How Much Did You Spend on Bait this Season?

[BowhunterNJ]

21 minutes ago, 3Blade said:

I hunt the same way I hunted before baiting- learn the property, find the  runs etc...I just use it now to slow them down ,put them where I  want them to stop and keep them a little more interested. 

So do you only put it out when you're hunting?

[BowhunterNJ]

10 minutes ago, Devil Horns said:

I use it more for camera purposes to see what's around. I will sometimes put 25-50 lbs out a couple of days in advance if I know my kids will be hunting. I like to keep the deer activity up when I know they will be hunting with me. I spread it very thin and throw it all over an area using a cup. I spread it thin over a big area so it is more like yellow acorns  spread through the woods than a corn pile. 

Got ya, I figured one approach would be a quick cam recon of an area.

[Shootemandmountem]

Early season trophy blocks as well as salt block, corn for feeder that holds about 200 lbs. Sportsman's choice blocks that last a while for me,I leave the drop spread light on the feeder. Had gotten some apple's from Eastmont but they had closed up and cleaned up early this past season. Would say for the year about 400. I run the feeder on the property my nephew hunts. Next season he will be 17 years old. He now works so after flipping the bill for a few years....it's his turn if he want's it baited.

[3Blade]

4 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

So do you only put it out when you're hunting?

I put down 5 - 10 lbs once a week. I will try and get it down a day or two before I hunt. I spread it good and cover it a little with leaves. Even if it's gone they will still come through looking for it. 

[Nomad]

41 minutes ago, JerseyJaysTaxidermy said:

$70/ week on truckload of corn on cobb from aug- feb,
then $20/month all spring/summer in minerals.
And maybe $50/month in corn all spring/summer.
Then another $400 all season on blocks and bags for spots I can't drive the truck to.

Way too much. I dont even wanna do the math. I rather not know.

Ps: Dont tell my wife




http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com
 

I came up with about $2850.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Nomad

[archer36]

56 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

Serious question...for the guys who hardly bait or bait light...what's your general strategy?  How is 100# or even 200# lasting you 5 months?  A small group of deer will annihilate 25#+ overnight.  I would think if you throw out a couple pounds a week, it's probably not doing much to keep deer around, no?

Ok, I know I'm going to catch hell on this but baiting is a self fulfilled prophecy. You put out bait, you see deer, you attribute the deer sightings to the bait. Wrong. How do you know that you would not have seen those deer without bait? You don't. I can also look at it in another way. It's an addiction. Once you start, you can't stop or accelerate it's use.  I have said it before and I will say it again, baiting is overrated and ineffective. If there are deer in the area you will have encounters. The most important aspect to killing deer is TIME. The more effort you put in, the more relative success you have. If you are a weekend, once a week hunter, your chances of killing deer are greatly reduced compared to a guy who can do many short sits in a week. Baiting will not change that. That's my 2 cents. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by archer36

[hammer4reel]

5 minutes ago, archer36 said:

Ok, I know I'm going to catch hell on this but baiting is a self fulfilled prophecy. You put out bait, you see deer, you attribute the deer sightings to the bait. Wrong. How do you know that you would not have seen those deer without bait? You don't. I can also look at it in another way. It's an addiction. Once you start, you can't stop or accelerate it's use.  I have said it before and I will say it again, baiting is overrated and ineffective. If there are deer in the area you will have encounters. The most important aspect to killing deer is TIME. The more effort you put in, the more relative success you have. If you are a weekend, once a week hunter, your chances of killing deer are greatly reduced compared to a guy who can do many short sits in a week. That's my 2 cents. 

Yep it’s def about time  

camera tells you what time the deer  is at your spot eating the bait. 

You hunt for few hours when the wind is right and shoot the deer. 

Thats once you learn how to effectively use bait correctly

[BowhunterNJ]

1 minute ago, archer36 said:

Ok, I know I'm going to catch hell on this but baiting is a self fulfilled prophecy. You put out bait, you see deer, you attribute the deer sightings to the bait. Wrong. How do you know that you would not have seen those deer without bait? You don't. I look at it in another way. It's an addiction. Once you start, you can't stop or accelerate it's use.  I have said it before and I will say it again, baiting is overrated and ineffective. If there are deer in the area you will have encounters. The most important aspect to killing deer is TIME. The more effort you put in, the more relative success you have. If you are a weekend, once a week hunter, your chances of killing deer are greatly reduced compared to a guy who can do many short sits in a week. That's my 2 cents. 

Agree on time.  The other factor is the property itself.  The part I would disagree with is that not all properties are created equal, and bait can be an influence that draws deer and keeps them there on the property you hunt assuming you bait enough to keep them interested.  You can't always be where they naturally are (sometimes unhuntable areas or areas you simply don't have permission to be).  So bait allows you to create a pattern versus finding and hunting a natural pattern (of which may not exist to any strong degree on your property or again may be in an area you can't legally hunt whether on your property or off of it).  Now the other answer to hunt natural patterns is to simply (although it's not simple) find new property to hunt, but how many hunters would ditch a private piece of property where they can bait to go hunt public or find more properties?  I'd say few.

Personally I do wish they'd get rid of baiting entirely, been saying it for  years.  It has a purpose in some very limited instances, but for the grand majority of huntable lands, it's really not needed.  However once it's being utilized, it does change patterns and creates unnecessary competition between hunters as deer get concentrated.  While you can try to hunt "natural" patterns, how often are those patterns really established by other hunters baiting (i.e. you're "cutting off" the hunter who is baiting)?  That opens a whole other can of worms, and is yet another reason baiting really should be used in limited fashion.

[archer36]

2 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

Yep it’s def about time  

camera tells you what time the deer  is at your spot eating the bait. 

You hunt for few hours when the wind is right and shoot the deer. 

Thats once you learn how to effectively use bait correctly

It's all about being in the right place at the right time. Frequency increases your chances. 

[BowhunterNJ]

2 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

Yep it’s def about time  

camera tells you what time the deer  is at your spot eating the bait. 

You hunt for few hours when the wind is right and shoot the deer. 

Thats once you learn how to effectively use bait correctly

Indeed, it often follows the hunt smarter, not harder (more time) approach.

[Nomad]

All the masterbaiters are keeping their mouths shut about how much they’ve spent! LOL Except Jay

Edited January 3, 2019 by Nomad

[buckhound]

$120 on 1 bins sugar beets and 1 bin carrots maybe $30 on 300 lb of molasses corn that was between 2-4 of us and several cameras but i don't start to bait till mid november for hunting huntin in december ... 

[archer36]

6 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

Indeed, it often follows the hunt smarter, not harder (more time) approach.

My Buddy told me he's had several bucks on camera at his spot last two mornings. He only hunts PM's. I went there this morning and guess what? No deer seen. Just because you see them on camera doesn't put them in the back of your truck.  A camera is a tool, not a predictor.

[buckhound]

8 minutes ago, Nomad said:

All the masterbaiters are keeping their mouths shut about how much they’ve spent! LOL Except Jay

lol i remeber years ago using 4000 -6000 pound of corn and 3-4 pickup truck loads of whatever i could get carrots , butternut squash , sweet potatoes , apples or sugar beets those 8 ft beds helo 3 Plus bins. and that was just for me but we had a lot more deer back then ...

[hammer4reel]

3 minutes ago, archer36 said:

My Buddy told me he's had several bucks on camera at his spot last two mornings. He only hunts PM's. I went there this morning and guess what? No deer seen. Just because you see them on camera doesn't put them in the back of your truck.  A camera is a tool, not a predictor.

How many PY bucks did you shoot this season ? 

How about the last ten seasons ?