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baiting in Tennessee

Just about wore this subject out. So I will put in my 2cent I really don't see a dimes worth of difference between bait and food plots. You can spin either to your own 2cents and make yourself happy. The bottom line is you want a place to shoot a bigger deer than the other guy.
 
For the guys who say baiting don't work, apparently you've never done it much. It amazes me how many guys on here post all these trail cam pics or turkey and deer and expect everyone to believe there isn't any bait around….. if I just randomly put cams out them I might randomly get a pic or two. But within a few days of pouring out a sack of corn the cams will blow up. Who's kidding who here??? And to those who say mature bucks won't come to a corn pile, only does…. I'd like to kno where you are hunting during the rut…. I hunt the does during the rut, the mature bucks will be where the does are…… it isn't quite as effective in a year with a bumper crop of acorns…. However I can pour corn out in a 100 acre beanfield in the summer and funnel every deer using that field in front or my cams… those that know me well have seen the pics!!!
 
Roost 1 said:
For the guys who say baiting don't work, apparently you've never done it much. It amazes me how many guys on here post all these trail cam pics or turkey and deer and expect everyone to believe there isn't any bait around….. if I just randomly put cams out them I might randomly get a pic or two. But within a few days of pouring out a sack of corn the cams will blow up. Who's kidding who here??? And to those who say mature bucks won't come to a corn pile, only does…. I'd like to kno where you are hunting during the rut…. I hunt the does during the rut, the mature bucks will be where the does are…… it isn't quite as effective in a year with a bumper crop of acorns…. However I can pour corn out in a 100 acre beanfield in the summer and funnel every deer using that field in front or my cams… those that know me well have seen the pics!!!
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I don't have experience in TN or KY... but it DOESNT work in south MS. The biggest buck on my lease is coming to a feeder regularly (2 out of 3 nights), he's is being hunted hard since other members found him, but he's still walking. One member piled up the molasses flavored rice bran yesterday hoping that makes him daywalk. So much corn fed to this fellow, he's laughing at us! Season ends Monday!

As far as turkeys, no comparison. Bait will pull every turkey in a mile radius. Thank goodness feeders must be removed down here to he legal before turkey season... yet many still do.
 

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utvolsfan77 said:
Asking for the benefit of younger folks that may be growing up without a dad or those a bit older that may not have had anyone to teach/mentor them. How would those folks learn woodsmanship without anyone to teach them? A person can only learn so much from reading magazines and books or watching videos on YouTube. I think everyone will agree that hands-on learning is the best way of learning, but where does one start?
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Sorry to not get back to you.

There really isn't an easy answer to your question. My father didn't hunt. I think he had too much WW2 and maybe it just wasn't in his DNA. I suspect I inherited it from my mother's side. I was lucky to have some older guys that I was farmed out to during my formative years. A parent likely would be arrested for child abuse if they did it today. I was blessed.

I learned some from them, and some from reading books and magazine articles. Of course, no internet for me. But, the reality of my learning was like has been said with it being just time in the woods learning from stupid mistakes. Our annual deer kill in my rookie days was less than 20,000 statewide, and the turkey kill was measured in the hundreds. So, there weren't a lot of opportunities for making the mistakes and learning from them. It took me six years to kill my first deer, and much longer to kill a turkey. A new hunter has a lot better chance of shortening the learning curve right now.

The key, IMO, is just patience and trying to keep an open mind as you learn. There is a WORLD of AWESOME information out there on the interweb these days. But, you have to be able to wade through some of the self-serving bs in the process. If someone is trying to sell me a product through their information, I normally keep looking.

The main problem we have these days is we have raised (and I, as a parent, am guilty) a generation or two of folks that have zero patience. They want something and they want it right now, whether it means a starter house as good as the one their parent's currently have, or a trophy deer the first time they hit the woods. They despise having to invest any time or effort in their pursuit.

Enjoy the journey and the little steps. I promise you that when you start figuring it out on your own that it will mean so much more than spending a pile of money to go somewhere to have a guide to let you shoot an animal you did nothing to find and earn.

and, ps, I know I painted with a broad brush on the entitlement. We have some kids that we see on this site that work for it every bit as hard as I did 50+ years ago. But, I stand by what I said for the majority.
 
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I'm against baiting myself but I hunt mainly public land. I'm also in a hunting club with appox 12k acres but rarely hunt on it. There are a couple that bait up there every year and kill mature bucks. They bait a area and hunt travel routes going to and from the bait. Toward the end of season when the acorns are gone you could kill probably 75% of your mature bucks over corn on the mountain if everybody baited. I have found corn piles with brown sugar mixed in with the corn and the deer destroy it.
 
Roost 1 said:
For the guys who say baiting don't work, apparently you've never done it much. It amazes me how many guys on here post all these trail cam pics or turkey and deer and expect everyone to believe there isn't any bait around….. if I just randomly put cams out them I might randomly get a pic or two. But within a few days of pouring out a sack of corn the cams will blow up. Who's kidding who here??? And to those who say mature bucks won't come to a corn pile, only does…. I'd like to kno where you are hunting during the rut…. I hunt the does during the rut, the mature bucks will be where the does are…… it isn't quite as effective in a year with a bumper crop of acorns…. However I can pour corn out in a 100 acre beanfield in the summer and funnel every deer using that field in front or my cams… those that know me well have seen the pics!!!
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I do not put corn out to get pictures. I put them on travel corridors, plots, and scrapes.
 
iowavf said:
Corn has a lot more nutritional value than say the grass a deer eats. If corn harms the digestive system of a deer, I'd say we'd have a lot of sick and unhealthy deer here in Iowa, but we don't. I'm not for baiting, my brother does have a feeder he runs during off season and the deer and turkeys know where it's at. Agree a good food plot is way better than just putting out a pile of corn or apples like a lot of people do in Iowa during season. It's a stiff fine if caught, but doesn't stop a lot of people from doing it.
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Rumen acidosis and aflatoxin are MAJOR issues with corn. It's worth reading up on. There's plenty info available from credible sources.

So long as deer have regular exposure to corn plus other fiber rich foods to break it down, corn isn't horrible. The problem is giving corn to hungry deer when they're not used to it. Their stomachs don't handle it well due to a flood of acids caused by the fermenting corn. It can kill a healthy deer within hours.

Aflatoxin is a mold that grows on the corn, thereby poisoning the animals that consume it. Food and livestock grade corn meets a minimum standard of aflatoxin. "Deer corn" fails to meet that standard, so it's labeled and marketed to hunters. A bag of deer corn failed the safety measure for livestock feed, so it's foolish to think it's safe for deer. It's even deadlier for turkeys.
 
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scn said:
Sorry to not get back to you.

There really isn't an easy answer to your question. My father didn't hunt. I think he had too much WW2 and maybe it just wasn't in his DNA. I suspect I inherited it from my mother's side. I was lucky to have some older guys that I was farmed out to during my formative years. A parent likely would be arrested for child abuse if they did it today. I was blessed.

I learned some from them, and some from reading books and magazine articles. Of course, no internet for me. But, the reality of my learning was like has been said with it being just time in the woods learning from stupid mistakes. Our annual deer kill in my rookie days was less than 20,000 statewide, and the turkey kill was measured in the hundreds. So, there weren't a lot of opportunities for making the mistakes and learning from them. It took me six years to kill my first deer, and much longer to kill a turkey. A new hunter has a lot better chance of shortening the learning curve right now.

The key, IMO, is just patience and trying to keep an open mind as you learn. There is a WORLD of AWESOME information out there on the interweb these days. But, you have to be able to wade through some of the self-serving bs in the process. If someone is trying to sell me a product through their information, I normally keep looking.

The main problem we have these days is we have raised (and I, as a parent, am guilty) a generation or two of folks that have zero patience. They want something and they want it right now, whether it means a starter house as good as the one their parent's currently have, or a trophy deer the first time they hit the woods. They despise having to invest any time or effort in their pursuit.

Enjoy the journey and the little steps. I promise you that when you start figuring it out on your own that it will mean so much more than spending a pile of money to go somewhere to have a guide to let you shoot an animal you did nothing to find and earn.

and, ps, I know I painted with a broad brush on the entitlement. We have some kids that we see on this site that work for it every bit as hard as I did 50+ years ago. But, I stand by what I said for the majority.
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Dang, that's an excellent post. 👍
 
I own property in Ohio where baiting is legal. Pouring out a pile of corn would be cheaper, more convenient, and more attractive than plots. Yet year after year I go through the work and expense of planting plots, and do not bait or run feeders. Plots are not bait. They are not the same thing, and I would argue if you're planting plots to use as bait, you're missing out on the biggest benefits of a plot.

I run several sub acre plots and hunt over none of them. Where they differ from a corn pile is that the food is green and available 24/7. Once established, each small plot will become host to a family group of does who set up home next to it, especially if thick bedding already exists or is created. Not only does having multiple plots strategically scattered allow the property to house more deer, it keeps the groups separated, which doubly alleviates stress plus forces bucks to travel a circuit from doe house to doe house. This scenario cannot be possible with corn piles instead of plots. So again, they are not the same and do not necessarily serve the same purpose.
 
scn said:
Sorry to not get back to you.

There really isn't an easy answer to your question. My father didn't hunt. I think he had too much WW2 and maybe it just wasn't in his DNA. I suspect I inherited it from my mother's side. I was lucky to have some older guys that I was farmed out to during my formative years. A parent likely would be arrested for child abuse if they did it today. I was blessed.

I learned some from them, and some from reading books and magazine articles. Of course, no internet for me. But, the reality of my learning was like has been said with it being just time in the woods learning from stupid mistakes. Our annual deer kill in my rookie days was less than 20,000 statewide, and the turkey kill was measured in the hundreds. So, there weren't a lot of opportunities for making the mistakes and learning from them. It took me six years to kill my first deer, and much longer to kill a turkey. A new hunter has a lot better chance of shortening the learning curve right now.

The key, IMO, is just patience and trying to keep an open mind as you learn. There is a WORLD of AWESOME information out there on the interweb these days. But, you have to be able to wade through some of the self-serving bs in the process. If someone is trying to sell me a product through their information, I normally keep looking.

The main problem we have these days is we have raised (and I, as a parent, am guilty) a generation or two of folks that have zero patience. They want something and they want it right now, whether it means a starter house as good as the one their parent's currently have, or a trophy deer the first time they hit the woods. They despise having to invest any time or effort in their pursuit.

Enjoy the journey and the little steps. I promise you that when you start figuring it out on your own that it will mean so much more than spending a pile of money to go somewhere to have a guide to let you shoot an animal you did nothing to find and earn.

and, ps, I know I painted with a broad brush on the entitlement. We have some kids that we see on this site that work for it every bit as hard as I did 50+ years ago. But, I stand by what I said for the majority.
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This is close to how I learned to hunt except my dad gotten tired of hunting having to hunt to feed a family in his younger days during the depression. I would go hunting and come back home and tell him what I did and he would tell me what I did right or wrong. Now remember we didn't have deer or turkeys back then. I learned most of that on my own or talking to friends
 
Ski said:
Rumen acidosis and aflatoxin are MAJOR issues with corn. It's worth reading up on. There's plenty info available from credible sources.

So long as deer have regular exposure to corn plus other fiber rich foods to break it down, corn isn't horrible. The problem is giving corn to hungry deer when they're not used to it. Their stomachs don't handle it well due to a flood of acids caused by the fermenting corn. It can kill a healthy deer within hours.

Aflatoxin is a mold that grows on the corn, thereby poisoning the animals that consume it. Food and livestock grade corn meets a minimum standard of aflatoxin. "Deer corn" fails to meet that standard, so it's labeled and marketed to hunters. A bag of deer corn failed the safety measure for livestock feed, so it's foolish to think it's safe for deer. It's even deadlier for turkeys.
Click to expand...

Excellent information with several good points to consider....agree that there's plenty of information on the topic for those who want to learn and know more.
 
scn said:
Sorry to not get back to you.

There really isn't an easy answer to your question. My father didn't hunt. I think he had too much WW2 and maybe it just wasn't in his DNA. I suspect I inherited it from my mother's side. I was lucky to have some older guys that I was farmed out to during my formative years. A parent likely would be arrested for child abuse if they did it today. I was blessed.

I learned some from them, and some from reading books and magazine articles. Of course, no internet for me. But, the reality of my learning was like has been said with it being just time in the woods learning from stupid mistakes. Our annual deer kill in my rookie days was less than 20,000 statewide, and the turkey kill was measured in the hundreds. So, there weren't a lot of opportunities for making the mistakes and learning from them. It took me six years to kill my first deer, and much longer to kill a turkey. A new hunter has a lot better chance of shortening the learning curve right now.

The key, IMO, is just patience and trying to keep an open mind as you learn. There is a WORLD of AWESOME information out there on the interweb these days. But, you have to be able to wade through some of the self-serving bs in the process. If someone is trying to sell me a product through their information, I normally keep looking.

The main problem we have these days is we have raised (and I, as a parent, am guilty) a generation or two of folks that have zero patience. They want something and they want it right now, whether it means a starter house as good as the one their parent's currently have, or a trophy deer the first time they hit the woods. They despise having to invest any time or effort in their pursuit.

Enjoy the journey and the little steps. I promise you that when you start figuring it out on your own that it will mean so much more than spending a pile of money to go somewhere to have a guide to let you shoot an animal you did nothing to find and earn.

and, ps, I know I painted with a broad brush on the entitlement. We have some kids that we see on this site that work for it every bit as hard as I did 50+ years ago. But, I stand by what I said for the majority
Click to expand...
I agree with your post and I had a similar experience starting out deer hunting in the mid-eighties. I knew nothing. Nothing about guns, hunting, or woodsmanship. ZERO. I basically learned everything on my own. Even hunting magazines didn't help much, as they often dealt with hunting areas far different than large, hardwood tracts. I worked hard for every deer I have killed...till this year. First time in my years of hunting, I put very little time or effort in and killed one that might be the biggest buck of my life and another nice buck. My schedule and circumstances just don't let me put in the time and work I normally do. You know what I found strange about it - I didn't enjoy killing those bucks near as much as I normally enjoy taking a good buck. I came to realize several years ago that I enjoy the journey more than the reward. It wasn't always that way. I used to hunt with a fellow who is quite a bit older than me and hunted longer than I had. Yet, he never learned that. He was always so miserable when he didn't see deer after one sit, always upset that he hadn't killed one after a few sits. I'm not that way. I just enjoy all the aspects of hunting...scouting, stand placement, the chess match. I've found in my life, when you get to that point - you become a better hunter and take a lot more satisfaction out of your reward.
 
Ski said:
Aflatoxin is a mold that grows on the corn, thereby poisoning the animals that consume it. Food and livestock grade corn meets a minimum standard of aflatoxin. "Deer corn" fails to meet that standard, so it's labeled and marketed to hunters. A bag of deer corn failed the safety measure for livestock feed, so it's foolish to think it's safe for deer. It's even deadlier for turkeys.
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The "Deer Corn" people buy in Tennessee is illegal to be sold in Texas. Never mind that aflatoxin may be less an issue in Texas due to their more arid climate. With our high humidity in TN, even livestock-grade corn often develops aflatoxin after it's been laying on the ground a few days or stored in a humid environment.

Aflatoxin seldom kills deer, but it usually makes them "sick", more likely to get sicker from something else, and more likely to be caught by a predator. Actually, any stationary feeding location can quickly increase fawn predation. This is particularly true of button buck fawns around feeding stations. Just because you don't find the fawn bone piles doesn't mean they didn't die before reaching a year of age.

Deer under a year of age have the highest mortality rates of any age class.
Yet how often have you found the skeletal remains of a fawn? Never?
This is because the bones of young deer are not that "hard" and quickly disintegrate and/or get eaten (unlike adult deer bones).

Aflatoxin corn is particularly deadly to birds.
The smaller the bird, the more deadly a single kernel, which can kill an adult turkey.
One kernel.

IMO, aflatoxin corn has been a significant factor in the near extinction of bobwhite quail in TN. As more people began using feeders loaded with "deer corn", they contributed to the reduction in quail numbers. I've also seen entire flocks of turkeys wiped out by a single bag of "deer corn".

Deny it all you want, but your only kidding yourself if you think aflatoxin isn't a risk, the corn feeding often doing more harm than good overall. The aflatoxin risk is minimized with standing corn in a field as well as corn remaining on the cob. So a food plot of corn doesn't have the risk of a bag of corn.
 
I think the twra should make it legal in the form of a "corn stamp". That would give them more money to invest back into the wildlife. It could be like $20. And if thats your jam buy it if not carry on hunting without it. At the end of the day an illegal hunter is going to hunt illegal whether there is a law in place or not. ( spot lighting, baiting, not tagging game in)
 
RUGER77MAN said:
I think the twra should make it legal in the form of a "corn stamp". That would give them more money to invest back into the wildlife. It could be like $20. And if thats your jam buy it if not carry on hunting without it. At the end of the day an illegal hunter is going to hunt illegal whether there is a law in place or not. ( spot lighting, baiting, not tagging game in)
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bama charges
 

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