Southern zone hunters, how has baiting affected your hunting?

[AJLBucks]

I hunt northern zone and often find myself daydreaming of a pile of corn at the field edge to lure the deer in, then I wake up. Has the hunting improved, gotten more difficult, no change or what since baiting was legalized? I also wonder if the guy on the property next door has more money which equals more corn, if he holds the deer from coming to you? Just some things us non-baiting yanks think about. Do we dare hope to be able to bait one day?

 

[Hammer Spank]

I think that it hurts hunting.

 

[smokeeater465]

The only difference is that I spend more money on corn and batteries for my trail cams. We have three feeders and have not killed a single deer eating under them. we've had a ton of acorns this year and the deer step over corn to go to a whiteoak. No big difference in the hunting but it's still fun.

 

[OmenHonkey]

I used corn very little and also legally before they legalized it. Now I use it very little unless my girls want to hunt, then I will go put out some on Wednesday for a weekend hunt. I see less deer now than I did. Mostly due to the neighbors being farmers and keeping feeders full at all times. It's a catch 22 kinda. I haven't seen much of a benefit at all. But, It's not hunting to me if your pouring out loads of corn. It's like leaving a bowl of candy on your porch for Halloween unattended. Someone's gonna take it all while your not there!!!

 

[rstallings1979]

The only positive is I get to see the size of the bucks in the area. I have not been able to kill a large buck over corn since they legalized it. Its almost to the point that they only eat the corn at night when they do. Then when Oct 15th arrives they are only interested in the does. I feel like most of the mature bucks are leery of the larger tripod or barrel feeders anyway. When I do use corn I broadcast it over the ground. The price of the corn is rather rediculous considering the price of corn on the commodity market. When the commodity market had corn at 4.00 a bushel corn was 4 to 5.00 a bag for a 50lb bag 15 years ago. That of course is not the case today.

 

[rosewood]

I also wonder if the guy on the property next door has more money which equals more corn, if he holds the deer from coming to you?

I kind of wonder this myself. We feed our deer year round and would stop 2 weeks before season and we would still have a good bit of activity. We use a broadcast feeder and demand type feeders. After it became legal to bait, I swear that the week of muzzleloading, the deer and hogs just mysteriously vanish. They stop showing up in the pictures. I wonder if the surrounding properties are dumping bags of corn out that is drawing the game to their property. Then after the season, they start showing back up.

 

[rosewood]

We have the broadcast feeder in a fenced in area. Never have any bucks go inside the fence. The does are there regularly and sometimes see spikes, but for some reason, the larger bucks will not jump the fence.

 

[AJLBucks]

Pretty much the type of answers I expected. Feed at night, no bucks, no improvement...etc. I hope they never legalize it here, for two reasons. I can't afford it (justify it) and my neighbor can. I'll just stick to my old ways of hunting white oaks, then reds, then whatever foodsource I can find and the the best bait, does during the rut. And always cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Curtis-UGA]

The feeders go off the deer come in. Seriously I hunt plots with feeders or roads with corn hand spread in them and see lots of deer eating corn. This buck was crossing a narrow food plot/road that I had spread corn on and stopped to eat some when I shot him. I like it.

 

[AJLBucks]

The feeders go off the deer come in. Seriously I hunt plots with feeders or roads with corn hand spread in them and see lots of deer eating corn. This buck was crossing a narrow food plot/road that I had spread corn on and stopped to eat some when I shot him. I like it.

Sweet...nice hat too

 

[chefrific]

I used to not put much stock into corn piles. Yes, since it was legal here in the southern zone, I've put it out with cameras. Never shot a good mature buck over it, but rarely would get those 2am camera snaps of one. I've always noticed that the does would linger on camera but the bucks would not stick around as long.
This year however, I was able to take a nice mature 9point while sitting over my corn pile. But... It was NOT the corn that lured him in range. The doe he was chasing came to my corn pile during the rut and while she ate corn, he grunted and rubbed limbs and trotted all around her putting on a show. Last mistake he ever made.
So did corn contribute to my killing the buck. Yes, and no.

 

[rydert]

I see deer every time I hunt....every time.....Only deer that has been killed though is the 8 point that my daughter killed, her first one...

 

[bobbyleroy]

It will sometime bring a big one in

 

[sorrydog]

The deer have adapted and now have learn they can travel for miles and there will most likely be corn along the way. Also, its hard to hold the same deer like you use to with food plots.

 

[Core Lokt]

Corn isn't magic but it can help in situations like chefrific mentioned, Curtis too. Will big bucks go to feeders, sure but not often to eat. Will big bucks go to corn that has been spread out on the ground, you bet and more than a tripod or a spin drum hanging in a tree.

don't think that you have to have corn to kill deer or a big buck. it just makes it easier to see the does mostly for one thing and sometimes they bring a big buck in but so do acorns and other food sources.

My boss plants plots and puts feeders out but hunts the woods around the plots/feeders and kills more big bucks than he would if he hunted the plots.

 

[SkeeterZX225]

I think it has hurt....just like when you have a bumper crop of acorn...the deer move less. Now there is a bumper crop of yellow acorns every year on our property.

I do not put out corn for two reasons, expense and the fact that bears and pigs eat it before the deer. I plant food plots, but do not put out feeders. It may be hurting me, but I also cant afford to feed the bears and pigs. The bears will eat everything in you feeder in a day or two and they will knock over and destroy spin feeders...

 

[Echo]

I hunt northern zone and often find myself daydreaming of a pile of corn at the field edge to lure the deer in, then I wake up. Has the hunting improved, gotten more difficult, no change or what since baiting was legalized? I also wonder if the guy on the property next door has more money which equals more corn, if he holds the deer from coming to you? Just some things us non-baiting yanks think about. Do we dare hope to be able to bait one day?

It hasn't affected me one bit since I only hunt public land where the scourge of hunting over bait is thankfully still punishable by law as the Good Lord intended.

 

[tcoker]

Ha. Awesome trail cam shot. Is that horn porn or corn porn?

Haven't notice much of a difference on our club. Numbers are about the same as well as quality. More trail cam photos though.

I do think it has hurt food plot usage, which generally speaking adds more than corn. They still use food plots frequently and voraciously but like someone said earlier, food plots just don't seem to hold deer like previously.

 

[roll tide]

I`ve noticed that I get bigger bucks to come to corn that has been poured on the ground rather than from a feeder. Just my observation.

 

[meathammer]

I`ve noticed that I get bigger bucks to come to corn that has been poured on the ground rather than from a feeder. Just my observation.

no doubt. ive been playing with corn for years. before it was legal after my last hunt of season I started pouring it to the deer and checking cams. if you put corn out on ground in jan you will see a lot of your deer hit it. now when it was legalized I put feeders up in every food plot and so did my friends around my area. we have all since moved them out of the plots. it almost trains them to come in 20 minutes after dark but they do come. I still use them but they are off away from stands to catch deer coming and going. I have also had a lot of success with corn on the ground scattered not piled. deer don't like to be that close to one another. but with this they do really well the first 5 days you start. they hit it in daylight. the longer you pour the later they get but they all still come. my bigger bucks will not ear from feeders. I started a couple years ago, mainly trying to get a 5 year old within 15 yards of deer on the ground using blinds, moving to random spots and slinging out corn 2 or 3 days before we sat and almost every time on the first couple of sits we had deer. I since realized hunt it once or twice then move and repeat.