shooting season...

[kybuck]

like ruffedgrouse i cant hardly stand it when i find out people are baiting!! then call themselves hunters! i have a hard time believing
it is ok to bait for deer but not turkey, doves or several other
animals! what is the difference? how can anyone justify being able
to bait deer and not other game?
now to my point, if the kdfw is going to allow baiting why not have
a season for it, say maybe the weekend after the early muzzle load
week end! then by tuesday all bait has to be gone or removed! this would allow the deer shooters (not hunters) to get there deer b-4
gun hunting begins!
just wondering what you all thought!!

[Multidigits]

Some people feed deer year round not just during the deer seasons. You'd have a hard time calling that baiting. Would you consider the same for those who have food plots. Maybe those that feed don't have the acreage or tools for food plots.

[chris]

It is touchy situation I feed corn but I do not hunt over it .

[Coach]

Kybuck,

Obviously , you are not a bowhunter if you are suggesting to take yet another weekend away from bowhunters in October.

[Duster]

I feed year round myself. Have since gun season opener seen the visits to the feeder drop big time. A week before gun season you could count on 8 to 10 deer every afternoon hitting the feeder. Now that gun season is over here (zone 3) I only have 2 or 3 visit. I don't hunt over my feeder just for enjoyment of watching the critters. I started putting out corn around a year ago when we built a new home way back in the woods. I can count on one hand the bucks that have paid me a visit this year. I have hunted over bait before in Michigan where that is the norm for the area I hunted. If you have never hunted over bait you have a lot to learn. It's not a fish in the barrel type hunt. Sure you will see doe's an fawns but rarely a buck visit the bait in daylight hours. I agree with above...if you want to ban baiting than ban food plots, hunting over a picked or unpicked corn or bean field also.

[Salty]

Just for the sake of argument...........I don't have any feeders or food plots, but my property does have several places loaded with white oaks. I didn't put them there & I don't cultivate 'em, but I sure do hunt in them. What's the difference???

[dac]

I don't hunt over bait but was told by a biologist that even on deer with no hunting pressure that 80 percent of the activity will occur at night.

[GSP]

Good to see you back in the game Coach!

[KY_Xcutter]

Very good point Coach!!!

[P. Beyer]

I hope I don't tick anyone of here.......
But,... If yo hunt over bait, what is the difference between bait and a food plot.

A pile of corn, or a lush clover feild it's really all the same ain't it?

"It makes no difference whether I got anything; it has to do with how the day was spent"

Fred Bear

[Pooge]

If baiting is an issue should using lures be an issue also? I mean what really is the difference between a big buck running up to your pile of corn or running up and putting his nose in a bottle of Tinks?
Personal note... I have never "baited" but I do use lures. I am not advocating or downing either, just thinking. (and boy does it hurt) :)

[Hammer]

Agree with coach. Making a baiting season is kind of 'upid. Nothing wrong with baiting or food plots or scents, etc. As long as you're hunting legally (on land u have permission, with the appropriate licenses, and with the correct weapon) shouldn't matter what attractants are used.

[kybuck]

sorry to disapoint you coach but i have bow hunted for the last 18 years almost every week-end (during the season) and when ever i can
and i agree w/ what you are saying about losing another week end so lets do away w/ muzzle load week end!
lots of good statements here!! and all are ligit. i just want the shooters gone so i can get back to hunting!

still waiting on someone to justify being able to bait for deer
and not other game??!!

[bowhunter49]

I too am a bow hunter. It's been over a month since I've been hunting with my bow. Where I hunt it is usless to try and bowhunt during the gun or muzzleloading seasons. I can't wait until thanksgiving weekend to hunt again....[:)] I also do put out feeders, after the season is over. I do not hunt over them. When spring arrives and there are plenty for the turkey and deer to eat, I stop filling up my feeders...[;)]

[B.G.O. of Kentucky]

I am still on the fence on this baiting thing. We have two feeders out at my grandfathers farm, but I would still take the Rut over a feeder any day. A weeks worth of hunting during hard rutting activity will show you more big bucks then bait. Like was said in the earlier post, even with feeders, most activity still happens after dark. Does will use the feeders more "visibly" than a big buck, and it will draw more deer in than not, but it usually won't draw the bucks out of their bed except for them searching for does wanting some action. If you keep the feeders stocked, I guess it will keep the deer in the area, which will mean more chances for bucks in the area, so I agree they work, just not sure how much.

As for scents versus food, no compairson, Tinks comes from Walmart and everyone has it, corn doesn't. I have seen more deer get spooked from coverscents than be attacted. I know they work, but they also hurt. When 10 people trapse through accross a ridgeline with Tinks on their boots, after a while, deer start to learn. I have yet to see a deer get spooked over some tender vittles!

But, as always, these are just my opinions, I could be wrong. ;)

[Pooge]

Very good point. I had some Tinks placed where I wanted to draw them into this past weekend and a nice buck cam trotting off the ridge, down the trail and right passed it within 10 ft. He did not even slow down. Thats when I realized I did not do a good job placing my stand because I did not have a clear shot at it, I was a little too far over the berm. Oh well, live and learn. I moved the stand that afternoon.