Would you bait these deer? (Just went a new direction Pg 8!)

[dcmeckel]

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  

[greyghost]

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.

[Kevin Dill]

There's the answer....Hounds!

 :D

[randy grider]

Originally 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.    

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.

[randy grider]

Sorry, my response didnt take.

[Don Stokes]

You could hire the neighborhood kids to run the deer out of the yards and into the woods when you're ready to hunt.  

[Jeff Strubberg]

^^^^That is thinking outside the box!

[TDHunter]

if legal giver!!

[Ray Hammond]

"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.

[Plumber]

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.

[Plumber]

hunting is about a lot of things. but in the end it is about having fun.so have fun

[buckeye_hunter]

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.

   

[buckeye_hunter]

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.....

[BEN]

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!  

[buckeye_hunter]

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.......

[Drummer@Home]

Wait, using children to put on a deer drive is more ethical then baiting???    really? OK    Charlie will you please kill something!!!

[buckeye_hunter]

Like you wouldn't have Miranda take a stroll through the woods Drummer!

[SOLDIERII]

Personal choice, I do not have problem baiting if its legal.

[Drummer@Home]

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