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Baiting

MQ1-Z7

Junior Member
252
0
Ashland Co.
I never did any baiting for my own thoughts on it , my buddy has and did take a doe off his feeder but what that did is made the deer start to hit the feeder at dark LOL he never caught a deer on the feeder in shooting light again , he still got alot of night time pics tho. So i guess they can get wise to it quick!
 

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
May have already been said but the only time I see it as an advantage is in sub zero temperatures when there is 6 inches of snow on the ground. That is the only time I have had a mature buck on a bait pile during shooting hours. That deer was the most nervous, skiddish deer that I've ever had under my stand. There was no way in hell I could have gotten drawn on him. Great for cameras, inventory, etc. Not the greatest as a primary tactic to harvest a mature deer IMO.
 

mrex

*Supporting member*
439
79
I could write a book about the benefits of using preferred food...corn - standing or from a bag / fruit trees - orchards / wolf white oaks / food plots and in one instance water to kill a mature buck early in the season.

My strategy is pretty simple...use food and cameras to find the buck...then use cameras to figure out where he's coming from...then ambush him on his way to the food. Hands down the most effective method I know for consistent success early.

A couple truisms about baiting:

1 - Mature bucks HATE feeders or any man made feeding apparatus. Will they visit them? Yes - but the majority will not. And those that do will visit primarily at night and usually in the middle of the night. The only time I've seen feeders draw mature bucks with any consistency is in areas where they've been established for years and the deer grew up around them...and they still don’t like them! I've proven this to myself over and over. On more than one occasion, I've run cameras over a feeder all year with no pics of mature bucks then spread feed on the ground 100 yards away, set up a camera and get a photo of a big buck that I didn’t know was there on the first night. Running a camera over a feeder does not give an accurate inventory of what's using the area. Running a camera over bait manually spread on the ground gives a much clearer image. If you're going to bait, by far the most effective method is to crack open the bag, walk around and make the feed look as natural as possible...like it fell out of the trees. Deer are like Dorothy and Toto...they follow the yellow brick road...(and when the first case of CWD shows up in Ohio it will be "good by yellow brick road"). Consistently going into an area and spreading bait has the added benefit of desensitizing the deer to your presence…you no longer smell like the enemy…you smell like the ice cream truck. Dropping feed on the ground is expensive, inefficient, inconvenient and effective as hell for finding mature bucks in the early season. It probably works just as well in the late season but I personally don't have nearly as much experience with it as I’ve only carried an either sex tag into the late season one time in the past 30 years.

2 – Hunting directly over bait or any isolated preferred food source is a great way to kill “A” deer. It’s a difficult way to kill a mature buck. The first deer to show up at any preferred food is rarely a mature buck. Chances are great that the bucks in the photo’s Kim showed ran off young bucks, does and fawns that where already feeding. Deer feeding on concentrated food sources don’t just pass by…they hang out…sometimes for hours and if your fortunate enough to fool all those eyes, ears and noses long enough for a mature buck to show, your chances of getting drawn on him are slim to none without something picking you off. Another big disadvantage to hunting directly over a preferred food source is spooking deer off when the hunt is over. At a minimum, you need to have someone from the ground come and run them off so they don’t repeatedly see you come down from the same tree.

Again...the secret is figuring out where a mature buck is coming from. Their home range is still pretty small in the early season so you don’t need to get to far back from the food...usually just far enough that you can get in and out without detection by the deer gathered at the food source. By using the food as the hub and placing cameras in the spokes, you can deduce a bucks travel pattern and your chances of encountering him in the daylight go up with every step outward that you take!
 
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Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
I could write a book about the benefits of using preferred food...corn - standing or from a bag / fruit trees - orchards / wolf white oaks / food plots and in one instance water to kill a mature buck early in the season.

My strategy is pretty simple...use food and cameras to find the buck...then use cameras to figure out where he's coming from...then ambush him on his way to the food. Hands down the most effective method I know for consistent success early.

A couple truisms about baiting:

1 - Mature bucks HATE feeders or any man made feeding apparatus. Will they visit them? Yes - but the majority will not. And those that do will visit primarily at night and usually in the middle of the night. The only time I've seen feeders draw mature bucks with any consistency is in areas where they've been established for years and the deer grew up around them...and they still don’t like them! I've proven this to myself over and over. On more than one occasion, I've run cameras over a feeder all year with no pics of mature bucks then spread feed on the ground 100 yards away, set up a camera and get a photo of a big buck that I didn’t know was there on the first night. Running a camera over a feeder does not give an accurate inventory of what's using the area. Running a camera over bait manually spread on the ground gives a much clearer image. If you're going to bait, by far the most effective method is to crack open the bag, walk around and make the feed look as natural as possible...like it fell out of the trees. Deer are like Dorothy and Toto...they follow the yellow brick road...(and when the first case of CWD shows up in Ohio it will be "good by yellow brick road"). Consistently going into an area and spreading bait has the added benefit of desensitizing the deer to your presence…you no longer smell like the enemy…you smell like the ice cream truck. Dropping feed on the ground is expensive, inefficient, inconvenient and effective as hell for finding mature bucks in the early season. It probably works just as well in the late season but I personally don't have nearly as much experience with it as I’ve only carried an either sex tag into the late season one time in the past 30 years.

2 – Hunting directly over bait or any isolated preferred food source is a great way to kill “A” deer. It’s a difficult way to kill a mature buck. The first deer to show up at any preferred food is rarely a mature buck. Chances are great that the bucks in the photo’s Kim showed ran off young bucks, does and fawns that where already feeding. Deer feeding on concentrated food sources don’t just pass by…they hang out…sometimes for hours and if your fortunate enough to fool all those eyes, ears and noses long enough for a mature buck to show, your chances of getting drawn on him are slim to none without something picking you off. Another big disadvantage to hunting directly over a preferred food source is spooking deer off when the hunt is over. At a minimum, you need to have someone from the ground come and run them off so they don’t repeatedly see you come down from the same tree.

Again...the secret is figuring out where a mature buck is coming from. Their home range is still pretty small in the early season so you don’t need to get to far back from the food...usually just far enough that you can get in and out without detection by the deer gathered at the food source. By using the food as the hub and placing cameras in the spokes, you can deduce a bucks travel pattern and your chances of encountering him in the daylight go up with every step outward that you take!

awesome post mike. Probably one of the best damn pieces of advice I've ever seen you share.
 

huntn2

Senior Member
6,090
157
Hudson, OH
I could write a book about the benefits of using preferred food...corn - standing or from a bag / fruit trees - orchards / wolf white oaks / food plots and in one instance water to kill a mature buck early in the season.

My strategy is pretty simple...use food and cameras to find the buck...then use cameras to figure out where he's coming from...then ambush him on his way to the food. Hands down the most effective method I know for consistent success early.

A couple truisms about baiting:

1 - Mature bucks HATE feeders or any man made feeding apparatus. Will they visit them? Yes - but the majority will not. And those that do will visit primarily at night and usually in the middle of the night. The only time I've seen feeders draw mature bucks with any consistency is in areas where they've been established for years and the deer grew up around them...and they still don’t like them! I've proven this to myself over and over. On more than one occasion, I've run cameras over a feeder all year with no pics of mature bucks then spread feed on the ground 100 yards away, set up a camera and get a photo of a big buck that I didn’t know was there on the first night. Running a camera over a feeder does not give an accurate inventory of what's using the area. Running a camera over bait manually spread on the ground gives a much clearer image. If you're going to bait, by far the most effective method is to crack open the bag, walk around and make the feed look as natural as possible...like it fell out of the trees. Deer are like Dorothy and Toto...they follow the yellow brick road...(and when the first case of CWD shows up in Ohio it will be "good by yellow brick road"). Consistently going into an area and spreading bait has the added benefit of desensitizing the deer to your presence…you no longer smell like the enemy…you smell like the ice cream truck. Dropping feed on the ground is expensive, inefficient, inconvenient and effective as hell for finding mature bucks in the early season. It probably works just as well in the late season but I personally don't have nearly as much experience with it as I’ve only carried an either sex tag into the late season one time in the past 30 years.

2 – Hunting directly over bait or any isolated preferred food source is a great way to kill “A” deer. It’s a difficult way to kill a mature buck. The first deer to show up at any preferred food is rarely a mature buck. Chances are great that the bucks in the photo’s Kim showed ran off young bucks, does and fawns that where already feeding. Deer feeding on concentrated food sources don’t just pass by…they hang out…sometimes for hours and if your fortunate enough to fool all those eyes, ears and noses long enough for a mature buck to show, your chances of getting drawn on him are slim to none without something picking you off. Another big disadvantage to hunting directly over a preferred food source is spooking deer off when the hunt is over. At a minimum, you need to have someone from the ground come and run them off so they don’t repeatedly see you come down from the same tree.

Again...the secret is figuring out where a mature buck is coming from. Their home range is still pretty small in the early season so you don’t need to get to far back from the food...usually just far enough that you can get in and out without detection by the deer gathered at the food source. By using the food as the hub and placing cameras in the spokes, you can deduce a bucks travel pattern and your chances of encountering him in the daylight go up with every step outward that you take!

I remember you sharing this at Strouds last fall. Excellent post! Thanks Mike.
 

Antler

Junior Member
19
0
There is always a benefit to having a food source on your property! wether it is man made or natural, When we are throwing the golden nuggets on the ground it always increases the deer traffic on our property.Who doesnt want that? If you are hunting over it and can see it, or you are hunting were you can intercept the deer going to or from it,you are still hunting over it. We put it down cause it can only increase the deer traffic it won't decrease it.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Well said Mike. I don't have the notches in my belt that you have, but I concur with all you've said based on my experience. The only pictures I've ever had of mature bucks over a feeder were there to run does off during the rut.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
Mike,

Again each location can vary.

I run 10+ cameras, some on feeders some just off of feeders locations and some no where near feeders.

I get hundreds and hundreds of photos, year after year, that disagree with some of what you have personally experienced. I have some bucks that have never gone to a feeder while others become fairly regular and somewhat predictable visitors and they aren't coming to run off other deer:)

I spend somewhere between 120-150 hrs per year just observing the deer, much of it at feeder locations. I have watched lots and lots of interaction and tendencies over they years.

In my opinion, for me, the best way to utilize a feeder is to severely restrict the amount of feed it dispenses. A 200 lb capacity feeder with last me for 5-6 weeks with 2 feed times per day. More is not better in my opinion. I don't want them staying and munching on corn for an hr. I want them to get a few kernals and work to find those and then move on. The deer will still come by and check even when there is no corn on the ground and the camera tells me what and when. Another important aspect is to try not to feed on ground where the corn can be easily consumed. The best is to set up in heavy leaf cover on the ground. They have to really work to find the small amount I set the feeder to throw.

I'm sure part of our slightly differing experiences is that my mature deer aren't as mature as your deer:)

Again I just don't think there are black and white rules when discussing deer. What you have seen may not be the same as what I have witnessed
 
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I hate to admit it but I have been reluctant to open this thread simply because I expected the classic arguments on this topic post after post. Boy was I wrong. Some great and informative stuff right here with many different perspectives. Good stuff TOO!
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I hate to admit it but I have been reluctant to open this thread simply because I expected the classic arguments on this topic post after post. Boy was I wrong. Some great and informative stuff right here with many different perspectives. Good stuff TOO!

It's how we roll... :smiley_peace:
 

mrex

*Supporting member*
439
79
Here's a tip for improving your chances of a daylight encounter with a nocturnal mature buck that routinely visits a bait site after dark.

The vast majority of mature bucks that frequent bait sites only visit after dark. If this wasn't true, then killing them would be easy. Most of the time, a mature buck will hang back in the shadows and let the does, fawns and young bucks feed first, using them as blockers or scouts for possible danger. Once the coast is clear, they'll move in and feed...usually long after shooting light.

One way to use bait to get a mature buck on his feet earlier is a strategy I call the "shut out." If your dumping food on the ground, dump it early in the day and limit the amount to make sure the daylight feeding does, fawns and young bucks have it cleaned up before dark. If your using a spin cast feeder, set it to only go off in the morning. A mature buck that's routinely feeding after dark will quickly figure out he's being shut out by the deer feeding before him and if conditions are right...wind in his favor etc...occasionally let his stomach cloud his better judgment.
 
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Diane

*Supporting Member*
4,715
66
Newark
Here's a tip for improving your chances of a daylight encounter with a nocturnal mature buck that routinely visits a bait site after dark.

The vast majority of mature bucks that frequent bait sites only visit after dark. If this wasn't true, then killing them would be easy. Most of the time, a mature buck will hang back in the shadows and let the does, fawns and young bucks feed first, using them as blockers or scouts for possible danger. Once the coast is clear, they'll move in and feed...usually long after shooting light.

One way to use bait to get a mature buck on his feet earlier is a strategy I call the "shut out." If your dumping food on the ground, dump it early in the day and limit the amount to make sure the daylight feeding does, fawns and young bucks have it cleaned up before dark. If your using a spin cast feeder, set it to only go off in the morning. A mature buck that's routinely feeding after dark will quickly figure out he's being shut out by the deer feeding before him and if conditions are right...wind in his favor etc...occasionally let his stomach cloud his better judgment.

Good stuff.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
Mike,

My two feeding times are early morning and noon, no evening at all. By the very limited amount I feed at each timing It accomplishes exactly what you detail above.

I have many, many of the pictures of some of the better bucks between noon and 1:30. No other deer on the feeder for a couple of hours and they show up normally alone, sometimes another buck with them even during some of the chasing period of the rut. This is very dependant on location. these feeder locations are set up in thick areas less than 150 yds from a huge almost impassable bedding area. Feeders out in the open almost never see a mature deer on the feeder unless it is after dark but I do catch them on the cameras set on the extreme perimeter, 50+ yds, typically downwind. These are almost always just minutes after daylight or minutes before dark.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
By the way, I am NOT saying that baiting is a sure fire way to kill a mature buck.

Even bucks that visit on a somewhat regular basis can have many, many, many days between visits and the buck I killed last year had only visited ( at least the pics I got) the area the feeder was in 6-8 times total. He had not shown in over 20 days in Nov up to Saturday, two days before gun season. I got two pics of him on that Saturday, one 3/4 mile away in the morning and one an hr before dark 150 yds from this feeder location. I could not hunt this area on Monday due to the wind direction. I was able to hunt it on Tuesday. I killed him 150 yds from this feeder walking in the direction of the feeder at 4:30 in the afternoon, he was alone. I don't know if he was actually going to the feeder ( I had not had a pic of him actually at the feeder itself since late October) or on past it towards the fields where they feed at night. I didn't wait to find out which trail he was going to follow
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
Feeders can be like a bar at closing time during the rut.