Advice on attractant

[RugDoctor]

So I'm prepping (already) to try attractant for my stand next year...never used attractant, or a stand before. Wondering where to put it down? Here's what I know so far: There's deer, both whitetail and mules, but haven't put up my cams yet to determine patterns or behaviours. I have a nice little opening (a couple actually, not far apart) with a well used trail in and that's treed on all sides. Would you put the attractant down under a tree, in the open, the same place all the time, or just spread it out wherever?

My thought is to spread some corn all about, with some peanut butter on a couple trees and some attractant of some sort under a tree or two that I want them to frequent, within my shooting lane. I'll use my bow as well.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Drillbit]

Himalayan pink salt.

[Darksith]

as far as bait goes, I find sticking to as close to a relevant existing food source is probably best. I don't beleive animals are any different than us in the fact that unless someone showed us to eat something we probably wouldn't bother unless under extreme conditions. I have tried corn with no results, my guess is because its not an existing food source for them. Hay and oats and other types of feed used for cows and horses in the area work great though!
I also feel that unless you are in the mecca of agriculture like areas in the praries, pockets in BC, and a lot of what we see on TV shows, that patterning deer isn't going to happen either. I have lots of Tcams out, I find that most of my pictures of good bucks are random and they travel as they please, even the whities. With food sources being "the bush" and "the forest" its hard to pin them down to areas unless you can find scrapes or other things they themselves have created. Yes the WT live in smaller areas, mulies are way more random, but still I haven't yet anyway located trails that say they bed here, feed here and if I sit this spot for a week I am guaranteed to see this deer.
Put your feed in a spot that they feel safe and that you have a shooting late too.

http://i66.tinypic.com/33wqn2w.jpg
http://i66.tinypic.com/2u9h5k0.jpg

[RugDoctor]

Sounds pretty logical, and like I should bring a big lunch and plan to spend a lot of time waiting! Which also sounds alright to me....I can rest up for late season in the high country.

[scottym]

It isn't legal to bait for deer .!,,,,,,,,,,

[btridge]

It isn't legal to bait for deer .!,,,,,,,,,,

You might want to read the BC Hunting Regs again.

[Cyrus]

A salt lick and oats always worked for me this time of year.

[bigredchev]

I used a syrup corn feed mix and had excellent results in reg 3

[todbartell]

It isn't legal to bait for deer .!,,,,,,,,,,


You might want to read the BC Hunting Regs again.


Baiting is legal for deer

[btridge]

he said it isn't illegal.

Baiting is legal

my response was to scottym as quoted (It isn't legal to bait for deer .!,,,,,,,,,,) , yes baiting deer IS legal in BC was my point.

[walks with deer]

my wife got video footage of a muley doe eating a trout...so go figure?

[scottym]

I'm confused. In a sporting goods shop recently the owner had corn for sale ,but only in Alberta could it be used.
He was told baiting is illegal in B.C. In regon8 an X conservation officer said its illegal to bait? No we're does it state that in the regs or it not clear? Still trying to find a co officer to let me know?...

[CBH]

scottym - It is 100% legal to bait deer in BC. Read the regs, it is in there.

[todbartell]

I'm confused. In a sporting goods shop recently the owner had corn for sale ,but only in Alberta could it be used.
He was told baiting is illegal in B.C. In regon8 an X conservation officer said its illegal to bait? No we're does it state that in the regs or it not clear? Still trying to find a co officer to let me know?...

page 14 in regs. Says you can't hunt bear with bait

page 3 has definition of bait

[Knute]

Link to Hunting Synopsis (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/sports-culture/recreation/fishing-hunting/hunting/regulations-synopsis)

Look on page 22 of the pdf

[IronNoggin]

In terms of drawing the deer in...

Dabs of peanut butter works well to initially draw them to site.

Think salt in the late winter and through early summer.
It can be purchased relatively cheap (water softener salts) at places like Canuck Tire.
While it doesn't hurt to keep salt on site all year, the draw to it appears to subside a tad by mid-summer and into fall (at least for me).

About mid summer, add COB to the site. COB is rolled corn, oats & barley soaked in molasses. Available at most feed stores.
The deer WILL become used to, if not addicted to it in short order, so you will need to replace fairly frequently if not using a feeder.
Be consistent! They will respond much better if you keep the supplies up.
Downside is bears also happen to love this stuff. If they move in, consider an alternative as mentioned above.

It sounds like you have the "perfect" set-up location. Small clearings well within timber, treed on all sides, with existing trails is about as good as it gets. Should allow for setting up your bait station in the center of said small clearings, and locations for blind / tree stand placement back inside the edge of the timber.

Trail cams are worth their weight in gold for these kind of operations.

Best of Luck! Looking Forward to hearing of your results...

Cheers,
Nog

[Cyrus]

Be wary of corn as in the winter deer can die of acidosis. Not sure how much it would take to kill them but I tend to stay away from it all together

[Gone_Fishin_]

I've taken peanut butter jars cut the bottom off, screw the lid to a tree and put the jar back onto the lid. Had over 250 pictures of a deer with his head buried in that jar for over 2 hours lol.

COB works good too but as mentioned you need to constantly keep the supply stocked or they lose interest in that location and will move on.

[scottym]

After a lot of research and emails, baiting is legal

[PKernohan]

After a lot of research and emails, baiting is legal

Lol, thanks tips! You could have saved yourself some time by just reading the regs like everyone told you to do....

[scotty30-06]

Scottym.....your making us scotty's look bad.....lol smarten up fella .......all jokes aside....has anyone used buck jam.....love the idea of not having a munch of visible stuff all over the ground. ....buck jam seems to work just wondering if anyone on here has experienced activity with it?

[New Bow Hunter]

Check out:
http://www.whitetailinstitute.com/
Lots of info.

[bigredchev]

What are people using for salt licks? I've heard water softener salt is common.

Does anyone else buy the deer apeciality salt licks from the major atores

[Cyrus]

What are people using for salt licks? I've heard water softener salt is common.

Does anyone else buy the deer apeciality salt licks from the major atores

I tried softener salt once. The deer would not touch it. I go with just the blue salt licks. Have tried the brown mineral licks and they do not seem to like them as much. Bought some fancy merican apple lick and it was a complete waste of money. All my experiments in front of trail cams and the blue seems to work the best.

[RugDoctor]

Thanks for all the input! Great advice, and discussion. I'm thinking about starting in the summer time...July or so and into early season for bow hunting. I suspect that could be enough time to habituate them, or at least to let them know it's good eating in that particular spot, but not so long as to get them bored of the free diet and wander out??? I tend to agree that they'll be a little random, but at least if one comes in, they should in theory head to the tasty eats and stand still long enough for a shot.

[todbartell]

I'd drop mineral before any food.

[RugDoctor]

In terms of drawing the deer in...

Dabs of peanut butter works well to initially draw them to site.

Think salt in the late winter and through early summer.
It can be purchased relatively cheap (water softener salts) at places like Canuck Tire.
While it doesn't hurt to keep salt on site all year, the draw to it appears to subside a tad by mid-summer and into fall (at least for me).

About mid summer, add COB to the site. COB is rolled corn, oats & barley soaked in molasses. Available at most feed stores.
The deer WILL become used to, if not addicted to it in short order, so you will need to replace fairly frequently if not using a feeder.
Be consistent! They will respond much better if you keep the supplies up.
Downside is bears also happen to love this stuff. If they move in, consider an alternative as mentioned above.

It sounds like you have the "perfect" set-up location. Small clearings well within timber, treed on all sides, with existing trails is about as good as it gets. Should allow for setting up your bait station in the center of said small clearings, and locations for blind / tree stand placement back inside the edge of the timber.

Trail cams are worth their weight in gold for these kind of operations.

Best of Luck! Looking Forward to hearing of your results...

Cheers,
Nog

I'm sure the set up isn't perfect, but it looks good to me so I'm going to give it a try, first time in a stand. Thanks for the tip on specific treats....I'm going to give it a go for sure, and I'll do my best to document with photos but I admit I'm not really good at that.....usually take a picture after the fact and that's about it. I'm too lazy to figure out resizing, photobucket or anything else....if I can just paste 'er up, I can handle that.....

[RugDoctor]

I'd drop mineral before any food.

As in salt, or a mineral lick from sporting goods store?

[Darksith]

Be wary of corn as in the winter deer can die of acidosis. Not sure how much it would take to kill them but I tend to stay away from it all together

its not just corn, but high carb foods. Do a bit of reading if you are going to introduce a lot of feed about now. The amount of daylight triggers changes in their stomachs and appetites. Some feeds can do more harm than good if enough is available. Another reason to stick with local sources that they are already acustomed too.

You will find the best bang for your buck from feed stores not any sporting good store. If you buy water softener salt get as pure as possible, if you use a salt lick maybe break it up and grind/water it into the dirt. They are used to natural mineralized areas already anyway. I haven't tried doe piss or anything else like that yet, but that will be next years experiment to go ontop of my bait.

[Darksith]

I'd drop mineral before any food.

not at this time of year. Once the antlers drop then ya mineral or salt is the way to go. Beware of cows if you are in range lease areas...the cows will camp bait hard and you won't see any deer. I have to wait until they are brought in before I can start baiting...even using or creating a lick is a waste of time generally speaking. Was thinking about building a fence to keep cows out even haha.

[Sitkaspruce]

Get range salt in 50 lbs bags. It is fine salt in either selenium (reddish pink) or cobalt (blue), find a place that allows you to place your camera approx. 30' away facing north. Remove all the ground duff down to mineral soil. Spread about 2" of the salt over the exposed earth and work it in with a rake. Add more until there is more salt than earth to about 4" deep. If there is water near by, add water to the mix. Place a little unsweetened grape koolaid over the mixture and leave alone for a few weeks. When you come back, add a mixture of range salt and pure water softener salt (at least 99.7+ pure) CT now had pure salt in crystals that work well. Cover your lick, switch the card, check your batteries and enjoy the surprises on your card. Repeat every couple weeks until you get a good lick established, then you add just once a month. This is the mixture I have been using for the last 5 years.

Once the bears go to bed, I will move my spot to an area near by that I have pre scouted that allows me to set up a ground blind with shooting lanes that allow me to hunt either prevailing wind. I will now bait with pure barley, which I have found is preferred over oats. I add dried alfalfa pellets or cubes until the snow falls, then just stay on the barley. If you get animals showing up regularly, be prepared to visit the site at least twice a week as they will go through 100 lbs or more of barley in 5-7 days, and if the elk show up, 1-2 days!! I buy 30 bags of barley a year and have run out by the end of the season. This year it has been 6 bags a week between two spots. But I am tagged out now, so the program slows down as I don't bait/feed after the season due to creating a pred trap.

Wanted to try the PB thing this year, just never got around to it. For any grain, COB, PB etc., the bears will find it and they will eat and sleep on your site until it is cleaned up, no ungulates will show up while the bears hang out!

Pm me if you have any questions!

Cheers

SS

[bigneily]

I use the apple flavor salt blocks from Cambodian tire and the deer and elk seem to really enjoy it , Got a tonne of pics of them working the block .