baiting in Tennessee

[diamond hunter]

Baiting in Tennessee. Old,crazy topic.I know many are opposed,like my friend BSK for biological reasons.Some are opposed because of diseases spread.OK,salt licks must not spread them. Here are my reasons for wanting baiting to be allowed in Tennessee. 1. I have 350 acres and I do not bait during season,but I do for pictures and see multiple deer ,does multiple bucks that are shooters for me.Once season starts,those deer are no longer seen,unless its a small buck cruising and being stupid.I went on 16 hunts this season and never saw more than 5 deer on any hunt unless it was a small buck.I know that my neighbors pull them over the line with corn.And I know they shoot them,I have a picture from this year.So,I dont break the law and the neighbor does and he gets the benefit and I just get tired.Got it. 2. I go hunt with a friend in Kentucky and both hunts see 10-12 deer and shooters both hunts.Corn there all year and thats what brought them out of the thicket.3.Gamewardens wouldnt get any more calls about baiting if it was legal.They could chase the guys that do illegal things.4. I can only kill two bucks,why care how I do it.Who cares if the buck came out because the girlfriend was eating corn from a feeder.Please TWRA,just end this deal and make it legal to pour out a bag of corn.You can buy a bag during deer season at our local grocery store.

 

[Stumpsitter]

The 1 buck I killed this year was following a doe. He had corn in him & I don't bait.
I think a lot of people do it, more than a lot of people think. Especially on the velvet hunt. I think TWRA knows it's being done and just don't want to approach it. Unless it's on a case by case basis. I personally think it's a waste of money when there's acorns in the woods. I guess I could see it in late season or a poor acorn crop season. I guess it's a personal choice.

 

[diamond hunter]

Acorns are great I have a bunch,but a deer likes a variety and a mouthful of corn at a place where a doe regularly gets a mouthful is a good place to pick up a date.

 

[scn]

I'm pretty neutral on it for deer. Studies (good one for NC) have shown that it is pretty effective for a year or two, and then the deer really become nocturnal and non-baiting areas can have higher success.

But, I will remain 100% opposed for the bad effects on turkeys from the tainted corn, and the effects on bear baiting in ETN. Bears are pretty vulnerable to bait, both still/stand hunting and dogging. And, before anyone chimes in, yes, it illegally goes on all the time.

People need to learn some woodsmanship and quit relying on a crutch.

 

[diamond hunter]

Its not woodsmanship. The doe groups move during season to the easy meal across the road.This happens in October and they come back in Mid January every single year.These are trail camera results.

 

[scn]

Then it sounds like you need to address the easy meal across the road .

 

[utvolsfan77]

I'm pretty neutral on it for deer. Studies (good one for NC) have shown that it is pretty effective for a year or two, and then the deer really become nocturnal and non-baiting areas can have higher success.

But, I will remain 100% opposed for the bad effects on turkeys from the tainted corn, and the effects on bear baiting in ETN. Bears are pretty vulnerable to bait, both still/stand hunting and dogging. And, before anyone chimes in, yes, it illegally goes on all the time.

People need to learn some woodsmanship and quit relying on a crutch.

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?

 

[Buzzard Breath]

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 than hands-on learning is the best way of learning, but where does one start?

One starts to learn woodsmanship by spending less time reading magazines and books or watching Youtube, and spending more time observing animal behavior in the woods.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

I hate you are having the issues you are. I don't like getting anyone in trouble, but since it is directly impacting you and your property you must. I do not agree with baiting and never will. If you can stop your neighbor from doing it, I think it will benefit you more than you baiting also. I hunted a long time before I got consistent on finding and killing mature bucks and figuring them out is the trophy, not the antlers. There are no short cuts.

 

[FTP]

Using logic and reason... it's NO different than using bait fishing. Y'all caught any crappie on an empty hook?

 

[KPH]

lease I use to hunt killed some nice deer most everyone was full of corn and no corn fields anywhere close. I finally realized this one person was feeding them in his back yard and I was sat up between it and their bedding spot.

 

[Ski]

I'm personally not a fan of baiting but neighbors sure are. Been dealing with it forever. If somebody kills a big buck over a pile of corn & feel good about it, good for them. It doesn't trip my trigger. It's legal where I own property in Ohio and I still don't do it. My brother does it on his place. I don't do it on mine. My only argument against it would be potential health risks to the wildlife. Otherwise I feel it's personal choice where legal, and cheating where it's not legal.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

Using logic and reason... it's NO different than using bait fishing. Y'all caught any crappie on an empty hook?

In my opinion it is much different.

 

[Ski]

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 than hands-on learning is the best way of learning, but where does one start?

Be in the woods as much as you can, whether actively hunting or not. I'm in the woods probably 3x as much as I hunt. I just really like being out there. Pay attention to the things you see and try to pick out patterns, reasons why you're seeing what you see. Although there are some finer details you learn as you go, the nuts & bolts of it are pretty basic and will come naturally to you if you don't overthink it. It's literally what your body & mind were built for.

 

[FTP]

In my opinion it is much different.

Using Logic and Reason, I use bait to attract fish
What is the difference using Logic and Reason "IF" I use bait to attract deer? I understand the legality of it, but that is not what I'm arguing.

 

[Deer 1]

I have food plots for when seasons are open and also feed extra during the rest of the year.
Still got standing corn I'm going to start bush hogging strips through about 2 weeks before turkey season opens!!!

Its the rules. I play by them

 

[PickettSFHunter]

75% or more of the hunters in my area bait anyway, for deer and Turkey.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

you can use travel patterns dictated by terrain features to kill deer, which is how I approach hunting. Figuring deer travel patterns and tendencies is what I enjoy not sitting over a corn pile.

 

[Pilchard]

Using Logic and Reason, I use bait to attract fish
What is the difference using Logic and Reason "IF" I use bait to attract deer? I understand the legality of it, but that is not what I'm arguing.

The hook and bait are equivalent to the gun and bullet in my opinion. The corn would be the same as a single brush pile in a 40 acre pond.

 

[MickThompson]

Using logic and reason... it's NO different than using bait fishing. Y'all caught any crappie on an empty hook?

We don't shoot crappie either

 

[Deer Assassin]

i wish they would

some places i would some i would not

 

[rem270]

I have hunted KY my whole life and do use corn every year. Not now that both counties I own in are in the CWD restricted since they found the one deer in Henry Co, TN. One thing I can say is I've never patterned a big buck or killed a big buck by the use of corn or any other supplement or feed. Most of the mature bucks I get on cam usually don't show up until mid Oct when they start shifting around and by then I'm usually done putting out corn just because it gets expensive and they would rather pass up 1,000 pounds of corn to find acorns and I have a heavy crop of acorns every year. It doesn't bother me to feed or not but since it was legal I did it but never relied on it to kill a deer. Mainly to just get pics early season of potential deer I had in the area. But had I been hunting a salt lick with corn around it I wouldn't feel bad at all to shoot a mature buck that came into it. No different than the 7 plots of clover I have planted they like to eat on.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

I think if it is outlawed for hunting(as it is), it should be outlawed for feeding for the purpose of viewing in your back yard. It makes no sense in the CWD counties for a homeowner to still be able to put out corn to feed and view wildlife from their back porch, but not be able to go back in the woods and have corn or a salt lick for use in front of a camera. If one is bad, both should be considered bad. Salt licks for live stock are a bit of a different matter, and not part of my objection.

 

[megalomaniac]

I thought baiting was going to be the greatest thing ever when MS legalized it around 4 or 5 years ago. Because it was novel, and I had never done it before, I went all it. Bought 2 feeders, kept them filled with hundreds of $$$ of corn, and hunted the stink out of them. They were great for getting nocturnal pictures of bucks I wanted to kill, but I never got a single older buck on them in daylight, and even then it wasn't until the last week of season (mid February) when the deer were starving. Saw a few does and young bucks on them in daylight, but never did kill a deer I was after. Some pictures of bigger bucks were even coming in to the feeder 5-10 minutes after dark...

The following year, I baited halfheartedly, mostly just for camera pictures. Didn't hunt over the feeders, and had great success killing the bucks I wanted in the woods and travel routes. A couple years ago, I quit baiting all together, and didn't hang cameras until scrapes started popping up. I missed getting the early pictures, but it didn't affect my hunting. All the other members who actually hunt except for 1 on my lease bait... Only 1 buck was killed going to their bait station, a small 2.5 y/o. A 5.5 y/o was killed over bait this year, but he was scent checking does that were on the feeder, he wasn't coming to the bait itself....

And another thing... I'm getting more pictures of bucks than the other members are since my cameras are placed over scrapes during prerut/ rut/ between 1st and 2nd rut. Most of the older bucks stop hitting corn even at night during the actual rut, but they are still hitting scrapes. I thought it would hurt my ability to photo capture bucks by abandoning bait, but found I'm actually getting more different bucks on camera now without it.

All that being said, I could care less whether TN legalizes it or not for deer season.... as long as it isn't dumped out on the ground with the potential to spoil. But one of the unintended consequences of artifically feeding deer during season is over half (according to MS state) of the bait is going to coons... The coon population locally will EXPLODE, and they will make it heck for any hen to successfully hatch out a brood. If you are going to bait, you MUST be willing to diligently trap all the coons for the turkey's sake. If baiting in TN is legalized, 99% of baiters won't be willing to do this.

As far as the neighbors... a good example would be the newest 78ac I bought in TN. Guy to my south had a feeder set up right on my property line. I wasn't cool with that, and asked him to move it 100y away. Im sure he killed a pile of deer in years past, but I improved my property placing multiple food sources in the center and north of that property after I bought it, and his hunting has nearly dried up south of me, while I am covered up in deer on my side of the fence. Improving your land will FAR outperform a corn pile.

 

[FTP]

The hook and bait are equivalent to the gun and bullet in my opinion. The corn would be the same as a single brush pile in a 40 acre pond.

Man that is terrible logic and reasoning. The bullet is bait???? What????

 

[Headhunter]

Waste of time, IMO. I hunt in KY. Even though we can, we DO NOT bait. Never have and I don't care to. Most of the guys around us do. We usually see more deer than they do. Could be a little different there though, the area we hunt is crops, I crops everywhere, beans, corn, alfafa, wheat, etc.

I know one season, the landowner put out a large pile of corn where I could see it. Not only did I see tons of deer and killed a great buck, but many of those deer walked right by the corn pile, a couple ran over it while chasing, not one deer touched the corn, not one. It was of zero help. I would not spend the time or money to bait even if it was legal. Don't want to, don't care to.

 

[Tn Joe]

Baiting in Tennessee. Old,crazy topic.I know many are opposed,like my friend BSK for biological reasons.Some are opposed because of diseases spread.OK,salt licks must not spread them. Here are my reasons for wanting baiting to be allowed in Tennessee. 1. I have 350 acres and I do not bait during season,but I do for pictures and see multiple deer ,does multiple bucks that are shooters for me.Once season starts,those deer are no longer seen,unless its a small buck cruising and being stupid.I went on 16 hunts this season and never saw more than 5 deer on any hunt unless it was a small buck.I know that my neighbors pull them over the line with corn.And I know they shoot them,I have a picture from this year.So,I dont break the law and the neighbor does and he gets the benefit and I just get tired.Got it. 2. I go hunt with a friend in Kentucky and both hunts see 10-12 deer and shooters both hunts.Corn there all year and thats what brought them out of the thicket.3.Gamewardens wouldnt get any more calls about baiting if it was legal.They could chase the guys that do illegal things.4. I can only kill two bucks,why care how I do it.Who cares if the buck came out because the girlfriend was eating corn from a feeder.Please TWRA,just end this deal and make it legal to pour out a bag of corn.You can buy a bag during deer season at our local grocery store.

I thought you planted corn for the deer on your place? If so then I don't understand why deer would leave your place to go eat at the neighbors corn pile

 

[DoubleRidge]

I'd rather invest my time and money into habitat improvements that actually benefit wildlife...food plots, when done correctly, can feed and benefit wildlife year around....verses a corn pile that can spoil and have a negative effect on wildlife.....sure grabbing some "deer corn" at Walmart is easier than making long term habitat improvements....but working on the land can give you a much better return on your investment....and with CWD slowly moving across the state I wouldn't think now would be the recommended time to concentrate deer on a bait pile.

 

[Pilchard]

Man that is terrible logic and reasoning. The bullet is bait???? What????

Actually, it's terrible logic to compare fishing with live bait to hunting over corn.... But I was playing along with your game...

Here is my thinking if you wish to dispel... You say corn is the bait just like the minnow on your hook crappie fishing. I disagree. The hook and minnow are the tools you use to remove the fish from the water, just the like the gun and bullet. A minnow does not attract fish, it gets them to bite but if you throw a minnow out on a hook that is a half a mile from the nearest crappie, you aren't going to suddenly attract crappie from great distances. Conversely, if you put out a pile of corn, you'll have deer travel great distances and consistently revisit the area for a bite to eat. Now, if you place a brush pile(corn) in an otherwise barren area, all you'll need is a hook and a minnow(or perhaps a rifle in the case of deer) to catch them.

BTW, I think if you bite both of your apples, one will taste like an orange

 

[FTP]

Actually, it's terrible logic to compare fishing with live bait to hunting over corn.... But I was playing along with your game...

Here is my thinking if you wish to dispel... You say corn is the bait just like the minnow on your hook crappie fishing. I disagree. The hook and minnow are the tools you use to remove the fish from the water, just the like the gun and bullet. A minnow does not attract fish, it gets them to bite but if you throw a minnow out on a hook that is a half a mile from the nearest crappie, you aren't going to suddenly attract crappie from great distances. Conversely, if you put out a pile of corn, you'll have deer travel great distances and consistently revisit the area for a bite to eat. Now, if you place a brush pile(corn) in an otherwise barren area, all you'll need is a hook and a minnow(or perhaps a rifle in the case of deer) to catch them.

BTW, I think if you bite both of your apples, one will taste like an orange

You really should go and study a dictionary to understand and comprehend the true meaning of words. According to most of the other posts on this thread, corn does not attract deer says the hunters. And by the way, when I stop at the local bait shop before going fishing, I buy minnows, worms or crickets for BAIT. Once again words have meanings, learn them before making yourself look uneducated.