WOW baiting is legal

[crush]

This is my first season hunting MI. You guys probably get this all the time but what are some of your experiences with using bait,does it work better as it starts to get colder,does it scare them when it just appears out of nowhere, I have not used it yet, there seems to be alot of natural food around right now but i was thinking of trying it when the temp starts to drop and when we get some snow. what da ya think?

[wecker20]

It makes them nocturnal. They'll use it and it may benefit them going into winter but most of my camera sightings have been under dark skies.

[kitchue]

Bait doesnt make 'em eat at night, all the hunters in the woods do. Baits strange to them but tasty. Its safe to eat it at 2:00 in the morn as well as acorns, or anything else.

After a couple of shots and a series of schedualed walk in the woods the deer figured out the camp plans and we went from seeing 20 deer in 2 days to 22 deer in 4.

If you want to hunt with bait, follow the rules and have fun. If not find a nice place to ambush, stalk or whatever and have fun.

sean

[skipper34]

If you're interested in shooting a mature buck, forget the bait, otherwise hang a lighted neon sign which says" hunter in the area". LOL. Really though, you would be hard-pressed to see a large buck on a baitpile in daylight hours during the hunting season, unless a hot doe happens to be eating at the time. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION AND NOTHING MORE!!!!!! Like the previous poster said, go ahead and use the bait but make sure it's legal.

[answerguy8]

Does it scare them when it just appears out of nowhere?

Well if you drop the bait on them from a tree stand it scares them pretty good. :lol: On the other hand a bag of frozen sugar beets dropped from the right height might help you fill your tag. :evil:

[kitchue]

... Really though, you would be hard-pressed to see a large buck on a baitpile in daylight hours during the hunting season, unless a hot doe happens to be eating at the time...

Bingo, our neighbors have trail cam pics of an absoulutly huge deer with est. 10-14" tines hanging around a bait pile at about 2 in the morn. He was posing for all us to see, front, side, and quartering away. Never even eat an apple, snifed at them, but was interested in other things. ;) ;)

Havent seen him since. And wont at a bait pile. Unless, it turns really ugly next week and hes looking to bulk up after the rut is completly done. Even then hes to smart to eat at legal shooting hours.

Find the trails and sit 10 yards off them. Althougth, kinda cold to do iin ugly UP weather.

sean

[kitchue]

Well if you drop the bait on them from a tree stand it scares them pretty good. :lol: On the other hand a bag of frozen sugar beets dropped from the right height might help you fill your tag. :evil:

Is that a climber or ladder stick stand. Either way I aint draggin a bag of beat up the tree. I can see the headlines, "Hunter survives fall from tree, killed by bag of beets."

[marty]

Well if you drop the bait on them from a tree stand it scares them pretty good. :lol: On the other hand a bag of frozen sugar beets dropped from the right height might help you fill your tag. :evil:

Yea that's right give the DNR ideas for another type of season :lol: :lol: :lol: ..........m ;)

[rooster2k2]

Buy a tripod feeder if you want to bait and have it help you. Then set it up in August so the deer have plenty of time to get farmilliar with it. As far as bait piles go, we have a lot of guys on our 250 that put big piles put illegally and rarely do any of them shoot good bucks. Like someone else said, the only time is when they're sniffing for the does feeding at the bait. I have better luck looking for scrape lines, they always visit them.

[skipper34]

Crush, not to be obtuse, but if this is your first time deer hunting, why would you want to use bait in the first place? There are many other tried and true methods to hunt deer than to dump a pile of bait and sit and wait. Best thing to do is to read as much as possible on the tactics and techniques. Get some video's. Talk to other hunters who hunt the old way, without baiting. I'm not about to start a flame war here on the subject of baiting, it is a legal method of hunting, so as a sportsman I cannot deny anyone. But there is also much enjoyment to be had in knowing that you hunted an animal one-on-one on its own terms.

[answerguy8]

Buy a tripod feeder if you want to bait and have it help you. Then set it up in August so the deer have plenty of time to get farmilliar with it. As far as bait piles go, we have a lot of guys on our 250 that put big piles put illegally and rarely do any of them shoot good bucks. Like someone else said, the only time is when they're sniffing for the does feeding at the bait. I have better luck looking for scrape lines, they always visit them.

NO NO NO! No bait may be put out til October 1st. Or did you just mean put an empty feeder out in August?

[fairfax1]

You say..."Wow, baiting is legal"

I say..."Yeeeow, baiting is legal?!"

Crush, before you invest too much into my simple post let me first inform you that I think baiting is the worst thing that has happened to deer hunting in this State. That's my way of a caveat.

So, with that said, let me add: Your baiting can be no more than 2 gallons spread over a 100sqft area. To do otherwise is illegal. Some say to do otherwise ...and kill a deer doing it....is outright poaching. But, we don't need to go there...

OK, that's the legal aspect.

From the practical aspect: baiting is easier than hunting; it is quicker; you are more assured of a kill; if you don't have time to hunt you can always bait, so if you have a demanding job or pressing family demands...then baiting can help you get in and out of the woods with a harvested animal much more efficiently.. you won't have to waste time looking for wary elusive animals.

Those are all good points...again, if you don't have the time, or the experience, or the land, to actually hunt.

Critics, though....and you should be prepared to address them because about 50% of Michigan's hunters are anti-baiting.... many of those critics feel that baiting as practiced here is simply turning marvelous and wonderful wild deer into predictable livestock. A sheep shoot. Not 'fair-chase'.

Well, you will need to prepare an articulate and credible response just so you can sit around the campfire and talk to the other half about your kill.

Alternatively, you could become a duck hunter, a goose hunter, a turkey hunter, elk maybe, or pheasant and grouse hunter.............those guys never have to explain to their peers about their baiting tactics.

Good luck in your quest for a deer.

FX1

[shorty27]

Fair fax, I believe the bait is spread over a 10 square ft area. Two gallons would be spread pretty thin over a 100 ft area.

Crush, as far as my take on baiting. Mature 3-4 year old bucks can be harvested over bait. You just need to bait correctly. I only bait with corn feeders and only during rifle season with stand placements over 200 yards away as to never spook the deer off the feeder. I have passed on several 3 year old deer this season. The only reason I have not taken one yet is I have my eye on a certain deer that has not given me the oppertunity yet.

I can not stress enough not to spook the deer from your bait if you do bait. As not just the bucks but matures does will not return or will not come in if they know you are there.

Just my two cents, everyone has an opinion.

[answerguy8]

Fair fax, I believe the bait is spread over a 10 square ft area. Two gallons would be spread pretty thin over a 100 ft area.

Crush, as far as my take on baiting. Mature 3-4 year old bucks can be harvested over bait. You just need to bait correctly. I only bait with corn feeders and only during rifle season with stand placements over 200 yards away as to never spook the deer off the feeder. I have passed on several 3 year old deer this season. The only reason I have not taken one yet is I have my eye on a certain deer that has not given me the oppertunity yet.

I can not stress enough not to spook the deer from your bait if you do bait. As not just the bucks but matures does will not return or will not come in if they know you are there.

Just my two cents, everyone has an opinion.

FWIW 10' x 10' = 100 sq ft = 10 feet square

[len]

lets see how many bags of carrots would it take to cover a 10x10 area put side by side evenly, also who is going to carry all carrots that are needed, I agree with the others you would be better off sitting off some of the torn up runways and put the bait out after the season so the little ones can get their fill of goodies before bad weather sets in, remember you feed them and next year they will be bigger to feed you, anyway lots of luck, relax and aim straight.
Len

[crush]

Thank you very much for all your input, I guess by saying this is my first year hunting mi, some of you thought I've never hunted before, well I've never hunted mi before, i just moved here from the east coast and never hunted in a state that allowed baiting so i don't know what to expect,I'm a meat hunter first but I do like to harvest mature deer, and it seems to me that bait is not the way to go, unless you have it 200 yds away. As for the guys who said put it out if you have a demanding job or no time to hunt the old fashioned way then i think baiting sounds great for quick meat, but as for me i think I'm going to do it the way I've been doing it since i'm a kid, get 25 feet up in a tree and sit there for 11 or 12 hours, for as many days as you possibly can during the entire season.
Thanks to everyone for all of your input, be safe, have fun and create memories to last a lifetime.

[WILDCATWICK]

Crush, Baiting can be very effective in Michigan. Even for mature bucks. I have a great looking buck that is now bedding with in 30 yards of a maintained bait pile. There is plenty of natural food around as well. But just like any creatutre deer will eat at the place that is the easiest and often that is bait piles. That buck is hanging out right there because the does are coming in. He like to look at all the lovely ladies coming into the pile. He even sneaks out and eats out of it too!

The trick to effective baiting is to put down bait that is natural to the area. If there are apple trees near the area that is a good choice. If there are corn fields near by then that is a good choice. A mature buck has no way of knowing if a hunter placed it there or if a combine droped a few kernal corns on the ground. Do not place a bag of carrots in a cedar swamp. The deer will be on the alert with such a foreign scent to the area.

Deer are opportunist. Don't let anyone tell you a mature buck is not obtainable over a bait pile...that's just not true.