Now that legal baiting has been in affect for a little bit, how has your success changed?

[Shadow11]

There might be better ways to ask this, or better answers as an option, but this is what I settled on. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. There are a lot of different circumstances and variables to consider like "I was already baiting" or "I only hunt public land", and such.


I know the word bait can cause trouble around here. I'm not trying to cause any of that.


I'm just wondering how everyone's opinion or success has changed, if any at all, now that it's been in affect for a little bit... a lot longer in south ga of course, but I'm up in the hills.


I'll admit I was about 99% percent against it in the beginning. I started feeding corn at the end of last year, and I've kept some on the ground ever since. I've had a blast just watching a few bucks shed their horns and grow brand new ones all year long.....


...and I was able to get the better one, finally. It took about 5 or 6 weeks. I thought it was gonna be easy and somewhat meaningless, but he out smarted me a bunch of times before I was finally able to stick him. It ended up being a pretty good challenge and experience after all.


So, it's easy for me to say that my opinion has flipped a bit... but


What about you guys/gals?


Better, worse, or no change?

 

[nmurph]

Nope, don't use it...don't need the crutch. It changes the focus of the hunt for me from figuring the deer's habits out and outsmarting him.

 

[specialk]

I hated it passed...the sneaking around part was fun....hiding it in the back of the truck...carrying it way back in the woods so no one found it...burning piles of bags before heading out.....i miss the old days....

 

[rugerfan]

I hunt national forest lands, so I cannot use corn. I do know a couple of guys personally that use corn and feeders, and they have both said that it has not really changed anything. Younger deer will come to the feeder a few times a day in the daylight, but older deer come in early evenings.

As far as my opinion, I was opposed to it becoming legal, as I believed that a little woodsmanship needs to be learned to hunt deer. Now I really could care less.

 

[mizzippi jb]

I can guarantee you it changes early season bow hunts on years with no mast crops for the people who use it.

 

[transfixer]

We reluctantly started putting out corn in deer season, as we already knew the club adjacent to us was doing it previously before it became legal, they were doing it under the guise of " baiting for hogs " ,, we knew they would only increase their use of corn, and well as other clubs around us,, so we put up a couple of feeders ,, and started scattering it,,

It brings in the does,, and young ones, sometimes during daytime, doesn't seem to have any effect on mature bucks,,, and it seems to have made them mostly feed at night,, the only positive thing about it is that it has allowed us to estimate how many does and fawns we have using our lease, other than that it has probably actually hurt the hunting.

I wish it had never been legalized,,

 

[jiminbogart]

I don't bait. Don't need to.

As I have stated in the past, I don't feed deer. Deer feed me.

To each their own.

 

[JustUs4All]

The only way my success has changed is that the deer I kill now sometimes have my neighbor's corn in them.

 

[oops1]

I hated it passed...the sneaking around part was fun....hiding it in the back of the truck...carrying it way back in the woods so no one found it...burning piles of bags before heading out.....i miss the old days....

Plus it’s lost all its effectiveness now that everybody is doing it.

 

[JustUs4All]

The one thing that I think it has accomplished is to increase the areas that are now able to hold hogs. I don't consider this an improvement.

 

[sleepr71]

Worse. I hate it!! Makes most of the mature Deer go nocturnal(Does included)..and more importantly....has caused the Raccoon & Hog population to EXPLODE!! I personally HATE that they legalized it. Lotta Money to be made I guess(selling Corn & feeders). It COSTS us that Farm though...a lot?

 

[KKrueger]

Only thing that I like it for is to be able to run food in front of cameras to help get pics.

 

[Meriwether Mike]

I hate that corn is legal. The pre-rut game now is to dump out 200 lbs per week, run cameras on it and go kill him after you pattern him. Saw it happen this year on a stud of a buck. Once the rut is on the corn game goes out the window. I guess us ole dinosaurs have to adapt.

 

[jiminbogart]

... dump out 200 lbs per week, run cameras on it and go kill him after you pattern him.

That's how a lot of Texas guys do it.

It makes for some short LFTT threads on the Texas forum.

In their defense, it would be hard to hunt 20,000 acres of scrub and rocks and get a deer in bow range any other way.

 

[GAHunterr]

We implemented a lot of food plots at our club this year, but some guys are still throwing out corn and have corn in their feeders. We have had more bucks stay on our property, but it's the plots, not the corn.

A lot of us on here have to think about pigs too. We have had a huge increase in the hog population over the past few years, and I'm sure many people have on their properties. I'd have to believe it is because people are throwing out corn everywhere now. We are feeding pigs all over the state, and they are just gonna keep spreading. Baiting makes deer hunting a little easier and boosts confidence, but I think we have to keep the hog population in mind. They are what is gonna truly affect the deer hunting IMO

 

[Sixes]

It has not changed the amount of deer that I kill nor that I see, what it has done is make some of the shots easier, which is a good thing.

A line of corn stretched down a road bed will entice deer to stop for a moment and allow for a lot more relaxed shot.

Corn is not the end all to deer hunting, I see a lot more deer in hardwoods, planted gas line, AG fields and natural edges than I do on a corn pile.

 

[Stingray23]

The dumbing down of deer hunting. We now treat our deer like livestock, could be why the rut staggers along most of the season...just my opinion.

 

[XIronheadX]

I quit carrying a weapon. It feels like committing mass murder at a petting zoo.

 

[delacroix]

We're killing deer in a few places that would have no deer during daylight otherwise. These places are easy and quick to access. Very convenient for stocking the freezer. Young corn fed deer are better eating.

I can more easily take a kid hunting and show them a deer without sitting more than an hour. Very handy for getting them away from electronics and hooked on hunting.

It seems to me that corn may be bad for the sporting aspect, but the benefit of making hunting more accessible and convenient is worth it. We need hunting to be a family tradition for everyone. The corn option is a good one.

 

[DynamicDennis]

I can say that next year I am only running 1 feeder. I will run it year round, and it will be in a section of unhuntable small pines. Only to get an idea of what is around. I feel like just putting out a little corn when hunting will be a much better idea. They like it better off the ground anyways, in my opinion.