Baiting Deer

[Montana]

In some places baiting is legal and in other places you'll get a ticket for it, as we all know. Here are my thoughts on it. I hunted Saskatchewan last year where baiting is legal. I sat from before daylight till dark for 6 straight days. I saw a lot of deer but every one was a doe, fawn, or small buck. Ditto for the other 4 guys in camp that week. Not one mature buck showed himself. I've stayed in contact with the outfit I hunted with and there were no mature bucks shot this year either. He blames a few bad winters on there not being any large bucks, but at the same time he said a neighbor a mile down the road from him killed a 190" buck last fall. I saw 17 different smaller bucks and many does and fawns. I think the big bucks are there, but have learned to not show themselves during daylight. This was during the peak of the rut, by the way.

Baiting is illegal here in Montana, but I've set out trail cams around grain bins where deer come into feed. I've never had a mature buck come in during daylight hours. Not one. I've had some old bucks come in after dark, but never during daylight. Now I know that the occasional big buck is killed over a pile of gran, alfalfa, etc. but I personally would never spend my time hunting over bait even if it was legal. Based on my experience, there are far better ways to hunt a mature buck. Baiting is highly overrated...

[Muliechaser]

Here we go again ...
Baiting in areas where animals have to forage constantly to get a full belly .... it works . And well .
Areas where feed is abundant and they dont have to work for it different story . Half of my family lives in sask ... which all are avid hunters . Lots of good eats. Different tactics all together. We seen 7 mature bucks in 5 days last year .... none on food . And none interested in food period . It is what you make of it

[warnniklz]

I think time afield is key. You can spend 4 weeks pounding the hills to get a deer. Or you can spend 3 weeks setting bait and another week sitting over bait to get a deer.

If I'm not hunting sheep, goats or waterfowl, I have a hard time sitting longer than an hour.

[ACB]

There's a reason that "ALL" those big Whitetails that Cody Robbins and those guys from Canadian Whitetails hunt over bait, is because during the rut it attract's all the girls in the area and sooner or later the big boys come, it may be in the dark but they come. What did Jason Peterson call it, a Sask. food plot. Alfalfa and oats and they will come. There's a train of thought that thinks that they have such a problem with CWD is because when they come to the bait there's a lot of deer congregated in a small area. I'v hunted Sask. a few time's, me personally have never shot a big deer over bait, but mind you that was during muzzleloader season, before the rut. But I have been there durning the rut and took a nice mature 4 point, but not over bait, he was travelling between an outfitters 2 bait stands. It's illegal to hunt over someone' else's bait, the outfitter told me not to mess around his stands but he couldn't keep me out of the bush he told me of an area between his 2 stands and to get into the bush and find a good deer travel trail and to sit off of it about 50-75 yards and be mindful of the wind and you'll see deer. He was right. He didn't have to help me but he did. By the way his 2 stands were miles apart.