Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Saskatchewan Whitetail Hunt

Well not too long ago someone told me to "worry about the deer in my own state." I took them up on that suggestion. I'm on the BOD Fort Wayne IWLA chapter and we are organizing a movement to petition the DNR and politicians regarding our deer herd. We have been asked to present to the Indiana Bowhunters Association and other chapters we contacted. We also had national come to our June meeting and we are pursuing having National back us which they seemed excited about. We have put a presentation together after extensive research about how our Indiana herd is managed and what needs changed. Our head biologists of the DNR , Chad Stewart, has also expressed interest in meeting with us to discuss our plan. That in itself is a major accomplishment that we turned his head so early in this process.
Respect brother!

Keep us posted on how things are going. Seriously, nice job.
 
Ok so your telling me if I grab a weapon of my choice and head to anyone of the above mentioned areas I won't be able to kill a deer unless I have a bait pile in front of me? Now I'm curious.

Ok, I am not trying to argue with you about food plots. IF you want to do so, start a thread regarding food plots/bait. This thread was intended on gathering info and referrals for a Saskatchewan hunt. And no, I did not tell you what is mentioned above. Read a little closer. I simply stated "However, areas such as "Saskatchewan", or Texas, basically somewhere there is an extremely large amount of land, and a minimal amount of natural food for the wildlife, there are not many other choices. If you want to harvest a deer, you have no other choice than to bait for them." "Bait" also meaning a food plot...which you claim is the same anyways, except the combine of course.
 
I'm going to tell you a secret. There is such a place that's better for hunting whitetails. But remember, it's a secret. I don't want a bunch of TV celebs buying up all the land and jacking up prices. Ok, are you ready?

It's Iowa...

Maybe, I cannot say. I guess it is common to be bias towards your home so I'll stick to thinking what I think. I guess it is all a matter of what the standards are that make either one "better" so to speak. For me it is a variety of factors that work together to make it about the entire hunting experience. Things such as tiny hunter numbers compared to almost anywhere, prime grounds that can be accessed on a handshake, a ridiculous variety of wildlife that can be seen and of course, some pretty good deer.

Anyways, if I were rich I'd try many different places simply for the experience but am thankful for the one I get year after year. There are highs and there are lows and that can happen anywhere but much like the fishing I get to experience, I don't think anyone can understand it until they experience it so hey, if you can afford to, go for it. I'd do Iowa if I had the time and or money, I've been reading about it for yrs on this site but doubt I understand it fully.
 
If you want to harvest a deer, you have no other choice than to bait for them
I will dispute this somewhat but not in it's entirety. There a lot of areas in Sk where you don't need bait, I've never needed it. However, where most outfitters operate is huge tracts of forested lands, ones larger than I think most guys from the lower 48 would ever imagine in their life. Could an outfitter get guys on deer without baiting them? Sure, but the odds of success drop immensely if one were to spend a week plunked on the edge of a clear cut area or sitting on a cutline waiting for that two second window where a deer could burn across. Because of this the outfitters simply up the odds that their paying client has success by placing bait in an attempt to congregate numbers that are low compared to most places.
 
Last edited:
  • Deleted by N/A
Show…
I'm not rich, I'm an electrician that has to work everyday. But the one thing I spend on is deer hunting. There are so many ways, and regions to hunt whitetail, and I want to experience as many as I can. I've hunted NY, Mass, Maine, Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Saskatchewan. I mostly bow hunt. In Sask I killed 2 with gun and 1 with bow.

To those who are "above" using bait.....Have you ever used deer lure? Killed a buck headed for beans? Hunted under an apple tree? Ever put a worm on a hook?

Guess what, it's all a form of bait.....

I don't mind it. My buck was "baited" by a hot doe that wanted to eat....


 
Sorry for disrupting the thread. I guess the only way you can kill a deer up north or down in Texas is if you use bait. Man I wish I had the skills. Carry on
 
Sorry for disrupting the thread. I guess the only way you can kill a deer up north or down in Texas is if you use bait. Man I wish I had the skills. Carry on

Don't forget if you hunt down south you'll need a dog to track your deer after you shoot it!
 
I figured my reply would ruffle feathers. I do not use baits, lures ,food plots, nothing but what is already there ( crops,acorns, water etc.) things that don't interrupt a deers natural pattern. Don't compare a hot doe to a pile of corn, that is foolish. I do not care what other people do on there own time. I choose not to bait. I have hunted the Superior National forest in northern Minnesota and know it is not the same as Canada as I have been there. But it is vast forest with no crops. It is not impossible to kill big bucks without bait but it is tough. In Iowa we have so many people to deal with it makes it pretty tough in its own way. I do not lease and hunt a lot of public so I am not privileged to prime ground. Not trying to stop people from using bait, I personally won't do it.
 
I will dispute this somewhat but not in it's entirety. There a lot of areas in Sk where you don't need bait, I've never needed it. However, where most outfitters operate is huge tracts of forested lands, ones larger than I think most guys from the lower 48 would ever imagine in their life. Could an outfitter get guys on deer without baiting them? Sure, but the odds of success drop immensely if one were to spend a week plunked on the edge of a clear cut area or sitting on a cutline waiting for that two second window where a deer could burn across. Because of this the outfitters simply up the odds that their paying client has success by placing bait in an attempt to congregate numbers that are low compared to most places.
I will hunt your province someday Kaare. After returning from my fishing trip it keeps me wanting to go back. The place is amazing and truly hard to fathom the amount of timber.
 
Whether you like baiting or not, it's going to come down to the legality in each state/province. I hope to heck it's never legalized in Iowa on the opinion side of it.

I'm not saying I wouldn't do it in Canada though. It's interesting because I think one province over, Alberta, it's illegal, I may be wrong but I think that may be right. Again, sit me way up in SK and heck, I might be down for a nice box blind hunt with some bait, never done it but might.

Whatever you think about baiting, like it or not, I can't see how a guy can compare a 10'x10' pile of bait you dump there (100 square feet & 15 yards away or however far you want it) VS 5 acres of plots or 100 acre field (218,000 sq feet to 4,350,000 sq feet roughly & so much area often a high powered rifle couldn't make it across) & all the labor, effort, cost, weather, risk, natural requirements, etc involved. Sure, food & hunting it is involved in everyone's tactics but those 2 comparisons are light years apart. I'm not sitting here throwing stones at baiting, just saying, there's just no comparison when people try and go after the crop fields or plots saying it's virtually the same or a reasonable comparison.
 
Two neighbors each plant a 5 acre corn plot. One neighbor leaves his standing while the other neighbor combines his. After combining he takes the corn produced from the 5 acre plot and spreads it back over 5 acres. In iowa this would be considered baiting. I guess I don't see much of a difference.
 
The difference is, one is a legal scenario & one is not. Laws are written so as to draw a "line in the sand" somewhere in order that interpretation & enforcement is not too subjective. In this case you have one scenario on either side of the line. Simple as that. Laws could be re-written to move the line one way or another but someone would still say "I don't see much difference".
 
AS far as the definition of "bait" is concerned, corn on the ground or planted is still "bait". Food plots are bait. Deer lure in a jar is bait.

If is is placed or planted to attract deer it's bait.

Geeze , I don't know what's so hard to understand???

You are out there to kill an animal. Killing is killing. One way is fair and one is not?

Bait is unfair to kill an animal, but having a gun is fair? Come on .
 
Whether you like baiting or not, it's going to come down to the legality in each state/province. I hope to heck it's never legalized in Iowa on the opinion side of it.

I'm not saying I wouldn't do it in Canada though. It's interesting because I think one province over, Alberta, it's illegal, I may be wrong but I think that may be right. Again, sit me way up in SK and heck, I might be down for a nice box blind hunt with some bait, never done it but might.

Whatever you think about baiting, like it or not, I can't see how a guy can compare a 10'x10' pile of bait you dump there (100 square feet & 15 yards away or however far you want it) VS 5 acres of plots or 100 acre field (218,000 sq feet to 4,350,000 sq feet roughly & so much area often a high powered rifle couldn't make it across) & all the labor, effort, cost, weather, risk, natural requirements, etc involved. Sure, food & hunting it is involved in everyone's tactics but those 2 comparisons are light years apart. I'm not sitting here throwing stones at baiting, just saying, there's just no comparison when people try and go after the crop fields or plots saying it's virtually the same or a reasonable comparison.

Isn't bait already legal in Iowa up to a certain date???
 
AS far as the definition of "bait" is concerned, corn on the ground or planted is still "bait". Food plots are bait. Deer lure in a jar is bait.

If is is placed or planted to attract deer it's bait.

Geeze , I don't know what's so hard to understand???

You are out there to kill an animal. Killing is killing. One way is fair and one is not?

Bait is unfair to kill an animal, but having a gun is fair? Come on .

I couldn't agree more with anyone posting replies than you Spysar. No matter what a guy posts on here, and how factual it is...you are always going to have someone that wants to argue. AND YES....how "fair" is it really to pluck an animal 3-400 yards away with a scoped barrell...the animal doesn't have a chance! However, in some areas, just as the argument stands with baiting and food plots, it is the way its done in some places. Different strokes for different folks.
 
Who gives a sh#t? Some of you need to grow up! This was originally a discussion about hunting deer in Saskatchewan and now has turned into a baiting debate. If I'm from Saskatchewan or Kansas for that matter and have grown up baiting( and being legal) I could give two sh#s about what the rest of you are doing. We all live in different areas, have different laws etc., when it comes to hunting. I've recently learned, it is illegal to do deer drives in Maine! Does this make Iowa hunters slobs? No, it is the how laws are different in each state or province. We are all hunters, have a great season and best of luck to all on a successful season as long as you did it by laws in your state or province. Also, one last question? Did SE IA get missed again?
 
It's legal for trail cam and monitoring purposes but has to be removed well before season and there can't be any trace of the bait/mineral/food in the soil.

So a lot of people use the unfair advantage of bait to take pictures, to locate bucks, so you can know where they are, so you can kill them later. So if that's the case, bait IS part of your hunting strategy.

But I guess that's OK for the "non baiters"????
 
So a lot of people use the unfair advantage of bait to take pictures, to locate bucks, so you can know where they are, so you can kill them later. So if that's the case, bait IS part of your hunting strategy.

But I guess that's OK for the "non baiters"????

I'm not saying I disagree with baiting because is certain areas (Sask) I could see how it would be needed. In Iowa I don't think it's necessary to kill bucks. Also we can use bait throughout the summer for monitoring purposes, but if you think the deer here keep the same pattern throughout the season that they develop in July and August; I will be the first to tell you that they don't. For me there is a magic date around September when the bucks completely change patterns and many move miles to relocate.
 
Top Bottom