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Food Plots or Baiting?

G6

G6

Active Member
Just curious what the collective opinion is on it, I myself consider it baiting when it comes to the point of cutting corn ect. to attract does which in turn attracts bucks. I just wonder how many big bucks would be killed without the use of food plots, call em what you will, but there is a fine line when it comes to baiting IMHO. What do you guys think?
 
I watched Whitetail Freaks last nihht and they were hunting over standing beans in January. I don't bait but know guys that do as it is legal here but I doubt any of them would tell you that the maximum amount of food of a 5 gallon pail of grain would have deer standing around in the open like that food plot did. I lost count of the # of bucks on the screen, they were quadrupled by does and fawns. I'm not sure I saw that many deer in October. lol

I do spend quite a bit of time hunting alfalfa field edges but spend lots of time way back too. This is merley a prediction but I'd guess that a mile off the food here looks very much diff't from a mile off the food there. Anyhoo...from an impartial person I can't see any difference in what a field of standing beans in January is as compared to a pail of grain somewhere. Well, maybe I can,..you'd likely see far more deer on the field in the daylight than a pail of oats or barley.

No lies here..if I had the land I'd likely do it too. If I didn't shoot the buck I was looking for at least I'd know every other buck for 10 sq/ miles would be feeding on my property.
 
Interesting debate - there is the same one on another MN hunting forum I follow and it's up to like 14 pages now since baiting up here in MN is completley out of control.

It's legal in ND and I know people that do it - all of them say they don't know why they do it because the only thing that shows up on actual bait "piles" is does/fawns. None of them have ever killed a buck over one - not saying that it can't be done, but as we all know the bucks aren't dumb.

The small acre food plots buried in the timber have changed the deer hunting game that's for sure, but I guess I don't see them any different than a big corn field and if I owned the ground I'd have plenty of them.

I saw a Jackie Bushman show a while back where Lee Lakosky was on there talking about his food plots for this year....he said they had something like 80 food plots consisting of 400 acres.....good grief! Is that "real" deer hunting then? :confused: Ground where bucks are never pressured and have unlimited quality food plots to chow on? That kind of operation is more like farming whitetails if you ask me.....but then again, if I had the ground, yep, I'd do it too. :way:
 
SaskGuy said:
I watched Whitetail Freaks last nihht and they were hunting over standing beans in January. I don't bait but know guys that do as it is legal here but I doubt any of them would tell you that the maximum amount of food of a 5 gallon pail of grain would have deer standing around in the open like that food plot did. I lost count of the # of bucks on the screen, they were quadrupled by does and fawns. I'm not sure I saw that many deer in October. lol

I do spend quite a bit of time hunting alfalfa field edges but spend lots of time way back too. This is merley a prediction but I'd guess that a mile off the food here looks very much diff't from a mile off the food there. Anyhoo...from an impartial person I can't see any difference in what a field of standing beans in January is as compared to a pail of grain somewhere. Well, maybe I can,..you'd likely see far more deer on the field in the daylight than a pail of oats or barley.

No lies here..if I had the land I'd likely do it too. If I didn't shoot the buck I was looking for at least I'd know every other buck for 10 sq/ miles would be feeding on my property.
Click to expand...

What got me thinking Kaare is I was watching a show that a guy from Illinois planted corn plots and then mowed strips in it all leading to the stand site like spokes on a wheel so the deer would follow them right to the stand. As you know if you deer hunt, deer follow the easiest route to wherever they are going if possible when it's safe. I think it would be a good way to manage the doe population but it's not my kind of hunting. I have killed 3 bucks (all muzzleloader) out of 30 something that was not killed in the timber inbetween the food source and bedding area or just in the timber on travel routes. I'm sure it's illegal to chop your plots to attract deer in Iowa since baiting is illegal in Iowa but I'm sure it's done. With Iowa being an agricultural state like it is I often wonder why baiting is illegal anyway with it being legal to hunt field edges or unintentionally baited areas. Like I say it's fine line.
 
Not completely disagreeing G6, but where do you draw the line on this? What is to easy of a hunt to be sporting? Lets say your up in N MN hunting a ridge 50 yards wide b/w two lakes. One end has a tamarack swamp that is heavily bedded. The other side has a clearcut and is pretty much the main forage. Would it be sporting to sit the ridge? Again, not agreeing or disagreeing. Just food for thought.

I have hunted feeders in TX and had fun "shooting" deer. I have also hunted the Chewaumagan NF in N WI and barely saw a deer. Not sure what was worse?

Also, why is it OK for guys to shoot DOES with any method possible, but to put a halo over the sacred buck only shooting him on his terms?

Just questions. Not arguments. Like you said, its a fine line.

I have killed plenty of deer of food edges. It has never really bothered me much and I have always considered it sporting FWIW.

Good luck this weekend!:way:
 
I must be in the minority here.In Iowa it is illegal to "bait" deer.But it is not illegal to hunt over food plots or row crops.I hunt along cornfield edges a lot and don't feel like its baiting at all.I don't like the idea of C'mere Deer or dumping a truckload of apples and hunting over them.
When the DNR was discussing baiting they had to decide where to draw the line.Some people didn't want hunters to even be able to use decoys.It is actually baiting too in reality if you think about it.
C'mere Deer type products,row crops,food plots,decoys,calls,hunting aroud an acorn tree.....its all baiting in my opinion.Some legal and some not so much.
 
I spent last week in a fence row tree between a couple of standing corn fields. The deer didn't stand a chance!:confused::D
 
The food plot/baiting issue has gone the way of deer hunting all around. If you have $$ you can plant plots having every delectible food deer might enjoy. This is not "Natural", forage. It concentrates deer. A big corn and bean operation concentrates deer. Corn and beans,,not natural forage,,well,,pretty nautral in Iowa.It's a money thing as to what your hunting rates. A hand full of corn on the ground,,"Baiting", Fields of plots,turnips, sugar beets, peas,rye,,corn,beans, "Baiting". Which is worse? which is "Unfair",which is "Fair Chase",,up for debate? To be a real purist,,hunt in the wilds of Ontario, or alberta, way back in the bush,,with just a stick and hand made long bow. But why does this all really matter? Killing a deer is killing a deer! Using scents, calls,decoys, mock scrapes,mock licking branches,making bedding areas,opening up trails, or like I do,,taking the lower branches off of cedar trees, to encourage bucks to rub in my area. These are all baiting,,in a way.
 
If I had to avoid a corn or bean field, I wouldn't have any hunting spots left! I can see where a guy could overdo things by cutting patterns in their corn and so forth but I don't consider hunting a field edge baiting in any way whatsoever. If that's the case, the entire timber is baiting because deer eat browse all year long.
 
In my opinion planting food plots is not alot different than putting out food for the deer and other wildlife to eat. The only difference IMO is the hard work, time and money that goes into food plots. That in itself could be a big difference to some??

If I owned my own property and had the means to do it I wouldnt think twice about adding food plots to attract and hold deer. The only real diiference in my mind is one way is the lazy mans way and the other takes hard work.
 
I agree with bowtech, hard to get away from fields when you hunt farmland. I see food plots as a way to provide forage through the winter months. I also think food plots planted close to a good bedding area can provide refuge areas during the gun seasons. I sign papers on a small farm today and plan on improving the bedding areas and planting some small plots for this reason.
 
I do know the DNR is taking a very hard look at baiting.They are very concerned about concentrating deer and spreading of disease. Food plots and farm fields not on their radar, dumping of corn,apples and commerical products is. May see some legislation introduced this year.
 
I've hunted states where baiting was allowed and hunted over bait myself while I was there, but it never gave me that edge for a big mature deer.

Now if doe's and 1 1/2 year old bucks is what your after, you will be in the money with a corn pile :grin:
 
“Bait”
means grain, fruit, vegetables, nuts,

hay, salt, mineral blocks, or any other natural food
materials, commercial products containing natural
food materials, or by-products of such materials
transported to or placed in an area for the purpose of
attracting wildlife. Bait does not include food placed​


during normal agricultural activities.​

Every thing is open to interpretation. The quote is from page 24 of the 2009 regs. If a person plants an acre of beans, corn, turnips, or special clover in a remote timber area with no intentions of harvest and for the purpose of attracting wildlife, that has to fit the definition of "BAITING" set forth in the reg. This is not, normal agricultural activities, which would need to include planting, cultivation, and harvest. If you are hunting a field edge or right in the middle of a 200 acre corn field, you are not doing the same thing as hunting on the edge of a half acre of corn or turnips in the middle of the woods. The 200 acre field was planted with the sole intention of harvesting it, and the half acre was planted with the sole purpose of "ATRACTING WILDLIFE". It is hard for me to believe that people can't understand this distinction. I am not saying that this is right or wrong, but let's not be so hypocritical as to condemn a salt block or pile of apples or corn while we sit in a tree in the turnip patch at dusk. :rolleyes:​
 
Bowmaker you are missing the key words in the law..it says materials TRANSPORTED TO OR PLACED IN AN AREA FOR THE PURPOSE OF ATTRACTING WILDLIFE.To me that means you CAN NOT take something into an area to attract wildlife..It says nothing about planting something.You are from Floris.I am sure you know some of the public hunting areas around Unionville?The DNR has food plots in those places.
 
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