Crossbow deer hunting from blind..tips needed on bait

Lots of good advice for you here USP. I agree with the season being to warm & the deer having lots of food sources so they don't hit bait piles as readily...

Now here's my experience this year... The farmer who let me hunt on his property has apple trees & even though there were apples on the ground, deer still passed them by to head over to the neighbours to hit the alfalfa field... They did occassionaly stop to eat a couple, but it was obvious that they were heading to a preferred food source!

So... The stand I got my deer from was between their bedding area and the hardwoods that they had to pass through to get to the alfalfa field... Resulted in me connecting with the big doe I took with my crossbow...

Can you Google Earth your spot & analyse it for their bedding & feeding areas? Best bet is to get between the two areas and you should see deer going back & forth.

Good luck!

Cheers
Jay
 
Try this stuff........

6000 pounds of #2 carrots. Price $100!! Picked these up with the company dump truck and dropped them at my buddies place. I wasn't out of the gate before two deer emerged from the bush behind the house and made their way to the pile. They also sell parsnips like this too, in our experience the deer will eat all the parsnips first if mixed together then eat the carrots. These last us all winter and the deer love them. I gave another buddy 1200 pounds of them, hence the trailer behind my truck about to be loaded. They lasted him all through the deer season and the deer at his place preferred them to the corn he put out.

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the spank said:
Try this stuff........

6000 pounds of #2 carrots. Price $100!! Picked these up with the company dump truck and dropped them at my buddies place. I wasn't out of the gate before two deer emerged from the bush behind the house and made their way to the pile. They also sell parsnips like this too, in our experience the deer will eat all the parsnips first if mixed together then eat the carrots. These last us all winter and the deer love them. I gave another buddy 1200 pounds of them, hence the trailer behind my truck about to be loaded. They lasted him all through the deer season and the deer at his place preferred them to the corn he put out.

HPIM2052.jpg
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Deer are so strange..... I have put out bags of carrots and they go untouched.... to the point that when the snow melts in the spring I have had to pick them up off the lawn.... yet you and others swear by it.... everywhere you go deer seem to have different tastes....
 
Definitely agree that you're better off with afternoon hunts around now, of course you could really go anytime and there's always a chance, but seem to move more around sunset times late season (and throughout the night of course).

We went to a spot we got permission to this fall (which by what the farmer said is packed with deer [most he saw at once was 26 of course earlier in year], and no other hunters in immediate area. Literally looks like a highway of trails, anywhere you look you see prints) this Saturday and had a few come out at Sunset but too far. Then this Tuesday on way to our spots I spotted some in the field at 2pm, but spooked and ran off. Then I had groups of turkey around me from 2-4pm.. if only it was season. And a buck was chasing a doe but they were too far from my dad's friend. So all from 2-5pm.

As for carrots, most people I know that have used them have had very poor results. Must really depend the area and what they're use to eating, as well as the time of year. But when it's that cheap, why not? Gives them something to eat in the harsh winter months.
 
cz858hunter said:
I'm not disagreeing at all with the climber, but i've shot 2 deer with my xbow from a ground blind, and i've never seen a deer from a tree stand. mind you.. i'm not exactly stuck on heights so i'm usually in the ground blind anyways:D
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blinds work, just not for me. i wish they would though as they're definitely faster and less work than a climber.

i see the most deer from a climber compared to any other type of sit and wait hunting. but, tracking in fresh snow is THE way to do it. im really hoping for at least a couple inches...id hate to spend the few days ill deer hunt this year sitting in a tree.



USP, 10am is too early to leave your stand and 3pm is kinda late to get in for an evening sit. is there a reason you're not hunting mid day? don't fall for the "deer dont move during midday" crap as i've seen plenty of deer going about their business between 11am and 2pm. matter of fact, i watched a heavy 6 point and 2 does feeding in a field south of simcoe at 2-230pm yesterday.

think outside the box and you'll connect. try hunting the spots where you'd least expect deer, use calls or scents that are collecting dust, and don't be scared to try new things, especially when you've been unsuccesful with your current techniques.
 
Yeah I stopped hunting mid day as I never saw much. Also I can hunt early, go to work afterwards or go to work then hunt late.
 
Superbrad said:
I would say you are good at ten... That's when I pack it in fir breakky... I like to go out at 2 though for the evening... Its about letting the bush settle around you...
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I have done the 5am to 7pm stuff earlier in the season when there was light. It makes for a real long day.. Breaking it up is nice. I have never seen much mid day of anything.
 
Right... And that is the point... If you haven't seen then they aint there... 12 stand hours is a long day... You gotta hunt the peak times... And even bait... Especially in our weather conditions won't make them scrounge all day... Best bet is first and last light.. If we get cold snap it just means that opens up a bit
 
Dont forget that baiting isn't just putting food out-- its about creating a routine. Its why automated feeders are so effective, the deer hear it spreading food and hustle out there. They also learn when 'dinnertime' is and you can train nocturnal deer to come out in the day.

When I was baiting elk the guys always wondered why I opened the truck doors and cranked the radio. After a couple weeks I took them to the spot, cranked up a little AC/DC and within 5 minutes had a dozen elk within 30 yards sniffing and drooling!! :owned:

With only two weeks your timeline is tight but its something to keep in mind.
 
Waterfowler said:
Used a doe decoy this year and called in a 7 pt that my gf killed with xbow. Her first. Came from 200 yards to 18 yards putting on a great show.
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GF? That's the second time you've used that word. I'm starting to worry about you. ;)

jaydog said:
Dont forget that baiting isn't just putting food out-- its about creating a routine. Its why automated feeders are so effective, the deer hear it spreading food and hustle out there. They also learn when 'dinnertime' is and you can train nocturnal deer to come out in the day.

When I was baiting elk the guys always wondered why I opened the truck doors and cranked the radio. After a couple weeks I took them to the spot, cranked up a little AC/DC and within 5 minutes had a dozen elk within 30 yards sniffing and drooling!! :owned:

With only two weeks your timeline is tight but its something to keep in mind.
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This is 100% spot on.
 
Superbrad said:
Deer are so strange..... I have put out bags of carrots and they go untouched.... to the point that when the snow melts in the spring I have had to pick them up off the lawn.... yet you and others swear by it.... everywhere you go deer seem to have different tastes....
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Maybe they have food sources occurring in your area that make it harder to draw them? I see from some of your pics you are in a corn growing area. Maybe they just have no need of something else when there is a smorgasbord of available corn growing around them. Very few if any farms around here grow corn and those that do grow it as silage corn. It is off the field and gone before the cold weather sets in. Believe it or not I have a friend who goes to a local bakery plant in North bay and buys 1100 pound tote bags of bread and puts that out for the deer. I thought he was feeding bears until he told me it was for deer. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't gone on his rounds with him and watched him dump a bushel at each stand and got to see deer eating at a bread pile he maintains right off his back deck for viewing purposes.
 
jaydog said:
Dont forget that baiting isn't just putting food out-- its about creating a routine. Its why automated feeders are so effective, the deer hear it spreading food and hustle out there. They also learn when 'dinnertime' is and you can train nocturnal deer to come out in the day.

When I was baiting elk the guys always wondered why I opened the truck doors and cranked the radio. After a couple weeks I took them to the spot, cranked up a little AC/DC and within 5 minutes had a dozen elk within 30 yards sniffing and drooling!! :owned:

With only two weeks your timeline is tight but its something to keep in mind.
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i shake the pale the whole time i bait. make it nice and loud. actually last year i had a buddy come in with me to shake the pale, bait, then leave while i got set up. shot a doe that night;)
 
the spank said:
Maybe they have food sources occurring in your area that make it harder to draw them? I see from some of your pics you are in a corn growing area. Maybe they just have no need of something else when there is a smorgasbord of available corn growing around them. Very few if any farms around here grow corn and those that do grow it as silage corn. It is off the field and gone before the cold weather sets in. Believe it or not I have a friend who goes to a local bakery plant in North bay and buys 1100 pound tote bags of bread and puts that out for the deer. I thought he was feeding bears until he told me it was for deer. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't gone on his rounds with him and watched him dump a bushel at each stand and got to see deer eating at a bread pile he maintains right off his back deck for viewing purposes.
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a guy i know has the contract at the local bread depot. feeds it to his cows mostly they love it. I call it crack for cows as they'll plow right through a fence or gate if they can't get at it and know it's there. i used to get some off him for the bears but i never thought about deer before.
 
Jay said:
Now here's my experience this year... The farmer who let me hunt on his property has apple trees & even though there were apples on the ground, deer still passed them by to head over to the neighbours to hit the alfalfa field... They did occassionaly stop to eat a couple, but it was obvious that they were heading to a preferred food source!

So... The stand I got my deer from was between their bedding area and the hardwoods that they had to pass through to get to the alfalfa field... Resulted in me connecting with the big doe I took with my crossbow...

Can you Google Earth your spot & analyse it for their bedding & feeding areas? Best bet is to get between the two areas and you should see deer going back & forth.

Good luck!

Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

This also helps out if deer are planning on feeding just after dark. They are already on their way to the food during daylight hours. By hunting the actual food source they come out to late. Hunt where they are 20 mins before they eat BINGO. still light.
 
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