Rumor Has it. No Ohio Baiting

[Milo]

I'm not entertaining the silliness of this thread but after doing the spectrum of it all I think i would like to see it. I believe the loss of natural movement is hurting us. A lot of areas will be I huntable though and make a lot of areas worse population wise. There will be a concentration to unhuntable suburbs and they will have a lot of unintended consequences. Sure wish we had the open land like some other states do to not need corn piles. The reality is we are quickly becoming New Jersey

 

[jlane]

l agree with some on baiting. but for me, i have areas that does not have crop fields, set cameras up last august. i did not get but two bucks until after the middle of october -only after i put out feeders. it took about three weeks for the bucks to start coming to them. boy did they start coming. Now i have land with crops with-in a few hundred yards of different land with plenty of deer around. Not going to hunt the bait this year, but set-up away from it. I don't judge anyone that uses bait, it's their preference. I do think it allows a person to see more deer in their area. I think it should be up to the hunter to bait or not. Some areas without bait just isn't worth hunting. My reason for bait is to draw the does in and run cameras to access what is in the area. Now i have a ten acre track next to lake catherine,on the outer most edge, with hardly any movement until i put a feeder up. Just saying sometimes you have to do something to entice them in.

 

[Pabowbender]

Not to beat a dead horse, but let's just "say" Ohio made baiting illegal, how would that change the way YOU hunt in YOUR area? Would it change the number of deer you typically see on a given day? Would it change the number of bucks you see at your hunting spot/spots?

 

[Jackalope]

It would simply make it harder to inventory and somewhat pattern bucks. I would just switch it up and start to plant food plots, which is just more effort required form of baiting.

It wouldn't be the end of the world for 99% of the people on this site as we all know how to hunt without it. But for someone lacking whitetail knowledge or hunting experience it would be a hard blow.

Contrary to popular belief it's a pretty difficult task to kill a mature buck over bait. I would venture to say it's even more difficult than without it simply because that buck knows what the hell is going on. Similar to how if the police were doing a surveillance operation on a drug house. They would sit in an unmarked car to hope they catch the perpetrator doing something wrong and use the element of surprise. This is a pretty effective tactic because the drug dealer doesn't know they are there.

Now say the police are conducting surveillance on the drug house in a fully marked police car. The perpetrator is far less likely to do something because he knows they're right there. The only real time he's going to show up is at night when he knows the police car is gone.

Mature bucks are no different, they freakin know. The only time you will catch them at a bait pile is if you can make them believe they know every time you leave. Which is no easy task. You actually have to spend months setting up a pattern the buck believes, then switch it up on him opening day and hope you kill him before he figures it out. Or It's an absolutely crappy cold day like -10 and blowing snow. Or it's in the middle of the night.

 

[rsmith]

It would simply make it harder to inventory and somewhat pattern bucks. I would just switch it up and start to plant food plots, which is just more effort required form of baiting.

It wouldn't be the end of the world for 99% of the people on this site as we all know how to hunt without it. But for someone lacking whitetail knowledge or hunting experience it would be a hard blow.

Contrary to popular belief it's a pretty difficult task to kill a mature buck over bait. I would venture to say it's even more difficult than without it simply because that buck knows what the hell is going on. Similar to how if the police were doing a surveillance operation on a drug house. They would sit in an unmarked car to hope they catch the perpetrator doing something wrong and use the element of surprise. This is a pretty effective tactic because the drug dealer doesn't know they are there.

Now say the police are conducting surveillance on the drug house in a fully marked police car. The perpetrator is far less likely to do something because he knows they're right there. The only real time he's going to show up is at night when he knows the police car is gone.

Mature bucks are no different, they freakin know. The only time you will catch them at a bait pile is if you can make them believe they know every time you leave. Which is no easy task. You actually have to spend months setting up a pattern the buck believes, then switch it up on him opening day and hope you kill him before he figures it out. Or It's an absolutely crappy cold day like -10 and blowing snow. Or it's in the middle of the night.

This exactly!!!

 

[bowhunter1023]

What Joe said.

 

[Spencie]

It would not change a thing in the way I hunt. It would save me some $$$ on cam inventory but I get more mature bucks on scrapes than bait. I welcome the idea. I disagree with Joe a little on the difficulty of killing a mature buck over bait. If you dump enough corn they WILL be there. I see it every year in my part of the state. The guys that are successful at it dump it by the truck load and don't let it go dry. Dumping a couple bags per week is not enough. I'm not willing to hunt like this or spend that kind of money. I know of a guy that puts out 1000# per week year round, then shoots them from the back porch.

 

[Bigslam51]

It would not change a thing in the way I hunt. It would save me some $$$ on cam inventory but I get more mature bucks on scrapes than bait. I welcome the idea. I disagree with Joe a little on the difficulty of killing a mature buck over bait. If you dump enough corn they WILL be there. I see it every year in my part of the state. The guys that are successful at it dump it by the truck load and don't let it go dry. Dumping a couple bags per week is not enough. I'm not willing to hunt like this or spend that kind of money. I know of a guy that puts out 1000# per week year round, then shoots them from the back porch.

I also know a couple guys that dump that much corn and seem to kill a nice one pretty consistently.

 

[Fullbore]

I've finally had time to catch up on this thread. I haven't commented until now, but I agree with Spencie on this one. There's a lot of people crying the blues if they ever outlaw baiting. Personally, I like baiting my cameras for inventory. I do believe baiting helps some hunters more than others. Just ask the Eskers? Lol

 

[finelyshedded]

To answer PA Bowbenders question, I wouldn't change my hunting methods and just keep on keeping what I've been doing. I would reckon I'd start seeing more deer each hunt and the Bucks would prolly start coming around more often as well. Sort of disperse from the baiters who are working so hard to draw every deer in the county to their properties.

 

[Pabowbender]

To answer PA Bowbenders question, I wouldn't change my hunting methods and just keep on keeping what I've been doing. I would reckon I'd start seeing more deer each hunt and the Bucks would prolly start coming around more often as well. Sort of disperse from the baiters who are working so hard to draw every deer in the county to their properties.

Thanks finelyshredded, that's what I was after.

 

[hickslawns]

To answer PA Bowbenders question, I wouldn't change my hunting methods and just keep on keeping what I've been doing. I would reckon I'd start seeing more deer each hunt and the Bucks would prolly start coming around more often as well. Sort of disperse from the baiters who are working so hard to draw every deer in the county to their properties.

My thoughts exactly. This is how it would play out for me as well.

 

[Jackalope]

It would not change a thing in the way I hunt. It would save me some $$$ on cam inventory but I get more mature bucks on scrapes than bait. I welcome the idea. I disagree with Joe a little on the difficulty of killing a mature buck over bait. If you dump enough corn they WILL be there. I see it every year in my part of the state. The guys that are successful at it dump it by the truck load and don't let it go dry. Dumping a couple bags per week is not enough. I'm not willing to hunt like this or spend that kind of money. I know of a guy that puts out 1000# per week year round, then shoots them from the back porch.

A deer doesn't know the difference between 50 and 500 lbs of corn. The likely reason that works for them is the amount of does they can attract and hold. Deer will eat you out of house and home if you dump bait and try to always keep bait there. They're like stray cats, start feeding one and keeping food out and you'll eventually have 20. The key is putting out enough so there isn't 3-4 days where no bait is available and they stop checking in. Unlike mature bucks does will visit bait piles with regularity throughout season. If you bait in every doe around the bucks will eventually be there looking for the does. You're effectively baiting the bait. Baiting in all the does to use them as bait for the bucks. This goes to my earlier point of what constitutes baiting. If you're using a group of does around a corn pile that are baiting in bucks, or you're using a group of does in an oak flat that are baiting in bucks. You're baiting either way.

 

[bowhunter1023]

It's not about how much, it's about how. And where. And how many deer you have. If I'd have dumped the ton of ear corn I bought last year 400 yards south in a thicket that's at the hub of 2 ridges and done so on September 1, I'd probably have had more luck. However I don't bait to kill (unless it's freezer filling time in the late season) and the lack of "effort" shows.

 

[Spencie]

A deer doesn't know the difference between 50 and 500 lbs of corn. The likely reason that works for them is the amount of does they can attract and hold. Deer will eat you out of house and home if you dump bait and try to always keep bait there. They're like stray cats, start feeding one and keeping food out and you'll eventually have 20. The key is putting out enough so there isn't 3-4 days where no bait is available and they stop checking in. Unlike mature bucks does will visit bait piles with regularity throughout season. If you bait in every doe around the bucks will eventually be there looking for the does. You're effectively baiting the bait. Baiting in all the does to use them as bait for the bucks. This goes to my earlier point of what constitutes baiting. If you're using a group of does around a corn pile that are baiting in bucks, or you're using a group of does in an oak flat that are baiting in bucks. You're baiting either way.

Most of these guys are tagging out on mature bucks the first 3 weeks of bow season so it has little to do with checking on does. Their piles do not run empty. There is no doubt you must know what you are doing to accomplish this but I have seen their videos, it is a ponds worth of corn. Maybe deer don't know the difference in 50# and 500# but rarely do mature bucks stop by my less than 50# inventory piles.

 

[finelyshedded]

A deer doesn't know the difference between 50 and 500 lbs of corn. The likely reason that works for them is the amount of does they can attract and hold. Deer will eat you out of house and home if you dump bait and try to always keep bait there. They're like stray cats, start feeding one and keeping food out and you'll eventually have 20. The key is putting out enough so there isn't 3-4 days where no bait is available and they stop checking in. Unlike mature bucks does will visit bait piles with regularity throughout season. If you bait in every doe around the bucks will eventually be there looking for the does. You're effectively baiting the bait. Baiting in all the does to use them as bait for the bucks. This goes to my earlier point of what constitutes baiting. If you're using a group of does around a corn pile that are baiting in bucks, or you're using a group of does in an oak flat that are baiting in bucks. You're baiting either way..

But there is a huge difference, IMO

Firstly, the corn was dumped by a hunter with the idea to draw and kill deer in a certain spot that they strategically placed to where they can slip into undetected easier,monitor with cameras easier and hunt using the wind easier because it's more concentrated or in a smaller spot! Whereas an oak flat or clusters are more spread out,don't yield great or adequate amounts every year or throughout the entire season on a daily basis so the hunter can monitor and know his target buck or doe group will be there when he has time to hunt!

Cornpiling can be done everyday but eventually acorns run out and the deer move on to other food which as it stands right now, back to a monitored and replenished corn pile. Lol

Standing cornfields also are very much different than CP's as well and for the very same reason, size in relationship to a concentrated pile. When standing, the deer like to bed in it and move closer to dark. When they get harvested, deer and other critters just comb the fields looking for anything left behind but due to the size of a typical field versus a 20'x20' bait pile that's been replenished over and over again. A hunter must then rely on his scouting and some luck and hope he's set up near the right entry trail and that there is still enough corn scattered on the ground that the deer still find it worthy of visiting. As it stands now in my area at least, my deer sightings and buck sightings have plummeted the last 2-3 years because of two reasons, 1)low deer numbers and 2)the number of people/hunters putting out bait.

Lastly, what really baffles my mind is the farmer I hunt on planted corn in his fields the last two years back to back! Both years he left 40-50 acres of it still standing through turkey season(still standing as I type) and I've yet to find one(1) shed in it! Not 1(one) and his fields are the only ones still standing anywhere!!! That just blows my mind!

I guess if us humans had to find our food then work for it a little bit when we went out to eat at the best steakhouse in town we'd prolly settle for Golden Corral too, I hear their buffet is killer!

Oh, I have nothing against those who do bait and as long as it's legal there's nothing really any of us can do! I'd just like to see it gone so those of us who don't bait can see more deer and have just as much of a chance to encounter a mature buck.

 

[Spencie]

Oh, I have nothing against those who do bait and as long as it's legal there's nothing really any of us can do! I'd just like to see it gone so those of us who don't bait can see more deer and have just as much of a chance to encounter a mature buck.

But these guys have been so successful at this strategy that they will NOT stop baiting if it is deemed illegal. This will make them even more successful imo because of less competition.

Also, farmers are beginning to rely on this cash source from hunters. I know of a farmer that has a corn bagging set-up for hunters. The only thing he does is fill the hopper that holds the corn. Clients bag their own corn and leave their money in a box. There are guys stopping to get corn 24/7. Often there is a waiting line. If the state could figure out a way to tax this then there is no way they will ban the sale of baiting corn.

 

[Jackalope]

But there is a huge difference, IMO

Firstly, the corn was dumped by a hunter with the idea to draw and kill deer in a certain spot that they strategically placed to where they can slip into undetected easier,monitor with cameras easier and hunt using the wind easier because it's more concentrated or in a smaller spot! Whereas an oak flat or clusters are more spread out,don't yield great or adequate amounts every year or throughout the entire season on a daily basis so the hunter can monitor and know his target buck or doe group will be there when he has time to hunt!

Cornpiling can be done everyday but eventually acorns run out and the deer move on to other food which as it stands right now, back to a monitored and replenished corn pile. Lol

Standing cornfields also are very much different than CP's as well and for the very same reason, size in relationship to a concentrated pile. When standing, the deer like to bed in it and move closer to dark. When they get harvested, deer and other critters just comb the fields looking for anything left behind but due to the size of a typical field versus a 20'x20' bait pile that's been replenished over and over again. A hunter must then rely on his scouting and some luck and hope he's set up near the right entry trail and that there is still enough corn scattered on the ground that the deer still find it worthy of visiting. As it stands now in my area at least, my deer sightings and buck sightings have plummeted the last 2-3 years because of two reasons, 1)low deer numbers and 2)the number of people/hunters putting out bait.

Lastly, what really baffles my mind is the farmer I hunt on planted corn in his fields the last two years back to back! Both years he left 40-50 acres of it still standing through turkey season(still standing as I type) and I've yet to find one(1) shed in it! Not 1(one) and his fields are the only ones still standing anywhere!!! That just blows my mind!

I guess if us humans had to find our food then work for it a little bit when we went out to eat at the best steakhouse in town we'd prolly settle for Golden Corral too, I hear their buffet is killer!

Oh, I have nothing against those who do bait and as long as it's legal there's nothing really any of us can do! I'd just like to see it gone so those of us who don't bait can see more deer and have just as much of a chance to encounter a mature buck.

Not really that huge of a difference bud. The bucks are enticed to does. A hunter is taking advantage of that enticement. The buck doesn't care how the does got there.

Saying that hunting over does eating acorns isn't baiting because you didn't put the acorns there is like saying you didn't sleep with a prostitute because your buddy paid her not you.

 

[Bigslam51]

 

[finelyshedded]

Not really that huge of a difference bud. The bucks are enticed to does. A hunter is taking advantage of that enticement. The buck doesn't care how the does got there.

Saying that hunting over does eating acorns isn't baiting because you didn't put the acorns there is like saying you didn't sleep with a prostitute because your buddy paid her not you.

First off......rotflmao Chad!

......and Mike, I agree with your post above. I honestly don't see baiting going away unless the ODNR is forced too due to CWD outbreaks. They've let it go on cuz it's been a huge factor in aiding hunters killing lots of deer which is what they wanted all along. Plus I don't see the FB or insurance companies letting them! Lol

Joe, how is a 20'x20' bait pile that's been maintained and replenished say once a week for an entire year,two or 5 years not a huge difference than a stand of oaks that some years during that same time period might have a great yield once or twice if that?

I agree they're both bait/food but hardly having the same drawing capabilities and influences in deer movement throughout the entire deer hunting season. Just my opinion.:smiley_coolpeace: