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Baiting

Just wondering for those that use bait. Do you prefer a feeder with a timer or do you prefer to just put it out on the ground every couple weeks? Why? Since I am from PA where it is illegal, I am pretty much a newbie when it comes to baiting.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Lots of people on here use bait and there's been a lot of good conversations about this topic on here. I use corn in one of my spots for a couple different reasons and have never had a feeder.

The how much to put down, where to put it, where to have your stand in relation to the pile etc is where it gets more complicated.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
I had a timed feeder on our property a couple years ago when my buddy was hunting it. Once we put it up all we got was pics of turkeys. Took it down and deer started showing up, they didn't like it for some reason.
 

rsmith

Member
1,835
52
I made my own gravity feeder out of a 5 gallon bucket, about 3 feet of 4 inch pvc, a t split adaptor, a cap on one side of the T and a 45 degree elbow on the other, and a toilet flange to hold the bucket onto the pvc with some nuts and bolts. It hold exactly 50 pounds which I keep full year round. I fill it about once every 6 or 7 days and it works great for me. The deer know where the corn is at and after about 5 days it's gone and then they are coming back constantly to check it for the next day or 2 which works out perfect since they come in around 7am and 7pm to check if it's refilled. I like using a gravity feeder or a feeder in general because that corn isn't on the ground and it lasts a lot longer in a feeder then on the ground. I also wouldn't waste your money on that powder stuff they sell, I got a bag and all the deer did was smell it and that's about it never ate it, the stuff just molded and that's it. A feed block with corn, molasses, and other things would be another good recomendation as a secondary baiting tool along with corn in case the corn runs out and you cant fill it constantly they have something to keep them coming in until you can fill it up again.

 

jlane

Junior Member
523
0
dunn nc
Personally I don;t like feeders with timed spinners, young deer don;t seem to mind the noise.
Have a big mature buck standing there eating and it goes off,
You may get him back a few times but you scare him and if you get him back it will be mostly at night.
I always had mine running about 2 am and 1 pm,
Then I went to gravity feeders and now i see better bucks and more frequently on cam.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Dump it on the ground. I've been a certified Master Baiter since I was 10, but I've also dumped a lot of corn for deer....... lmao

Seriously. For the last decade I have put corn out with cameras over it and dumping it on the ground works best for mature bucks IMO. They don't like feeders, especially timed ones. The excel being when it's cold as shit. I dump 100# at a time and spread it in a 6' circle. Gives them room to feed without being on top of one another. Would you rather eat dinner as a family off one plate, or spread out over the whole table?

That's my $0.02...
 

Riverdude

The Happy Hunting Grounds Beyond
Supporting Member
10,254
115
Ashtabula, Ohio
Good Point Jesse. My problem dumping it on the ground was once the damn coons found it Good Bye Corn. I read once that one raccoon can eat 5 pounds of corn in a day. I did go with some feeders that were actually meet for hogs but not sure how they are working if its birds, deer, or maybe coons. Not sure that they can get into it but regardless I am for putting it on the ground over a large area. That's just me.
 

Blan37

Member
1,800
64
SW Ohio
Gravity feeder for me, keeps the turkeys & other critters from eating it all. Can't say I have any big bucks hanging around it, though.
 
That is kinda what I was wondering. Baiting at 2 spots on the same property. Started baiting the one spot with just dumping on the ground. After I added the feeder even after a couple months, I am getting few deer pics where I was getting several before. The other spot I have a small 5 gal bucket feeder and I am getting alot of pics. Was thinking of getting rid of the timer feeder at the one location. After reading the responses though I may get rid of both. For you guys that just dump on the ground, how often do you go in and dump?
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
Every area needs to be treated different. Plenty of ways to bait, plenty of ways to bait wrong, plenty of ways to do it wrong also.

I only ever really baited a couple of spots. One being at my house. Every day at noon I'd grab half of a 5 gallon bucket full and take a walk. My bait site is only about 120 yards from my back door (I live in the woods, just to paint the picture for you). I'd set the bucket down, swap cards, take a piss and dump the bucket. Within an hour, most days, I'd have pics of the doe's showing up. I had those deer trained and I had the time and perfect place to do it. Them deer let me drive my quad right past them in their beds too. They didn't care about me if I was on that quad or had a bucket in my hand.

Zero chance that you could get away with this in most people's hunting areas. So...I guess what I'm saying, is I don't think it would of mattered if I dumped in on the ground or put it in a feeder. I wouldn't suggest doing it the way I did either...unless you have the time.

Not sure if any of this makes sense...running on very little sleep this week. Feel free to drop a aerial pic of the property some of these guys are pro's at this game and could probably tell you exactly what spot to start a bait site.
 

MoonLab

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
Supporting Member
10,371
145
Tooville
BIL and I use the feeder because we dont have the time or money to go back everyweek to drop the corn. So, we put in about 4-40 pounds of corn into the feeder just about. The deer has been on it and most of all keeps the racoon off of it but not always, it sure helps us on this new property of where we're at.
 
For me down here it's all about the scatter. I broadcast that stuff like I'm planting a food plot. Big bucks down here get extremely cautious of poured feed as well as feeders. I'm not saying that a feeder won't pull a big deer however with my experience they are alittle spooky around them.
 
I ran a timed feeder for about two years. Corn was all I ever put in it, 200 lbs at a time. The first year I ran it with a timer dispersing corn twice a day at 5AM and 2PM. Deer used it, but mostly at night. I assumed the sound of the feeder bothered them. So the second year I decided to do an experiment. I removed the varmint cage, lowered the legs and removed the battery. Now, the deer, coons, squirrels and birds could get corn anytime of day or night they wanted to. To my surprise nothing really changed much. The squirrels, birds and an occasional deer used the feeder during the day. The coons and the vast majority of deer used it at night. This feeder has sat empty in my creek bottom for nearly four years and I will most likely never use it again. My daytime deer sightings is definitely better not using a feeder vs using one. I've never put out corn as a bait pile so can't add much to that topic.
 

Bivobuck

Junior Member
145
20
Delaware
IMG_1973.jpg.
Whith a little coke coon control!!!!