Deer food attractants

[John Y Cannuck]

One thing that has become abundantly clear over the years, is that these things work. BUT, and it's a big BUT they only work, if it smells, and tastes, like a food that the deer you are hunting can find in their area, and are used to eating.

For example, behind our camp, close to the village, deer eat corn like it's going out of style. Put it in the bush, where we do most of our hunting, and the birds will eat it. The deer walk right over it. They do not know what it is.
Same thing with apples. If they know the apple as feed, they will eat it. otherwise, it's ignored.

 

[cdngunner]

I've almost have stopped guessing what deer will do.

You got to believe everything and nothing and be able to change your opinion on the spot.

Like I always say.

As soon as you say deer always do this, they wont.
As soon as you sat deer NEVER do this, they will.

One year we found out that the crusher remains from the local winery really brought them in.......

Food attractants work really well when there are no competeing food sources. In southern Ontario, where food is abundant it is very hard to use food. The trick is to have a supply of food all year round. Putting things out two weeks before, most times doesn't work.

My attitude is not to get them to come into the food just for hunting season but to change their yearly patterns. Which can be very hard depending on what neighbouring farms plant. Every year when the farm to the North plants spring wheat we can expect to have a poor year. Unfortunately thats what is there now. This year I want to try to plant small forage areas, so that hopefully in the fall we will get a few deer coming thru.

 

[a j cave]

Early fall,well before hunting season I put out apples & my camera to see what is around. There are no apple trees within many miles & I doubt if the deer have ever seen them before. The apples are cleaned up in short order. They also like carrots though that too is a food not in there diet.

 

[crazydave]

Feed peas work quite well the deer might not have seen them before but they will usually clean them up as fast as you can put them out.

 

[John Y Cannuck]

We put out a pile of corn, on a heavy trail, it attracted only Blue Jays, and that was before the big deer winter kill. Deer actually walked through the pile, and didn't eat it.
We put out Apples with the same effect. They don't touch them.
Then, if we do the same, near the village, where the deer are exposed to both apples, and corn, they clean them up.
We had deer follow a trail of corn to within ten yards of the camp, in the off season.

 

[Johnn Peterson]

At one of the local farms where I have permission to bow hunt, and not too far from one of my treestand locations, there are a couple of big old apple trees. Before 'moving' some of the apples a little closer to my locations, I inquired through the provincial Fish & Game dept. if 'baiting' like this was acceptable. Long story short, it's okay.

At another farm, I've tried some of the scents and attractants and have found, if nothing else, it makes them curious enough to come check things out.

I haven't tried them out in the field yet but on one of my last 'shopping' trips while in the Edmonton area, I picked up a few 'irresistible' items;
Shake & Talk
C'mere Deer, powder
C'mere Deer, 3 day harvest
Buck Bomb Whitetail Doe urine spray.
A friend who is hot & heavy into archery assures me they work, so, I needed them.

 

[TonyMo]

I put deer corn (from TSC) for the first time this past year in the bush behind my cabin. There isn't a corn field anywhere near by. Here are some trail camera photos. I went back about 2 weeks later and couldn't find a kernal anywhere.
You can see the corn on the ground.

 

[John Y Cannuck]

Well, what can I say, I guess our back woods deer are just dumb. Or maybe it's the fact that none of the locals feed them. I still hold that the reason they don't eat it is that they don't know what it is. Why else would they not eat it there, but eat it at the village?
If I put out apples at fogduckers place, they're gone by morning, but he has lots of apple trees there. Corn would likely work there too, as there's a corn field across the road.

 

[DVXDUDE]

deer wont eat corn up north at our hunt camp. Maybe it was because the bears beat em to it, not sure

 

[Levi Garrett]

Call me a stick in the mud, but I like hunting for deer , reading sign, and when I get it right , and a deer is taken with a clean bow or rifle shot , I could not feel any better about my time in the outdoors.
Having said that, if someone dumps a load of feed out to get the deer to come in range, and a deer is taken with a clean shot, and that person is happy about their hunt, well great , all good, just not for me...
I think if I did feed the animals , I would make certain I followed up with the correct food at the best time of year , ie spring , and late fall. to make it easy for the animals to be healthy year round, and not just during the hunting season...

 

[cdngunner]

Well, what can I say, I guess our back woods deer are just dumb. Or maybe it's the fact that none of the locals feed them. I still hold that the reason they don't eat it is that they don't know what it is. Why else would they not eat it there, but eat it at the village?
If I put out apples at fogduckers place, they're gone by morning, but he has lots of apple trees there. Corn would likely work there too, as there's a corn field across the road.

I wish I could find the article i once read. It goes into how deer "naturally" know what benefit to them the food they eat is. They tend to eat the most nutritious food first and as that food supply deminishes they turn to the next most nutritios food and so on. Will see if I can find the article.

 

[John Y Cannuck]

It would be interesting, because the deer near the village have access to exactly the same foods as the deer deeper in the bush, and in abundance.

 

[a j cave]

It is not legal to bait deer here so I put it out before & after season. There were some nice bucks left in the bush 1/4 I hunt. They was on my camera. I also put some out in spring before things green up. This way I know what made it through. This year I want to get some fawn pic. By spring all I have left for bait is the same grain that so many different animals pick up around the bins.

 

[heavyBullet]

I have put out both corn and apples, and have always had deer eat it right up. But so do the bears, raccoons, blue jays by the tons , and the chipmunks etc. Putting salt blocks at the beginning of the summer is also very effective, though, bears also like licking it. I have deer licking the salt block all the way into November.

Now since Levi already kind of hinted at it, and before someone turns this into a baiting vs non- baiting battle, understand that many of us are not lucky enough to hunt on large tracks of land. The property I hunt on is very small, and the deer do not hang around unless I put something out to attract their attention. As much as I like to hunt, and track deer, I just do not have the land available to do so. I can walk across the track of land I hunt on in probably less that 15 min. I hunt to get out in the woods, and to fill the freezer, and baiting helps accomplish this.

 

[srt4u2nv]

Call me a stick in the mud, but I like hunting for deer , reading sign, and when I get it right , and a deer is taken with a clean bow or rifle shot , I could not feel any better about my time in the outdoors.
Having said that, if someone dumps a load of feed out to get the deer to come in range, and a deer is taken with a clean shot, and that person is happy about their hunt, well great , all good, just not for me...
I think if I did feed the animals , I would make certain I followed up with the correct food at the best time of year , ie spring , and late fall. to make it easy for the animals to be healthy year round, and not just during the hunting season...

I would love to do that but unfortunately I run out of land before I get a chance for a shot when stalking deer. You can cover ground fast when slaking a deer and most Ontario hunters do not have much more then 100-200acres....so sometimes a little bit of feed is needed to keep the deer on your land long enough for a clean shot. We are not spoiled with vast tracks of land to hunt on like our brothers out west.

 

[762nato]

Our local Willows feed store has a feed blend called Rack Stacker, have put it out in the bush where the deer would have no access to agriclulture. They dig holes where you put it to get the last of it. Corn Oats and Molasses for sure very strong smell. You can teach an old deer new tricks.

A.

 

[treebutcher]

...

 

[John Y Cannuck]

Call me a stick in the mud, but I like hunting for deer , reading sign, and when I get it right , and a deer is taken with a clean bow or rifle shot , I could not feel any better about my time in the outdoors.
Having said that, if someone dumps a load of feed out to get the deer to come in range, and a deer is taken with a clean shot, and that person is happy about their hunt, well great , all good, just not for me...
I think if I did feed the animals , I would make certain I followed up with the correct food at the best time of year , ie spring , and late fall. to make it easy for the animals to be healthy year round, and not just during the hunting season...

We don't in general bait either. but it's not that we have not tried it a few times. The results were the reason for the post.

This year, I found a pile of that appeared to be oats in the bush, (for the guys I hunt with, it's near Kieth's rock, across the road from 'painted tree') on one of the most heavily used trails in the area.
The pile was still there, apparently untouched, late in bow season.

 

[cdngunner]

Now since Levi already kind of hinted at it, and before someone turns this into a baiting vs non- baiting battle, understand that many of us are not lucky enough to hunt on large tracks of land. The property I hunt on is very small, and the deer do not hang around unless I put something out to attract their attention. As much as I like to hunt, and track deer, I just do not have the land available to do so. I can walk across the track of land I hunt on in probably less that 15 min. I hunt to get out in the woods, and to fill the freezer, and baiting helps accomplish this.

Not to mention that in some areas the ministry wants us to get rid of as many deer as possible. I know where I hunt(sometimes) I can get up to 6 bow tags......

 

[ffwd]

There are two things in this world I can't stand. People who don't tolerate different methods of hunting...and people who use food "attractants".