??? of the Day ... Hunting Over Bait

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A few months ago a friend of mine was telling me about some mineral block or something that would hook them deer and bring them in like nothing else. I can't recall what it was, but I know that some have used apples, salt blocks, mineral blocks, etc.

The question of the day .... do you, or have you, used baiting as a hunting tactic? Did it work well? Is it as much fun?
Are there baits that simply make it unfair to the game because they can't resist?

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
Will you LIKE MonsterMuleys.com on Facebook! I need a friend....
 
There really is no difference in hunting over bait or hunting a food plot or agricultural field. Food is Food for deer and other game. In this day and age of each landowner trying to "manage" the deer herd it is a good way to get to look over several animals before pulling the trigger. In parts of Texas it is the only way you will see deer. The brush is so thick you simply cannot see them without some enticement for them to come into openings. I prefer to hunt without bait but when the need is there and legal I do use it.
 
I've never hunted over bait other than spin feeders with corn down in south Texas for the reason PH mentioned. Putting a pile of bait out to bring an animal right to that one pile is nothing like hunting over agricultural land that takes scouting to find runways, etc. Food plots can be more like bait piles, but it depends on their size.
 
I've hunted hogs over bait in Florida. yea its fun when it kicks on the hogs come running in like a dinner bell
 
I think flying to scout is WAY MORE ethical than hunting over bait!!!! Baiting is with out question cheating IMO...
 
>I think flying to scout is
>WAY MORE ethical than hunting
>over bait!!!! Baiting is
>with out question cheating IMO...
>

Are you speaking for all animals? How about bear?

"Courage is being scared to death but
saddling up anyway."
 
No matter what someone tries to sell, nothing works better than corn.

PRMS0056_zps56580be0.jpg



Baiting isn't some magic trick that makes them lose their senses, best bet will always be to keep pressure very low. Some will just go nocturnal regardless of what you do as they age. Unfortunately for us, that age happens to be 5. Despite putting out 12K lbs of corn and having about 30 acres of food plot in bedding areas, I never saw a buck over 4 this year to shoot and majority of those had no interest in what I was offering. Our natural browse and rain just makes them not care until they need it in late Jan-Spring green up. Lactating does in the Summer is about the only thing we can get to hit the protein feeders, so they're needing something the natural browse isn't providing then. It's work & not quite as much fun as running & gunning out West checking known food sources that are loaded up with deer.
 
I grew up hunting public land in Texas where baiting isn't allowed. At the same time, I would hunt private land where I would hunt feeders/corn. Its all the same to me, my success didn't change much. I would see the same numbers either way I hunted, its about knowing the animal.

Bait doesn't mean guarantee. Case in point, last week in Texas I was allowed to hunt a whitetail buck that the owner wanted gone. He had seen the buck come into an a small oat field (200 yards by 200 yards) everyday for a while preceding my hunt. Guess who didn't come out during my hunt.

To those that down talk it I was this, try hunting some of these areas and find a deer. You can't sit overhead and glass. There have been times that I am walking through a tunneled trail in the brush following a blood trail.

Its not cheating, it is a necessary tactic. I know it is the same for bear hunts.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-15 AT 04:43AM (MST)[p]We use soft clothing and footwear and calls and long distance shooting to cheat their sense of hearing, and it's ok. We use camo and blinds and decoys and treestands to cheat their sense of sight, and it's ok. We use cover scents and urine and charcoal laced clothing to cheat their sense of smell, and it's ok. But using bait to cheat their sense of taste is "cheating"? Hmmm!
 
I'm here so lets get the fireworks started.

I WILL HUNT OVER BAIT sometimes.

It has been my experience that rarely do MATURE DEER respond and get killed over bait piles. By the way that deer picture eating corn isn't a mature deer, just a big youngster.

Most of the time when I hunted for deer near a feeder big deer were observed flanking downwind of the feeders and not coming to them. They know the girls are there and most of the time they could tell with their nose if there was one there that needed attention. Very often the best bucks I would kill I found eating in small patches of wild rye. Normally these patches were no bigger than a bedroom and if I found one I would get set up on a point glassing it. This is how I killed my biggest whitetail to date. It was still bait hunting. I was just hunting bait that God gave and I found.

As for other critters I don't think antelope can be baited. Elk respond well to food plots especially in late season. Turkey respond so well to corn feeders you can set your clock just by watching a flock, but I still prefer calling.

Lastly probably one of the most difficult if not the most difficult hunt you can do is a baited leopard hunt. Pull that one off and you have achieved more than most hunters ever will.
 
How else can one get trailcam pics of Bulls or Bucks in the middle of the NF without a water hole or seep? Natural mineral lick? Stumplicker or Buck Jam comes to mind.
 
Baiting here in Illinois is illegal. Supposedly to fight the spread of chronic wasting disease. Food plots are legal and help keep deer in a given area.If we grow such crops as sunflowers and plan to dove hunt over the fields we have to mow them 2 weeks before hunting them. If it were not for the disease factor I would view the regs as B.S. As long as we keep hunting legal, ethical and fun all is good.
J_T_B
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-15 AT 08:31AM (MST)[p]>By the way
>that deer picture eating corn
>isn't a mature deer, just
>a big youngster.

4yo & still dumb by age. Just don't see many that dbl their ear width in deep ETX.

And it would draw less of a reaction than something under a feeder, like this one.

MelDeer093.jpg
 
Topgun,
Your post is hilarious!
I have NEVER hunted over bait, except that time I did. LOL
Just razzin ya, but pretty funny.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-15 AT 08:35AM (MST)[p]It's illegal to hunt over bait in California, even for bears. People put bait out and then set up a trail cam just for "entertainment" value.:). Not me though.

Usually it works for awhile and then all the deer attract mountain lions. It ends up being a feed station for cats. That's why I never do it.

Eel

It's written in the good Book that we'll never be asked to take more than we can. Sounds like a good plan, so bring it on!
 
If baiting does not really help with the hunt much than why do people spend millions doing it each year. Of course it helps when you put a pile of food out exactly where you want a deer to show up so you can shoot it. Maybe it does not draw in a big buck every time but look at the thousands of trail cam photos that are all over the internet and how many of them show a nice buck eating from a bait pile.

I agree with Wolfhunter that for most species, baiting is more unethical than aerial scouting when used for the purpose of harvesting game. I have no problem using bait to get trail cam photos in the off season.

Food plots and bait stations are not even close to the same. There are some similarities but they are far from the same thing. I have elected to stop gun hunting over our food plots as I think it is not very sporting and I would prefer to shoot deer with archery equipment but I allow kids and some others to hunt over our food plots. Once winter hits here a good food plot is better than a bait pile but one heck of a lot more work. The primary purpose of most food plots that I have been involved with is to help the health of the game and allow the land to carry greater numbers, not draw them in for a shot. Bait piles are intended to draw a deer to a specific location for a shot.
 
I had a neighbor who decided to experiment with a certain type of bait on his rather large ranch. This ranch had a fair amount of deer with a few great bucks. After a couple weeks of chow, deer from surrounding areas were virtually living on the ranch. I am talking a few hundred deer. There were so many deer and bear visiting the feeding area that he decided to stop for he was afraid that disease would creep into the herd. The funny thing is that he never did see a true monster buck take advantage of the free food. Interesting.

Another rancher wanted to try and manipulate the migratory herd that frequented his ranch. He put up one of those Texas Corn feeders that shoots the kernels out like a shotgun. After a few weeks the deer would come running to the sound of the feeder like a funeral procession. The guy thought he was going to have this large herd of deer year round. Nope, once the migration punt started to the summer grounds all the migratory herd left the ranch. He even now claims that some of his resident deer left also. I dunno.

Anyway, no penis envy on this post. But, I do agree with wuffhunter that baiting is more unethical than scouting from an aircraft...providing the 24/48 hour rule is in effect. Bring it.

Oh, just curious how BuzzH feels about baiting. Someone wake him up.
 
I did use "Trophy Rock" in Utah once. All it brought in was does and small bucks. Kind of a waste of time.

Eel

It's written in the good Book that we'll never be asked to take more than we can. Sounds like a good plan, so bring it on!
 
>LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-15
>AT 08:35?AM (MST)
>
>It's illegal to hunt over bait
>in California, even for bears.
>People put bait out and
>then set up a trail
>cam just for "entertainment" value.:).
>Not me though.
>
>Usually it works for awhile and
>then all the deer attract
>mountain lions. It ends up
>being a feed station for
>cats. That's why I never
>do it.
>
>Eel
>
>It's written in the good Book
>that we'll never be asked
>to take more than we
>can. Sounds like a good
>plan, so bring it on!
>
>
>

Haven't they made everything illegal in California yet?
They have proven that everything causes cancer.





________________________________________
A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance, what good would a vote against the law of gravity do?
 
>I did use "Trophy Rock" in
>Utah once. All it brought
>in was does and small
>bucks. Kind of a waste
>of time.
>
>Eel
>
Does and small bucks are a waste of time? Not to me and lots of other folks!
 
I used some new stuff last year and I had 1000's of trail cam pics. Small and big deer, as well as small and big elk.
 
Quote from WH

"I think flying to scout is WAY MORE ethical than hunting over bait!!!! Baiting is with out question cheating IMO..."

Wolfhunter- would you be interested in changing regulation in Wyoming to ban bear baiting?
 
I have never used any baits of any kind . Last year I had set Trail Cameras on 7 different Water Sources , for 6 months , water sources that Wildlife and Live Stock utilizing the same water trough , documenting how often Wildlife use that water sources when and when not Live Stock are in the area . During the six Months when Cattle weren't around and utilizing the Water Sources , I was averaging just over 700 pics a Week of Mule Deer and Mountain Lion . After almost 2 Months , suddenly someone had placed Trophy Mineral Rock , crushed , on a few of these Water Sources . I noticed a huge increase of activity after only a couple days . I was averaging almost 1900 pics a Week . Deer that were frequenting another Water Source almost 3 miles away were suddenly showing up, lapping up that Mineral Rock . I believe the individual who used that stuff was a DIY Hunter , never seen this person again after the General Hunt . So, the stuff seems to work quite well ! I think the laws in Arizona is that you may use a Mineral Rock or Block , but nothing else , such as corn or feeds .
 
They'll lick those trace mineral blocks the ranchers put out for their cattle as well. Once it's rained on and gets in the soil it's a done deal, place will be baited for a while.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-15 AT 12:44PM (MST)[p]I got invited to jump shoot some ponds for mallards on private property. One of the ponds was loaded with birds and we thinned em down by hollering as we came up over the dam then picking out the greenheads on the rise. I found some corn on the ground around that pond and pointed it out to the host. He said he didn't know how it got there and i took him for his word.

Other than that, no bait on any of the hunts i've ever been on. I do think that the bucks that came into my Grandpa's Barley and Wheat fields was almost like bait. When Archery hunting as a young man, i dug pit blinds in the barley downwind of the trails the bucks took to get there every evening. It was about as sure a way to get shooting as i ever knew.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
>Wolfhunter- would you be interested in
>changing regulation in Wyoming to
>ban bear baiting?


No interest at all...I am really not that bored! Still does not change the fact that baiting is cheating, especially compared to aerial scouting days, months or weeks before the season. Also does not change that baiting is acceptable to the many.

My favorite example of baiting is the giant mule deer bucks shot over a pile of apples. Pretty sporty if you ask me...! The difference between you and I jm77... I am not going on a big crusade to change the law because I don't like it, or because those baiters are killing bigger bucks than me...

I am glad to see you finally admitted your hypocrisy over flying to scout...Did it hurt?
 
>No interest at all...I am really
>not that bored!

Only asked you that question because I knew your answer. I think bear baiting is an acceptable method to manage bear in Wyoming.

>My favorite example of baiting is
>the giant mule deer bucks
>shot over a pile of
>apples. Pretty sporty if
>you ask me...!

Happen to agree with you on this.

The
>difference between you and I
>jm77... I am not going
>on a big crusade to
>change the law because I
>don't like it, or because
>those baiters are killing bigger
>bucks than me...

I am not on a "crusade" to change any baiting laws.


>I am glad to see you
>finally admitted your hypocrisy over
>flying to scout...Did it hurt?
>

I admit to no hypocrisy wolf, I know aerial scouting in Wyoming is prohibited by Wy Statute 23-3-306(a) and look forward to the Game & Fish Regs to be properly amended to reflect that. You should tell me sometime what it feels like to hurt over realizing one is a hypocrite. You should know that feeling...
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-15 AT 05:50PM (MST)[p]If you feel that baiting is unethical, immoral, unfair,and just plain cheating....
How do you feel about sitting on a water source?


Not referring to you Sage, just happened to be next in line.
 
>I admit to no hypocrisy wolf,
>I know aerial scouting in
>Wyoming is prohibited by Wy
>Statute 23-3-306(a) and look forward
>to the Game & Fish
>Regs to be properly amended
>to reflect that. You should
>tell me sometime what it
>feels like to hurt over
>realizing one is a hypocrite.
>You should know that feeling...
>

Hmmmm....??? jm77 are these not your words post 93 on the Wyoming forum??

"He(jm77's outfitter) spotted several legal rams, prior to the opener in Aug, including the ram I killed in Sept. which happened to be in a very difficult area to access(no landing spots). So I guess I'm a hypocrite too Mulecreek".

I guess you only admit your Hypocrisy to mule...
 
>
>
>>I admit to no hypocrisy wolf,
>>I know aerial scouting in
>>Wyoming is prohibited by Wy
>>Statute 23-3-306(a) and look forward
>>to the Game & Fish
>>Regs to be properly amended
>>to reflect that. You should
>>tell me sometime what it
>>feels like to hurt over
>>realizing one is a hypocrite.
>>You should know that feeling...
>>
>
>Hmmmm....??? jm77 are these not your
>words post 93 on the
>Wyoming forum??
>
>"He(jm77's outfitter) spotted several legal rams,
>prior to the opener in
>Aug, including the ram I
>killed in Sept. which happened
>to be in a very
>difficult area to access(no landing
>spots). So I guess I'm
>a hypocrite too Mulecreek".
>
>I guess you only admit your
>Hypocrisy to mule...

"A satirical remark in scorn or contempt, esp one worded ironically; the tone or language of such sayings; the use of such."

In case the teacher forgot to tell you wolf, that's Webster's definition of sarcasm.
 
I think most hunters define "bait" as an attractant placed there by man. Most preditors including man see naturally occurring water as being no different than naturally growing food sources. I can see how a purist would view water as bait but most hunters draw the line somewhere lower.
If we use websters definition of hypocrite most of us would upon close self examination find and admit to a little.
J_T_B
 
Where legal, baiting is just another form of hunting and it in no way guarantees success regardless of opinions.

I've only tried to bait once. It was in Wyoming for bear. I saved, prepared and ripened the bait for a couple months prior to my hunt only to enter the country and find it full of snow. I couldn't get anywhere close to my bait site. I ended up dumping the smelly goo and a month later killed a bear by spot and stalk.

Most of my archery elk and my largest archery mule deer came from sitting water holes but here again, this is only one method and comes with zero guarantee of success. I've seen way more abuse (litter, cameras, stands, altercations etc) at a water hole than I've ever heard from baiting.

Zeke
 
By the way, since the aerial scouting has crept into this thread too, I'll weigh in on the topic.
Personally speaking, a guy with a "trophy rock", in the same canyon I'm hunting, will have very little impact on my hunt. He'll try to sneak in and out of the area also since he doesn't want to run everything out of the country either but a plane flying over low and multiple time will negatively impact the entire area for quite some time. A plane flying like that simply detracts from the experience for me. Everyone is a loser with this type of scouting.
My 2 cents,
Zeke
 
I never gave bait to much of a thought unless i was going fishing! :)

I suppose, if i was asked my position on the subject, i'd say, Where it's been legal to hunt that way, carry on. Don't let it creep in to other places where it's not been allowed.

I think a man with property that has deer on the place is a dam fool if he don't have several apple trees about here and there.

People been hunting critters going to food and water since day 1.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
So all the elk hunters that sit by a wallow don't consider that a form of baiting? You may not have placed it there, but you know that out of all the 1000s of acres around you, that bull has to come there and so you wait.


Rut
 
Never thought it would come to this, LOL, but I have finally read a post by Tristate that I agree with 100%. Well done Sir!!!
 
>Topgun,
>Your post is hilarious!
>I have NEVER hunted over bait,
>except that time I did.
>LOL
>Just razzin ya, but pretty funny.
>

Glad you got a chuckle, but with my sentence structure I don't know why you think it's hilarious!
 
There is a big difference between hunting a timed feeder and a food plot or water hole. There are even "deer calls" that are a recorded sound of a corn feeder going off! When wild habituated deer hear that sound they come running. A rancher near my ranch uses a truck mounted corn slinger that he dispenses while driving down a road. The deer come running immediately after he goes by.

With a food plot or water choice, wild animals can choose to come 24 hours a day, and they do. So there is still some "hunting" with those. I supposed you could make the argument that a bulk feeder (open 24/7) is more like a food plot, but even that is a stretch.

Have I hunted over timed feeders and harvested deer: yes and will in the future. But it is not truly hunting and as stated, mature bucks rarely come to feeders, with the exception of the rut. Then you might get lucky.

Have I ever found/used a "magic elixor, feed or block" that is a sure thing for mature bucks? No

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
How is someone dumping a bucket of corn on the ground and refreshing it every time it is gone different than hunting over a pond in the desert? No timers, no Pavlovian conditioning, just a pile of food vs a pond of water. They are both accessible 24 hours a day and are only available at that 1 spot.

Rut
 
I'll let the individual decide if its hunting or not but one thing that I am certain of is that it looks boring. I personally think sitting in a tree, ground blind or box over bait, water or an ag field would be mind numbingly boring. It sure looks effective but I would rather move around or glass a basin for hours and see nothing than just sit there hour after hour hoping something walks by.
 
Some of the hardest work I have ever done was running a few bear baiting stations. We fed a lot of bears and never punched a tag.
 
>How is someone dumping a bucket
>of corn on the ground
>and refreshing it every time
>it is gone different than
>hunting over a pond in
>the desert? No timers,
>no Pavlovian conditioning, just a
>pile of food vs a
>pond of water. They
>are both accessible 24 hours
>a day and are only
>available at that 1 spot.
>
>
>Rut

Not where I hunt. In the Texas hill country, there is a deer per every 5-10 acres. If you dump a pile of corn on the ground, it will last about 30 minutes once the deer find it. After a few days of this, the deer will start showing up right after putting the corn out, so even though there is no timer, the deer come on que. The rancher I talked about that slings it from his truck puts out 100 lbs a day, and it is gone in less than an hour after he puts it out. So it is the same in my area as a timed feeder. The only way around that is with a bulk feeder, and you better pull out your paycheck when you start doing that!


txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
 
As a western, rocky mtn. boy we got cable tv when I was 12. Of course I found the hunting shows right away. I saw a promo, "a giant 10 point buck" I still remember that today, man I camped out to see this buck. Imagine my sadness when this buck turned out not to be a 10 point muley, but some little whitetail 4x4 with eyeguards. Over the years I would watch these guys buy tractors, plows, seed, diesel, and spend days and days planting crops for a whitetail so they could then sit in a tree stand, or now, a heated, air conditioned fort with a fridge and microwave overlooking this "crop". To this western boy I thought, "that deer must of cost about $500 a pound".
In my mind, creating a food plot, or a feeder seems....lame?? I understand that I hunt the rockies and part of hunting for me is the miles I put on my boots, and that isn't always available for the eastern guys.
I personally am not real interested in hunting over a food plot, feeder, bear bait, etc. I don't think less of guys who do, but I would be interested in the break down between western(we do not count California, it is its own planet) and midwestern/eastern guys on this subject.


"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"
 
I spent over 25 years hunting the mountains of Utah before moving to Kansas and I can honestly tell you, you can't hunt the mid west like you do the west!
Some of you may take for granted all the BLM and FS property available to hunt out there, out here you are lucky if you find 320 acres of continuous public property! Even luckier if there are trees on a quarter of it. That is why you see some guy camped out in the same tree, day after day, looking at the same spot, that is all he has to hunt!
In the west you can set up with your spotting scope and glass several basins from 1000s of yards away, out here you may be able to see 1000s of yards, but it is a dirt field and you are only 6 feet above it.
I used to love to still hunt through the timber or a big quakie patch, out here, you can't see 5 feet in front of you and you practically need a machete to get through all the brush. Don't even get me started on the ticks and chiggers.
You know how in the fall you try to avoid walking through the quakies when the leaves drop because it sounds like you are walking on frosted flakes? Guess what, all of our trees lose their leaves!
When I hunted in Utah, I shot a few big ol' muleys when they stopped to look back one last time, in Kansas they don't stop running until they hit Nebraska.
Is sitting in a stand or a blind boring? YES! Is putting out bait cheating? Maybe a little, but when you only have so many square feet to hunt, you do what you legally can to increase your odds.
Don't get me wrong, whitetail hunting can be fun and exciting, but in a much different way. Oh and if anyone tells you whitetails are small compared to mule deer, they aren't hunting in the mid west!

Rut
 
Thats kinda what I figured as well. That style of hunting doesn't "float my boat", but I also get thats what you have to do. As usual things get blown out when the "pros" get it. That small pile of corn turns into 500 acres of genetically modified clover. That tree stand becomes a freaking apartment, etc, etc, etc. I live in utah, do love the open ground, but even here, I don't get excited at hunting bears over bait piles. Me personally, it just doesn't excite me much.

BTW I thought everything blew from Nebraska to Kansas to Wyoming, then back!! :)


"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"
 
I admit that some hunts are more exciting than others but the thread that binds the fabric is the fact that they're all exciting and it's all hunting!

If we're going to be uber-picky, then the only animal to hunt, which produces the most excitement for me, is sheep. If a guy can only have fun hunting really big animals, then elk and moose are the only critters worth hunting. If a guy can only hunt dangerous game, for his kicks, then grizzly bears are the only thing worth hunting.

I guess I'm trying to say that life gets really boring and hunting gets to very rare if we limit ourselves to such a very small segment of hunting.

Yes, I still get fired up for a dove hunt even if I've just returned from 14 days in the wilderness for sheep! But that's just me, I guess.

Open your minds and expand your hunting,
Zeke
 
>I admit that some hunts are
>more exciting than others but
>the thread that binds the
>fabric is the fact that
>they're all exciting and it's
>all hunting!
>
>If we're going to be uber-picky,
>then the only animal to
>hunt, which produces the most
>excitement for me, is sheep.
>If a guy can only
>have fun hunting really big
>animals, then elk and moose
>are the only critters worth
>hunting. If a guy can
>only hunt dangerous game, for
>his kicks, then grizzly bears
>are the only thing worth
>hunting.
>
>I guess I'm trying to say
>that life gets really boring
>and hunting gets to very
>rare if we limit ourselves
>to such a very small
>segment of hunting.
>
>Yes, I still get fired up
>for a dove hunt even
>if I've just returned from
>14 days in the wilderness
>for sheep! But that's just
>me, I guess.
>
>Open your minds and expand your
>hunting,
>Zeke

Great post! Especially your first paragraph/sentence. It is ALL hunting, isn't it, (as long as it's legal) no matter the species, sex, antler size, weapon, technic, season, weather, size of hunter group, age of hunters, etc. If we all understood that simple concept courtesy would prevail amongst us!
 

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