How many hunt feed(ers)?

[jonsimoneau]

I've seen areas in Texas where it looked to be an attractant of some type would be about the only answer. I know of lots of guys who have shot bears over bait.

[Chain2]

I tell the guys at work who do, that I haven't developed the hatred for the whitetail that they have. Like golf our sport has no referee and most of the time no one is watching. You have to do what is right in our minds. I won't do it but I also won't hunt with a crossbow, hunt over any bait, sit in a house type blind etc. I believe we owe it to the hunters coming behind us to be good stewards of our sport. We might come home empty handed but when we do connect the reward is much sweeter. I taught my son this way and I hope he passes it on.

[awbowman]

I've never seen a buck at a feeder in the daylight

[DanielB89]

Originally posted by Bvas:
 

Originally posted by DanielB89:
I am curious as to many guys here hunt a non natural food source while hunting?  

Hey Daniel, Have you got the answer you were looking for yet?                  
I noticed you went a little quite??? [/b]

I believe I got my "answer" and then some.  I always respect peoples OPINIONS, but also remember that they're just like butt holes and most of them stink     .  


I do feel a need to express my stance on this issue.  
Hunting a feeder is not my primary desire.  Putting meat in my freezer IS!  My family and I RELY on the meat we gain each year to get us through until the next year.  As I stated in the OP, I do not have much time between work, family, church, to invest enough time throughout the week to have a spot scouted out for Saturdays, because Sunday's I will be in church.

For any break I have that is more than 1 day to hunt, I will be on public land chasing deer.  But I feel that being successful on public land is more about what you do before the hunt than during the hunt, and I KNOW I just don't have time to put in the time necessary to be successful on public land when I only have one day.  

I appreciate all the responses, and can see most of your opinions, whether I agree with them or not.  But is does bother me that think so highly of their "ethics and opinions".

[LB_hntr]

I don't hunt bait personally but I set up tons of bait stands for my kids, wife l, friends etc. Nothing wrong with baiting and in many areas it's very very very hard to kill a deer without it. Trust me I know. I spend countless hours on stand each season to be able to fill a few tags without bait whie my friends and family come home each night talkong about all the deer they seen.
For those that do bait here are some cool tactics to make you more successful while hunting bait.
http://tbwpodcast.com/episode-188-reading-blood-and-baiting-tips-from-a-non-baiting-hunter/

[Cheezer]

Not really "baiting", but what about those scent sticks that you just light and set out? Had a buddy tell me it worked really good for him last season.

[Chain2]

One of my concerns in things like this is the fuel I feel it gives to the anti-hunters. Maybe I'm off base. No matter what I'd never say anything about a guy feeding his family. With that being said I don't think I'd feel very good about a buck or any trophy animal going into B&C or P&Y being shot at a feeder. But as I stated earlier no one is usually watching and there are no referees.

[reddogge]

Originally posted by awbowman:
I've never seen a buck at a feeder in the daylight

Hmm, like this. Technically not a buck but a Sika stag. From a friend's property.

   

[katman]

Originally posted by awbowman:
I've never seen a buck at a feeder in the daylight

Sometimes they come in with the lady he is with.

 

[mangonboat]

My only concern is herd health, and in some areas there is so much food put out for deer in the fall  that they are ill-prepared for winter foraging. The game biologists in every state in the US are sharp folks, trying to balance healthy game populations with the priorities of hunters, and I'm generally comfortable with their recommendations. Obviously SE states have far less winter starvation, so feeders are more likely to get a pass.

[pdk25]

Little danger of overpopulation where I live.  The coyotes make sure of that.

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I have and will again.

It's a free country and the way you take game is a matter of taste and choice. I think it's great to have the opportunity to lease a place for extra opportunity.

I will use every advantage I can to harvest my deer.  

Best of luck

Actually, I think it's the deer that are unethical.  

I've been trying to establish a number of no-till corn plots for years. My broadcast spreaders lay down the seed and the damn deer eat it all before any of it has a chance to germinate.

I have to admit, sometimes I get so frustrated I kill the buggers.

[TRAP]

i don't hunt feeders. Hunting over bait is illegal in Missouri, but, I wouldn't do it anyway.

In the late 80s I chose to use equipment that made harvesting game more challenging. For me, hunting over a feeder would fly in the face of the journey I set out on back then.

I do a little scouting now and then and try to focus my efforts  on the latest food source. When oaks are dropping acorns at the rate they have been for the past two weeks, I doubt a feeder would provide much of an advantage anyway. Deer are pretty calm and content while scooping up pin oak acorns out of a dry ditch bed. They do get agitated at the raccoons that come down early to compete for the food though.

If the guy on the next farm chooses to hunt over a deer feeder with the latest greatest X-bow, compound, bean field rifle or with a Hill style longbow, so be it. I'm gonna do what makes me happy. I could care less about what he does and I'm sure not qualified to judge him.

[mec lineman]

I think a lot has to do with where you have hunted the most. Here in Virginia it is illegal and very frowned upon.  However 25 miles south in North Carolina it is legal and lots of people bait. I Hunt over oaks,peanuts,soybeans and other crops for deer. I have planted food plots but never had any intention of hunting over them. I can tell you this videos of hunts where the guys are hollering and hi fiving yelling into the camera "I just smoked him" that bothers me the most. It is if they hate the animal they just shot

[Chain2]

I'm with you on that Lineman. Absolutely no respect. Those shows are awful.

[OkieJ]

I have a feeder out but try to hunt the trails leading to the feeder. It's no different that baiting bears.

[Etter]

To me, it is vastly different than baiting bears. In most places where bear baiting is legal there is literally no other way to hunt them. There are very few places in the US where deer are hard to hunt. And honestly, if you are relying on deer meat to feed your family, you are far better off getting a part time job and not buying and filling feeders. And waaaaay better off not hunting with traditional archery gear.

[OkieJ]

Etter, if you are relying on the deer meat to feed your family maybe you need to check into the part time job.

I answered the question and gave my opinion. And it is no different to me. It is legal here.

[Etter]

I go to canada to hunt bears over bait but here in ga we have excellent ways of hunting them over natural food sources. It takes unbelievable work to hunt them in our mountains and I would be totally against baiting here.

I guess we all have our own morals, but if this cat truly needs to feed his family then Im ok with him shooting deer at night in the headlights. And I cant imagine choosing church over feeding a starving family.