Does anybody thats baits ever have any luck shooting bucks over bait?

never have seen a big buck come to a feeder during legal shooting hrs. seen lots of spikes and 1 1/2- 2 1/2 yr old 6-8 points

I tried it in North Carolina. I never saw a deer, let alone a buck.

If you have a stand of woods you can feed corn most of the year, and after a few years you'll start getting does holding up in that neck of the woods.

Once you get the big does showing up the bucks will start coming through to check them. In the end it may take 4-6 years before you get a crack at one.

Spot

Baiting works only if your in an area where deer are used to coming there to eat. I just got back from a friend's ranch that's under management where the deer are used to coming to the feeders. I saw some absolute monster bucks all weekend. (of course the top tier bucks are off limits)

On the other hand, I've been on some TPW hunts where we were allowed to bait. But since they weren't used to coming to corn, the hunt was a total bust. Wouldn't see squat.

All that baiting does in N.C. is cause them to move in there at night. The key is to sit between their bedding areas and the bait pile. No, I have never seen a big buck come into a bait pile. NEVER!!!!

One note, I've never shot a buck anywhere near a feeder, that might not be the case in Texas but I put the feeders in bedding areas and leave them alone so those areas can hold deer.

I'd agree that you don't see bucks aroudn the feeder spot itself, the trail camera easily confirms that the bucks only come to feed late at night vs. during the day so if you wanting to feed only to shoot a buck vs. pull in does your probably not going to be happy.

Spot

Agree with you probably won't see and thing really good at a feeder. Will pickup the younger bucks.

That's why I like, if possible, to set my feeders out some distance away from cover in the open. Does and yearlings and small bucks will come. Watch the edges and lots of times you can pick up a pretty good buck that just sticks his head out watching.

Timers on feeders will help but not totlly solve the nocternal deal. Just put out enough corn so the deer will clean it up before dark.

BCR

Nope.

Baiting in Northern Wisconsin has changed the deers feeding pattern so they feed in the night time hours. Unfortunately it also brings in the predators. I have seen a few pictures of bears coming in to eat the corn. I have not seen a big buck come into a bait pile during shooting hours

Yes.
And you will also see large bucks at feeders if the hunting pressure is not great.
Witnessed it countless times.

While I"ve never seen a monster at a feeder, I've seen more than a few 5.5 and 6.5 year old bucks at them. During daylight. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. While I"d prefer not to hunt feeders, we don't really have a choice where I do hunt, so you do what you do....

I know that while a game cam has shown older bucks at feeders at night mostly, we've seen every night time buck at a feeder sooner or later during the daylight hours, some at mid day only... save for one really sly critter and I hunted him all over the place away from feeders on trails that cameras showed he used consistenly etc... and only saw him 2 times while driving to camp at night and 3 times on a game cam... that deer was smart. I suspect he'd have been at a feeder during the day at some point also, but we never saw him. I suspect had we been able to drive in during the week(IE take the time off) and do a cold camp so to speak and just sit it out long enough it would have paid off...

There's a really nice buck that will come in to eat at the bird feeder....its been empty all year because I don't want them crossing the road. If I put feed out right now I would have 30 deer eating away at all hours within the day. They're pretty tame.

Yep, hunting pressure.

I should just get a bow tag and get him.

I've never seen a big buck at a feeder, but I know it happens, mostly at night. I prefer to hunt away from a feeder between the feeder and bedding area. Hunting a green patch is different, I'll hunt it in the afternoon only. We dont shoot does out of the green patches or near feeders (youngsters excluded). The 3 bucks I killed this year were no where near a feeder or green patch. I prefer to hunt bottlenecks or where several trails cross.

The green patches and feeders are to keep the does around. If you got does, you will have bucks!

I use feeders to see what is in the area via cameras. I dont hunt aroun them just so the does will stay in the area. I think those big bucks use them at night and wind them in the day, checking for does. I've killed more than one good one hunting 100yds or more down wind of feeders. I think the big ones avoid the feeders in daylight like the monkey pox.

Joseph

I've only seen a couple of descent bucks come to feed or food plots in daylight hours. The trail cams prove they use them, but mostly at night. We plant plots and run feeders to keep does in an area, but have more luck for bucks hunting between the food sources and bedding areas. We have seen good bucks follow does to food and I know several guys that have killed good bucks doing so.

I have some cams on feeders nearly year round, but like I mentioned, I rarely ever get a pic of a good buck in daylight hours. Most of the time when I do, there's a doe on the scene as well.

My best luck getting bucks has been from scouting good sign and hunting from climbers or simply sitting on the ground.

Around here everyone runs feeders and plants plots, so if you want deer on your property, you have to do the same.

I find the baiting debate quite funny as I hunt other states and deer come to ag fields just the same if not better. It's the exact same IMO.

The best bait is a hot doe

Have a Good One,

loder

In my experience, unless you are hunting on a very well managed ranch where bucks of less than 5.5 years old are safe......feeders are a poor way to harvest a trophy.

They are a VERY good way to obtain a "meat" doe or young buck, but bucks over the age of about 3.5 will avoid them like the plague.....except during the rut!! When blood rushes to a buck's groin, it tends to cut off circulation to the brain and they do really stupid stuff....like approach a feeder where does are.

Under "normal" conditions, you are much better off to use the feeders to get your does and hunt 200-300 yards away from feeder sights for bucks. Yes, they Will hang around to check for hot does, but will seldom appear at the actual feeder sight until after dark......but you CAN catch them "circling" the feeder.

This might not be true of ranches where bucks are not bothered when younger (2.5-4.5 years) as they are conditioned to feel safe, but under most conditions a feeder is the best way I know to insure that the bucks you kill are small and young.....and the "big boys" live a year longer.

During the rut all bets are off......but for a true trophy (5.5 years and above) even the rut may not make a feeder a good choice.

Depends on what you are after. If you want to see lots of der movement and occationally take a decent buck.....hunt the feedere, but if you want a true trophy.......use the feeder to "channel" bucks to you at a distance from the actual feeder sight.

I always hang a feeder, but I have never seen deer there, only near by. This year my farmer buddy talked me into just dumping a 50# sack of corn in a pile. I dumped several sacks but never saw any deer early, but the corn would be gone. The second evening of season, we watched an 8 point cross almost a 1/2mi of open field straight to the corn. I dropped him within 3' of the corn pile. I shot another 8 point last year from the same spot without a corn pile, but a feeder nearby. Life is good.

I really don't have much of an opinion on baiting. This is just what I do. Two 8 points, a 9 point, and a 12 point were taken this year within a 1/2mi of that corn pile.

http://forums.oodmag.com/picture.php?albumid=436&pictureid=1892

That one big enough?

http://forums.oodmag.com/picture.php?albumid=436&pictureid=1744

This one wouldn't hit the bait pile, even during the night.

We never just pile corn up in one spot here. We usually use a spreader on back of the truck and run down each sendero. That way in addition to the feeders, deer are likely to move in somewhere for a nibble as they happen to cross.

And I agree that the really big mature bucks are very cautious. Most times you'll spot them at the edge of the brush checking things out for a while, and they won't spend much time in the open. But they certainly do come in. Matter of fact, I harvested a 5 1/2yr old brute this last weekend with broken mainbeams. He kept dissapearing from one spot only to emerge somehere else 1/2hr later. We bait here because the brush is way too thick to hunt trails.

My experience is that bigger bucks will not come to a feeder. I have taken them in at the beginning of the season by pouring it out on the ground with no feeder around. Also during the rut I have taken mature bucks that followed a doe to the bait and also when they would come down wind of where I would bait checking for does. In the south as thick as it is here it makes a big difference. When I go to the midwest it is not as important, but i have seen it work in Kentucky fields as well.
I love it when they follow the yellow brick road.

I have taken some BIG Bucks in Canada off of bait piles.Does not work good in Wi.

I shot my 11 pointer this year beside the feeder,he came in with a doe.

Agreed. But it does work well during the late season here when temps plummet and we get a plethora of snow, particularly in the north woods.

Never killed one by a feeder, get great pics at night though.

And in Louisiana you have to supplement feed because everyone around you does, which sucks in my opinion, because if you have predators, ie. coyotes, they start staking out your feeders and screw up everything.

I've baited them with Doe N Estrous and had luck though.

JM

When we sprinkle corn over the roads and senderos for a few days in a row, the more mature bucks will come out and eat it.

Of course, after two years of drought, they have been really hungry.

Mostly does, young bucks, javelinas, coons, squirrels and pigs.

stumpy

I have had some rather nice bucks come to the food plots and corn piles during the daytime looking for does during the rut. They were after the does and not the food. The nice bucks in my woods are frequenting the food plots now that the rut is over but they are doing it at night. Most of the does and small bucks are also coming at night.

I wish I had one of thoes big feeders with a timer. But, I'd probably end up in jail and/or paying a large fine. It's highly illegal in NYS to feed deer or hunt over a baited area. Go figure.

If your in an area where deer are accustomed to bait it flat out works.
In MI the rifle deer season is during the rut so big bucks are not so much interested in the bait itself, but are interested in the does that are hitting the bait.
Of course you can just put a bait in now mans land and expect results. Despite what some guys think setting up a baited blind takes skill, just as setting up a baitless blind does.
As Skane mentioned after the rut is over and the cold and snow set in bucks will hit baits, but in my experience by this time of the season in MI every thing is a little gun shy and most of the older deer feed after legal hours.

I am just going to put in some random thoughts here, not because I am an expert at deer feeding but just from a lot of years experience. Obviously I don't know how the deer act in your area they may be different because deer don't all act the same way everywhere.

What ever you use for bait, usually corn, it is not a natural food for deer. Maybe in thecorn belt states but not else where and even there corn don't naturally grow in the woods where deer hang out.

You got to kind of "train" deer to eat it and depend on their natural curiosity to make them start. Some never will start.

If you got deer the where ever you put your feeder will be in some old does home range. And some bucks circle. She will be the first to start eating and will train her kids to eat too. When natural groceries get short other does will come in looking for food. That's when you see the boxing matches between your resident and strangers coming in to eat.

Now back to mama training the kids. If one of them is a buck he will know where that feed is and will be looking for it. He ate it as a button and will continue next year. The older he gets the less he will eat, especially when he is on the prod. But he never forgets where that food source is or was. After the rut he will check it but you may never see him at it except at night.

Of course we are excepting that he don't get shot as a forkie the second year.

I have seen the same bucks at my feeders or very close by until they are @ five years old. Never see them again. I didn't shoot them but somebody else may have somewhere else.

I say I haven't seen them that is to say in daylight wearing horns. I have seen them bare headed late in Feb when groceries are really short. Pretty sure it was them anyway.

As soon as natural feed stuff comes out deer will quit feeders. You resident old doe will still hit more out of habit than anything else. She will sure as hell be there with her kids next fall and the ones she trained the year before will be there too. They don't forget where the groceries are.

BCR

Good thoughts by all. One thing about it our deer eat corn all the time. It's one of the main crops of the area. I agree about the conditioning and getting them used to eating the bait as the "grow up". It will be interesting to see who is visiting when. I will know this soon via trail cam. I will keep you guys posted. It is supposed to snow a bunch tonight. Tomorrow may be fun trying to track deer still hunting unless it's blowing too hard. Everyone have a Merry Christmas. Tom

When I first started hunting NW Ontario I attempted to use corn as bait with zero success. Red Squirrels wouldnt even touch the stuff.
Then I noticed that some hunters from Wisconsin where using alfalfa as bait in the same area. I tried that and it worked as expected. IN my home state deer will hit alfalfa as well, but typically only in the winter. Put the stuff out in the fall and they wont touch it.
Like I posted earlier, baiting takes some thought to work right.

Everyone knows big deer wont come to a feeder in the daytime!

That is a fine one for sure. Still pretty young too. Somebody saving him for something?

BCR

BCR,

Hes just not quite heavy enough yet. Maybe a couple more years.

Comprende, he's going to be a hoss if he makes it.

BCR

In Vermont it's illegal to feed deer any time of the year or hunt over bait for fear the deer herds might contact c.w.d. You are allowed to put in food plots to attract deer. People I know who have fed deer do have a high rate of deer being killed by vehicles close to their homes. The one thing about having a feeder, is setting up a trail camera near by to see whats in your area for bucks.

Here is a KY buck my uncled killed on his farm in Fayette county..Shot it over one of those grain blocks that walmart sells..

I'd speculate that about 1/2 of the big ticket Texas hunts we see on TV are working bait. As a youngster back east I always worked edges of clearings and deep woods for deer. Based on a lot of the TV shows, all the deer, hogs, and javalina come to the two tracks to feed each morning and evening. Must be essence of diesel or something. With scare grub and habituation, about anything can be lured to a feed supply.

Not legal for us in Oregon though. One can sit over plots or apple trees, but we can not supplement the pile.

I put out feeders to attract the does. Does are good decoys for older bucks. Especially during the rut. The bucks hanging on my wall were holding back in the mesquite brush watching does and younger bucks at the feeder when I killed them.

Everything comes to corn in South Texas.

Mira Pancho tortillas


BCR

i went on a deer hunt in 97 i was a senior in high school and the guide dropped us off and said you may see pepole trying to sneak across the border line. dont bother them he said but if they aproach you or eat the corn shoot them.lol
my opinion is feeding corn is going to do nothing but help animals nutrition...were i live there arent corn fields for hours. so i feed it. and they love it..
YOUR NOT GOING SO SEE A BIG BUCK PRANCING OUT AND EATING CORN BUT GAURANTEE HE WILL BE CLOSE TO THE DOES THAT ARE. I FIND IT HELPS KEEP DEER IN THE AREA AND IF YOU DONT FEED AND THE NEIGHBORING PROPERTIES DO THEN GUESS WERE THE DEER WILL BE.

I ALMOST FORGOT.....I HUNT A TWENTY ACRE ALFALFA FIELD THERE IS A TEN ACRE PATCH OF WOODS NEAR IT..I BAITED ALL THIS YEAR AND HAD A CAMERA ON IT..SEPTEMBER WAS LOADED WITH BUCK PICTURES,,AFTER THE FIRST OF NOVEMBER THERE WAS A BIG DECLINE IN BUCK PICTURES..THIS WHOLE LAST MONTH NOW I HAVE BEEN FEEDING AND ONLY HAVE ONE DOE ON CAMERA....I THINK THE DEER ARE MORE INTERESTED IN THE ALFALFA THAT WE HAVE PLANTED THEY WALK PAST CORN WE PUT OUT IN THE FIELD , THEY ARE THERE ALMOST EVERY NITE,,,AND WE HAVE TAKEN 3 OVER 120" THIS YEAR OUT OF THAT FIELD(SAME STAND).....SO CORN WILL WORK BUT GO FOR THE ALFALFA OF MILO ETC.

I hunt with bait and have both experiences. Depends on the area and the amount of pressure the deer are getting. Most of the pictures I get of mature bucks at feeders or corn is at nite. I believe everyone will agree. If the area is open and you can see a bunch of it, I don't think it matters. That buck will be hanging nearby watching and scent checking the area for does. He'll slip in and near. Sooner or later you'll get a opportunity when he exposes himself near the baited or the food plot. I have an area where there is 3500 continuous acres of land and the people who hunt it baits. We have very large deer come to food plots and feed areas. On our 1100 acre area, we took only 2 bucks this year and 7-10 does. Several of our 5 members didn't get a chance to hunt very much. We have very little pressure on our property and I believe these deer are conditioned based on the pressure they get while traveling from place to place. Our deer have big sanctuary areas in the internal areas of the property where they are not bumped much. We hunt the outer areas and my bait areas are on trails leading from one foodplot to another or in a saddle/pinch point. I can see up to 300 yards in three different areas from my stand. You may not always get a shot but those bucks are slipping thru as they cruise from one area to another shadowing the movement of the does. My biggest bucks were seen in daylight at feed areas during the search phase of the rut. They came looking for does. If I would have been there I would have harvested those deer over corn. In short, I experience it both ways because of the way my location is set-up and the way its hunted.

Most of the hunters in my lease use daylite and dusk feeders or the timer type feeders and they have a ton of 1: am pictures of big bucks photos.

I use homemade bump feeders and the deer still feed during the major and minor feed times. If that falls during shooting hours I see them.

Now that being said, I can't say if its because the feed is there when they want it or if it's because the does are feeding so the bucks follow.

Hoot

Here is a picture from last night. (I forgot to change the date and time on the cam when I changed the batteries). Our late gun season starts tomorrow. Boy, I'd like to catch this dude during the day.