Rather then hijack Jeff's thread, ill start a new one, These are the reasons that i don't bait, And its my personal preference only, if its legal, i have no problem with anybody else baiting :D 1) Disease 2) Expensive 3) Takes the sport out of it, IE- there are little kids here who routinely have shot 140"+ deer from heated stands/tree forts over corn-piles. If this is your idea of "hunting", more power to ya. But its not mine, 4) Unhealthy for deer 5) Disruptive to natural movement of game 6) Attracts raccoons 7) Invites other hunters 8) Educates deer I like to hunt natural moving free range deer, not livestock. There are places here where baiting became so prevalent that the deer stopped fearing humans, even during season..... Ill pass :D
someone explain the subtle difference between hunting over bait and hunting over a man made food plot??
Bait concentrates the animals into a very small defined area and may lead to disease such as Chronic Wasting disease; as the feces, urine, and saliva from animals is extremely localized into a concentrated area. A food plot, the animal may come out in the evening to eat, or approach anywhere in the acres to feed. Many bait stations have timers that fling the bait at a prescribed time each day. If the animal wants to eat before it is all consumed by other animals, than he better be punctual.
University of Illinois Extension—Jackson County 1 Food plots are a way the sportsman or nature enthusiast can provide nutrients for deer. Currently, Illinois game law prohibits any other means of feeding whitetail deer. To clarify, salt blocks, mineral blocks, feeding stations, lick pops, and all other like sources are illegal within the state all year long. The change in this law came after the discovery of chronic wasting disease, a disease which is spread by saliva of infected deer. Because of the potential to spread this disease all attractants except food plots were banned. If one enjoys watching deer, photography, or hunting them, a food plot is a great choice. First, decide what you want. Are you looking to provide a food source only for observation at a certain time of year? Are you looking to hunt animals during bow or gun season? The list is endless, but the decisions are yours. Once the decision is made as to why plant a food plot, then where to plant becomes important. If you are looking to observe deer, then open space might be the best choice. If you are looking to hunt deer, then a more secluded area might be the location you need. Knowing that fertility influences both quality and quantity of available forages, one needs to soil test before planting. This is done by digging a V-shaped hole 7-inches deep and taking a 1-inch slice of soil from one side. Place this in a bucket and do it three to five times for each area. Mix these samples together and place two cups of soil in a paper bag. Now, make a call to find out how to send your sample to a lab. Be sure to tell them you are planting a food plot of legumes. A list of soil test facilities in Illinois can be found at this website: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/soiltest/ . Once you receive the soil test back, you can apply fertilizers accordingly. The pH should be from 6.2 to 6.5, the p1 should be near 35 and the K should be above 250. Limestone will raise pH. Phosphorus such as 0-46-0 will raise the p1 and potassium called potash 0-0-60 will raise the K level. After adjusting fertility level of the food plot area you are ready to plant. Whitetail Deer Food Plot Considerations University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences United States Department of Agriculture ~ Local Extension Councils Cooperating University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.
Differences between planted and managed food plots and the baiting and artificial feeding of game species of wildlife. Food plots or other agricultural crops left standing in the field: 1. Offer yearround or seasonal access and availability to deer and other free – ranging wildlife on a 24hour per day basis where they can feed at will rather tan just when the feeder trips or bait is available. 2. Are large enough that deer or other wildlife species are not concentrated in such a small area that the density promotes disease transmission or interspecific competition among species. 3. Do not promote unhealthy food production or availability like feeders or bait piles which can get wet, moldy and toxin impacted. 4. Do not have a negative impact on nontarget species like corn or other grain which might be infected with aflatoxin, nor do food plots or agricultural crops left in the field create an attraction for predators in an unhealthy density like feeders or baiting. 5. Food plots add other benefits such as providing openings for improved turkey and other bird and small mammal brood range and nesting sites whereas baiting or feeding does not provide any such benefits. 6. Money spent for the preparation, planting and management of food plots for use by wildlife provides for habitat improvements such as openings for brood range, or it may substitute needed seasonal forage for a deficiency of mast producing trees in the are, or provide good nesting cover, plus most food plots can be managed to improve wildlife habitat for several years without significant management costs. 7. Food plots and agricultural crops left standing do not significantly alter wildlife behavior or cause dependency or increased habituation to people. 8. The nonhunting public has rarely if ever objected to the planting and management of food plots for the benefit of wildlife. 9. Food plots have been demonstrated to be costeffective in improving wildlife habitat without increasing the likelihood of increased wildlife health problems 10. Surveys of hunters and landowners have not identified any opposition by or private landowners to the planting or management of food plots as to the ethics of improving habitat for wildlife, in contrast to the majority of hunters and landowners who oppose baiting. 11. It is recognized that many people do hunt in or adjacent to food plots and that is a choice they make for themselves, however, freeranging wildlife may or may not frequent food plots during daylight hours when people are hunting because other natural foods may be preferred and more beneficial to their needs, or because wildlife associate these openings with people activity. Baiting and Artificial Feeding creates: 1. A situation that requires someone to supply bait or feed on a regular basis which is significantly more expensive than preparing and managing food plots, or other habitat enhancement and if baiting and feeding are not done regularly the animals that have been fed may be short or natural food in the area because they have eaten or damaged preferred species in the baited of feeding area. 2. Significant opportunities, and ideal environment to hasten the spread or transmission of diseases such as hemorrhagic disease (bluetongue), tuberculosis, CWD, and a whole host of other diseases to deer as well as to nontarget species such as turkeys, and they attract other species such as raccoons which serve as reservoirs for other diseases such as rabies. 3. A situation where nontarget wildlife species such as song birds, predators, and other preferred game species such as turkeys may be drawn in to feed on the bait or feed which if infected with aflatoxin (40% of deer corn examined for sale had illegal levels of aflatoxin and was prohibited from being sold for animal food) or other toxins or fungus may cause death or serious health problems to these nontarget species. In addition, much of the bait or feed disseminated is likely to be eaten by species other than what the bait is being provided for. 4. Funds expended for baiting and feeding are not improving habitat in any way, and in fact are degrading the habitat by causing too many animals to frequent the immediate area and may exacerbate human/wildlife interaction and vehicle/deer collisions if near highways. 5. Baiting and artificial feeding pose a significant problem for nontarget wildlife species, and is likely to encourage and exacerbate poaching problems and encourage the taking of wildlife outofseason. In fact there are cases on record where hunters in Florida and Louisiana hunting over deer bait have illegally taken Threatened subspecies of black bear that were attracted to the beer feed (usually corn). 6. Baiting and artificial feeding if made legal will discourage many landowners from practicing and expending limited resources on wildlife habitat management and enhancement because even if they don’t bait or feed themselves but their neighbor does it, the neighbor is likely to cause a change in wildlife behavior especially if he baits and feeds primarily during the hunting season. 7. Baiting and artificial feeding significantly alters wildlife behavior patterns and creates a dependency on someone putting out the bait and feed which also increases wildlife habituation to people which is not in the best interest of wildlife. 8. Survey after survey has indicated that the nonhunting public perceives baiting and artificial feeding of wildlife or the purposes of hunting as nonethical and not as a “fair chase” method of hunting, and their attitude is likely to change to oppose hunting if they perceive hunting over bait as giving unfair advantage to hunters. 9. Baiting and artificial feeding has been proven in case after case of not being costeffective aside from the fact that it increases the potential for epidemic disease transmission and negative impacts on wildlife health. 10. Every survey, state, region, or national that I am aware of that has polled hunters about whether they think baiting or feeding should be legal, has resulted in the great majority of hunters opposing making it legal to hunt over bait or feed, and this is certainly true in Mississippi. 11. Baiting and artificial feeding unnaturally lure/attracts wildlife to localized areas and to hunt over such area is not perceived as fair chase hunting by the majority of hunters or the general public. Is teaching our children or grandchildren to hunt by shooting an animal over a bait or feed pile the hunting legacy we want to leave future generations? 12. Most scientific nutritional studies have shown that corn which is the choice of most people who bait and feed deer is not the most nutritional diet for wild deer, nor is a healthy diet that meets the complete nutritional requirements of deer. http://www.mswildlife.org/baiting/docs/Differences between food plots and baiting.pdf
So where do we draw the line? 1/8 of an acre foodplot? 2 acre foodplot? Who gets to make the rules? And how about the feeder that is filled with Record Rack of some other such feed. its got a much higher nutritional value than corn.
A 55 gallon feeder filled up twice a season with corn will run you about $250 How much does it cost to plant a 20 acre food plot. Don't forget about gas/diesel, seed, equipment, time, etc If a deer is educated about corn/feeders, then it should make him harder to kill...........shouldn't it? How? Corn doesn't have a lot of nutritional value but it isn't unhealthy True, but again, does that hurt anything? Sometimes that's all I got to shoot at:D The are just my opinions, I could care less how anyone hunts as long as its legal
A new BH.com record, 11 replies after 12 views, Please guys, dont turn this into a pissing contest, it may have been better suited in PM, as it was meant for Jim, but also a valid thread considering the good debates we have been having today :D Nowhere did i saw baiting was WRONG, i just said it wasnt for me :D
You would think so watching the long bed trucks full of carrots pulling a trailer full of beets north. LOL!!!!!
And is there a difference in a bait pile and a mechanical feeder throwing small amounts of feed at timed intervals? 100 lb bait pile or 1lb twice a day?
Jim, i hear your points, and they are good ones, About the "unhealthy" part, I have read, and somewhat witnessed, where deer with access to corn piles will start to eat ONLY that when there is bad weather. Not bad for 2-4 days really, but after a long period of time of eating only corn, and not searching for natural food sources, they can become malnourished. Not sure how true it REALLY is, as im no biologist, but i dont want to find out.
I wonder how many guys that say hunting over a bait pile is unhealthy for the deer herd, spreads disease, but at the same time have corn piles in front of their trail cams?? Just a random thought!