hunter in the woods. It would seem I'm dead wrong.
I'll leave the forum now for I'm truly sickened by what I've read here in the last few days. Too many dog hunters and bait bucket killers.
London Out
"London Out"
....and just like that our self-appointed moral spokesboy has abandoned us...
QuoteOriginally posted by Kevin Dill:
"London Out"
More so than he thinks.....
Poor guy only lasted 16 posts.....most of which were in this type of tone and aggression.
A lot depends on how you feel about deer hunting versus deer killing. Baiting, in my opinion, emphasizes the killing more than hunting. Baiting may make sense if the intention is to decrease the deer population and the sport involved is secondary in importance. Myself, I think I would look for another place to hunt where baiting was not necessary in order to have any chance at success.
if they aint were your huntin,you cant shoot them . if you cant shoot them,you cant eat them. I say baitem up.if there are that many deer around you should be thinning them out anyhow.
In ohio in the winter time the deer will herd up always close to a food source. They do not want to use alot of energy at this time of year to get something to eat.
If you do not feed the deer, your chances will be slim on taking a deer from now until the end of the season. If you do feed the deer, there is no guarantee you are going to even get a shot. If they come to your food, they will be coming in groups. The bucks will be feeding in the dark.
Fine dilemma isn't it? One deer brings a bunch since they are herding up or possibly don't get any shot at all.......
What about this?
Just go back there and squirrel hunt. Then see if one of the local deer is goofy enough to go out for a sight seeing trip right past my tree.
Ignore the eithical side of the issue for a minute. Many of the replies were fine with baiting, but doubted it would work. Looks like I am leaning more an more toward just hunt and see what happens. Maybe a loner will come through?
It confuses me when some talk of baiting as a management tool. Looks like If the population was that dense ,getting a shot wouldn't be a problem ? Am I missing something here?
Took my 3 year old grandson to the local archery shop today to fling a few arrows. We had a big time. I was having trouble with my arrows grouping high and left, so thought i'd stroll over to the counter and browse for some heavier fieldpoints to see if that fixed it. Two guys were standing there talking "deer hunting" It went something like this.., "yep, them corn feeders is where you'll find 'em now, all my best spots have feeders..."
It has been snow and single digit temps here for a week now. What kinda genius, seasoned hunter does it take to figure that out? I dunno guys, it tottally turns me off, and it is illegal in all the public land here, as many states. Should tell you something.
QuoteOriginally posted by randy grider:
Took my 3 year old grandson to the local archery shop today to fling a few arrows. We had a big time. I was having trouble with my arrows grouping high and left, so thought i'd stroll over to the counter and browse for some heavier fieldpoints to see if that fixed it. Two guys were standing there talking "deer hunting" It went something like this.., "yep, them corn feeders is where you'll find 'em now, all my best spots have feeders..."
It has been snow and single digit temps here for a week now. What kinda genius, seasoned hunter does it take to figure that out? I dunno guys, it tottally turns me off, and it is illegal in all the public land here, as many states. Should tell you something.
Your post mainly tells me that you don't like or approve of baiting...and I'm perfectly understanding of that. As for our various states and the legality issues...
These are the same states which have mostly endorsed rampant technology in hunting seasons. They have had the wisdom to give us crossbows, and huge let-off in compounds. 250 yard in-line muzzle loaders. Electronic game surveillance. A host of other advances that many "traditionalists" might find distasteful.
At the same time, these same states have taken away many time-honored and traditional methods of hunting...mostly in the name of "sport". Baiting...dogs...both current topics on this forum have been used for thousands of years, as have longbows and wood arrows. Better hope our states never look too close at these. What about stone heads? Many states won't allow them in any seasons...they give more preference to mechanical heads. One by one, our old hunting traditions are being legislated away, and we find ourselves part of the new modern-day definition of hunting.
Honestly, I'm not tempted to bait for the majority of the hunting I do. I don't consider it unethical in any way, but that's me. I consider it "easier", and that's probably why I eschew it. I basically avoid most baited hunts now, but I do support this traditional method of hunting for those who care to do it. As previously said, where baiting promotes disease transmission it should be limited or halted.
Any time corn is piled up in the woods it can be damaging to the wildlife. Feed concentrated in a small area guarantees that if an infected animal feeds there it can spread the disease to others.
If you're going to bait, you should spread the bait out over a large area to help keep diseases under control.
Randy,
It is hard to get a shot because the deer are in the neighborhood instead of the woods and fields where the SHOULD be. The popluation is very high, but they mostly hole up in the neighborhood. :banghead:
The kindly people feeding the deer in the neighborhood have completely altered what the deer would NATURALLY do.
I probably still won't bait, but I am seriously tempted.
If its legal there go for it ! Not legal here in Neb.
Been there, done that! Didnt cheepen it for me and I would do it again at the drop of a hat. Didnt make it easy, just helped bring them to me cuz I couldnt go to them. :thumbsup:
yes if it is legal...
While baiting deer and other wildlife is legal in Texas,where I live,I have found that some,not all,game animals are a little more skittish/wired-up around feeders than they normally are just out and about doin' there normal thing.
Around feeders, something is allways trying to "get'em".During the rut,bucks come to feeders looking for,and chasing, does.Someone is trying to shoot them with whatever,and even predators skulk around feeders.While I do have feeders on the property I hunt,I prefer to hunt trails leading to and from.The deer seem much more relaxed in these staging areas. A bale of alfalfa,a small food plot 50'x50',in two or three weeks you'll have deer coming in.Hope this helps.
maybe you gould disrupt there bedding area by walking your dog in there on a regular basis, it might change there patterns. but that sounds like a lot of work just to killa deer, just a thought :dunno:
Great thread on a contraversial subject.
My personnel take is I am not for it. But if others do and its legal that is their call.
I for one have talked with wildlife biologists on this subject. They all seem to agree that it may cause transmission of disease. Also predators catch on to feeders and I do know turkeys are easy prey for them.
It may cause Bovine Tuberculosis in deer and cattle.
Most research shows the digestive system in deer is poorly adapted for high carbohydrate foods like corn that causes lactic acid osis.
There are limits for cattle of aflatoxin permitted for live stock (used to have Black Angus). Most deer corn (I think I read somewhere 50%) that can not be sold for feed had levels 20% higher that would be fatal to birds such as turkeys and fatal to deer if eaten over long periods of time.
There's the answer....Hounds!
:D
QuoteOriginally posted by buckeye_hunter:
Randy,
It is hard to get a shot because the deer are in the neighborhood instead of the woods and fields where the SHOULD be. The popluation is very high, but they mostly hole up in the neighborhood. :banghead:
The kindly people feeding the deer in the neighborhood have completely altered what the deer would NATURALLY do.
I understand you're dilema, same thing happens here at my farm. The neighbors feed deer. I can walk my alfalfa field and find very few tracks even though we have had snow on the ground for a week. I'm sure if I dumped out some corn within 3-4 days I could kill a deer over it. But it cheapens it so much I don't do it. This is the main problem with baiting, if they didn't feed them I could be hunting. Instead i'm driving an hour to hike a mile back in public land in hopes of seeing a deer.
I probably still won't bait, but I am seriously tempted.
Sorry, my response didnt take.
You could hire the neighborhood kids to run the deer out of the yards and into the woods when you're ready to hunt. :)
^^^^That is thinking outside the box!
if legal giver!!
"I would only suggest that some things that are legal aren't ethical, and some things that are ethical aren't legal."
You left out that some things that are legal ARE ethical...let's cover all the bases!!!:-)
Ethics are personal- ONLY you can decide. I bait the crap out of the land we hunt in SC but nobody hunts over our feeders.
We don't bait to hunt- we bait to keep critters on our land, because everyone is doing it around us and the sad fact is that in February and March when there's nothign else to eat, if you don't bait, there's a mass exodus off your land.
You could put a big cornpile in the middle of your land and hunt the trails to and from the neighborhood/bedding grounds.
Did you hunt over the bait? No. But it got you the chance at a shot. It wouldn't be my first choice- but I have other options.
Where you are you may not have other land to go to- if that's the case, don't worry about what we think about it- just do what you need to considering the local conditions.
I like to bait.baiting deer is NOT hunting its killing deer.I like to shoot alot of does for food early season.Then I start to hunt.I like to get all of my meat killing out of the way early there is nothing wrong with baiting.I think sometimes here on this web site we have a tendency to clash with our opions because we are from differnt regions.In differnt areas of the U.S harvesting methods may differ for what ever reason.it does not make it wrong.I would not hunt deer with dogs in my reigion. however if I was invited to a area witch did hunt with dogs then I would hunt with dogs.I would not tell these people they were wrong for doing it.its there culture.I would not club a baby seal eithier.but I would go with a eskimo on a hunt in a heart beat to club a baby seal.
hunting is about a lot of things. but in the end it is about having fun.so have fun
I like that thought Plumber!
Don't think I haven't told my wife and kids to go kick the deer out of the neighborhood woods! It is a public area and can be "hiked" in, but not hunted.
Unfortunately, my wife has been sick for some time and walking distances isn't her idea of fun anymore. :( The kids are still too young to send them out into the woods without an adult.
:banghead:
Don just got me to thinking.....
My wife can't walk far, but she can drop the kids off on one side of the woods in her car. Then she could go to the other side and wait to pick them up. It is a straight shot on flat land through the woods! The school is on one side and the houses are on the other. If the kids stay between the two then they can't get lost. That would drive the deer out of the neighborhood wood lot straight to me.
Is that too much to expect from a 10 and 7 year old girl?
Hmmmmm.....
Now that's a good idea!! Maybe they can bring some friends for a "winter hike" and minimize some of the video-game time that so many kids are into !!
Plus, when all goes well, they will be warmed up to help drag the deer home! :bigsmyl:
Oh hell.... now I'm getting excited and this is WAY better than a method that might not work anyway.
Why didn't I think of a deer drive before?
They could even take the dog with them.......
Wait, using children to put on a deer drive is more ethical then baiting??? :saywhat: really? OK :laughing: Charlie will you please kill something!!!
Like you wouldn't have Miranda take a stroll through the woods Drummer!
Personal choice, I do not have problem baiting if its legal.
Like I would be able to stop her. Hope it works, if you cant get the girls to cooperate I'll come down and help
Charlie, I live here in rural SE ohio and my 7 yr old daughter would love that as long as she had her dog or one of her buddies with her. just give them a cell phone put some orange on them and send the on the hike they'll have a blast. Probably will remember that for years.
I suggested it tongue-in-cheek, but this might be a good way to get the kids interested in hunting, by making them active participants. I think mine would have jumped at the chance when they were that age.
Make sure you don't miss, or you might have some hecklers! :)
Family deer drives where an every year event when I was growing up. The family members that didn't hunt enjoyed being in on the drives.
We would have a couple experienced hunters with the drivers to keep everyone safe and together. We took many deer this way.
Times have changed and I would have to know the area and who was hunting before I'd have young ones in the woods during hunting season now.
Just my 2 cents.