Deer corn

[dogghr]

Just to be clear. My stance on baiting or non-baiting is, it’s largely semantics.
If you hunt over a pile, you’re baiting.
If you hunt over a feeder, you’re baiting.
If you hunt over a food plot, you’re baiting.
If you hunt over a corn field, you’re baiting, even if you are off the field on a well used trail .....going to the cornfield
I can even make the same case if you’re hunting the only water for several hundred acres, (lots of antelope are killed every year this way, including the one in my avatar.)

The same thing can be said for a scrape line, acorns, etc. The fact is, even if you didn’t put out corn or plant a crop, you aren’t hunting in the Walmart parking lot, you’re hunting where you think or have reason to believe a deer wants to be, and that scrape, trail, or farm crop across the fence gives you an advantage over the deer. Even the act of using a treestand gives you an advantage or you would never climb a tree.
The only “pure” hunting would have to be what I call “still hunting”, just you and the deer playing hide and seek in the woods, and both on the ground. I hunted a lot like this as a young man, not very successfully, but there weren’t many deer here then. I’m sure I could do better now, for a couple days and by then I’d blow all the deer out and it would be over.

My point is, I use corn, maybe you use something else, but we are ALL doing something that’s not natural to give us an advantage.

There you go, and I guess next you be supporting trashing bow season.
I haven't hunted over bait for years, but have done so. Trick for mature deer is to hunt 75 + yds off the feeder for best success. They scent ck them just like fields.
And as for feeding corn to deer causing their demise by acidosis, not sure I buy that. They are always claiming same thing in this state. I assure you if corn feeding thru hunting season caused deer death, there wouldn't be a deer left in this state. There's a corn pile or feeder behind every tree here thru hunting season.
The one thing advantage of hunting over bait, you have your deer at a relaxed set distance and most often in the same spot.
$8/bag of corn this year I'm not sure how some afford it. I'd rather concentrate on cover than worry of throwing out food but I have no problem with those who do. And if you don't want bear, then forgo the corn, or don't complain of them.

 

[Deer Stuffer]

He goes by Drycreek...

Sorry about that drycreek, I think spell check got me.

 

[farmhunter]

baiting is so foreign to me - I don't really know what to think about it. We do plant corn and soybeans - and yes they draw deer and sometimes I hunt over those fields - so I can relate in that context. I don't really care for the hot hype hunting show where the hunter sprinkles some magic deer cocaine or something on a pile of corn. But then again I don't care much for big buck contests or competitive fishing - and that kind of hunting show seems like that to me. I see where broadcasting corn in roadways like in a senderro on a TX Ranch- that seems to make sense there. Thinking about it - I don't think I care myself for the idea of shooting a hog or a deer at a feeder. just kind of thinking out load.

I'd never criticize someone for hunting their way as long as it was legal, but I might not choose to do it myself. I think like is too short to be overly opinionated.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I started experimenting with corn last year, not during hunting season, but in the summer. I put the sprayer away three years ago. The last time I used it, I missed a spot in a plot I was creating, and to this day I get a dense stand of sedge grass. It's not huge, maybe 20'x30'.

I had tried spreading 2 bags of corn into my half acre clover plot to try to create some openings to get oats to hit the soil. My clover is so thick, broadcasted oats hang up in the stems like a bug in a spiderweb. I was trying to get the deer to go in and dig out that corn and use their hooves and noses to create pockets I could broadcast into. I'll say it did create some openings, but I think i lost more forage than I gained. The clover did eventually fill back in, but I think I gained some undesirables in those spots as well.

Where I've got that sedge grass pocket, I plan to try feeding heavily there over the summer to utilize hoof traffic to beat that sedge to death, and then come back late summer with a barley/clover/chicory seeding. We'll see.

 

[Elkaddict]

In the 40 years, I’ve hunted 9 different states from spot and stalking the alpine zone in the Rockies, to the swamps of South Carolina ((with dogs) to East and west Texas. I’ve enjoyed it all. Most have been on western public land, but my hunting continues to include bowhunting over feeders in TX. Killing a specific mature target buck has been a challenge in all circumstances....killing a legal deer has almost never been. What drives me is watching wildlife for hours on end and seeing beautiful country. My MT and NY hunts this year were outstanding....and I never fired a shot. In a few days, I’m headed to TX with my brothers and our boys for an annual wild boar/whitetail hunt. I’ll be hunting over both food plots and feeders. For seeing deer and pigs, I don’t find a real difference between the two. For harvesting a particular mature animal, my experience is it’s still hunting....the stars have to align to pull off a bow kill. Last year’s TX buck took 31/2 days and ended up being a spot & stalk hunt because it wasn’t hitting feeders and he wouldn’t come into the plot anywhere near our pop up blinds. I think it’s a mistake to be critical of how others pursue game...as long as it’s legal.

 

[Deadeye]

Pa has been against Baiting for longer than I've been alive.

I never got it and don't actually buy into their "report" posted above about when Deer come into contact with Corn. If that was factual then every Deer that finds a Corn Field or Wheat Field or any Grain Field would be in danger of dying, according to that report. I find it tio be more of a "control report" to convince Pa Hunters that "baiting is bad".

My Brother and I have got into arguments with other guys that swear that "Baiting is Bad", but have no such concerns with planing a field of Corn with the intent to NEVER harvest it and do it solely for the purpose of drawing deer in so they can shoot them.

IMO It's the same thing. And I agree with Drycreek 100%

I have for the first time Feeders of Corn on our place in Florida and Cameras show that some Mature Bucks visit them but mostly just in passing. Does and Fawns do in both dark and daylight.

The Young Buck I shot this year had just eaten acorns off the ground under my stand then walked over to the feeder that I placed at exactly 30 yards from my stand and ate some corn as well. He offered me a perfect broadside shot and I put a Grim Reaper Broadhead through him and he tastes just fine.

I see no issue at all with using Corn or any other Food Source to help you select a deer you wish to harvest. However I do agree it MUST be Legal in order for you to do it. Pa just opened some days for Sunday Hunting while it has been that way for most states for years, so there is some hope for them yet!!! LOL.

 

[KSQ2]

I’m not going to criticize anyone who’s following the rules; but I really wish Kansas would outlaw baiting.

 

[suburbhunter]

If they banned all baiting everywhere people would actually have to learn how to deer hunt. I hunt a 35 ac parcel that backs up to a non hunted state park, deer are everywhere. The property owner gives another guy permission to hunt this year. What does he do? Puts a ground blind next to/ on top of/ a bedding area and puts up a feeder. Really???
With that said, on the larger properties I hunt, I do not bait. However, I also hunt some micro properties, 2-4 ac in the suburbs, where i do bait, but also set up strategically in funnels etc, where i can. I could hunt these places successfully without baiting and I do limit it, but these are areas where people hate the deer, want them gone, and want to see results. I agree with KSQ2 but substitute Maryland for KS.

 

[PineSapJunky]

I'll have to side with Okie. My first couple of years when I moved to Mississippi were learning ones. The baiting game was new to me since I grew up hunting the river bottoms along the Black Belt Region in West Alabama. There you only needed something green during the winter to see a ton of deer. Here in Mississippi the baiting game has changed rapidly over the past couple of years. I bucked the trend for as long as I could. Forgoing feeders and just planting plots. My neighbors had great seasons. Then I joined the club and threw up some feeders and immediately saw an uptick in deer movement. For a while me and the surrounding neighbors were kind of at a stalemate. It was only until I really started becoming a student of habitat did I start to really learn what our deer prefer and when. Most people around us just bait. A few plant "grass patches" so they have something green to see. No one except myself actually plant any type of forage for the deer. Sure you have some folks throw out some exotic buck on a bag blend but fail to properly amend their soil or plant the seed all at the same depth and it fails. I have found the more boxes I can check off the "deer list" the more deer we see. At that point it's just a numbers game and time in the stand. I only expect a mature deer to give me 1-2 possibly 3 chances of being killed. If I'm not in the stand on those days it's on me then. I'm still working on bedding, but hands down we have the best place to eat anywhere around. Quality feed, great plots, low pressure all makes for a fun time in the woods.

 

[Deadeye]

Last year both the deer my SIL shot on our place he checked the stomach contents. Both had Corn in them. We didn't have any Feeders out so they had to be getting it from the neighbors.

One guy to our North side we never ever saw in there until the first Doe Days during the weekend after Thanksgiving. In fact the ONLY time we saw him was during the Buck/Doe Days. He had Feeders set up that we seen while just out riding the 4-wheelers on the county road.

This year he must of gave some 5 acre plots to either his kids or grandkids, as the Property Appraiser site shows them now where they were all his land last year. We saw where they cleared a road up into the center of the property. One guy is setting near his truck watching down the road not far from our gate. They even put up a s POSTED sign right by our Gate where the former guys had put a ladder stand and we were not sure if it was Ours or His last year and he never replied when I wrote to him to ask. The Ladder Stand has been taken, so they must of took it.

I would assume they put out Corn, but have no way to confirm it.

We added Feeders after what the SIL found last year. I honestly thought that the deer would be hitting them hard, but they don't. They walk through, grab a few bites, then continue on. That's just the way the deer feed here.

Also Feeding Corn is expensive. I spent $170 to fill them the first time and in 3 weeks it was all gone when I went back to check. I've filled them 3 times and taken two deer, so those deer did not come cheap, if you look at it that way.

Oh and BTW, going to and from the Feeders creates more Movement than the Deer are used to. I do feel that it has effected their movement, as I am seeing way less deer on Cams than I did last year. Now over time will that change? Maybe. Time will tell.

 

[farmer]

I was invited to hunt with a friend in Ohio this year, and it felt really weird sitting in a Treestand looking at a pile of corn. These guys are diehard hunters some of the best I know, and aren’t lazy. They are hunting specific bucks 5 yrs old minimum.They say to compete with neighbors you have to have corn or will lose your bucks to the neighbors. They keep corn out 365 days a year to keep deer on property.
I won’t judge anyone who does things legal but I can see how baiting really skews things when a guy with 5 acres dumps corn out if a guy who has 500 next door is trying to control deer strictly with habitat. Deer are cautious but are also lazy and when cold snowy weather sits in I’d think they would lean towards whatever food they could get to the easiest with exerting the least amount of energy.

 

[howboutthemdawgs]

I was invited to hunt with a friend in Ohio this year, and it felt really weird sitting in a Treestand looking at a pile of corn. These guys are diehard hunters some of the best I know, and aren’t lazy. They are hunting specific bucks 5 yrs old minimum.They say to compete with neighbors you have to have corn or will lose your bucks to the neighbors. They keep corn out 365 days a year to keep deer on property.
I won’t judge anyone who does things legal but I can see how baiting really skews things when a guy with 5 acres dumps corn out if a guy who has 500 next door is trying to control deer strictly with habitat. Deer are cautious but are also lazy and when cold snowy weather sits in I’d think they would lean towards whatever food they could get to the easiest with exerting the least amount of energy.

agreed. It’s crazy how “dumb” animals are compared to humans given all the advantages we posses over them, yet we resort to things like baiting and high fences because the alternative is too hard. With that’ said it’s frustrating to have to play defense against 5 acre corn pile guy when someone else is trying to actually benefit the habitat for deer and countless other species.

 

[gasman]

How is dumping out a pile of corn any different than clearing a section of the woods or other "natural" habitat and planting a food plot. How many tons of corn would have to be poured out to equal the cost of a tractor, implements, soil amendments, seed, and fuel to plant these plots. Neither way is really improving habitat but shaping the habitat to benefit killing a deer. To each their own, I find it interesting to read about all the different ways people hunt deer around the country. I sure hope the neighbors don't use their way to hunt to kill one of "my" deer.

 

[Deer Stuffer]

How is dumping out a pile of corn any different than clearing a section of the woods or other "natural" habitat and planting a food plot. How many tons of corn would have to be poured out to equal the cost of a tractor, implements, soil amendments, seed, and fuel to plant these plots. Neither way is really improving habitat but shaping the habitat to benefit killing a deer. To each their own, I find it interesting to read about all the different ways people hunt deer around the country. I sure hope the neighbors don't use their way to hunt to kill one of "my" deer.

There is no difference In my opinion.

 

[Deer Stuffer]

I am not against any weapon for killing deer as long as it's legal. But one thing that bugs me is when someone nit picks a guy for shooting a deer at a corn pile with a bow at 25 yards but turns around and shoots a deer with a rifle at 250 yards or more in the name of far chase. Just because the deer was not on corn when shot with rifle at longer distances does that make it "real hunting" because no food was involved? Is that more difficult than shooting a deer with a bow at 25 yards over corn when you actually have to have the wind right and have very little movement?

 

[Chipdasqrrl]

In some states, as someone said earlier in the thread, if you don’t bait then you won’t see many deer.

I’m in Northern Michigan where people unload truck beds full of sugar beets into a pile in front of their blind. Baiting was made illegal this year, but that stopped very few people from baiting.

I didn’t bait at all this year, but I’m fully aware that every single neighbor baited. We (the hunters on my property) saw very few deer this year, and on most days didn’t see a single deer.

Meanwhile... My neighbors tell me all about the loads of deer they’re seeing. Just the way it goes.. In places like this you’re kinda screwed if you don’t bait


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[Chipdasqrrl]

In MY perfect world, nobody around me would be baiting and neither would I. I love using bait for trail camera pictures but there’s something about hunting a deer in its “natural” patterns that I would prefer.
No, food plots aren’t natural, but in my perfect world I would still be planting, but not hunting them.
It all just comes down to doing whatever you want (If legal). Don’t let others define what ‘hunting’ means for you, and don’t tell others that what they’re doing isn’t hunting. It’s different to everyone


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[Mennoniteman]

In some states, as someone said earlier in the thread, if you don’t bait then you won’t see many deer.

I’m in Northern Michigan where people unload truck beds full of sugar beets into a pile in front of their blind. Baiting was made illegal this year, but that stopped very few people from baiting.

I didn’t bait at all this year, but I’m fully aware that every single neighbor baited. We (the hunters on my property) saw very few deer this year, and on most days didn’t see a single deer.

Meanwhile... My neighbors tell me all about the loads of deer they’re seeing. Just the way it goes.. In places like this you’re kinda screwed if you don’t bait


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Michigan hunting laws must be more lenient than PA. In most of PA you wouldn't let your neighbors know that you are hunting over bait, you would keep it as secret as a guy who has two girlfriends. Because shooting a deer over bait in most of PA is poaching, which can be thousands of dollars in fines and court costs, takes away your hunting privileges for 3 years, plus getting snobbed at all the local hangouts. Poaching isn't as popular as in the days when people poached deer to feed a hungry family. Nowadays poaching is considered stealing from honest people who play by the rules, and it's not considered snitching for an honest hunter to report it. Don't get me wrong, it still happens too much, but strictly on the sneak.

 

[144]

Just do what makes you happy and what you are comfortable with. As long as it’s a legal form of take, it’s nobody else’s business but your own.

5 acre guy has just as much right to the deer as 500 acre guy... and the amount of effort that 500 acre guy puts in doesn’t matter. The argument could be made that 500 acre guy is baiting more than 5 acre guy, even if he doesn’t put out corn. It’s all manipulation, trying to get a shot at the deer.

It’s funny that this same topic comes up once every month or so, and the same people respond (including me) with the same views. I don’t think anyone is being convinced otherwise...

Deer Stuffer - don’t worry about it and go have fun.


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[MarkDarvin]

It is always fun to get an updated pulse of the community.