[fman]

How far from your bait do you set up ? I'm about 17 yds thing about moving further away

 

[hunter115522]

I like to be around 20 yards away.

 

[Va Deer Hunter]

I'm 10-15 yards because its so thick and if i was any further away I couldn't shoot.

 

[05R1]

Throw it like your feeding chickens and you can sit right on top of them. But in the area of 20yrds is safe

 

[edejong]

I'm 20 yards away but its very thick where I am and I have a very narrow shooting lane.

 

[redneck]

If you want to keep the bait area from going dead or nocturnal, get back off it 40 to 50 yards hunt the major trails into it depending on the wind which trail to use. keep your scent from blowing to the bait. be mobile with the stand, so the deer will have a harder time patterning you.

 

[edejong]

If you want to keep the bait area from going dead or nocturnal, get back off it 40 to 50 yards hunt the major trails into it depending on the wind which trail to use. keep your scent from blowing to the bait. be mobile with the stand, so the deer will have a harder time patterning you.

Exactly! Although my ladder stand is 20 yards from my baiting site, I plan to mix the ambush points up exactly as you said. There are less dense wooded areas with trails leading to my baiting site that have some decent trees for my climber. So I plan to set up on one of those trees and also enter the area differently than when I go to my ladder stand. And of course, I'll be sure the wind isn't blowing my scent in the wrong direction..

And I know folks have differing opinions on baiting but this is a management hunt and baiting is strongly encouraged by the folks running the program. On other properties, I hunt off food plots, trails and pinch points.

 

[hammer4reel]

Back off the bait to a pinch point leading to it. Being right on the bait means sooner or later you are going to bump deer off it and alter its effectiveness.
Hunting away from it lets you sneak in and out alot easier without effecting the deer coming to it

 

[BeardedRack]

im 15 yards off the pile my trick is to crash my truck thru the woods close to my stand this way it bumps deer off and i can sneak into the stand before they come back.

 

[MTH]

******* nailed it. Every buck I've taken over a baited stand was in a trail into or out of the area at least 40 yards from the bait. If your hunting over the bait, how do you get out of the stand at dark when there are deer all over it? The only way is by blowing them out, which the. Makes them nocturnal. Set your cams up on the trails in and out. They'll be obvious after a week or two. Find the trail that me big is using and set up about 50 yards from the bait. If he hits the bait right at or just after dark, he'll pass you in shooting light

 

[timberline]

30 yards

 

[delawareriver]

******* nailed it. Every buck I've taken over a baited stand was in a trail into or out of the area at least 40 yards from the bait. If your hunting over the bait, how do you get out of the stand at dark when there are deer all over it? The only way is by blowing them out, which the. Makes them nocturnal. Set your cams up on the trails in and out. They'll be obvious after a week or two. Find the trail that me big is using and set up about 50 yards from the bait. If he hits the bait right at or just after dark, he'll pass you in shooting light

I never minded pushing some does off of bait at night they always come back. If Mr big was there I would be shooting not getting out of my stand

 

[Tarhunt]

I make a cave out of the center of my bait pile and hide in it. That way I don't miss. My shot is only two feet away. I use molasses to hold the corn kernels together for support so that the corn walls don't collapse on me. [hihi]

 

[njdeerhunter54]

I setup at different distances according to the terrain and how much cover there is. I try to keep the main baited area in cover so they don't spot me in the stand. Also be downwind of the bait , this is the most important.

 

[redneck]

Got to watch being 6 o'clock down wind of the bait. most bigger deer doe and bucks will always come in on the downwind side or angle. more big deer are stopped before the bait because the hunter is 6 0'clock better to be 4 or 8 o'clock. at least that is what I think I may be wrong.

 

[JoeyBeets]

I make a cave out of the center of my bait pile and hide in it. That way I don't miss. My shot is only two feet away. I use molasses to hold the corn kernels together for support so that the corn walls don't collapse on me. [hihi]

Nice!!! [up]

 

[vdep217]

Depends on the area some stands I can shoot my corn others it's 50 yrds but I'm on the only way into it but 20 25 is safe

 

[tcook8296]

Very seldom on the bait. I have had the best success at 200 to 300 yards away. As the season progresses, deer will stage up further and further away from the bait.Also, putting some distance between you and the bait will allow you to exit with out bumping deer at the bait. It helps if you know where they are bedding and the prevailing wind. Set your bait accordingly. Hunt between the bait and the bedding area in the afternoons only.
This set up would also work for a morning hunt too. No way to hunt a bait in the morning in my opinion with out blowing the deer off the bait.Heading to the bait, the deer will not pay nearly the same attention to the wind, until that final sneak, they always come down wind

 

[longbow]

Got to watch being 6 o'clock down wind of the bait. most bigger deer doe and bucks will always come in on the downwind side or angle. more big deer are stopped before the bait because the hunter is 6 0'clock better to be 4 or 8 o'clock. at least that is what I think I may be wrong.

Absolutely, he'll come in from downwind of the bait and you'll be just off to the side of him winding you. I kill most of my bucks when I am just off to the side of the bucks wind and he is still walking with the wind in his face, which is what they like to do.

 

[Arne]

I bait about 20 yards from a stand I rarely use. Most often, I go with a climber somewhere else in the area. Ive been hunting the same few spots for years, but ever since Sandy, a LOT is changed in the area. New pinch points, Old trails grown over and real new trails not quite established yet. The same old areas still get the traffic, but a lot of travel routes have moved.