Is today’s deer herd nutritionally more healthy than prior to pro baiting laws

[Bonefreak]

With a corn pile, apples, minerals, etc in just about every woodlot, and marginally less nutritious habitat such as pine barrens producing big, healthy deer, is there any data out there that would suggest today’s herd is more nutritionally healthy than when baiting was prohibited?  F&G used to weigh deer at check stations but now harvests are self reported, but it would have been interesting to see weights of deer checked in after baiting was allowed. 

[Swamprat]

Healthier? Not sure.  

Habitat loss 

Unlimited doe harvest

6 month season

IMHO are bigger factors than baiting. 

 

[vdep217]

15 minutes ago, Bonefreak said:

With a corn pile, apples, minerals, etc in just about every woodlot, and marginally less nutritious habitat such as pine barrens producing big, healthy deer, is there any data out there that would suggest today’s herd is more nutritionally healthy than when baiting was prohibited?  F&G used to weigh deer at check stations but now harvests are self reported, but it would have been interesting to see weights of deer checked in after baiting was allowed. 

I'll see if I can find pics when I was 12 or 13.  My average deer from 1 spot was 100 lbs now from same spot I regularly kill 130lb deer

[smittty]

3 minutes ago, Swamprat said:

Healthier? Not sure.  

Habitat loss 

Unlimited doe harvest

6 month season

IMHO are bigger factors than baiting. 

 

A specialty with the mild winters there’s plenty of food in the woods maybe not what they like deer eat their favorite foods till they’re gone then move on to their second favorites and so on. This time of year they will wipe out a corn pile fast. Not because there’s no food in the woods just not what they want. I’ve been putting corn and apple out in the same pile the deer won’t touch an apple till the last pice of corn is gone. And with all the good weather comes more hunters. Shooting dink shed bucks or whatever is brown. Season should have ended last week. 

[Bonefreak]

5 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

I'll see if I can find pics when I was 12 or 13.  My average deer from 1 spot was 100 lbs now from same spot I regularly kill 130lb deer

That’s what I remember of my first few deer in the pines…scrawny lil things…now any of those senior village deer are as big as Monmouth deer!!  Lol

[fish_hunter]

Not by a longshot. Deer will go to browse or mast crops over bait because they know where the true nutrition is. In densely populated areas in NJ most browse is gone by November so while it may seem like a lot of deer start to hit the bait when it gets colder it usually is just an indication that they are traveling longer distances to get to it. I hunt in the southern part of the state a lot and with the way temps have been there is so much new green browse everywhere on the swamp edges and tidal creek banks that the deer want nothing to do with bait. They will come in for a few nibbles but that's it. I typically never see any mature bucks on bait in this area unless the temperatures  drop and the swamps freeze or he is with a doe. If anything is a contributor IMO it is due to the milder temps over the past few years and lack of continuous deep freezes that we used to get. 

Edited January 5 by fish_hunter

[archer36]

I question the whole idea of all these different kinds of bait and attractants being beneficial. It's even been said that too much corn can have detrimental effect on deer. All of the dozens of deer attractants sold are not controlled or tested in any way. Can they actually kill deer? Who knows. A company can put together a bunch of stuff and sell it to use on deer and no one really knows if it's good for the deer or makes it sick. 

All I know is, I never found an empty stomach in a deer that I gutted in the late season. They eat things that we do not see as their "food". Sure, they have a hierarchy of food preferences, but never go hungry. It has to get pretty damn extreme before a deer dies of hunger. The small ones will take the hit first. I don't think we have these conditions in NJ. 

[Farmingdales Finest]

23 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

I'll see if I can find pics when I was 12 or 13.  My average deer from 1 spot was 100 lbs now from same spot I regularly kill 130lb deer

More than likely that has more to do with the higher deer limits which reduces the competition for good browse and also we have had very few hard winters especially in the last 10 years so they aren't burning as many calories and being near starvation earlier in the calendar year. 

[vdep217]

17 minutes ago, Farmingdales Finest said:

More than likely that has more to do with the higher deer limits which reduces the competition for good browse and also we have had very few hard winters especially in the last 10 years so they aren't burning as many calories and being near starvation earlier in the calendar year. 

Limits have been the same in this zone since I started hunting

[Lunatic]

I cut open many deer to see what they are eating. Corn seams to be a snack not a food source with their guts filled with all kind of vegetation. With no harsh winters anymore there is adequate amount of natural food for Nj deer. Like someone said above, every deer I kill has its stomach filled to capacity. 
 

[Farmingdales Finest]

16 minutes ago, vdep217 said:

Limits have been the same in this zone since I started hunting

What are the limits in your zone?

 

[vdep217]

Just now, Farmingdales Finest said:

What are the limits in your zone?

 

2 deer one of each. Ot could have been or 2 does back than though

[NorthJerseyMike]

But most corn pile corn is GMO crap.  That can't be healthier for the deer or us. 

[BHC]

I know in the area I hunt the herd is way down when compared to years ago, but on the same note the deer are bigger body and antlers 

[Bucksnbows]

3 minutes ago, NorthJerseyMike said:

But most corn pile corn is GMO crap.  That can't be healthier for the deer or us. 

Why not?  Plant geneticists strive for maximum yield when modifying seeds like corn or soybeans or whatever. How does that have a negative impact on human or deer health?  Remember that there are more whitetail deer in North America today than at any known time in history.