[njgunner]

I'm not a big fan of baiting personally but I decided to do some baiting this past season more of an experiment. I had a couple spots that I baited continually throughout the season and used a trailcam on it. I was able to get deer usually in the morning and before dark on cam...mostly young deer...I had a few decent does and bucks come in but nothing special during shooting hours.

I was just spreading it and not using a feeder. It seems to me the location you choose to bait also seems to be key. Im convinced that any spot that holds deer you can setup anywhere in the woods and dump corn and you will probably see deer before dark and first light...granted the deer will probably be young it is just too easy. I was hoping to see better results with baiting in a funnel type situation by keeping it baiting and hunting as close to bedding as possible instead of just sitting over the bait.


#1
Do guys that normally bait think that the mild winter hand an impact on what you were seeing at your corn pile being that natural food was still plentiful?


#2
Have you had better results using a timed feeder in a specific location and will this affect the actualy times that deer come in? If so what was your time setting?



I do want to include that one spot I chose to bait I had deer consistently coming in alot more in the evening than the morning and the more mature deer would be around 10-12pm.

 

[bronzecollector]

#1 - yes
#2 - timed feeders that go off once a day abot 2 hours after first light. Work even better when the ground is frozen or we get snow that stays for any lenght of time, if you can remember that.

 

[njgunner]

so you prefer a timed feeder? What are your settings and do you think that affects the time the deer come in?


I personally think a baiting location is very important

 

[hammer4reel]

I run about 10 cams on baiting sites that are not hunted .just there to draw deer through funnels and pinch points to them. since they get 0 pressure deer frequent them alot. with way more daytime activity than not.

That being said I have found most better bucks shy from the areas I had placed times feeders. some of those being in place for over three years already.
I would get pics of decent bucks on them but not the ones I wanted to see.
yet many of those bucks could be seen in the background of pics.
having piles scattered around those areas, so deer could stay apart a little without just one deer ruling a main concentration of bait had WAY better bucks hitting them on a daily basis.

while is may be in some areas where times feeders bring deer in earlier to get to the feed before it is gone makes sense I found having more food available on the ground brought ALOT more deer in daily . having little made them hit by the few thaat got there early , while the rest stopped coming to those sites

 

[njgunner]

Thanks for the input hammer....I noticed that it only took a few days after baiting for the pics to slow down dramatically. That led me to believe that the spot I chose to bait was not in an area that they would normally pass or feed in...


Are you still running timed feeders if so what are your settings? I also tried to put some bait in a spot with zero pressure and found it had good activity during shooting hours but the nicer bucks were there 7pm-4am

 

[hammer4reel]

only running one times feeder and probably will be moving that to an area for selected doe harvest. I feel placing that feeder actually hurt an area that has always had very good better buck activity.
if you set up feeding areas where bigger bucks are traveling a long ways you will get more nighttime pics, but thats ok because that means you have somewhere further away from the bait that they are moving earlier at , and its those spots where yo uwant to hunt anyhow. Except for areas of hard pressure they are moving somewhere in the daytime

 

[jcchartboy]

NJguner,

Keep in mind whatever patterns you may see working in one particular part of the season, may be completely reversed in another part of the season, (ie, early season vs rut vs winter). So there is definetely no strategy that is going to be a one size fits all for all seasons.

JC

 

[UltraMag77]

feeders save money. like hammer said the timed feeders tend to wig out the big ones. if u want to still save money and draw decent bucks try a gravity style feeder that doesnt make noise. I was not using feeders last season. I managed to kill a 120 last season too so my information may be valuable to you. spreading corn im a chicken feed manner seems to be the best way to make a mature bucl feel comfortable. gravity feed is the second best option. above all find the bucks prefered food source and hunt him going to that as your corn is only a snack

 

[bowhunterNJx16]

Never had a big buck come into a timed feeder they just dont like it. Ive used a phantom moultrie feeder for years then last year with increase in gas bought a Moultrie ez fill and deer didnt like it let alone big bucks this was from march to august then i sold it because i saw less deer activity. What has worked for me the best is dumpig half a bag my spots are too far and to much terrain to carry a 50 lb bag up everytime. Spread it like crazy. So that you cant even see it deer are grazers this will keep em coming back looking. I noticed bi bucks tend to toleratethis kind of baiting but bottom line is any pressure over bait in a hunted area is going to make the buck your hunting go nocturnal. Besides managment hunts when I bait I am hunting an area that i think the buck is in im not relying on him to come in to the corn 300 yards from where I think hes going to be. I went through the same thing your going through dont waste time or money on a feeder unless your hunting in a spot where litterally noone hunts.

 

[robnj]

a constantly moving baited camera is way better then a stationary one. thats what i learned this year.

 

[Rusty]

I'm too lazy to re-type it. [rofl]

http://www.newjerseyhunter.com/article121899.htm

 

[DeerMaster]

feeders save money

No baiting saves even more money....

 

[Va Deer Hunter]

I found out this year that location is key. I baited a spot for 3 weeks with no activity except fat content squirrels. I moved my site and had pics in 1 day. The spot I baited with no activity was finally hit after 5 weeks and well after the end of the season.

 

[Va Deer Hunter]

forgot to mention my first site with no activity had a timed feeder and was not hit until after I removed the feeder. THe 2nd site just had a deer block and loose corn poured out. I plan on putting out a feeder again, but hope they actually come in this time. I hope it was the location that was the problem and not the timed feeder????

 

[jerseybowhunter]

I don't care what guys say, feeders spook deer. I had a 5gal feeder behind my house all spring and summer and watched deer as they stood under it look up and back up and get spooked, and no I never had deer run to it when it went off. I will stick to throwing a coffee can full out at a time

 

[jpiney43]

I will stick to throwing a coffee can full out at a time

i agree,trying to hold that bulky feeder while it spits out corn can get very heavy,plus carrying that feeder in the woods each time you want to put out corn can be tiresome ,those things are heavy. [drinking][drinking]

 

[tcook8296]

How do you haul all those watermelons into your stand?[confusedagain]

 

[jpiney43]

How do you haul all those watermelons into your stand?

two at a time.

 

[Jakesbeard]

How do you haul all those watermelons into your stand?

Worse than that they jam up the spinner!

 

[BestNJBirdDogs]

I've seen groups of zone 8 deer show up to a feeder just as it goes off, like they knew it was dinner time. Neighbor with the feeder kills backyard bruisers under it every season.