Since there is quite a few States that baiting white tail deer is legal in some form or another. Whether it be restriction type area's, private land area's or what ever. I'm curious to hear how many on the leatherwall actually hunt with longbow or recurve,over a bait-pile or feeder. Bait meaning vegetable fruit grain type etc. Not scent or licks. It's just interesting how many States it's actually legal.

I'm in GA. It's only allowed on private land down here and only for deer and hogs. I'll hunt close to a feeder occasionally depending on the property I hunt and the time of year.

Baiting/ feeding deer is illegal in 61 of 72 counties in Wisconsin.

Baiting is legal in Mississippi on private land.

I plant food plots and also have a 500 pound gravity corn feed. That said, I place no stands within 150 yards or so from any bait source (even green fields) and have never taken deer over bait. A few true supplemental feeding as desirable as a winter feed source and to hold more deer on my property…as opposed to my neighbors who don’t share my view point. I only bowhunt.

I will hunt a hog or a bear (not totally comfortable with the latter) when I’m on an outfitter hunt. I can’t explain it; I just see those species as a bit different without a good reason as to why.

Baiting wildlife in Arizona is illegal, period. But hunting near waterholes is OK. No trail cams or drones either.

……..I should have mentioned baiting is illegal in Mississippi in the designated CWD zones.

……..I should have mentioned baiting is illegal in Mississippi in the designated CWD zones.

It wasn’t always allowed in N.J. But now it is legal to bait deer in N.J. Not sure what year it was made legal.

I've shot deer over feeders/bait station and I've killed deer not over feeders/bait stations.

But if you think a manmade mineral or attracting lick is different from a bait station you are mistaken.

Hey Don, I just looked it up. Jersey began baiting in 1998.

Only black bear in certain units can be baited in Idaho, but no other big game, including salting the ground, which was recently ticked in a case hear.

Thanks Dan.

Arkansas allows baiting, and it's done extensively here on private land. I don't think it legal on public land. I wish it was illegal statewide. I never baited until a few years ago, but when all of your neighbors do it, you about have to do it in self-defense whether you actually hunt over it or not.

Lol self defense, but yes I hear you.

Not legal at all in Montana.

Zones 11 & 12 in CT (shoreline) allow it. I'm an hour away from 12. I hunted the zone for a couple years, but I don't bait.

Not legal in our CWD counties in WV or public ground. My county is a restricted area. Deer become nocturnal over bait and rarely will a buck come in during daylight hours

Nope, not legal here in Iowa.

It’s legal in Alabama if you buy a baiting permit. I do not hunt deer over bait of any kind and I never will.

Not legal here in NY. Food plots are ok though

Mostly illegal in Michigan. I don’t care to hunt deer over bait, but feel it is necessary for bear hunting.

MP

It’s not legal here in Michigans lower peninsula. Although I go to Mexico and hunt deer, hogs, and javelins and they spread corn to bait the animals down there. It’s pretty amazing to see the animals come out of the cactus, by the dozens, after a little corn is spread.

It’s not legal to bait or feed deer in my area of SW Michigan but all the farm type stores sell a lot of feed and mineral block type attractants.

It’s not legal to bait or feed deer in my area of SW Michigan but all the farm type stores sell a lot of feed and mineral block type attractants.

In Michigan's lower peninsula feeding or baiting deer and elk is illegal but on private land baiting deer is still common and widespread. Bear can be hunted over bait . Feeding and hunting deer with bait is legal in the Upper peninsula . Hunting turkeys over bait is illegal anywhere in Michigan but there are a bunch of turkeys killed every fall with bait in the Upper . The people making the rules dont seem to realize that once turkeys find corn on the ground in fall they will not stay away . So if you are deer hunting you can bait and if turkeys come to your bait its illegal to shoot at them , even though its fall turkey season and you have one or more tags . I have hunted deer and bear over bait but never turkey , I do not hunt turkeys in the fall . I hunted free range hogs(no fences) on private land in Florida over bait , actually saw more deer and turkeys come to the corn than hogs during that hunt.

I have hunted over bait here in Michigan in the past. I have no issue with it if the law says its okay. I have a cabin in north east Michigan and have faithfully hunted bow, rifle and black powder seasons for 5 years. I've seen a total of 13 deer and shot 2 young bucks. I'd love to have a sprinkle of corn on the ground to improve the sightings. There is bait available for purchase every half mile down every road up there. So, it gets used extensively. Quite frankly, I don't think our DNR cares until your bait area turns into a truck load 30 feet round. Just speculation, of course.

Texas is pretty much a baiting war. You either beat your neighbors at it, or you don't see many deer, if any at all.

Rick

Rick, that is hard for some people to absorb. Too many assume hunting is hunting across the country. Not so.

Was baiting legalized for the same reason in every state where it’s legal? Population control.

When they were baiting in Wisconsin in all county's it was the worst thing that happened on the public lands. Screwed up all normal deer movement. Most county's now it is illegal to bait which is a good thing, but the wolves have devastated the hunting on all or most of the public lands from central WI to the north. Don't come here to hunt the public lands, worthless for a non-resident, it's about worthless for a resident.

All Politics and all deer hunting is local.

Illinois not legal.

So what is different about Texas? If no one baits then things will calm down and you hunt like they do in other states that do not allow baiting. Finding trails and feed trees and water and rut sign. I never understood that. Do the deer refuse to be killed if there is no baiting? Same with Bear. we can not Bait bear here either. I was just wondering the rational behind the state and game specific rules.

I'll add to Rick's statement. If your neighbor has a wheat field, you had better put one in and have it growing before he does. A good fertilized patch of wheat will pull deer from a four to six mile radius. But if you have a feeder set to go off in the evening they will drop by for a treat on the way to the wheat field. I quit wasting money on corn and just hunt the trails from the feeders to my wheat patch.

I use to hunt the trails at my old cabin from my property to my neighbors who put out corn. He didn't hunt but like to watch the animals. Lol. Some he never got to watch.

In Missouri you can put out bait until two weeks before the season but no hunting over bait during the season.

That’s funny Jack. Your neighbor probably had names for all those deer LOL. Hopefully you didn’t invite them over for venison stew.

I 100% agree with Rick about Texas. I have a small tract of land and all the guys around me bait. I got lazy one year and deer sightings dropped drastically. Needless to say I filled the feeder back up again and within a week or so I was back at it. I wish baiting was illegal but there's no way that'll happen anytime soon in Texas so it is what it is. You cannot bait on public land though but there really isn't much of that here anyway. I've hunted public here and the best way to find deer is to find a neighbor that has a feeder and find the travel routes to it and wait. Sad but that's how it is.

I have a few times. If you hunt the edge of a corn or bean field, is that baiting? What’s the difference.

I've tried sitting over feeders or bait piles, but for me, I found it to be extremely hard and counter productive. Many people seem to think that if you throw out some corn, the deer will just walk up in the bright sunshine with their eyes, ears, and nose closed and stand broadside and just let you shoot them. I've found the opposite to be true - the deer are so wired it is very difficult.

I've had much better luck sitting over trails 100 yards away.

Here is the difference between an agg field and baiting. Does the farmer go out and rebait his fields weekly, every few days? No. But, a baiter will go out, dump bait, leave scent, repeat. The deer will go hit that corn/? especially in areas with no agg for miles. They know it is a human putting it out, so they hold up and wait till dark to move to it. Now, all the deer in the area keen in on the bait and do the same. What do you get? no daytime movement all over, why? There are bait pile scattered all over the forests. Seen it for years in WI. The baiters go out and think "Oh Boy, they ate it all" put more bait out and repeat. Fawns come in, about it. There is your difference.

“If you hunt the edge of a corn or bean field, is that baiting? What’s the difference.”

The same as the difference between Acres and Inches.

“If you hunt the edge of a corn or bean field, is that baiting? What’s the difference.”

The same as the difference between Acres and Inches.

They bait and keep them nocturnal where I live in Louisiana.

Yea. Greenstyk, He knew I was hunting 'his" deer. I just didn't sit over bait. The deer would stage on my property before the feeder went off. When it went off they headed that way and I intercepted them. And I didn't have to pay for any corn. LOL.

I see some talk on social media about people feeding deer, and I see salt blocks in some backyards that are very visible from the street. I sent an email to our DNR asking how they enforce the illegal feeding of deer by non hunters, since it seems only hunters know the rules. I never got an answer.

MP

Low Country is right. I hunted over a couple corn feeders when I was in a hunting club 30 years ago. The deer were wired. The old does eventually picked me off in the tree. They are slick.

Good one ...Supernaut

Cmon people...an ag field is natural... That's what farmers do...they plant crops....they harvest crops...

Lol GF , I was gonna say that..

Ah, the never-ending arguments about baiting. I'll stir the pot a little. We humans are generally pretty lazy and prefer to do things the easy way. Baiting does that. If it didn't work, people wouldn't do it. On the other hand, there are those who feel that how one does it is more important than how big or how many. They choose to hunt.

Baiting is legal in SC on private property, I wish it wasn’t. I’ve also found where folks were baiting on public land. I should call it in but doubt that it’s an actual priority for the game wardens.

Most bow hunters didn’t want X-Bows during regular archery season in their state, but as we all know, that new law was past as well. Like it or not.

Same with baiting. Like it or not. It’s legal in some states.

In my state, it's never mattered if it was legal to bait or not.. On private property people literally have dump truck piles Always a thrill to walk some of my state land area's long after the season has closed to see all the ladder stands still up and all the garbage scattered around...

Crossbows are legal here in my home state of PA for archery season. I would rather drink gas and piss on a brush fire than hunt with a crossbow.

Baiting is illegal here in PA but if it were legal, I would feel the same way about it as I do crossbows.

I'm happy with my choices and I'm sure everyone else is happy with theirs.

When I drove thru Georgia in early spring a couple years back I saw a big sign at a sport shop along interstate I-75 , Deer corn for sale .Supplemental feeding deer and hunting over bait is so common and widespread in this country now (wether its legal or not), It makes me wonder what hunting and deer populations would be like if it had never been allowed anywhere for any reason and the laws were actually enforced .

It's legal here in Jersey and I can tell you what day the guys start baiting. My solar cams have not let the trees I put them on in 4 years and the second the bait comes out I'm able to see slight and in some cases significant changes. Some will say cameras are just as bad and honestly I could probably agree and sometimes a cell camera will save a deers life.

Yep

Circumstances, and how you deal with them dictate your levels of success.

No matter your level of skill in the matter, those circumstances can easily negate most of them in a flash.

You do what you have to do (legal of course), or you quit. I won't be quitting any time soon.

Baiting (especially at the competition level of it around here), is expensive. Believe me - I'd rather not have to do it.

Not only that, but I've always found it easier to kill deer in more natural settings. Feeders make them extremely wired, and hard to get a shot off on.

Rick

It’s very easy to bait states….dangle a dollar:)

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