Do you bait deer? Why? With what? When? Where? I'm just asking because I made the decision to not bait this year. I just want to pick all of your brains on your baiting techniques. In five hunts I have seen no deer. I'm not blaming it on non-baiting yet.
Baiting deer
- Thread starter Mike
- Start date
bigten05
*Supporting Member*
I put corn and stuff out for my cams but don't usually hunt over it I have one out that I'm gonna take my little cousin too see if she can't get a shot at one
Most generally I do not bait. I have put some apples out for the deer before and have had small bucks come in and eat them in the past, but never a mature shooter buck. I don't think it gives much of an advantage in the early season, but I could see it working in the dead of winter if it was deep snow and very cold to the point of a deer needing needing to eat to survive.
Rutin
Senior Member
Usually minerals in the summer and winter, some corn during the season in some spots to draw deer in but I never hunt over it. Use it to draw deer out sooner and catch them in transition areas.
I don't usually hunt over any piles of bait... simply because I don't have the time to keep running back and forth to replenish them. I do hunt over and around food plots that I've planted, though. I'm not too keen on hunting over a bait pile... I just think it's boring and unchallenging. For me, it's similar to hunting with a gun... It's not really hunting, it's shooting. (I know, that was all pretty Mountaineer-esque :smiley_blackeye
Some will argue that piles and plots are one in the same... I disagree... But that's a whole 'nother topic.
Mike, I'm guessing that this season will be lightyears different for you compared to seasons in the past. You'll still see deer, and you'll have success I'm sure... But I think hunting over bait piles makes you "used to" seeing deer. So then when you stop, and you don't see deer as often, it may seem a bit more boring. I don't know... Maybe that's not the case. I'm just making assumptions...
Some will argue that piles and plots are one in the same... I disagree... But that's a whole 'nother topic. Mike, I'm guessing that this season will be lightyears different for you compared to seasons in the past. You'll still see deer, and you'll have success I'm sure... But I think hunting over bait piles makes you "used to" seeing deer. So then when you stop, and you don't see deer as often, it may seem a bit more boring. I don't know... Maybe that's not the case. I'm just making assumptions...
In Ohio the only thing I do is use minerals and occasionally shelled corn at the minerals when doing deer inventory. I don't hunt over either of them and have been hunting this way for quite a few years now. I have tried to learn the land better and position stands that take advantage of pinch points, funnels, travel routes, etc.. Just something I wanted to do in Ohio because bait always seemed to make the deer change patterns immediately. However, up in Michigan we tend to use bait a bit more often. Up here the places we hunt the deer tend to either stick to the thick stuff on surrounding properties or sprint out to the middle of fields where we can't even get close for a shot. A few carrots or sugar beets chopped up is usually what we use now and then.
Corn when the snows on in late Winter, mostly for inventory, but I'm not afraid to whack a doe with corn in her mouth. :smiley_clap:
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I've never been much in to baiting. Watching live cameras set up on feeders I noticed bucks tend to show up in the middle of the night. However you would see them swing down wind of the feeders during rut to scent check the area..
Last year when I shot my buck another guy who hunts the place threw some ear corn out in front of the stand. They hunted the west side of the property that morning and i was on the east. They scent bumped the doe and the buck.. They could have gone anywhere on that ridge, but that doe walked right to that ear corn with the buck in tow. She was eating and he stood about 35 yards away behind a blowdown just watching her eat. He would look at her, then look up at the stand.. He didn't see me. But he knew that stand was there. Or he suspected a stand was there. Either way he knew corn in the middle of the woods wasn't right.. She left and he came out from behind the blowdown heading north. He was going to skirt the stand and pick her up around the other side. I shot him as he was trying to skirt the stand. There is no question in my mind that ear corn got me that buck. There was no other reason for them to walk to that exact spot on a big ridge. So during the rut it may be a useful tactic to bait the bait so to speak.
I'm testing it out this year.. I have a 10 acre spot that's situated like an oasis surrounded by agriculture. There is a large block of woods to the north and one to the south. Both a mile away. There is another one to the east with a fence-row that leads almost a mile to this oasis. The Oasis is overgrown scrub and reclaimed gravel pit and cow pasture. Running a cam in there during August / September produced only one resident doe and her 2 fawns. a Month ago i started dumping corn in there.. The last few camera checks have revealed 3 does and 4 fawns a scrub buck and a nice 10 pt once. My plan is to bait the bait and stack the does in there as much as I can. I'm not going to hunt it until rut or the cam produces a shooter hanging around.. Come rut the bucks will push the does out of those large woods, down in the ag valley and into this oasis. It's a great breeding spot and has a main funnel. That's the plan anyway.
Last year when I shot my buck another guy who hunts the place threw some ear corn out in front of the stand. They hunted the west side of the property that morning and i was on the east. They scent bumped the doe and the buck.. They could have gone anywhere on that ridge, but that doe walked right to that ear corn with the buck in tow. She was eating and he stood about 35 yards away behind a blowdown just watching her eat. He would look at her, then look up at the stand.. He didn't see me. But he knew that stand was there. Or he suspected a stand was there. Either way he knew corn in the middle of the woods wasn't right.. She left and he came out from behind the blowdown heading north. He was going to skirt the stand and pick her up around the other side. I shot him as he was trying to skirt the stand. There is no question in my mind that ear corn got me that buck. There was no other reason for them to walk to that exact spot on a big ridge. So during the rut it may be a useful tactic to bait the bait so to speak.
I'm testing it out this year.. I have a 10 acre spot that's situated like an oasis surrounded by agriculture. There is a large block of woods to the north and one to the south. Both a mile away. There is another one to the east with a fence-row that leads almost a mile to this oasis. The Oasis is overgrown scrub and reclaimed gravel pit and cow pasture. Running a cam in there during August / September produced only one resident doe and her 2 fawns. a Month ago i started dumping corn in there.. The last few camera checks have revealed 3 does and 4 fawns a scrub buck and a nice 10 pt once. My plan is to bait the bait and stack the does in there as much as I can. I'm not going to hunt it until rut or the cam produces a shooter hanging around.. Come rut the bucks will push the does out of those large woods, down in the ag valley and into this oasis. It's a great breeding spot and has a main funnel. That's the plan anyway.
This is what we do. Normally we have a few places that we bait year round. This is to "train" the does that they have a never ending food source. This summer, my feeder (I can watch from my kitchen) was not filled with corn, which is unusual. And yet, the does come by daily and check it.
I rarely see bucks from my kitchen, but once rut comes, then the bucks show up, following the does to their feeding spot. The bucks do stand off to the side rather than feed.
Late in the season when food is more scarce, the bucks will feed at our bait piles. We were after a buck a couple of years ago and though we didn't get him, we found one of his beautiful chocolate sheds right in the middle of the bait pile.
Gordo
Senior Member
I run a cam with corn at every one of my properties to see what's living out there. Like others have said it's very rare to have the big boys showing up at them during daylight.
I hunt all hardwoods and think it's a great tool to find a deer to hunt, but very rarely do I sit over it.
I still think I rely on this too much for 'inventorying' a property, as a mature buck could b avoiding the cam year around, to never have his pic taken.
I hunt all hardwoods and think it's a great tool to find a deer to hunt, but very rarely do I sit over it.
I still think I rely on this too much for 'inventorying' a property, as a mature buck could b avoiding the cam year around, to never have his pic taken.
Hogmister13
Junior Member
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Bait PILE? If you really mean pile... don't pile it. Take a little bit of time and scatter the corn. Deer don't need to see a 10" deep gleaming pile of corn in order to be able to find it. Also... the only reason to put corn out before season is to get pictures. Otherwise you are hurting yourself instead of helping. I'm not saying don't do it but just know what you are doing it for. It is not going to help you kill a given mature buck during season and it will probably be detrimental.
Once season is in look to scatter it in a cut corn field if at all possible and if you can try to start it immediately after the corn is cut. If that isn't possible another food source like standing beans, clover, etc would be an ok choice. Two problems I see with corn in the woods... it's not natural and it too often has young deer laying too close making approach impossible. You can't blow fawns and spikes out every time you show up and expect to kill a big deer there. If in the woods is your only choice then you need to pick a spot you can access with least risk of bumping deer or being seen.
You are saying you want to kill big bucks on your corn. To do this you have to break it down into 2 different scenarios. 1) He's coming to eat corn (which means early season thru mid Oct and then again late season) or 2) Prerut/rut where he's primarily coming to look for does that are eating the corn.
For scenario 1 you have to think about the fact that he is in wary survival mode. Because of this he is not going to want to consistently frequent a spot that is inundated with deer activity. This is why he comes inconsistently and eventually almost exclusively at night. Think about what happens to a spot where you have been feeding corn for 2 weeks, a month... it turns into a hoglot. Sure he still shows up some but as you said there is no pattern and it's almost all in the dark. You will never kill him like this. The key is to only put the corn out right before you plan to hunt. Next (and this is the key) you have to know when he finds it and hunt him immediately. If you put corn out and set a camera and go back on day 7 and run the camera and see that a target buck found it on day 2 or 3 and has been there during daylight... you get excited. Sorry it's probably already too late at that spot. You missed your window. When they find it you have to hunt in the next day or so or your chances drop off the cliff. The day after they find it is your best chance. I've watched this unfold on big deer a hundred times by now. They find it and then show up during daylight for a couple days and then they quickly fade back into inconsistent nocturnal oblivion. If they have already done this by the time you see they have been there... it's over. You have to know the instant they find it. Cell cameras are the best and probably only way to pull this off unless you can watch the spot every afternoon from a distance. If you don't have a cell camera then you have to go in blind. I'd go on days 3-5 after first putting it out as that seems to be the sweet spot. You can't run a regular camera every day or you will screw yourself with scent. If you can't make it work in that spot... let that corn go to zero and wait a couple days and try again somewhere else. This will be way better than just pounding the same spot into powder with a long running corn pile.
For the prerut/rut scenario it's much simpler... probably not as successful but simpler. Don't try to get him to walk up into the corn so you can shoot him. Run 2 spots at least 100 yds apart and you hunt between on the travel route he will use to check them. Choose your spots so that he can travel in reasonable security cover to visually check the areas where your corn is. For this scenario it is fine (even preferable) to start this corn in early Oct and keep it going. You don't care that he is too wary to walk in during daylight to eat because that's not what you are trying to get him to do. Even if he does by some miracle... that is not his main purpose and you are still sitting there waiting between the spots.
Anyway these are my opinions and thoughts based upon experience and are built heavily on me chasing my tail for years and always being one step behind big deer. You have to be ready for your windows because they aren't open for long. If they were we'd all be killing a lot more big bucks.
Good luck.
Once season is in look to scatter it in a cut corn field if at all possible and if you can try to start it immediately after the corn is cut. If that isn't possible another food source like standing beans, clover, etc would be an ok choice. Two problems I see with corn in the woods... it's not natural and it too often has young deer laying too close making approach impossible. You can't blow fawns and spikes out every time you show up and expect to kill a big deer there. If in the woods is your only choice then you need to pick a spot you can access with least risk of bumping deer or being seen.
You are saying you want to kill big bucks on your corn. To do this you have to break it down into 2 different scenarios. 1) He's coming to eat corn (which means early season thru mid Oct and then again late season) or 2) Prerut/rut where he's primarily coming to look for does that are eating the corn.
For scenario 1 you have to think about the fact that he is in wary survival mode. Because of this he is not going to want to consistently frequent a spot that is inundated with deer activity. This is why he comes inconsistently and eventually almost exclusively at night. Think about what happens to a spot where you have been feeding corn for 2 weeks, a month... it turns into a hoglot. Sure he still shows up some but as you said there is no pattern and it's almost all in the dark. You will never kill him like this. The key is to only put the corn out right before you plan to hunt. Next (and this is the key) you have to know when he finds it and hunt him immediately. If you put corn out and set a camera and go back on day 7 and run the camera and see that a target buck found it on day 2 or 3 and has been there during daylight... you get excited. Sorry it's probably already too late at that spot. You missed your window. When they find it you have to hunt in the next day or so or your chances drop off the cliff. The day after they find it is your best chance. I've watched this unfold on big deer a hundred times by now. They find it and then show up during daylight for a couple days and then they quickly fade back into inconsistent nocturnal oblivion. If they have already done this by the time you see they have been there... it's over. You have to know the instant they find it. Cell cameras are the best and probably only way to pull this off unless you can watch the spot every afternoon from a distance. If you don't have a cell camera then you have to go in blind. I'd go on days 3-5 after first putting it out as that seems to be the sweet spot. You can't run a regular camera every day or you will screw yourself with scent. If you can't make it work in that spot... let that corn go to zero and wait a couple days and try again somewhere else. This will be way better than just pounding the same spot into powder with a long running corn pile.
For the prerut/rut scenario it's much simpler... probably not as successful but simpler. Don't try to get him to walk up into the corn so you can shoot him. Run 2 spots at least 100 yds apart and you hunt between on the travel route he will use to check them. Choose your spots so that he can travel in reasonable security cover to visually check the areas where your corn is. For this scenario it is fine (even preferable) to start this corn in early Oct and keep it going. You don't care that he is too wary to walk in during daylight to eat because that's not what you are trying to get him to do. Even if he does by some miracle... that is not his main purpose and you are still sitting there waiting between the spots.
Anyway these are my opinions and thoughts based upon experience and are built heavily on me chasing my tail for years and always being one step behind big deer. You have to be ready for your windows because they aren't open for long. If they were we'd all be killing a lot more big bucks.
Good luck.
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Of the thousands of posts i have read on baiting this is undoubtedly the most accurate. Too many people think baiting makes it easier. I actually think it makes it harder because he knows from day 1 somethings up. Its like telling him you're trying to kill him then trying to match wits with him. Unlike finding him on a natural funnel or pattern where he has no idea that you're laying in wait he actually knows you're after him and where. Throw in the fact that you have to get in there with all of the other deer laid up around and it becomes that much harder. There is a science to baiting deer and you actually have to manipulate their thoughts.
If you always drive your quad to the bait pile to deliver bait he will hear that and pattern you to the sound of a quad. He hears you arrive and leave. On the day you decide to hunt him you better do the same, have someone drop you off. If he hears you walking in or climbing up he will not visit for a couple days. Always leave your quad running while you dump bait, the day you hunt him have your buddy sit there with the quad running until you get up and get settled in. Its all about making him think he has you patterned and then using that to your advantage.
A couple of years ago a buddies truck had a loud exhaust. You could hear him pulling up a mile away. The buck he was after, and had been baiting, had him patterned. That deer knew not to visit that pile until after he heard that truck leave. On days he would hunt the buck wouldn't show until about 30 minutes after he left. On days he would drop bait and leave the buck was there an hour or so later. On days he didn't hunt that buck was there at dusk. The only time that buck didnt show was when he was in the stand. This went on for weeks and i was convinced the buck had patterned his truck. After talking with him i told him to throw it a curve. Have someone drop him off in his truck, dump bait so it makes noise, climb up quietly then have someone leave in his truck. Or take a different vehicle one day. He opted to park his truck a couple miles away then ride his quad to the landowners house. He shot that buck that night because the buck never heard the truck and assumed he wasn't there that evening.
Hogmister13
Junior Member
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Agreed 100% " There is a science to baiting deer and you actually have to manipulate their thoughts" :smiley_clap:.
I use bait behind the house simply because I do not have any woods on the property. My situation is unique and more of an "urban" hunt setting. I have does out behind the house every morning and evening, pretty much guaranteed meet in the freezer. The big bucks I have on camera are another story. The only time I got them during daylight visiting the bait pile was during pre rut/rut. Once the breeding was finished in late November, they went back to being nocturnal, like big bucks do. This year I hope to entice more daylight appearances with the food plots. My hopes are that during pre rut/rut I can use the information from the trail cam and hunt weather systems and the use of a live or fake decoy. If I don't connect then, my late season plots will hopefully pull them in during December/January. It's a matter of trial and error and working with what you have. At the farms Redhunter and I hunt, the bait piles are typically just for inventory purposes. I think all the good ones we have shot have been in natural transition areas with no bait piles within several hundred yards.