Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Pros and Cons to "Baiting" of deer; those that live and hunt where bait is legal

Huntz,

Sorry....Here's the link.

www.cooperseeds.com

This one should work.

Robert

Bruzer,That got me to a site,but all they sell is vegetable seed????????No kind of grass,alfalfa or clover.

Bill,

We will have to agree to disagree. As I've said several times....I don't have a problem with someone shooting near bait as long as it's legal...It's just not for me.

Robert

Dale,

I got the yield numbers for the University of Georgia study on Duranna Clover production. The dry yield is 4,000lbs in year one and then reaching 4-5 Tons per acre based on the report I read. The 10 tons was not "dry weight" as clover is eaten directly from field stand that is the number I was told to use by Dr. Kent Kammermeyer.


Robert

Huntz,

When you click the link you then need to click the "Wildlife Seeds" link with the picture of the deer on the home page. Once there you click on Summer or Winter Deer plantings and it will bring up the descriptions and price lists.

Robert

Bill,

If someone is hunting around a Corn feeder then they are a baiter in my opinion. In Georgia the definition is a limit of 200 yards and out of sight. In Alabama it is defined as bait anywhere on the property.

You know how you hunt....I don't. I'll leave that determination up to you. I'm not trying to judge anyone who is taking game legally....My issue is with the terminology.

I have just been issued a Hog Permit for one of my farms. This permit allows me to bait the Hogs,Hunt at night, From a vehicle and use a 12 volt light. The farmer needs Hogs removed so that his peanuts and Corn have a chance to survive. I will not claim to have hunted these Hogs......I am strictly population control. I will eat the meat but you won't see one going on my wall....The bait just makes it too easy....In my opinion.

Of course the "Bow Only" hunters will say rifles make it too easy and then the "Traditional Archery" hunters will say that "Machine Bows" make it too easy....and so on and so on.

To each their own....Whatever makes everyone happy as long as it's legal. Just don't shoot an animal over a pile of Corn and call it a trophy.....I don't get that.

Robert

Bruzer, If you're gonna try to come across as an expert on baiting, maybe you should know the law. Alabama law does not say anything about bait "on the property". We have one tract that's 3200 acres. You're saying one feeder would shut down 3200 acres. That's insane. I can promise you are wrong on that statement. A good friend of mine is a conservation officer in one of the counties I hunt. He told me face to face, eye to eye, that as long as the feeder was out of sight, the state had no problem with it. I've bow hunted this year 300 yards from where another member of our lease was hunting on a feeder (he, by the way, got a ticket). Feeders are not illegal. Hunting directly over a feeder is.

The key word is AREA. Just say Joe Blow has property joining my property. He puts a corn feeder 2 feet from my property line, without me knowing. You're telling me that the Game Warden is not going to allow me to hunt my property that I bought and paid for???????
They can not do that. Whomever you're talking to is either a hard &@S or a dumba$@.
Let him take that case to court agaist one of these big land owners that have the Governor and everyone else bought off.
I respect the job that Conservation Officers do, as I stated, I have a good friend that is a Game Warden. If I were breaking the law, he wouldn't hesitate to give me a ticket. He does, however, use good judgement. What your man is saying is off base. You cannot shut down 3000 acres because somebody that lives on the property has a corn feeder in their back yard. Can't do it.

Dale,

I just got off the phone with Chris Agee at Pennington Seed. These are the numbers I was given.

30,000-40,000 lbs per acre per year of wet forage.
4,000-5,000lbs of Dry Forage Per Acre containing 25% Protein

Our deer here average 140lbs or so so 3lbs of Dry Forage Per day.

So if the deer ate the food plots only we could support between 4-5 deer per acre per year.

The initial Cost for each 1 acre plot is roughly $500. Each year after the cost to fertilize and cut is $150.00

This breaks down to $100 per deer the first year.......$30 per deer the following years.

The area we are in has a deer concentration of 40 deer per square mile and we have roughly 2 square miles.

We have 7 acres of food plots so we can feed 35 Deer per year for a total of about $1,000.

Corn is 90% Dry Matter. So it would take 3.3lbs of Corn per deer per day or 1200 lbs per year.

Corn costs around $11.00 per 50lb bag here so that equates to $264 per deer per year.

To feed the same 35 Deer would cost $9,240 with Corn at a much lower protein level.

Of course deer are browsers so this would never happen but I just wanted to show how much less expensive a quality food plot costs versus the same amount of Corn.

So if Clover Food Plots.......

Cost 80% Less after the first year

Are more attractive "Bait" to Deer than Corn.

Improve the health of the wildlife.

Are much easier to maintain.

What reason would anyone have for using Corn?

Robert

Your numbers look reasonable and comparable now, maybe a bit skewed towards the food plot. That's what got me started earlier, your 20,000 lb figure without a DM conversion wasn't an apples to apples comparison.

I do have a couple of additional comments/questions.

How long does a clover food plot last? Up here, about 3 years is all we can get from a red clover field, then the clover is gone. If you want more, you have to reseed.

You may already know this, but lime is very important. Clover does better with a pH above 6.0, alfalfa needs 6.5+ for the best growth. The breakdown of fertilizer causes the soil to become acid.

The protein content isn't 25% year round, once the clover matures, protein levels drop to about 12%. The only way to keep it high is to mow it on a regular basis and prevent it from blooming. I doubt you get much growth in winter, I know our alfalfa is dormant from Dec. to April.

If I was buying a large amount of corn, I sure wouldn't buy it by the 50# bag. 35 deer times 1200 lbs, divided by 56 lb/bushel=
750 bu. Current avg. market price as reported by Pa. Dept of Ag is $4.18 per bu for a total yearly cost of $3135. Considerably better than your $9000+ figure.

Of course, 750 bu is about a tractor trailer load, you better have a good sized bin.

Anyhow, to answer your last question

"What reason would anyone have for using Corn?"

I would use corn to lure the deer off the posted property next door and onto the property I have permission to hunt. There is no need to feed year round as the deer have plenty of feed, it is a matter of getting them in a particular spot at a particular time so they can be shot. Which is exactly the reason the Pa. Game Commission recently legalized baiting in certain parts of the state.

Dale

I just filled my feeders with antler max and corn. Rifle season closed 2 weeks ago, Do ya'll still consider this baiting

loder