My best luck has always been in a fence row of a field edge. Give them some cover to feel safe but not enough to bed in. The trouble with putting one in a wood lot, is the deer will bed right on the pile or with on viewing distance if they can. But as Ric is saying, finding the perfect spot is key. I'm still looking for that spot myself that will produce this year.
Corn Piles for big Bucks
- Thread starter themedic
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My best luck has always been in a fence row of a field edge. Give them some cover to feel safe but not enough to bed in. The trouble with putting one in a wood lot, is the deer will bed right on the pile or with on viewing distance if they can. But as Ric is saying, finding the perfect spot is key. I'm still looking for that spot myself that will produce this year.
Wow! Just WOW! I forgot how impressive he was! He has length everywhere and very unique beams! By far the most impressive deer you have ever hunted IMO.
If he lacks anything it would be mass.
If he lacks anything it would be mass.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Fullbore
Senior Member
That's one of them "Good" ole cull bucks! IMO. One of those bucks that you might pass up in November, but gladly take in January. Great bow kill buck and congrats to your buddy.
Your buddy don't look none to happy though! Lol
I'd be grinning from ear to ear.........! I like that bucks mass!
I'd be grinning from ear to ear.........! I like that bucks mass!
Fullbore
Senior Member
Me too Bro! Great mass on that dude! I had that bucks score pegged below 140. Shows you what I know! Lol. An awesome deer and congrats again to your buddy.
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Digging this back up 10 months layer.
This year is the first year I really started baiting. In almost 100% of the pre and early season pics I've got in years past they were over salt or under an apple tree. I never really baited deer in years past until the harsh winter hit in mid December. But by then most of the bucks I got on cam early season had disappeared.
This season I tried another tactic. Pour the corn to them early and let the cams do the sitting for me. I started running 4 corn piles and a feeder in June. The piles were each about half a mile apart in a straight line. Almost two miles from first pile to last pile. Basically a long 30 yard wide fence row with small woodblocks on the ends and in the middle. By small I mean less than 20 acres and the smallest about 5 acres.
I hunted twice this year for a total of 3.5 hours. The buck I shot I could have shot any given week. The bigger 8 with the double throat patch was very killable the first three weeks of season and at the cam during daylight 3-4 times a week, sometimes twice a day.
I was holding off hoping something bigger would show and told myself I was giving it until rut. With all the things that happened this year on my other properties I was getting fed up.
I went to the stand knowing I would likely see spork or that double throat patch. An hour later spork was dead. He left his bedding area 100 yards away from the pile an hour and a half before dark. That pile was within his bedding area comfort zone they wander around in before dark.
Shot him heading to a corn pile.
Alex's buck last season. Shot over corn and apples.
JDs buck last season shot over a corn and bean pile.
My 2011 buck shot over ear corn as a doe drug him there.
Does baiting make it easy. No. You still have to be very calculated about it and hunt it smart. Does it make them easier to pattern and help you be more calculating. You bet ya. You can't just throw down a corn pile and hunt it expecting to kill nice deer. It's not that easy. But it's a ton easier than sitting in a funnel hoping he randomly wanders through. You're giving him an extra reason to wander through and removing some of that random free will.
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Before season I let them go about a month between checks. Once season got here about every two weeks. I always tried to go in the middle of the day especially if it was raining or was about to. But to be honest I never really snuck around. I would drive my truck close as I could. Shut the door like normal, talk to Travis, throw bags of corn on my shoulder and walk in. I wanted them to know I was there before I got there. Just a theory but I think deer know when you're being sneaky and they don't like it. The next time you're at a public park with deer around try this. If you walk normal and keep talking they just look at you or even go about their business. You can take pictures of them, point etc. They're accustomed to that. Now, crouch down, whisper, and start moving slow being sneaky. They're gone. They somehow know you're up to no good.
I think they get accustomed to that noisy bastard showing up. So much so that if they don't hear me they think I'm not there. Just a theory though. Kind of like if you walked to work down train tracks everyday. You know it's not safe. But you know you can hear the train coming a mile away too. If you don't hear the train, you think it's not there. What the deer don't know is the train can be quiet too. You would never expect a dead silent train, that goes against everything you've learned about a train, well neither would they.
First congrats on your buck Joe and thanks for bumping this back up. I skimmed through the post and again find it surprising how well corn pilling is received (at least on TOO). In general, I always thought it was tabu and that most people looked down on people who baited. May have to rethink how I hunt. Between my 1 year old son, my wife that is starting to not think kindly of my bowhunting addiction…..I may have to rethink my hunting strategies.
Legal or accepted? Most of the TP team lives in Iowa and it is not legal to bait there….so not in that scenario. As far as me or the other Ohio guys…yes it's "legal" but I don't think any of us would like to produce a video with a buck being shot while eating out of a corn pile. Thats just my opinion.
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Without a doubt non hunters think it's cheating. They think it's very simple to do and takes the sport out of it. But these are the same people that ask if you caught a deer.