Corn Piles for big Bucks

[bowhunter1023]

Don't get me wrong though..... if I have a big deer I wanna kill coming to a corn pile consistently...you can bet your sweet ass Im not to proud to shoot one over corn.....

Same here. And I'll admit to it. (I know you would, not implying that.)

 

[5Cent]

Same here. And I'll admit to it. (I know you would, not implying that.)

I'll 3rd that.

This is a great thread and a lot of good angles on the topic. Like many, I was always against baiting when it was first legalized, but when my personal situation changed (Athens county back to Erie/Huron county) I knew if i ever wanted to kill deer (of any size), given the size of land that I am able to hunt, then I would have to accept this manipulation. I still use corn to this day and while I think it has improved my chances of killing a deer, statistically speaking, it would fail a t-test (no significant difference). There is no constant in the deer world, except expect the unexpected. Yes corn on the ground improves your odds, but you can still screw up a plenty while in the woods.

 

[Kaiser878]

Same here. And I'll admit to it. (I know you would, not implying that.)

I know u weren't. I was just saying.


Does corning make anything a certainty? No.... but it doesn't hurt.

Biggest advantage I've seen. Holding deer .....

Also being able to figure out where a deers sleeping and intercept him.

 

[Hortontoter]

I prefer the Trophy Rock over corn as an inventory tool. It is less expensive and doesn't seem to make deer as nervous for some reason. And my inventory is done by September. I've shot a couple does and one small eight point coming to a feeder. This was five or six years ago. I have nothing against using bait, but Jesse is right, some guys would be lost without it.

To be honest, I think cameras give a bigger advantage than bait sometimes. Eyes in the woods 24/7 is quite an advantage.

 

[Buckeye360]

I use corn, TR, and cams. Bucks are getting use to it. I have gotten 2 140's on corn. Both had daylight pictures a couple days prior. No different than food plot. If no good exit strategy, you better not over- hunt. My setups are far from perfect. Ideally I could position stands in between bedding and corn, but you are less likely to see daylight action the further from bedding you get.

 

[Kaiser878]

I prefer the Trophy Rock over corn as an inventory tool. It is less expensive and doesn't seem to make deer as nervous for some reason. And my inventory is done by September. I've shot a couple does and one small eight point coming to a feeder. This was five or six years ago. I have nothing against using bait, but Jesse is right, some guys would be lost without it.

To be honest, I think cameras give a bigger advantage than bait sometimes. Eyes in the woods 24/7 is quite an advantage.

I rarely have the deer I kill on cam before October. A few times I have.... but not very often. This year I did though

 

[bowhunter1023]

I'm more interested in what makes it though gun season than I am in what bucks I have to hunt. The TR is not much help in that situation. I do think minerals are great for summer inventory and the TR is great. (Although my deer preferred my mix in a side by side comparison.)

I've been running cams as long as I have been baiting. At one time, I had 10 cameras on 130 acres. I've never had a camera (that wasn't over bait) help me kill a deer. IMO, it is a wash as to what improves your odds more cameras or bait. It takes the right deer on the right ground at the right time to make either tactic effective. Excluding cameras that text/email pics of course.

 

[JOHNROHIO]

I'm not a fan of baiting, have I tried it yes, it was boring. There was no hunt involved, more like let me slip in at yyy time the deer will show at xxx time, I shoot the buck I wanted when he showed. I felt nothing after I killed the buck!
however l will throw some corn down a couple days ahead on a 20 acre place I have if I have kids to take out. Except my own kids, they don't get that treatment. I want them to learn how to hunt first. My daughter has killed a deer, and my son has been close enough to get the shakes, so there not missing out on it.

As far as big bucks and baiting, the few times that tried it for a camera, I found that it just made them more nocturnal, and the big deer that I knew that I had, didn't show for it. But they would be on other cameras.

That being said I don't care if you do, not for me.

 

[Diablo54]

I've never done it but wouldn't be ashamed of a late season corn pile buck. Wouldn't brag about it very much but definitely wouldn't be ashamed lol.

 

[MK111]

I read this post with interest. My grandson wants to try for his 1st buck this weekend. So I did a 10 gl. shelled corn dump about 75 yds. from my tower on a main trail that inters my food plot from the neighbors brush area.
A lot of tracks in the snow today. This is my 1st attempt and a corn pile.

 

[Kaiser878]

Go big or go home. Ha dump 200lbs today. With cold temps ten gallon will be gone in 1 day. Haha

 

[Kaiser878]

I have to work till weekend. And two days ago on my day off I didn't have time to go feed my deer. So I had a Buddy do it for me yesterday at dads. They aye 6 bushels of corn in 4 days.... so I had him dump 6 more. Ha

 

[teenbowhunter]

Do you guys usually just dump it in a big pile or scatter it? I can't get out to the property very much besides when I'm hunting so whenever i do dump corn I usually try to scatter most of it so it lasts longer. It also seems like it might be slightly more natural looking for the deer than a big pile but who knows. I usually try not to use corn but all the LOs relatives use huge piles so sometimes it's hard to get deer closer to my stand without it.

 

[bowhunter1023]

I scatter it over a large area. I'm buying a spreader for my quad next year. I thought about using that to spread 500-1K over an acre area in our bottom.

 

[Kaiser878]

I don't like spreading it thin because if it gets trampled and muddy if gets wasted. I dump mine in a line to optimize as many deer eating at once.

 

[Blackbeard]

Very good back and forth on this topic. I agree with both sides of the story. I've killed several bucks but I've only ever shot one over corn. Was the buck I killed over corn as exciting? Probably not. But he was an old buck with a not so impressive rack that I'm proud to have on my wall though. Corn is definitely a great way to inventory, although I've found that apples or crabapples poured out are even better for bucks as far as photos. They just can't resist them, even in daytime. On the other hand like Kaiser said, if they banned baiting I'd be ok with it cause then every Tom, Dick, and Harry wouldn't have a pile out behind their house with a ladderstand off their yard edge. The amount of corn feeding going on definitely impacts deer movement, rut, etc. What I do know is that my three boys will know how to identify a scrape line/rub line, find a pinch point/funnel, and identify which oaks are dropping acorns by the time they start hunting in addition to how to dump out a 50 lb sack of corn!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Corn does not work all that well in our immediate area. There are not that many deer, and they have far more food than they will ever eat. Zach mentioning that 10 gallons (which is about 60 lbs) would be gone over night, demonstrates the difference in areas. That would last two weeks here at this time of year, and coons prbably eat more of it than deer.

 

[hickslawns]

Very good back and forth on this topic. I agree with both sides of the story.


What I do know is that my three boys will know how to identify a scrape line/rub line, find a pinch point/funnel, and identify which oaks are dropping acorns by the time they start hunting

Couldn't agree more with this. All we can do is teach our children the ways we feel is right. Teaching them how to read the woods will be better for them than teaching them how to bait. That said, I still have no issues baiting to get my son his first deer. Or daughter if she chose. I don't have any desire to kill one that way. Haven't yet. Not starting now.

 

[MK111]

I dumped my small amount of 10 gallons in a 3 ac. food plot. After 48 hrs. the pile was not even touched as I have 2 cameras on it. One camera is a daytime only and a 24 hr. camera 15 ft. from the pile.
Since I was there I dumped another 10 gl. on top of it. Time will tell as I think with the snow being gone there is enough food elsewhere.
IMHO anyway. But hey what the hell do I know about corn piles with only 4 days of experience.

Corn does not work all that well in our immediate area. There are not that many deer, and they have far more food than they will ever eat. Zach mentioning that 10 gallons (which is about 60 lbs) would be gone over night, demonstrates the difference in areas. That would last two weeks here at this time of year, and coons prbably eat more of it than deer.

 

[ImpalaSSpeed96]

I'm going to look into the late season baiting this year. I've personally found it impossible to kill any mature deer OVER bait in my years of experience. But I've also never used the tactic during late season. Late season we're duck hunting...