Too much corn will give the deer acidosis. Food plots offer a healthier alternative.

I'll stand with you. Once Michigan banned baiting do you know what I did? I went out and made a small food plot in my woods. It works just as well as a pile of apples. The Quality-Deer-Management believers plant those giant food plots so after they shoot there 200" buck they don't have to say they shot it over bait. But according to dictionary.com the deffinition of "bait" is "food, or SOME SUBSTITUTE, used as a lure in fishing, trapping, etc." So I guess they did shoot it over bait, right?

Absolutley you are right. The only differences between bait piles and food plots are cost and the amount of time you are spending to try and keep these deer on your property. Both practices benefit the deer herd as it provides extra high energy food but only for the deer who are lucky enough to not get shot. A lot of things are done in the name of "deer management" that are actually just another means of shooting bigger deer. Now don't get me wrong I am not against food plots or baiting as they are great ways to bag a big deer but if these land managers were solely worried about herd health and only shooting the right deer, the only deer they should shoot are does, cull bucks and bucks that are over 7 years old. Everytime they shoot a 3-4-5 year old deer and say he was mature and ready to come out of the herd they are kidding themselves. Those deer are still breeding and by shooting it you are removing those genetics from another generation of deer so to say it is for herd health is a simple justification. To me if you shoot a big buck just say it is becuase you wanted to shoot a big buck becuase that is the honest truth and more people need to go that way.

I will stand with you on this. Using corn to attract a deer to your stand is the same as planting a green field to keep deer on your property. Both cost a fair amount of money. I think in the long run green fields sre better for your deer herd. BUT green fields are legal in my state and baiting is not. So the state sees the two as two different things and I'm gonna follow those guidelines until its changed.

Baiting and food plots have the same purpose and should be treated the same. I believe the biggest danger associated with them is the unnatural close-quarter foraging. Any disease that is introduced into the population would spread much more quickly when bait and food plots are used. If everyone in your community used the same spoon to eat dinner, you'd all get the same illnesses too.

I’ll have to shoot you down. What is baiting and what is not is governed by wildlife divisions in each state. It is just one person’s opinion over another if a practice is not deemed illegal by that state agency. I consider baiting a short term, one dimensional approach whose sole purpose is to bring game to a particular area. Besides some of the big ranches in the places like Texas that bait everyday; I consider baiting a short term endeavor. There is zero long term benefit to the wildlife when you throw out a bag of apples or corn on the ground a day before the season opener. Food plots on the other hand can provide food and shelter to many species of wildlife throughout the year. Food plots can produce a healthier overall game population not just for the specific species that is being targeted by the hunter.

So, let me ask; what is the difference between a hunter who places a stand next to a 200 acre corn field or a 1 acre corn food plot. Both hunters are focusing in on a man made food source; something all hunters for have done. Let’s assume I have 10 acres, 5 that has mature white oak trees and 5 that is meadow. I then plant the 5 acre meadow with white oaks. 20 years later those white oaks begin to bear, I put a treestand right in the middle. The definition by some on this blog would say I was baiting because I planted a species of plant that draws deer to a particular area; however I doubt anyone would say I was baiting.

No matter what side of the fence you are on, I think most folks would agree that food plots are more beneficial than sporadic baiting. I believe the long term strategy of a properly managed food plot far exceeds the benefits of baiting and this huge difference is why I have to shoot this blog post down. They are not the same thing.

huntnfishnut-you make a great point and a good reason plots shouldn't be outlawed like baiting, even if they are so similar. The list of "interpretation" or "intent" is very grey. Apple orchards? Oak stands? The last thing you want to do is impose something that'll put hard working farmers and honest landowners on the defensive...especially if it could lead to a bad taste in their mouth on hunters.

I agree with Jay

What is differnce, in a man that plants himself a food plot to hunt deer and a man that sets up in the corner of cornfield to hunt his deer.. At least the man planting his food plot is putting his hard work and time into it??

deerhunter125 -- Whether its a park, meadow or slide in the rocky mountains or a bean or corn field in the midwest; as long as there are sources of food that bring game to it; there will be hunters that key into those food sources. Thats called hunting.

I'm not sure why the "intent" of a planting makes a hill of beans difference. A farmer plants crops to sell or feed the cattle he is planning to sell. A hunter plants crops to increase the health, size, and numbers of deer that he can potentially take.

To say that the hunter who hunts a field because the crops are meant not to feed wildlife is somehow more ethical than the guy who plants a food plot for wildlife and hunts that field is not rational argument to me.

When plots are planted just to bring in deer it is baiting. If I hunted deer I would prefer to have to work for my deer. A food plot gives you a much greater chance of running into a deer. Almost an unfair advantage.

Either way its baiting and there's no argument but i can understand how a food plot would benefit the deer in keeping them healthy. because a cow can eat just corn and hay but if you want them to produce the best you mix everything and add nutrients. That's how i feel about it and to be honest if i had the money I'd gladly build a food plot but I don't so I'll stick to corn and apples.

I agree with the initial comments. "Bait" - according to Webster's is (among other things) "to put food on (a hook or trap) as a lure for game, to lure, entice or tempt. Anything used as a lure; enticement." If people were solely interested in supplying a better food source, there would be no box blinds, ground blinds or tree stands around all these food plots. Bottom line is that food plots are planted by people trying to entice the deer to the area. Why? To shoot them, of course, and hang those antlers on the wall. Saying that food plots aren't baiting is somewhat intellectually dishonest about what you are really doing, and I just don't see the difference between food plots and baiting.

I don't think the issue, for me it isn't, "food plots are the same as baiting". Hunters do their dangdest to be as elusive as their game; we try to blend into our surroundings, move undetected, evade the super-powers of smell, sight, and sound. We try to out smart, out guess even, and be better in our games own 'yard'. If given the choice to go hunting or got 'shooting' on a plot of feed or food dispenser - I am going hunting. My pride and integrity as a hunter tell me that fair play is demanded - it's me and the game sharing the NATURAL environment.

I agree with you as well that food blots are baiting when they have been planted for the soul purpose of attracting deer, which has been furthered by the all mighty dollar. All the hunting shows you see either on DVD or TV 95% now show hunting over food plots on of course big hunting ranches, which 99% of the average hunter either doesn't own or cannot afford to go to. They use them as bait to get the deer to come into gun/bow and camera range to make the show,WHICH IS BAITING. However if you are hunting public access land and you are hunting near grain crops then that is not baiting, because the food sourse was not put there for the deer. I would love to see alot of those TV hunters go out and make a show on public land and kill a big monster for the camera, without their foodplots and guides. Now that would be a show worth watching.

finnyk provided the webster dictionary description of bait as

"to put food on (a hook or trap) as a lure for game, to lure, entice or tempt. Anything used as a lure; enticement."

Please note that part of the description says "Anything used as a lure". I agree that food plots most definitely fit that description. HOWEVER, doesn't a grunt tube, doe urine or decoy also fit that description? And these are tools that are used by most hunters to "bait" deer all the time and are probably used by many of the folks that say that a food plot is not fair chase.

Whats more fair chase: a food plot that can be accessed 24 hours a day every day of the year (under the cover of darkness) or using doe in heat urine during the 1 time a year that a mature buck becomes somewhat less cautious?

I have buddies that setup a 4x4x6 box blinds 30 yds. from a feeder and think that is the greatest hunting a man can do. I tried it once, its rediculous, that is shooting not hunting but, i got a great nap that day, and you know what, i didn't see any bigger deer that day then i did not watchin a feeder. So to me this whole thing boils down to right or wrong in your own mind. If you sleep better by saying hunting food plots is bad, but hunting some farmers 100 acre corn field is good, more power to you. Just enjoy your time while your hunting, do it safe and share it with someone.

The old baiting can o' worms, eh? In Texas, many hunters think you can't shoot a deer unless you buy bags and bags of corn. Dr. Schwartz at Tecomate says he developed food plots for maximizing genetic potential, and not necessarily baiting (in fact, they recommend putting up electric fencing to keep the deer out until the plot matures). Whether nature or hunters control the movement of deer, as an ethical issue, is moot. I'm tired of the anti-baiters hating, but I don't bait, either! No fun! Does rattling pose an ethical dilemma to the anti-bait crowd? I rattle with GREAT EFFECT, and that, too, is an artificial means to the end... Where does the baiting argument end? How 'bout what my mama always said, "live and let live."

man i will shoot you down with a german 88mm AA gun out here in OHIO we have to do a little of both to protect our crops last year the deer just terrorized our corn there was 12 rows that were just flat so i set out some corn and acorns but i aint doin that this year i am useing Wildgame Max food plot mix.

where do CRP lands fall into this whole thing?

Baiting and small food plots are similar but to say that they are “one and the same” goes too far.

As a general rule, both baiting and food plots are intended to attract deer to a convenient location where they can be harvested. In this sense, baiting and food plots are similar.

Baiting, however, presents a greater risk of spreading disease. Can food plots congregate deer and thereby increase the risk of disease? Yes, but to a much smaller degree than baiting.

There is no limit to the food density that can be provided with baiting. When planting a food plot, the quantity of food available on a particular piece of land is limited by the natural limitations of the vegetation that has been planted. Thus, there is an effective limit on the food density for food plots. This is an important difference and one that limits the increased risk of disease posed by food plots. Moreover, there are benefits associated with food plots. Although the seed merchants may overstate the benefits, food plots do provide beneficial nutrition to whitetail deer.

There are many ways that human activity impacts the whitetail population. Conventional agricultural and timbering practices impact whitetail behavior and population density in much the same way as food plots. As one moves along the continuum of human activity impacting the whitetail population, you have at one end baiting and at the other end conventional agricultural and timbering activities conducted for economic purposes.

When regulating hunting practices, it is necessary to draw lines. When such lines are used to separate a broad continuum of activities into two separate categories, the distinction can appear arbitrary when comparing those activities on opposite sides of the line nearest the line. Drawing a line between baiting and food plots, however, is justified based on the differences between these two activities. There are very real limitations on the food density that can be provided using food plots and this imposes limits on the risk of disease.

Thus, I must disagree with your statement that food plots are “one and the same” as baiting.

Bryan01,

Locate a sandy dark loam soil, pockets of such soil isn't all that hard to find in many hunting areas & lime to 6.5-7. Let's say 3 acres, a nice plot but hardly huge.

Now Plant alternating strips like this.

Plant a tall growing hybrid corn in 30" rows, when corn is up, plant between those rows with the same planter climbing soybeans. These strips to be fertilized with 30/15/15 @ 300lb. to the acre.

In between plant a mix of Ladino & white clovers & alfalfa also in 10' strips. Fertilize these strips with 200lbs of 0/30/30 per acre.

If given good rains you can expect over a TON of feed per acre!

Planted in a area where there isn't much ag you can expect that "plot" to have every bit as much disease risk as most bait piles. CWD can stay in the soil for several YEARS, and saliva from a deer or snot from a sneeze on foliage can spread bovine TB. And just how often have any of us seen 3 ton bait piles?

A highly productive plot of this type will draw deer in a low ag area from a mile away.....and can be covered with ease by just one blind/gun.......even a shotgun or muzzle loading rifle! !

It's still just bait! !

And as it's been drawing deer throughout the summer & early fall for MONTHS, the number of deer making use of it by deer season is going to be a LOT greater than the couple hundred pounds of bait most put out for a couple weeks just prior to the seasons start, even if maintained every few days by addition of more feed as needed.

Further it's not hard to put in place regs requiring that bait be spread over a larger than usual bait pile area such as 1-300 sq. ft. In fact you'll find that almost 100% of hunters who like to use bait would support this as a good practice.

Given the use of reasonable baiting regs like the above, the disease risk is reduced for baiting so that the disease issue is left as a red herring for those who want to keep thier bait site "plot". And at the same time making sure the guy next door of lesser means is not allowed to have a lower cost version of the same thing.

You can argue, I suppose, that a larger plot would not have this issue & if large enough you'll be right. But the majority of plots planted, at least in my area are under 3 acres. It both keeps costs reasonable & makes it easy to cover during season for the hunter at pretty ideal ranges.

The disease issue is just a red herring to deny others/most while allowing the better funded hunter (or group) to have a advantage. And that is wrong.

REAL HABITAT vs baiting/plots

For those who wish to REALLY help the deer herd & other wildlife at the same time.

Plant a LOT of trees & shrubs.

Take a area & plant part of it to a mix of conifers like Norway Spruce, White Pine, Red Cedar ect, then a second portion to hybrid Chestnuts (for blight resistance)& Oaks (I like hybrid White Oaks best, but take your pick all Oaks are good)....mix in some shrubs like Elderberry, Silky Dogwoods, Hazelnuts, Chokecherry....now add in some fruit trees like crab apple, Persimmons, wild Plum, Pears & standard apple trees...last have some warm season grasses and even a couple acre food plot..some clover/alfalfa perhaps. For those who can afford to go wide open a pond would also be a great idea.

This is not just a different form of baiting! ! ! It will take years....10 to really start showing what it can be & 20 years for it to be going really strongly, and there will be enough cover to make it no turkey shoot.....except in that clover area.

The REAL DISTINCTION with this is that it really fully expands the area's habitat. Habitat that will offer all that's needed for turkey, squirrels & depending on the area the grasses & or clover areas can help pheasants or quail...or grouse in the wooded area. Then there is also the benefit to all kinds of songbirds and other small animals like raccoons ect. Perhaps even muskrat & mink if a large pond were included.

In short such a area expands the carrying capacity for the area it's in, for all types of wildlife. And THAT IS NOT BAITING! ! !

Such sites are few when compared to regular baiting practices or food plots due to the much longer development time for trees & shrubs, compared to same year results for plots or other baiting. Not to mention the costs for seedling trees, most of all fruit trees! They do exist however & are IMO by far the very best thing a hunter can do to give something back to the wild things for all they give to us.

Hey everybody- Just wanted to let you all know that I don't look down my nose at either practice, it just makes me shake my head when someone says foodplots aren't baiting. As far as farmers go I don't see how you can include them because their contribution is their job. Great points from all sides! Keep it up!

Using perfectly edible food to attrackt deer for a "turkey shoot" isnt hunting.. can barely be seen as game-management" in my wiev. and using food that could feed people with too as a lure is despicable in my wiev, cos putting seeds to use and actually growing the food right there is soo much more energy efficient in the long term and healthier for the animals..
The big point of using game meat is that it didnt take so and so much food used to produce so and so many pounds of beef.. it grew by itself finding its own food etc.. and it lived free and died almost painfull to provide your dinner compared to how nature itself will kill.. And a foodplot even if planted to make your turf more desirable and draw in deer is actually contributing foodsource for the animals for longer adding energy to them and might just keep them healthy enough to survive hard winters, but a bag of apples laid out to concur with hunting season is ready bait for the sole purpose of attracting them to your gun..
Huge difference.. its unsportsmanlike..
Peace

I can handle folks putting out a corn pile every once in a while, but electronically timed automatic feeders and foodplots are just taking it too far. Where do nature and hunting end? Where does farming, training, zoos and livestock begin?

Editors - some tutorial on my do/does usage would be very kind.

We got to use bait to catch fish. Why not animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll shoot you down, and fast.
The one assumption being made here is that the ONLY usage of food plots is during the hunting season. Proper land/game management should ALWAYS implement YEAR 'ROUND food plots. Attraction of deer during hunting season is only a small part and parcel that food plots serve. On my property we generally only hunt food plots if we are harvesting does to keep our population within carrying capacity, or in the peak of rut. Our first food plots are already emerging at a time of year when deer are coming off a very stressful period. Winter wheat is already greening up and the forbes within the plots are starting to break bud. These early spring greens are essential in providing enough nutrition to ensure our fawns attain the maximum body mass allowable for their age. This will allow our yearling buck fawns to put more energy into antler development, thereby decreasing the chance that they are killed during season as a mistaken doe. The doe fawns that reach their maxium BMI, will be much more healthy, making them less susceptible to disease and predation.
For older age class deer this is no less important for them. Does coming off winter stress are generally below average weight, and if they are nursing, which on a properly managed farm almost all adult does will be, their millk production goes down and the fawns recruitment (survivability) can be jeopardized.
For older age bucks (1.5 an older) the goal should be to attain maximum antler growth for their genetics. they too must reach their maximum body mass index in order for the nutrients to be put toward antler developments.
Let's move from early spring into late spring and summer.
By now the animals should all be at their maximum BMI. The are beginning to enter the summer stress period, where the cool season grasses are seeding and thus becoming more lignous. This stage of cool season grass development provides zero food and nutrition for the deer. Often in areas without an agricultural presence, and no food plots, one may find deer losing weight as natural NUTRIONALY VIABLE food sources become harder to find. it is here that a properly managed food plot will pick up the slack. If you have broad leaf forbes as well as low growth vine grasses like clover, lespideeza, cow peas etc., then these plants (That produce an avg. of 30% protein) will give the extra needed nutrition to push them into fall.
Fall food plots can be along these same lines as ours are, or more conventional corn plots can be used. I call corn cocaine for deer. It's high in carbohydrates, is very palatable, and as long as there are no acorns, they will come to it time and again. With a protein value of 6-8% for most varieties, it is nutritionally worthless to whitetail. We plant a small 1- 2 acre patch annually to make does harvest easier.
However, in August we over-seeded existing plots with a cool season forbe and braodleaf mixture include typhon forage turnips and many other brassica species. As fall turns to winter these big broadleafed plants will remain green, and have attained a height that allows it to be reachable during heavy snow events, and they carry protein ranging from 15% -40%, which again will help keep our soon to be nursing does @ maximun BMI, and there milk production increases and is much more nutritious.
Studies have shown that 5% of any given land mass converted to year round managed food plots will not only increase your carrying capacity, producing as much as 5 tons of food/acre, but will allow all animals the supplemental food source needed to make it through the stressful times in the year. This, in and of itself, will increase the bucks ability to reach it's boone and crockett potential, which ultimately is the dream of every hunter, to hang a booner.

As far as manual feeding without food plots.....sure you could spend the time , money and energy to put out protein based feed and achieve similar results; just look at the high fenced operations around the country. But who has the resources to do this on a non commercial property.

Baiting is just what is says: Placing highly palatable food/feed in a concentrated area for the purposes of attracting game. It's a value based practiced and I'm not gonna try to disuade or persuade anyone to do this.

Any way you slice it properly managed food plots (Meaning year round) produces a larger, healthier herd. Baiting can not and does not.

I would agree that the intent is the same, but otherwise in a wide range of gray, these two options are pretty far apart. I believe food plots are to baiting what tree stands are to road hunting. They're not everyone's cup of tea, but their not the obviously polarizing activity that just strikes most as lazy, if not wrong. A food plot could be the simple cultivation of species that would naturally do well in a soil if given the opportunity. It does not need to be a farm field intensively fertilized and managed solely for producing food crops to attract game. A simple patch of clover on the edge of an otherwise brushy opening qualifies as a food plot. Admittedly, it helps concentrates deer, but not as heavily as an actual farm would, and often not on as predictable or reliable a schedule. Also, although they do concentrate the animals, food plots don't quite represent the disease vector of baiting due to a concentration of many deer sticking their head into the same 5 gallon pile of corn, or over the same 10' square ton of corn day after day. A plot still represents more of a natural browsing scenario with deer distributed and for obvious reasons not repeatedly visiting the stalk that a neighbor just browsed down. I think however, the strongest arguement is timing. I personally hold the strong view that automatic feeders might as well be a way of training deer to shoot themselves due to the predictability of the release time and the deer becoming accustomed to the sound of the feeder activating. Any bait has the advantage of timing, where at a food plot deer can pick and choose their time. They will go nocturnal with pressure secure in the knowledge that in the darkness, the field will still be there. I've noticed a couple of the big names in hunting shows constantly overlooking ATV trails that inexplicably are visiting by every "browsing" deer on the ranch. You'd be hard pressed to convince me that this isn't the direct result of regular pre-dawn spreading of bait along the trails near their towers. Yes the purpose of a food plot is to draw and support game. No, I don't believe it should be considered baiting. If you choose to look at it from an enforcement standpoint, what's an LEO to do? Can you envision the encounter with a bow hunter? "Can you come down here, sir?" "Certainly officer." "Don't you think that this is a slightly higher concentration of clover than one should expect on this field?" "Uh... what?" "I'm going to cite you for hunting over bait, just like I did that fellow on the other side of the hill with the pile of corn. Let me just pick some of these flowers as evidence."
I don't see it.

vtbluegrass: You are correct in stating that as hunters, our goal, at times, is to act as a management tool and control the deer population.

HOWEVER, that is about all you are correct in.

Controlling the population has three sides: either raising a population back to its natural staete, keeping the population steady and healthy, or decreasing the population, not simply decreasing it. Food plots are beneficial in the first two aspects, and some may argue that they are beneficial in all three.

If for some reason, your herd has been decimated by predation and it is below the carrying capacity, then a food plot can help bring it up to equilibrium faster. If you are maintaining a steady herd size, food plots provide YEAR ROUND forage to maintain healthy deer BMI's and those plots do not necessarily have to be hunted over. And finally, many would argue that if your goal is to decrease herd size on your property and would like to do so in a short amount of time, food plots are a great tool to help you as a hunter to harvest does, especially if using a feeder or hunting over a pile of corn, apples, or something else that is brought in and not GROWN there.

Spartan88: You are way off on your assumption that the SOLE purpose of food plots is to bring deer to a concentrated area for the hunter to shoot. Many outdoorsmen, who are also hunters, use food plots as a tool to maintain the health of their deer herd and help them during a time of great need (post winter) when they have lost a lot of body weight. Please read Edstoresit's latest post for a much greater elaboration on all of this.

rsoule-you said it the best.
But everyone is right, the farmer didn't plant his crops for the deer, but the people that hunt his land and use his crops for "a tool to concentrate the deer" these are the people lying to themselves.
And I don't think the disease aspect is really a valid argument for food plots, I think some people need to look at how many states actually have confirmed CWD problems.

In one way, Walt's right. But in many others, he's not. Most of the food plotters I know do it for year-round nutrition for the local herd (and other critters, like turkeys, that also take advantage of some of the plants/grains and also the insects). And while plots can attract and hold deer, there are nowhere near as many plots as there are piles of bait in areas where that is legal. Plots don't disrupt deer movement on public forests, because there aren't any plots. Yet where it's legal, there are thousands of piles all affecting deer movement (often negatively, esp. in the gun season). Food plots aren't replenished; bait is. That alone leads to a huge increase in human activity (noise and scent) which alerts deer and changes patterns, often to totally nocturnal when it comes to mature animals in areas with a decent amount of pressure. Even so, I'd much rather see recreational feeding banned during hunting seasons as deer and turkeys will flock to homes, cabins and businesses where they're being fed for viewing purposes (and occasionally to be poached?). In other words, no bait/feed within sight of a house, cabin or business outside the winter months.

There is only one difference between baiting with corn and apples vs. a food plot. It's money. Just look at a hunting magazine, it's more about farming than hunting. Every other page is trying to sell you something for a food plot, from soil samples to seeds and implements to your atv or tractor. They try to make you feel like your behind if you're not planting a big food plot. This is a big industry. Compare it to the guy that picks some apples off the ground and buys some corn at Agway, nobody is getting rich there. Lobbyist will never let food plots get banned, there is way too much money being made. I would like to know if these food plot companies are the ones pushing for bans on baiting. I agree with the author 100%, baiting is baiting. Who really cares if somebody is baiting deer, it's a victimless crime as far as I am concerned? I can't believe resources are spent catching people do it. Live and let live, as long as your hunting it's all good.

I agree that planting a food plot to hunt over is essentially a form of baiting. I think this post simply highlights that we as hunters shouldn't turn our noses up at the legal hunting methods other hunters employ. If you get more enjoyment out of hunting with a long bow on public land - great, do it. If you get more enjoyment out of hunting with a rifle from a heated box blind overlooking a food plot - great, do that.

Putting out corn and planting food plots are both using a food source not natural to a location to bring deer to a certain spot.

I will try to shoot the statement down,I plant food plots on my place in Ga..I own only 85ac. so I try to give the deer more to eat and help the deer and other animals. I know some who put corn out during hunting season and then when the season is over the hunters leave and so does the corn.The deer and turkeys need the corn more when the season is over than they do during the season. The plots I put in during the spring cost more and are harder to make grow in the spring,but I'm not hunting deer then.Fall plots just do better for a number of reasons (weeds,usually have rain,heat ect.). I try to keep something growing all year.How could you say this is the same as dumping a bag of corn and setting on it? What I'm doing is completely differant.I'm also wanting to plant some Oak trees will you call this baiting too? How many hunters look for the acorns where they hunt? I find that the hunters that plant for the game they are after usually care WAY more about the game animals than those that just throw something on the ground and hunt it.I'm also very selective about what I shoot and the extra work I do helps not only the deer and turkeys but all other wildlife. It even helps the lazy hunters who hunt around my place, the ones that throw corn out and set on it shooting just about any deer they see. In Ga. it's illegal to do this but very many still do.It in no way is the same, if someone does they need to stay away from oak trees,corn fields,power line right of ways (new growth)ect. IMO

As for spending money on plots vs throwing out bags of corn or apples, if you do either in excess, it's going to cost a lot of money unless you're using your own garden or orchard grown produce.

Well said BeeKeep. I plant my food plots to give the area deer better nutrition, better and healthier fawning and too bring the deer out where I can enjoy seeing whats in my woods. I've yet to shoot a deer off one of my food plots, not that I would'nt. I have plenty of ambush points at escape routes and game trails between bedding and feeding areas and have success hunting these public lands I hunt.

I totally agree. Regardless of method, both methods are for people so they do not have to look for the deer, they are channeled into a convinient area. Lazy hunting.

Some bogus excuses posted are...

-Comparing plots to farms. If it were a real farm, raising corn or whatnot for you to feed your family or sell, you would be spending the effort and money on ways to keep deer away from it. Our garden is sprayed with a simple, not-poisonous stuff that deer won't go near.

-Saying it helps deer through the winter. Well, it does, but can upset the balance. Deer breed more with an adequate food supply. If you start that, and are not prepared to do it forever, you simply kill the excess population when you stop, and the starving deer leave to try to find food. Of course, it's only for the deer's sake, right? You would never hunt near such a humanitarian thing.

This probably wont go over well but....
Personally I don't hunt over bait but every now and then I hunt my foodplots. Now I know many people hate the thought of huntin over bait and hate hunters that use bait but here is my thought. If you don't like huntin over bait then don't but don't sit there and yell at others who may use bait. If you don't like it then don't use it. Instead of sitting here tellin each other what the "correct" way to hunt is just get out there and hunt. We should all be glad that we can hunt and not sit here and complain about how we go about it. Let's unite with each other and not fight each other. Huntin is a great sport let's not ruin it by whinning about how we do it let's just get out there and get a deer any way we can cause that's what its all about.
MPN

I have a couple of question. If I know a deer has to drink and I hunt over water does that mean I'm hunting over bait? Or, if I dig a pond and hunt over it am I baiting, too?

I do agree that food do help all year long. In michigan they banned baiting because of Cronic Waste Disease. From deer feeding to close togather off the same pile. I feel they are similar but therebare diferences. Food plots take a of time, money and effort, and should be seen as a healthier way of providing deer with the nutrition they need to become healthier and produce healthier deer. I don't feel that either should be illegal. There are just a few case's where someone dumps a truck load of bait down in the middle of the woods. Now that is should be seen as an incorrect way of baiting.

How is bringing deer together ON purpose any different if it is with baiting or food plots? It still brings them nose to nose and spreads TB and CWD. The only reason most liberal agencies haven't outlawed hunting is because biologists realize hunting is needed to manage populations to PREVENT the spread of said diseases. I am not saying outlaw food plots, no sir. However, I am confused how planting a half acre of clover just for bringing deer in is any different than baiting. I understand having crops, but seriously please explain how a tiny patch of food JUST for deer is any different than baiting? I emphasize I am not saying food plots just for deer are wrong, I just want some serious answers how it is different then baiting. The argument that it makes healthier deer is invalid. Baiting will make deer have better nutrition, but deer are fine without us helping them. It is called survival of the fittest. Don't you want the best specimen of health on your table? Not some weak deer that only survived because people fed it?

I know people are going to hate this post so let the -1's come at me with all there fury.

Swamp ghost- thank you very much for your info. I feel that your explanation really stands up for plots much better than most other arguments on here!

ok, so this is something I wrote on my blog as well and still have not gotten a great answer. I have read a lot of posts on this and still dont know if both are the same or not. Either way, baiting is slowly becoming a DNR restriction and food plots are gaining in popularity. I dont know whats right or wrong if there is a right or wrong on this one.
Ben
http://www.trophywhitetailsupplies.com

Of course food plots and baiting are the same thing. There is plenty of smoke and mirrors from those that put in plots but only because they don't want to admit they are baiting. As a hunter, any time you use food to attract deer, your a baiter. Not that there is anything wrong with that but lets be honest. Grow the food or dump it out and you are a baiter. Carrots and beets and turnips grown down here are the same and carrots and beets and turnips thrown out for deer. If you provide food to deer and use it for hunting. You are a baiter. Embrace it. Admit it. Dont be ashamed of who you are.

Do plots do other things? sure but that is not the main reason deer hunters grow or dump the food they do.

The sound of corn feeders going off is the real bait, the dinner bell. Deer that have been conditioned to this noise would probably respond to the noise alone and not the smell. Poor soil conditions makes it expensive to do food plots. Hunters in our club will have a tough time shooting a mature pressured buck in season. I have seen bucks follow rub lines and ignore the corn. Sometimes bucks will follow does into corn feeders that are placed on an already existing deer trails, but improving the habitat increases the number deer on a lease, and weekend warriors like to have the ability to improve chances in the small time they can spend in the woods. Raccoons, turkeys, squirrels, and bears enjoy the extra food in the woods and I don't see any problem with baiting, but if you want to m

sorry 2x, ...more challenging than don't use either. When the water and food leaves so goes the wildlife. If your like me and your neighbor has year round protein pellets by the ton, you might want to put something out for the deer.