Baiting?

[Greg Krause]

Another one to mix things up What's your take on it? Is it fair or ethical? Is it OK for a cull hunt? A trophy hunt? I want to see where hunters from different parts of the country stand.

[BT]

I am not going to give my full view of this right off but I will say that as long as it is legal to bait a trap it should be legal to bait deer/bear/ect..

There is no difference in the end game where you are using food to lure in an animal.

I did not always feel this way but as I got older....I had more time and ability to think it through

With that being said....

As long as CWD exsists....I am against it

[Greg Krause]

of course,I mean where it is legal, I should have said that.
you bring up a good point with the CWD. What if you were to only use a coffee can full every day or so spread over a 20sq. yd area. It's still baiting but your not putting a ton of deer on a single pile.........at least no more than food plots or apples from a single apple tree on a property. Are food plots and planted apple trees that much different than baiting?

I'm not saying one way or another, Just trying to insite some thought.

[rreda]

I grew up hunting in NY with no baiting allowed. Then I moved to NC, where they do allow baiting. I did not do it at all until about 3 years ago. Now I put out some corn maybe once or twice a week near 1 or 2 of my stands. As Skip says, not much at all, but maybe enough that if deer are in the area they might think about checking it out. However I had a weird experience last year due to my neighbor feeding deer in their yard. The deer got so used to them putting out the corn that when I was hunting about a quarter mile behind my house a doe followed me home from my stand waiting for me to feed it. It got as close as 12 yards behind me. I finally had to scare it off. What kind of hunting is that?

[tedicast]

It has been made legal in the past few years in CT, in certiain zones along the coast, and in the south west corner of the state. Me personally, I won't do it. Just doesn't sit right with me. I don't need to kill a deer so bad as to sit over a pile of food. but, thats just my personal feelings on the matter. Where it is a legal to bait deer, there is nothing wrong with using the option. It's just not for me.

[BT]

There are area's of the country and Canada where you don't have a chance of seeing deer without the food option.

Alberta guide told me that the food is just as much of a position as an attractor where he lives due to the fact that the woods are so thick.

He claimed that his hunting area's killed visibility beyond 50 yards once you left a road.

I'd say that was a good reason in my book.

Now as to where I live now....that is hardly the case.

[~Messiah~]

id like to have atalk with that guide then.

its true we have alot of thick woods, but a person shouldnt be using a guide who hunts the thick stuff for deer. moose and elk maybe.

i have no need for baiting with food. but i do agree with a mineral lick or something to bait some animals into staying still for some trail cam shots.

i guess my comment on guides and thick woods is not true, there are some wicked cutlines in our thick stuff that game use to cross.

i "might" be out this weekend trying to gte my big winner doe, so ill try and get some pics of some thick woods.

[Greg Krause]

I bring this up because last year I had the opportunity to see baiting first hand. I was hunting a property in CT where 2 other hunters had permission. They had a feeder set up and I opted to stay away to give their area space. Well I used maps and figured on a funnel being a great spot. the funnel was about 200yds away from the feeder and I saw deer under my stand like crazy. I shot 3 in two sits. The only thing that kept me from shooting more was that I was out of tags. The guys who sat the feeder hardly ever saw a deer. One shot a button buck and one shot a 4 point. I shot a six and saw a few MONSTERS. I really think the feeder was a waste. The deer only hit it after dark. Late season and January they shot a few does off the feeder mid-day.

[michihunter]

Definitely a controversial topic. But I have a take on this that may surprise a few that are against baiting. If you can catch a fish using artificial lures and live bait, why not any other game? Here in MI there are no baiting zones and other areas that you can legally bait but only with 5 gal pailfulss at a time. That includes what is already on the ground. Food plots are not considered baiting ((only the good Lord knows why) and can be any size you wish. I pewrsonally haven't baited in sometime, but if I had my own property in an area that allowed it, I certainly would.

[tautog]

I think baiting can be a good thing if done reasonably. I would agree wholeheartedly that back in NJ, where I am from, there are plenty of deer, and the wide open woods makes it almost non-necessary, unless the guy with property next door is doing it. Where woods are thick, like here in Maine, every little bit helps. I have had days with zero sightings at all(mostly) to the very best days where you might see five does and maybe a small buck. Of course, there are those banner days which are WAY too far and few. The 'tick stuff kills yah! So, I think it is ethical to put a corn tube or apple pile in a field and put up a stand back inside the cover/funnel LEADING to the field out of sight of the bait. Then it is no different than hunting on a path leading to an orchard, etc. To sit right over a mechanical feeder, seems, well, like trying to get a "date" with 10 grand in your pocket. Can you say, "sure thing?"