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

[buckeye_hunter]

Lots of good points mentioned.

A clean kill from these woods still leaves me with a SLIGHT chance it could wind up in someone's yard. Most likely, even on a bad hit, there are plenty of places a deer would "lay up" instead of going back into the neighborhood where they might be bothered by dogs etc.

Luckily, the wind is bad tomorrow so I can think about it a bit. I will hunt it straight up without bait at least one more time for sure and go from there.

I gotta say I'm suprised so many people understand the baiting issue in this case. I though more people would still be dead set against it.

[gjarcher]

I agree with the "If it is legal, you can do it" comments.

However, I would not bait anything ... just from personal experience, I've found that baiting isn't all that successful and isn't all that rewarding.

I feed my rabbits and doves and quail every day, calling "Here Babies", and they learn to trust me. I just can't bring myself to hunt something that has learned to trust my actions. I'd rather that they regard me as a Predator if I intend to kill them ...

I'm not wanting to start an argument, just stating one Old Man's opinion ...

[Boone the Hunter]

The one big thing that jumps out at me here is the deer density, I have a couple pieces of land i hunt that the reason i'm there is a homeowner asked me to thin out the herd because it had gotten to thick, I love and prefer hunting baitless and have to anyway in michigan, but come december when they're asking me how many deer i've shot and it's 1 or 2, I would love to dump out some bait and stack up a few in a couple hunts. Fill every freezer in town with deer that need to be managed. So I guess I'm saying, need to kill some deer=bait, want to enjoy hunting in its purity and maybe less action=no bait. If I had the option I would do both.

[ArrowAtomik]

Urban management is a different situation altogether and I have no problem with legal baiting for that case.  Also in my experience you don't have to worry too much about wounded deer heading for people's backyards.  Mature deer seem to have an escape route already in mind and you can be sure it is one that gets them away from human development as quickly as possible.  

A young deer on the other hand... they are the dangerous ones, and can do anything after being hit... like run back into the neighborhood to try to join up with the rest of the herd.

[KellyG]

Heck yes I would. As far as cheapen a hut don't thinks so. I baited for bear in AK. Made a 55 gallon drum into a feeding station that hung on the side of a tree. Put dog food and grease from deep fryers in it. It was a lot of work. Bear were using it, but I heard one spoke off as I came in to my stand.
I put corn on the ground in west TX to try and draw a mulie just outside of el Paso, spread a bag of cracked corn. No deer. Put a salt block by my son stand last year, in hopes to get one to stop and offer him a broad side shot. Deer used it and it was in a area we seen lot of deer already. None never used it while he was in the stand.
I Kansas near where I live there is an assisted hunt that takes place. I paid back the group for taking my son out while on my second deployment by  guiding one of their  youth hunter. The group gave up apples corn, and I used C'mere deer.   They hunt private and public lands in riley co. They assign the guide location and sometimes a blind that was used in years past.  I was on a new piece that had not be hunted  by the group.  Two weeks out we all start putting out feed. This is to offer a youth a chance at a deer that is not moving. Again would have to dump out 5 gallons of corn on the edge of a bean  field we hunted. We spooked the only we seen the first morning of the hunt. We did not make it off the paved road and he was bed in the edge of a corn field. Just he look in this kids eyes to see the corn pile shrink that weekend was great. To walk him up to the pile and show him new tracks, is still a great memory.  My point to this book is there is a lot more work to baiting than just puting food on the ground and shooting a deer.
I have kill deer coming and going to acorns, crop fields, and other baits that man and nature put out. I use doe pee and have never killed a deer over it.  I have had small buck come into it and like that. It is still bait. Unless someone never sits in a tree or blind and only spots and stalks or still hunts they use bait, natural or man placed. Have fun either way, I do.
I would use peanut butter in your case. It has strong smell and deer love the stuff. f
Good luck and happy hunting,
Kelly

[vtmtnman]

I'd do it all day long...Large apple pile and some sharp BH's.

[wollelybugger]

I don't believe in feeding any wild animals including birds. It creates a unnatural habitat and they become dependent on humans. This includes food plots. Free ranging deer for me.

I know that the farmers corn field is a large food plot and so is his soybean field but he didn't plant it to bring deer into range to shoot.

Thats just my opinion, anyone who hunts over food plots and its legal is still my hunting brother, same as someone using a different bow than me, his choice.

[Bowwild]

The comments about urban deer hunting are good.

I'm an anti-baiter, the disease and parasite impacts can be devestating on a local herd, especially one that is over-populated and crowded into small spaces like the one you are describing. Then there is the ethic I developed during the first 20 years of deer hunting in Indiana where baiting has always been illegal. Those years formed my opinion on this practice just as folks who grew up in baiting states were so influenced by that culture.

However, when hunting an urban deer herd many things are out the window as far as a "normal" hunt are concerned. Hunting over yards, lots of eyes watching, residential lights, the contorversy of using binoculars when spoting game in backyards (yep, nasty incident in our Capital over this a few years ago), competing with flower gardens, bird feeders and photo-bait piles. You also have some in the neighborhood who hate the deer(after 6-7 years flower and shrub replacement can change a person's opinion on the nice deer).  Some in the neighborhood don't want to see the deer "hurt" by a hunter but would welcome a sharpshooter (duh). Others would like to see the deer trapped or darted and translocated, even though 27%+ of such deer end up dying in less than 8 weeks.

Maybe the gloves are off when hunting these deer? I hope you have other, more wild places to hunt so your total deer hunting experience isn't this urbanized one?

[Roy Steele]

If you can't move to the deer why not bring them to you.I don't bait and hunt only mature bucks which is highly unlikely one will show up in the daylight.But if you just want to shoot a deer.GO FOR IT.

[Stone Knife]

If it were legal and the deer were a problem in the area, it would then become my duty to do what it took to get the job done. We are not allowed to bait in NY and this can be a touchy subject but if we could I would for sure just to optimize my chances with the limited time I have to hunt.

[buckeye_hunter]

There are PLENTY of people in the neighborhood that would be happy if I could shoot a good dozen of these deer. There would still be plenty left. My neighbor had $300-$400 worth of trees destroyed by a buck last year. The guy who owns the woods I hunt wants the deer gone. He is the first house into the neighborhood and he can't plant any flowers or decent shrubs. Either the deer eat them, rub on them or sometimes even bed down on them. He would let me hunt right in his yard, but it is just into the town limits and not legal.

FYI; I do have other locations to hunt, but this is the most economical since I can walk to my hunting area from my house.

[jcarter]

That's tough, I think any hunter that wants to harvest an animal wants to do it " naturally" without the aid of bait. I personally would struggle with sitting over a pile of corn or feed and shooting an animal over it. I'm not being critical of others, this is just my personal opinion.

If baiting is legal where you hunt, I would establish a permanent feeding area and hunt them as they come and go as mentioned in some of the other posts.

That;s just me  

[ALwoodsman]

Buckeye,  I am in a very similar situation to you.  A subdivision runs the length of my property.  It is not a typical subdivision, It is cut up in 10 acre tracts.  Several of the neighbors feed deer.  The house that is closest to my hunting area throws corn out every morning and evening.  I have seen deer run from my property to his at feeding time.  This is very frustrating.  I see deer pass up the acorns I am hunting over to go eat corn.  In Alabama it is illegal to hunt over bait.  I think it should be illegal to feed deer during deer season, PERIOD! I know just how you feel.  I don't plan on doing it but baiting has crossed my mind too.  Just last night after sitting in a stand all day and only seeing one doe I drove past his yard when leaving and saw about 10 deer eating corn.  :mad:

[metsastaja]

I used to hunt a woods right next to a neighborhood where the deer ate freely and roamed during the day. Was not uncommon for us to be walking into the woods seeing deer in back yards.

My brother and I set stands both tree and natural about 150 yards into the woods along the line.  We were very successful with out bait since it was illegal.

[rlc1959]

I lease a property in Illinois for bow hunting and we have the farmer put in some food plots near some of the Wooded edges to help keep the does around. This in turn draws Bucks from all over during the rut. I am also part of a lease in Ohio . At this lease we scatter some corn around on the old logging roads to keep the does around. All the neighboring properties have feed piles when it gets near to gun season. We Hunt mature bucks so it is very rare to get a shot a a mature buck on a feed pile during daylight. I think it would be fine for you to put some corn out to keep some deer on your property. Thanks, RC

[buckeye_hunter]

There are cut bean fields that haven't been turned over yet to the north of the woods I hunt. So there are beans still laying on the ground in the field. I would have thought that deer would be hitting this food hard. Not the case at all. Every night I watch and the fields are empty. Then I drive to the store and see them hanging out eating cracked corn and bird feed in peoples yards! Very frustrating.  

Early in the season when the fields were green, I would regularly see a half dozen does and bucks out in the field. Most were still in yards, but at least some were hitting the Soy beans.

[ALwoodsman]

Where are the deer bedding at?

[Bud B.]

Originally posted by Boone the Hunter:
The one big thing that jumps out at me here is the deer density, I have a couple pieces of land i hunt that the reason i'm there is a homeowner asked me to thin out the herd because it had gotten to thick, I love and prefer hunting baitless and have to anyway in michigan, but come december when they're asking me how many deer i've shot and it's 1 or 2, I would love to dump out some bait and stack up a few in a couple hunts. Fill every freezer in town with deer that need to be managed. So I guess I'm saying, need to kill some deer=bait, want to enjoy hunting in its purity and maybe less action=no bait. If I had the option I would do both.

Lots of good posts in this thread but this one above is the best one in my opinion.

Deer are over populating in the more urban and developed areas. More deer/vehicle crashes are happening than I'd like to see. People are suffering injuries from these crashes and sometimes death. Deer overpopulation can lead to herd disease and starvation too.

Thin'em out and fill your freezer or someone elses.

[huskyarcher]

I have "baited" a many a time, all the others i was in a climber over apple trees or oak trees...no different than baiting. unless you are stalking or tracking deer through a bedding area you are doing no less than baiting in some form or another. I respect the others decision not to bait...to each their own. But in my opinion baiting will probably be your only shot at success in this situation. Good luck buddy and straight shooting to all!
God Bless

[$bowhunter$]

thanks guys i didnt realize yo can bait deer in ohio. my bad. must of read the site wrong. thanks