who baits?

[JMG]

From what I have read on this thread, there's several interpretations of "bait". A planted 800 acre corn field or planted food plots, which both benefit deer and deer hunters. For me there is a fine line between the two. Is acorns or fruit trees considered bait? What about what I do on my family's property, I place countless fertilizer spikes around numerous white oak trees on my property to enhance the acorn crop, (acorns are dropping so much to where you truly need a helmet to walk through). Or how about the two apple trees, (that has been on our property as long as I can remember), that never produced little if no apples until I took the time to prune, cut back competing vegetation and fertilize to where both trees are now producing baseball size apples now. Or how about the 2 food plots that I sweat and elbow grease into to plant in late Spring.
Now, is any of the above considered baiting?? Not in my book because I am enhancing the quality of life of deer as well as quality of land. And isn't that what we are suppose to do as hunters? But what I do some may consider baiting. Oh well.
I might want to add that my 75 year old father, who still bow hunts, would skin any of his sons if he caught them hunting over a deer lick, corn pile or supplement like Acorn Rage.
Thanks for letting me rant and reading my post!! Happy hunting!!! JMG

[RodL]

In Maryland you can bait on private ground only. This has been my experience when baiting on private ground, I have a 100 corn feeder that has a camera watching it to see what comes in, no hunting is permitted near this feeder.  First, if you have any bears or turkeys in the area they will find your bait and become daily visitors to that area and eat all the corn pretty quickly. This feeder has been in this spot for 5 years now and I believe all the animals know the sound of the feeder and show up soon after it goes off. Second, in our area I get a ton of deer pics with doe and smaller bucks during the daylight hours but almost all the bigger bucks come in between 11pm and 3am.  I go in that area once a month to check the camera and fill the feeder, I take every precaution to leave as little of human scent as possible so I don't believe I'm the reason the bigger bucks come in during those times.  

I don't have any issues with people hunting over bait if its legal, I just choose not to do it.

Rodney

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Originally posted by ChuckC:
I don't.  To do it right you need to be skilled.  I have a buddy who is a Master.
CHuckC

I do not Bait but I hunt near Oak trees.

[JApple]

I have thought about this a lot lately as I have entered into traditional archery.  I have hunted Texas for the last 35 years and most of that time has been on the ground or in treestands,etc.  Baiting in Texas has become the norm, and along with that supplemental protein feeding,etc.  Unfortunately, the downside to that is  "hunting" has become a ritual of setting feeders, installing game cams and becoming very familiar with the age of the local bucks who attend that feeder.  It's all about the points and age now, which I think has gone a little overboard as the actual art of stalking, still hunting and woodsmanship in my opinion has declined in some of our youth. It is not uncommon now for a young hunter to tell me about the 160 or 180 buck he has shot on a managed ranch.  I have no personal argument against baiting or feeding, you could argue that it does in some way help the nutrition and quality of the deer herd. However,  in Texas, there are now so many high-fenced ranches that we have turned the countryside into a multitude of private zoos that require feeding for the deer to survive.  I currently hunt  on around a 1000 acres with a few archery tripods, a mountain and no feeders.  I love it.  The guys I hunt with have been on this ranch since 1946 and have not changed things at all since that time.  The deer remain healthy and are of great quality as long as the rain is adequate.  I challenge those who hunt over feeders consistently to try your hand at still hunting, using the wind, sun and shade for guidance.  If you take a young man (or woman) on a stillhunt, and get within ten or twenty yards of an unsuspecting animal, I can assure you that they will be hooked and will not want to hunt any other way.  That is what happened to me.  To me still hunting is a skill and art, almost a meditative process that allows a hunter to truly blend and incorporate into his environment.  My favorite hunt has always been a midday hunt with a slight wind, trying to find bucks bedded or feeding at midday.  My son, who has also taken up tradiitonal archery,  loves to be on the ground.  I hope that we as traditional archers, whether hunting with bow or rifle, will continue to challenge ourselves in the art of hunting.  As leases get more expensive and trophy fees become exorbitant, I've found great pleasure in our old fashioned deer camp. People will always ask "why do you hunt with a stickbow and why on earth on the ground?"  I think all we can safely say is "because it is hard." V/R..

J

[JMG]

Well said Jeff!! I also believe that baiting/feeding deer, that the deer become dependent on the feed. I am finding out that it is a lot easier to fertilize what's available such as white oak trees and fruit trees in the Spring then baiting. My father always said, deer are on a property for several reasons, water, good cover and food. The key is finding that food source that deer browse on and enhancing it. That way it keeps the deer in their natural routine.

[aim small...release]

I scout and hunt natural funnels and terraun but my best stand has a 200lb corn feeder 150yds from me right on tge property line and i can hear the dang thing go off

[David Mitchell]

Baiting would not be nearly as popular as it is if the "easier" mentality had not taken hold as it has.  I have shot bear over bait--but don't think I would again--just didn't seem right or sporting to shoot a bear with a jelly donut in his mouth.   :(    My first encounter with baiting was in Michigan many years ago.  It was disconcerting to see the huge--and I mean huge--bait piles all over the national forest area we hunted just off the little snow mobile/atv trails. On the other hand, feral hogs on feeders is something I have little troubled conscience about--they are non-native, pests, and so ugly they ought to be shot--and they taste sooooo good on the grill!  Am I inconsistent?  Even at that, I would prefer to shoot them mano-a-mano on the ground.

[aim small...release]

I scout and hunt natural funnels and terraun but my best stand has a 200lb corn feeder 150yds from me right on tge property line and i can hear the dang thing go off

[JohnV]

One has to decide whether you want to "hunt" critters or just "shoot" them.  There is a difference.

[KentuckyTJ]

Originally posted by JohnV:
One has to decide whether you want to "hunt" critters or just "shoot" them.  There is a difference.

I never post on baiting threads because I think there is justification to both sides as well as I truly believe that how we find joy in our hunting is a personal decision and shouldn't matter to anyone else as long as its legal. But with that said, I really like your post John.      

[aim small...release]

It depends on ones hunting area. Michigan is so overrhunted and so pressured the deer already are off their natural travels. With that said I dont like baiting but I also enjoy seeing deer and competeing with a machine that throws out feed at prime time feeding hours is hard to see deer.

[fnshtr]

I've put out trail cams and corn in the backyard and up in the woods to try to see what's around. This year the bait in the woods was hardly touched because there is so much soft and hard mast this year.

I chased a nice 10 point several years ago and had him pretty well patterned when he suddenly disappeared. I later learned that he was killed over bait on an adjoining piece of property.

It is legal here in WV, but not my cup of tea.

[sidebuster]

Depends what how you define baiting.  Most of the time on these threads they talk of baiting strictly as a food source.  However, IMO anything you put out that was not there in its natural state is baiting.  You are trying to lure the animal to your shootable location by using different items.  

So isn't a  deer calls, rattling horns, deer scents and decoys also baiting?

There are many that say baiting  is not there cup of tea but they are restricting baiting to only a food source and then turn around and use a deer scent to lure a deer in.

[postman]

Hate it, wish it was illegal. Seems everywhere you go here in NC you see deer corn for sale.

[randy grider]

i like to hunt, so i dont bait.

[TxAg]

Different strokes for different folks. It's what makes the world go round. As I mentioned earlier, I do both. Either can be rewarding and fun. It's kinda like politics...extremists never do their side a real service because of the hot headed, over zealous opinions.

[BD]

I hunt. I don't bait. I would quit before I would bait. It's not hunting in any way, shape or form.

[Kevin Winkler]

It's illegal to bait in southern WI. because of CWD. But even if we didn't have that restriction, I doubt that I would bait.

I own a 170 acre farm and rent out the tillable acreage to my neighbor and we have an agreement that he will leave a few acres of corn or beans stand for winter survival food. So that's sort of like baiting, once all the crops are harvested, but sometimes the hunting season is over by then.

[sidebuster]

I noticed many that are against baiting when talking about deer but when it comes to bears they have no problem baiting. I am not a bear hunter but every video I have seen on bear hunting with archery is done with baiting.

Seems like a double standard.
Looks like if you are against baiting then it should be across the board with no exceptions.

[ChuckC]

I use nightcrawlers for catfish and bluegills, but you won't see me using one for trout.  

Same thing, In my mind we have certain games we play and they have certain rules.  Not saying your rules should be the same as mine, but I follow my rules and don't worry so much about yours.
CHuckC