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Baiting and deer movements

7/1/10 @ 6:57 PM

INITIAL POST

Heavy Arrow

User since 12/30/08

I'm just wondering what others think about baiting. I speculate that my neighbors do a lot of baiting while I do not bait. From what I've seen, the deer are still bedding on my property, but they seem to get more nocturnal due to the baiting, perhaps because they can afford to be nocturnal since finding food is easy. Is it possible that this situation is common throughout the north woods of Wisconsin, resulting in less deer sightings, and more irritated hunters? Is this one factor (among many others) that is resulting in fewer deer sightings?

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Displaying 1 to 15 of 280 posts

10/14/11 @ 5:28 PM

Bone collector

User since 5/16/05

Its those darn AVERAGE baiters that screw things up! The MASTER baiters must have it all figured out!! LOL!

10/13/11 @ 8:47 PM

boneshredder

User since 8/16/11

Ihookem. thanks for the laugh!. do you have a somewhat accurate date as to when deer first discoverd corn??

7/30/11 @ 9:17 PM

Deer30

User since 2/26/10

Retch, you are correct, food plots are a form a baiting. I was coming from more of a big woods hunting perspective on public and private land where there isn't any food plotting going on, only baiting with corn piles. Considering the topic of this thread, I would not consider food plots to impact deer movement by turning them nocturnal though. I would think that food plots would be less intrusive since one would likely plant them once and then there would be no additional disturbance as opposed to trampling through the woods to replenish a bait pile regularly. I'm not advocating either, I'm just saying.

7/30/11 @ 8:54 PM

theimer

User since 12/11/05

how the average hunter baits and put food plots up takes very little skill but the people that bait right and put the food plots in the right areas takes scouting and skill. the average baiter puts a ton of pressure on the deer and makes them nocturnal. i seen unique ideals and ways of people baiting and it can work. i know people that shoot 2 1/2 year old and older bucks every gun season over baited stands. i'm neutral on baiting and food plots.

7/30/11 @ 1:50 PM

Deer30

User since 2/26/10

We own some property that we've hunted for quite a few years. For quite some time, none of our neighbors baited and we had lots of daytime deer activity. That all changed when one of the neighbors sold their 100 acre property to some folks that bait heavily. After that there has been very little daytime activity. We have trail cam pics to show that we still have decent deer numbers in our area, but it is like someone flipped a switch and behavior during bow and gun hunting seasons is almost totally nocturnal...which is not how it used to be.

I don't personally agree with baiting deer because it doesn't involve any skill and it doesn't seem to be a sporting pursuit to me. I'm not saying it increases your chances of harvesting a deer, I'm just saying that there is no skill involved IMHO.

I hear people argue that they don't have time to scout and all this. If you can't find the time to scout, then how do you find the time to run corn out to our stand regularly or even to hunt??? Most hunters make time to scout because it is something that they enjoy doing and they learn more about their quarry and the outdoors in the process.

I also hear people claiming that we need baiting to keep the kids interested. If the kids start on baiting, they will most likely rely on baiting for the rest of their lives. When will they acquire any woodsmanship or actual hunting skills? Get the kids out and teach them how to scout and hunt...it will be a great way to spend time together and enjoy the outdoors.

7/29/11 @ 8:36 AM

lakeshiner

User since 7/20/09

ihook - I see what you mean. I don't bait much anymore but like a lot of guys I have a little corn out near my cabin. While I'm up there the deer only show up at night. During the week when nobody is around they are there for hours during the morning and then again in the evening, sometimes even midday (I have a camera on it). They aren't stupid. I can just imagine what they think when the gun hunting brigade starts rumbling down the firelanes.

7/29/11 @ 8:07 AM

stank

User since 12/30/05

That really hurts browning! Ha.

20 years ago deer did not know what corn was and they would walk right past? Haha. All those deer I shot on our fence line of the neighbors corn fields must have been revolutionaries! I always knew they were special.

7/28/11 @ 4:56 PM

browning3

User since 5/23/02

I baited once. Threw an apple core from my treestand about 10 yards out in front of me. 15 minutes later I shot a deer coming into the bait.

7/28/11 @ 4:15 PM

ihookem

User since 11/29/01

519, yes I do bait. My post says I put out a few cups or hand full of corn. I also get deer to come in on week days in the day but almost never in the day on weekends.

7/28/11 @ 11:35 AM

lakeshiner

User since 7/20/09

I used to bait years ago when I first started hunting. The deer would become nocturnal to the bait pile, but they definitely didn't sit till dark. They just would not come to the bait until dark. A bait pile is just a food source like a food plot, farm field, or oak tree. Once they associate humans with a food source they will not come to it until dark. Jump deer from a field a few times and see how often they keep coming back to that field during shooting hours. When we baited, the deer were still out in the fields or in the hardwoods during shooting hours, we'd jump them walking out. Once the people leave the deer would hit the bait piles. No doubt in my mind that the hunting pressure made the deer nocturnal to the bait piles. Even right now I will see deer at noon in a field near my house or late in the morning. I can guarantee that when hunting season comes around they won't be there, and there is no baiting allowed here. Majority of people avoid the woods for over half the year, then all of a sudden they show up. The deer can tell when somebody suddenly shows up or jumps them a few times while walking in or out. I'm not advocating baiting or anti-baiting, I'm just saying look at the big picture as to why deer avoid bait piles.

7/28/11 @ 11:22 AM

519vx

User since 7/7/05

"Now days we can prove with trail cams they almost never come into corn in the day on weekends." From that statement, I gather that you are a baiter?

7/27/11 @ 3:00 PM

ihookem

User since 11/29/01

Baiting makes deer almost completely nocturnal, no way around it. Yes theimer, to make matters worse they are sometimes nocturnal anyway. I have noticed in 22 years of hunting unit 20 that it is true. When going way back in the woods 20 years ago deer didn't even know what corn was, neither did the red squirrels. They walked right by it. This is when I could see deer almost every time I went out hunting. Now days we can prove with trail cams they almost never come into corn in the day on weekends. I also see way more deer in mid week than weekends during the day. The reason is simple. Several neighbors are heavy baiters and when Friday afternoon comes you can hear the atv's. all over the public land. The deer know very well where the corn is and takes very little time to find it. They know in a few hours they will have all the corn they want, when it's dark that is. I also bait, don't get me wrong. I can go midweek, put out a few cups of corn, wait a half hour and they will be there. Why does it work on Wednesdays and not on Saturdays? Because I have the only corn in a sq. mile. of land that's why. It's all eaten up in a few days so tuesday starts getting better. The trail cams prove it without a doubt. They even stop by more in midweek to check for corn. The pics even show deer looking down right where I put it, on the log. Sometimes I leave on friday and never get pics of deer on Saturday or sunday in the day time, and a lot less pics at night. They are on 20 other corn piles. If we ban baiting it will force daytime movement cause they will not get enough to eat otherwise. Then we will see more deer and hunt them naturally. I am sure a huge % of deer are shot at night over bait too. Also, if you bait just put down a few coffee cups. They will still come in and nibble. It's the master baiters that put down 200 lbs that mess up baiting and makes them eat all night, sleep all day with full bellies.

7/26/11 @ 6:44 PM

theimer

User since 12/11/05

Baiting makes deer nocturnal

Deer are nocturnal to begin with, so how can you make them nocturnal? That is just a plain out moronic statement. I am not a stonehearted baiter, but I do it occasionally. When I do it, I do it as wisely as I can. I do not lay out the 2.5 gallons allowed. I put out much less and if a deer wants to get it, it has to be there first. I have just as many deer visiting during the day. What does make the deer nocturnal is the pressure from the hunting community; I have countless photos over the season to support this. If a deer feels safe it will move when it wants to.

the above is alittle bit of the article.

if deer are already nocturnal how can pressure make them nocturnal.

plus deer are not nocturnal creatures unpressure deer are crepuscular (most active during the twilight hours at dusk and dawn) this guy doesn't know much about deer.

7/26/11 @ 8:58 AM

browning3

User since 5/23/02

C'mon....the writers name is Scott STANKowski !!! How can you take this guy seriously? Turd alert!!!Turd alert!

12/27/10 @ 6:10 PM

drptine

User since 6/6/07

The deer are hunted very hard around where I live. A few days ago I went out to fill the feeder and there was a good amount of blood by it. I am assuming that it was wounded by one of the neighbors that hunt. It just seems that when you feed these deer year round they get very comfortable with people and knowing it is safe to feed there.

Displaying 1 to 15 of 280 posts

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Wisconsin Hunting Reports/Discussion

Baiting and deer movements

Heavy Arrow

Bone collector

boneshredder

Deer30

theimer

Deer30

lakeshiner

stank

browning3

ihookem

lakeshiner

519vx

ihookem

theimer

browning3

drptine

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