Awe! The great "Bait Debate". The minute a hunter erects a stand over a bean field, the bean field became the sole purpose of the hunter to use the beans as bait. Any other reason is just to make someone's conscience feel better. My grandfather, and many other soybean farmers, budget deer season into their annual budget because they know they have prime land for deer hunters to lease. Meaning, he grew soybeans for humans, livestock, and deer hunters. How a deer herd is "manipulated" I don't understand the context in which it's being used. A person feeding 5 lbs of corn a day does not make deer leave an adjacent property. Just what ever you do, don't use bait while fishing because it will make fish move closer to your boat instead of the person fishing with bare hooks.....
I mean really. Hunters use high powered rifles, bows, crossbows, large caliber magnum revolvers. Does NOT baiting REALLY put the deer on a equal playing field? A person can hunt over the best bait in the world but if the hunter doesn't remember scent control, proper camo, and related hunting skills, not to mention marksmanship, he WILL come home empty handed and want their money back because they thought a feeder meant a guaranteed kill. I've had to tell several hunters in the past "NO REFUND". I tried to warn them before I put them on the stand. One guy even smoked a cigar and thought it was OK, because "Texas deer are supposed to be easy".