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Old April 23, 2013, 10:06 PM   #26
LOLBELL
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Hungry Hunter the best way to acquire hunting skills is to stay in the woods hunting. In season or out. You don't have to have a bow or gun to go hunting. Most days I enjoy the hunt as much or more than the kill. As far as baiting goes, it has been illegal here in Alabama. After season went out this year laws were passed making it legal with some restrictions. That said, I find that most people that are against baiting usually hunt over, or on trails to and from green fields, harvested corn or soybean fields, or salt licks. I could never figure out how that differed from baiting. I got no gripe how a person hunts as long as it is legal.
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Old April 23, 2013, 10:57 PM   #27
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Well sir you asked for opinions and you sure got'em. Here in minnesota baiting has never been legal but so many chance it and do it anyway. But doing so is indeed hard on those hunting close by that don't. (by pulling their deer away too ) I've seen fights breakout in a bar because of someone's illegal behavior. I've also heard serious threats being made by grown men. If your only concerned about yourself and perhaps those who hunt with you and go that route. Be prepared. As many in your local play by the rules and watch. Folks are not stupid and a few can really show a melt down if someone screws with their hunting. A little added advice: Game wardens are a shrew bunch of fellows. Here in this State once your caught you'll be watched every season there after for many years. Regardless where in the State you hunt. How I know about this activity. My son's brother-in-law is a lieutenant in this States DNR. I'll admit I bent a few rules/laws in my younger days concerning this topic. But the consequences were no where as bad as it is now. But it is your decision to make.

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Old April 23, 2013, 11:40 PM   #28
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no state ive lived in has allowed baiting, even salt licks are illegal to establish though not illegal to hunt off of. however coming from a person that has had to walk miles, through mud, snow, and rain for every deer I've ever killed and then have to track them field dress them, not always in convenient locations and then drag them miles back to my truck so yes...


anyone that gets to wake up after dawn, drive right up to a feeder and sit in a tree stand and take their pick of the largest deer that comes in at their predetermined feeding times and getting to field dress their deer in a flat field before pulling the truck right up and loading it in is a big fat cheat as far as I'm concerned...
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Old April 24, 2013, 09:05 PM   #29
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If one does want to hunt over bait all they need do is put the bait inside a pasture that has a couple of cows or goats in it. I know someone who hunts over corn and sweet feed and has two goats on the 80 acre tract. I think the deer eat 100 times more of the "goat feed" than the goats eat. Where there is a will, there is a way. I just dont have a will to hunt over bait.
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Old April 24, 2013, 10:02 PM   #30
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To all you guys that think you can just stand guard over a feeder and blast a deer at will... You have no idea what you are talking about.

Ive hunted deer all over the US. Had more than a little success. Ive killed them over bait, in food plots, by spot and stalk, rattling, over crops, on drives and in front of hounds. With everything from a modern synthetic stocked scoped rifle to an Osage bow I made myself. Terrain and deer densities vary so much, only a fool would make a blanket statement condemning any legal method of harvest.

The woodlot hunter of the midwest and NE would fail miserably in the flatwoods of Florida or the mesquite country of South Texas in they tried to hunt the way they do on their home turf.
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Old April 24, 2013, 10:33 PM   #31
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Here`s a different view .

Hunting over bait weither a timed corn dispenser , plot or crops allows some hunters harvest deer or other game that would otherwise sit on the couch & watch the Outdoor Channel.

Ya gotta think of disabled/handicapped hunters & other situations that apply with some validity.

I myself maintain 2 feeders yr. round for the past 4yrs. & only harvested 2 deer & 1 was not baited related.

I do enjoy a quite couple of hrs. just sitting in the stand & watching what comes to the feeder!!

Ya oughtta see the turkeys try to get to the spinner!!!

To each his own !

& I still enjoy a nice quite float down the run & floating up on ole mossy back !!
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Old April 25, 2013, 05:19 AM   #32
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I've done it both ways, and it's just another way of getting it done. I like the traditional still hunting, where it might take me an hour to cover 100 yards of woods, or finding a nice stump over a white-oak flat. Looking for sign, trying to figure out patterns, it's all part of the game.

However, when it's rainy and windy, and downright cold, I like a good box stand. My legs get creaky in cold weather and that stand has a nice heater in it. Yeah, I spend a little more money on plywood, but I'm of an age where that little bit of money isn't an issue.

What really "chaps" me is when we spend good money leasing a nice piece of timber to hunt, and two weeks before the season the loggers move in and chase all the deer out of the woods. I know that the timber companies make their living cutting down trees, but if they plan to cut a plot of timber, they shouldn't lease that plot for hunting. That just ain't right.
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Old April 25, 2013, 07:22 AM   #33
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Here is Fl, running feeders year-round is a normal thing. However, not many deer are shot while they are eating corn. Our deer are mainly nocturnal - even more so if there is the slightest sign of hunting pressure. A feeder just serves to keep the deer in your area as opposed to wandering over to the neighbor's area.
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Old April 25, 2013, 11:59 AM   #34
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Hawg knows what he's talking about. I have put out feed and grain in the state forests I hunt, but it's always well before the season starts and on a 1000+ acre chunk of land. I see no harm in giving them some food in the off season to keep them healthy, but hunting over bait should be illegal everywhere.
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Old April 25, 2013, 01:51 PM   #35
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I can understand making an exception for disabled people, here in idaho disabled people can hunt from their vehicle, I suppose that if a guy is confined to a wheel chair a feeder might be just what he needs to keep deer around so he can hunt from his car or sit on the bait or whatever but for anyone that has the physical capabilities(and being fat is not a valid excuse in my book) to walk around and track game then there is no excuse why they should get to hunt from a plywood box with a heater while everyone else is trudging through the muck and rain hoping to spook a deer.

at the very least, baiting should require a special permit, much like it does in Idaho for Bear season.
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Old April 25, 2013, 04:11 PM   #36
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Quote:
anyone that gets to wake up after dawn, drive right up to a feeder and sit in a tree stand and take their pick of the largest deer that comes in at their predetermined feeding times and getting to field dress their deer in a flat field before pulling the truck right up and loading it in is a big fat cheat as far as I'm concerned...
I've deer hunted all my life..using a corn feeder..and never experienced this....
I have been on a management lease since 92' and have applied those principles to my other hunting spots..even if there was more hunting pressure or less deer density....If a person is not worried about management and just wants to shoot any ole buck with horns..a corn feeder would probably achieve that....My experience is that most mature bucks are not interested in corn feeders....I had pics of one mature buck last season that were only after dark....I saw him one other time during the season and he was not interested in my feeder in the least....He was very wary and only interested in does....I try to get does to come to my feeder..in hopes that a mature buck in rut will show and give me a shot....I hunt heavy timber and the mature bucks feel safer in it....I have to walk thru a dense bottom with creeks and slews..but it is worth it to me(I have started riding a 4 wheeler to the edge of the treeline....when the injuns got horses they rode em..plus I'm older than I used to be..)....When acorns fall..they are not very interested in corn....Late season they are mainly interested in pasture feeding....
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Old April 25, 2013, 06:20 PM   #37
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What really "chaps" me is when we spend good money leasing a nice piece of timber to hunt, and two weeks before the season the loggers move in and chase all the deer out of the woods. I know that the timber companies make their living cutting down trees, but if they plan to cut a plot of timber, they shouldn't lease that plot for hunting.

Around here, I actively seek out areas being logged on public land during deer season as the sound of chain saws and logging activity seems to attract more deer than scare them away. One of the largest bucks I ever shot bow hunting came thru my stand headin' to an area being logged before the dust settled from the last truck out. As they left, I could hear everything the loggers said as they packed up their tools for the day. I was that close. I actually thought it was the sound of their footsteps I heard instead of the buck's. Many folks avoid hunting these areas because of the mess the loggers make, but the perimeter is easy to access and funnels the deer.
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Old April 25, 2013, 08:17 PM   #38
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Some advice to HungryHunter...

I've read through this whole thread & seen some interesting points put forth. Some very interesting valid points of view & some real misconceptions as well. Here is my advice to you.

Hunting is a personal thing. You know what you want to get out of it, hopefully enjoyment & some good venison. Always follow the law, after that it's up to you. Appreciate every deer as a trophy - doe, spike or wall hanger. Don't waste the meat. If you don't want it, give it to someone who does. Don't let it spoil hanging (this really ****** me off the most).

If you really want to play Indian & sneak up & shoot your deer in the ear while it is asleep in its bed, GREAT! If you realize that hunting is a perfect opportunity to be with friends & family & a deer is just a bonus, that's GREAT too. If it is legal to bait, try it. I can assure you, that doesn't make it a cinch!

Go hunt; be safe; be legal; and enjoy it the best way you can & you'll know if you feel like you're cheating or not!

FWIW...

...bug

Last edited by BumbleBug; April 25, 2013 at 08:42 PM.
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Old April 26, 2013, 03:37 PM   #39
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I guess you could call what I do baiting. I live in central Texas and I feed corn year-round and have plumper healthier deer because of it. And all the years I've been hunting (about 55), I can't remember shooting a buck over corn. A few does maybe, but no bucks (maybe a spike or two). I use the corn feeders to establish deer movement patterns and I hunt those expected movements. The corn brings the does, the does attract the bucks. I have many more deer on my place since I started feeding corn.

And the corn attracts the coons and squirrels, and they in turn attract the coyotes and bobcats. And the corn attracts the pigs, and I do shoot them over corn when I can, but more pigs are taken in the acorn flats and the open fields that I hunt.

Like PawPaw, I do like my box blinds. I'll get my coffee thermos and a good book and my little heater and get comfortable. If I see something, great. And I don't think that hunting like that makes me a bad hunter or a cheater. I stalked for years and I can still track with the best of them. I used to say that I could track a lizard across dry rocks, though it wasn't really true even in my younger days. But I can track a wounded deer across wet leaves, even with no blood trail (they get weak and drag their feet in the leaves). I've been doing this for a long time, as did my Dad and his Dad and his Dad. And I learned to hunt not far from PawPaw, over in eastern Louisiana in the lowlands along the Mississippi River.
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Old April 26, 2013, 05:30 PM   #40
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603, I know what you mean about tracking. I saw a really big buck one day and decided I'd back-trail him. Just curious. I tracked that buck all the way back to where he'd been born.
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Old April 26, 2013, 07:03 PM   #41
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Can't legally bait deer here in Mass. Even if I could, I would not do so. Shooting a deer that is feeding on row crops or in an orchard is a different thing than setting up a feeder and hunting over it. I don't judge, if its your tradition and legal, do what suits you. Baiting certainly is several levels above high fence killing. I call it killing, cause it aint hunting when animals are fenced.
If legal, hunt over bait if it suits you. As I said, I would not.
I suppose there are some people who live in areas where jobs and money are real tight. If you truly need the animals you shoot to feed the family, I could look the other way on many hunting laws. if its not legal and you are baiting to manage 'your' herd, or for just shooting rackers, I'd say you would be an unethical person who gives all of us a bad name.
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Old April 26, 2013, 07:19 PM   #42
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HH welcome!

HungryHunter, welcome to TFL. Lot of great people here. Glad to have ya. I don't post in the hunting threads often, found your question interesting.
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Old April 26, 2013, 07:40 PM   #43
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It IS called HUNTING, not killing.

Next door in NV where I used to live - if you used ANY kind of bait, parked or camped near a watering spot and were caught - they took your truck, gun, you went to jail, paid a fine and wouldn't be hunting in NV for a loooong time.

"Harvesting" may be your goal, but hunting is where it is at, not just killing. Living here in the East and seeing everyone sitting in trees with bait and food plots, I stopped deer hunting - they call it hunting but it isn't - it's "Deer Waiting"....
You're already using a gun that can reach out past hunting close, so give your quarry a little respect and make yourself have to actually go after them
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Old April 26, 2013, 10:21 PM   #44
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Thanks to all the replies, advice, and welcomes. North East Redneck, thanks. I love it here. I have been a member for a short while, but have never had the guts to post until recently. I admire most of the people on here and value, their advice, and criticisms more than I'm sure they imagine. Anyway,BigDinFL, I see what you're saying and I respect your opinion, you have probably been hunting longer than I've owned a firearm. But as to your comments about me having a adequate rifle I understand fully. I have several and like to believe myself fairly competent with them. I planned on trying my 6.5 swede for deer, instead of my A bolt II stalker. The thing that made me put up a feeder was the fact I am bowhunting. I want to use my matthews, which had extended my ethical shot to 50m. I think Mr. Eatman summed it up perfectly in his first reply about terrain dictating. I am not suggesting anyone doesn't know this terrain or hasn't western desert hunted, but it's tough to get that close out here. I'm also not arguing for or against feeders, and they'll be illegal here soon so it's no matter. What I am saying is that it's a little different in my area. Several people said tree stands..good luck. I haven't seen a tree, much less a bush higher than my ankle yet. With a rifle no problem. With a bow, kinda hard. I realize this isn't a bowhunting forum so I'll shut up about that. I'm just pointing out that Southwest AZ (picture where they shot the movie The Mummy)doesn't offer much in the way of cover/concealment. I am planning on using a wash I found with a deer trail and one big bush in it.I will also say though, that I took peoples advice and began tracking deer trails and harvested my first javelina that way. Anyway sorry for the horrible writing. I know I should have thrown some dividers in there, but I am also working on that. Thanks to everyone for the support and the opinions.
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Old April 27, 2013, 03:11 AM   #45
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I live in Tx and its legal to hunt over baited areas. I hunt in my backyard or some say Kill in my backyard. I could care less, I have two feeders and have plenty of deer. I kill my share ever year. That's what my plan is before I go, to bring home meat for the family (Fast Food) ! I used to not have a screen on living room window and have shot tons from livingroom but last year we got new windows and screens don't come of I love hunting but I am efficient too. I plan on killing a deer before 30 minutes and get him cleaned pronto. You don't see me killing a deer every 3-4 years or waiting on a wall hanger. I kill all young bucks or does. Like I said, I'm eating mine. Wall hangers are safe on my property. Some people claim its cheating but me, it feeds me and my family. I hunt to see nature but I'm out there also for free food.
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Old April 27, 2013, 10:21 AM   #46
Art Eatman
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HungryHunter, bow-hunting is hunting, so discussions about it are quite welcome, here.

My familiarity with southern AZ comes from driving I-10 and I-8 plus the old US 80 loop down through Douglas and back to I-10. Not a lot different than my home turf in south Brewster County, south of Alpine, Texas.

Most of my hunting, there, has been cross-country walking. I've halfway figured out where a buck is likely to be holed up for the day, so I head toward such an area and try to kick him out of bed to see if he's worth shooting.

A little buck is just as much hassle to get him toward a jeep trail as a big buck, so I figure I might as well make the misery worthwhile.

So, ten or twelve miles in a day. Lotsa days, nada. But, Bucky spends 24/7 being a deer, all year round. Me, not so much. Fun, though.

I don't see much difference between setting up near bait from a cougar setting up near a water hole. Same sort of deal, really. What's the difference between sitting on a hillside, five miles from camp and leaned up against a rock or tree, from sitting in a box blind?

Seems to me that folks worry too much about other people's business.
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Old April 27, 2013, 10:41 AM   #47
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Seems to me that, as time goes on, people don't know or are too lazy to really hunt anymore.
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Old April 28, 2013, 10:41 AM   #48
Tom Matiska
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Reads to me like it is about disease control, not hunting ethics. Food plots OK, but not feed. Most attractants Ok, but not edibles or ingestibles...


http://www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/ru...Prohibit.shtml



Purpose
SNIP......


Proposed Rule Language

R12-4-303. Unlawful Devices and Ammunition
D. The use of edible or ingestible substances to aid in taking big game is unlawful when:
1. An individual places edible or ingestible substances for the purpose of attracting or taking big game.
2. An individual knowingly takes big game with the aid of edible or ingestible substances placed for the purpose of attracting wildlife to a specific location.
3. This subsection does not limit Department employees or Department agents in the performance of their official duties.
4. For the purposes of this subsection, edible or ingestible substances does not include:
a. Water,
b. Salt or salt-based materials produced and manufactured for the livestock industry, or
c. Nutritional supplements produced and manufactured for the livestock industry and placed during the course of livestock or agricultural operations.

What is “bait”?

For the purposes of this rulemaking, the Commission considers bait to include any food-stuff or ingestible material that has been deposited, scattered, piled, or delivered by a passive or active feeder or feed delivery system so as to constitute an attractant, lure or enticement to wildlife and to influence the movement of these animals for the purpose of harvest by hunters.

“Bait” does not include:

Water
Salt or salt-based materials produced and manufactured for the livestock industry
Nutritional supplements produced and manufactured for the livestock industry and placed during the course of livestock or agricultural operations
Decoys
Scent lures provided they do not contain cervid urine
Chemical attractants provided they are not ingestible
Food plots planted within accepted local or regional agricultural guidelines

Wildlife Health

The proposed restrictions on baiting would prohibit the use of edible or ingestible substances, such as placing corn or wildlife feed in the field to attract and take big game. Baiting can create unusually high concentrations of wildlife where disease can spread easily.

.......SNIP
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Old April 28, 2013, 12:04 PM   #49
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There's been a lot of good opines in this thread. As well as some good advice.

Quote:
Seems to me that folks worry too much about other people's business.
^^This advice stands out foremost to me.^^

I've heard people criticize hunting over corn/bait thrown on the ground...but these same people will hunt over food plots planted to attract game.

Have heard people criticize hunting over planted food plots planted specifically for attracting a particular quarry but these same people don't have a problem hunting next to a farmers corn or soybean field.

Have heard some criticize hunting a farmers crop field but yet can't wait for the nuts in a nice acorn/beech tree stand to start falling so they can run out and climb up in their stands placed in these tree's.

Hell, far at that goes, have heard deer hunters here in Ohio where rifles are illegal to deer hunt with cut on guys out West saying long distance hunting with rifles is not sporting at all and goes against their hunting ethics.
If I say anything to them at all I'll usually inquire from them where all they've hunted. When it all shakes out, usually they've not ventured to far from their own backyard let alone hunted outside of Ohio.

Won't even enter in the stand versus stalking crap. Or is hunting deer with dogs ethical or the 'what about head shooting game' saga...the list goes on and on to include is it cheating(if legal) using crossbows during archery season or inline bp rifle's during primitive weapon season?

These debates have went on far longer then the last 45+yrs. I've hunted and will continue as long as hunting exist. Course, if we're not careful, the way things are going with the anti-gun/anti-hunting crowd, we may not be debating these issue's in another 45yrs.
IMO, something our time would be better spent on then criticizing the legal way someone hunts.

Bottom line, IMO, if you hunt legal, respect your quarry and have decent morals to begin with, after you're into hunting awhile you'll know if you're doing right or not. Let your conscience be your guide.
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Old April 28, 2013, 01:30 PM   #50
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For all who says baiting is cheating, please explain your hunting method to include equipment. Unless you're dressed like a caveman and hunt with primitive weapons, please don't shun other hunters and their legal methods.
Baiting isn't legal here. My favorite rifle is a .54 Hawken shooting a patched round ball. I don't use scents or calls or rattles. I don't use special soap or any kind of scent cover. The only thing I do in that nature is sometimes wear rubber bottomed boots that won't leave a scent trail. Most times I'm wearing sneakers, along with jeans and a t shirt with a light jacket(and the required orange vest). Where I hunt has thick undergrowth and a few small clearings. I do hunt a ground blind or shooting house at the edges of some of those clearings. I'm not physically able now to drag a deer out of the rough so I take them in the clearings. I don't get in the blind before daylight. I wait till after it gets light and then sneak in. I've gotten more deer that way than I ever got by sitting in the blind itself.
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