Baiting deer

[AtlLaw]

Over in the Hunting in Georgia forum there's a thread about mounting a stand close to deer "feeding" areas.  As I understand the discussion of the law, which I haven't seen yet, it will essentially allow baiting.  This has always been strictly verboten in Jawja!

Nevertheless, I have also heard that "fed deer are nocturnal deer."  Has anyone in the states that have allowed baiting found this to be true?

It would seem to me that if this were so, one of those automatic deer feeders, set to go off once a day at say, dawn, would combat such a tendency... 

What cha thin?

[BUGEYE]

you're right.  a timed feeder can train them to show up at your convenience.
I'm not sure how I feel about all that, but since I don't deer hunt, it's moot.

[Land_Owner]

My experience with an 11-year/24/7/365 corn feeder AND an abundance of hogs...is the hogs will be there at first light, middle light, last light and the deer will be scarce.  The deer will infrequently feed at the feeder when they are passing through, few and far between, because the hog's scent is all over the place and the hogs don't take kindly to the competition.  Hogs run everything else off in a very aggressive manner.  The deer are timid and do not want any forest commotion or noise to disturb their sense of security.  Hogs on the other hand do not seem to care about security and make a lot of commotion in eating and in-fighting while on the prowl for something to eat.

[Squib]

set it up, and leave it alone as much as possible (other than filling it back up) for a month.... then take a favored rifle and go "hog-wild"!!!  dead hogs don't harass deer.
 
I'd love to actually see one, I keep hearing that missouri has them, but I've never seen, heard or found sign of any... if they were around sedalia I'd be low crawling up to bait sites to murder them.

[PowPow]

I was told, and would like someone to confirm whether I was being reeled in or not, that the deer can become so trained to the sound of the feeder, that there are electronic game calls available that are just the recorded sound of a deer feeder running. True?

[1marty]

I'm sort of old fashion. I read the signs in the woods and stalk or still hunt. To each his own but not shooting a deer one year is not that important. It's the hunt.

[spruce]

Baiting deer was legalized here in Michigan sometime in the early/mid 90's.  I've hunted them since 1964 and still at it.  Mostly stand hunt now, but still do a little still hunting.  Never baited, but if that's your choice that's okay with me.
From what I've observed in the woods I'm convinced that yes, deer become more nocturnal where baiting is allowed - especially bucks.  It doesn't seem nearly as common now to see a buck up and about during the day doing a little browsing as it was prior to legalizing baiting. 
From talking with guys who do bait I gather that the deer will respond to the sound of a feeder going off , but it's mostly does and fawns.  The bucks tend to appear most often at the very edges of legal shooting light (or later).
Just my opinions based on personal observations - I have no scientific data to back it up!

[XD40SC]

Some baiting was legal in my state. The areas where deer were a problem in suburbs is where baiting was permitted until last year. I found deer at my baits early morning and late afternoon. Baiting in my state has been illegal now for 2 years. CWD is the blame. The state wildlife managers are afraid that large concentrations of deer at feeders during the severe winter will help spread the disease because it is density dependent.
Natural food plots are allowed.

[rockbilly]

Like Land Owner, I have been feeding for more years than I care to remember.  I usually run four feeders 24/7/365.  Lately, with the price of corn I have reduce that to two.  Over the years I have found the sound of the automatic feeder going off is like a dinner bell.  I set it for 7AM & 5PM; it runs for ten seconds and distributed about five pounds of corn each time. (If there is plenty of natural feed I will cut the timer back to 3-4 seconds, better to do this than let the corn rot on the ground or act as an attractant to the hogs.)

If there are hogs in the area they will eventually find the feeder and also be attracted to it. I have found that if you shoot on the pigs a couple of times they pretty much disappear, or start feeding at night.  By setting the feeder early morning and late afternoon the deer usually have time to eat all the feed before the pigs can get to it

I don’t feed necessarily to attract the game; I feed to provide supplemental nourishment to the game (Quail, deer and turkey).  I mix half and half, Purina Anther Max and corn, over a period of time you will see a marked difference in the quality and quantity of the herd.

[SHOOTALL]

This is really simple , the deer will come to the sound of the feeded if they are in hearing distance PERIOD !!!!!!!!
They will remember it long after feeding stops.
 In Va. we cannot feed deer during deer season. It stops a bit before season starts. I fed deer for years when I first moved to the country. Wife loved seeing them. Also turkeys came . It was not odd to see 15 + deer or up to 30-40 turkeys in the yard. The law changed to restrict time of year you could feed. So I stopped all togather as I did not want trouble and the deer were taking over eating garden and other plants. WELL I visited Cabela's and saw a Feeder Repeter , a little thing that when activated makes a very loud sound like a feeder working. Well the feeder had not been filled for several weeks at this point . I went out to get in the truck and set it off two does came and looked at the feeder trying to figure what was going on. I work all over the state alot in the country or where people feed deer and have tried the FR alot of places deer feeders are present and almost with out fail deer show up.
 I was told if you feed ducks anf place a pole next to the bait and move it around the ducks will follow the pole . On opening morning just place the pole near your blind    .

[Swampman]

Our deer are nocturnal at all times except the rut.

[SHOOTALL]

 With a feedr going off at mid day they learn to be there or miss a meal    , ya might need to start before sunrise and adjust time of feeding suit your needs . 

[SHOOTALL]

Here we are allowed to hunt over a food plot or field that is farmed. So baiting out right with corn is not needed and a good food plot is more cost effective . If you keep hunting pressure low they will come before dark.

[Spirithawk]

Our deer are nocturnal at all times except the rut.

Pretty much the same here. You'll see them very early going to bedding areas and right at dusk as they mill around in thick cover before stepping into feeding areas. Rarely you'll see one in the middle of the day before pre-rut and the rut. Even with timed feeders that stays the same. We put feeders out but have to remove them, along with any trace of food, at least 10 days prior to hunting anywhere near the place they were located. We're allowed mineral blocks but they can't contain any actual food source though food scents are ok. We can hunt over food plots but you can't purpously place food on the ground unless such as in harvesting a crop.

[possume]

from what ive noticed is that the deer around me seem to feed more in the early morning and late evening when i feed but somedays eat midday acording to what i catch on my cam where if i dont feed they seem to move more in the day maybe they have to travel further thats wht they seem to move more during daylight but i will say when i feed heavy and they eat over night and early morning during the rut i see tons more matture bucks checking for hot does during daylight somedays you will see one buck check back at the feeding sight 2 or 3 times trying to locate a hot doe the deer here do not come to the sound of my feeder it only goes off at 8 every morning but most days it is late evening or daybreak before they do come eat

[SHOOTALL]

Our deer are feeding mostly at dusk ans dawn or at night.  Baiting is illegal other than food plots. I find cloudy and rainy days where it gets dark before legal shooting ends is very productive. If its a cold day all the better.

[30-30man]

I've only run one feeder year around and it feeds more crows during the day than deer.  The deer come to it early morning and late at night.  I can't say it's done anything but give me an opportunity to take some good game pictures.  I have more luck hunting over a newly planted soybean field or winter wheat than the corn feeder.  The corn is just too expensive to throw it away in a bunch of feeders.  Don't mean to hyjack this thread but ... Not only the price of corn, but the price of processing has almost got me out of hunting all together.  $85 now just to get one ground up into burger in my area and the size doesn't matter...No I don't process mainly because of the time, mess, and equipment...It has and will greatly reduce what deer I take this year. No more good eating small does for me, I'd rather have steak.  $85 will buy some good t-bones.

[SHOOTALL]

Here $85 will buy about 6-7 good steaks. I would suggest buying a good meat saw and a couple good knives and process your own. Maybe add a meat grinder for burger and saug.
Don't take this as an insult , prices here went up also , I got two 1 gal. zip lock bags of jerky for a $85 dollar process fee and last year processing was going around $120 or so. if you gutted it before drop off.

[PowPow]

I bought a book on how to cut up a deer for $10.
I will pay 85 to process a big one and cut a small one up myself, sharing some with the other predators in the field.
depends on your deer population and your outlook on conservation.

[SHOOTALL]

Here we have so many we are encouraged to kill does , we can kill 2 a day , everyday if we buy the extra stamps. Cutting up deer is not a big chore if you are set up before you kill them. A rack from wally world and some rope along with a good knife and maybe a saw if you don't cut the meat off the bone or seperate at the joints.

[30-30man]

Naw, no insult taken....I have some old equipment.  When I first started hunting deer, the local store would hang it and cut it up for one of the hams.  They made sausage out of it and handed it out during the fall to people who needed it.  Now they want and arm and leg just to take it....Corn in the feeders is just another expense I'm about refusing to pay this year. I raise turkeys and have used the poultry feed before but it's powdered meal with ground corn and even that has gone sky high.  I now deer hunt mainly for pest control.  My garden is surrounded by an electric fence and even that doesn't stop them when the watermelons ripen.  They will bust the ends of them and eat the soft rind.  To be honest, I have given one away already this year because of the price of processing.

[SHOOTALL]

I have same trouble with deer here , pest is a good term.

[jedman]

I bowhunt with a group of 6 to 8 others every year here in Ohio.  Some of the younger guys in our group have made the 3 hour drive down where we hunt the weekend before we get there for a week of hunting and baited with apples carrots and deer lick blocks ect.
No one in our group has ever killed a buck in a baited area yet ! except button bucks.
Trail cameras show deer, racoons, skunks,possums and all sorts of animals eating during darkness but have not proved to work during daylight hours in attracting deer to the area.
I think if anything,  in our hunting area it hurts your chance of seeing deer more than helping.
Jedman

[SHOOTALL]

It takes big deer a long time to trust a bait site. So I would agree 100% . The activity of those planting bait could move the big deer out . Bait works best IMHO if it is done over a long period of time in just enough quanity to hold deer .