The reason we cannot bait in Va. Is due to we have a fall turkey season which I don't care for. NC residents can bait but they do not have a fall turkey season.

Care to expand on that statement? Not sure what one has to to with the other (as it pertains to deer).

I'm all for baiting, food plots, whatever it takes to keep deer on my land, so they have a better chance of survival.

i love to feed. if a yote comes in view of me. i will be feeding him some lead you better bet....

My reasons for opposing deer baiting/feeding are not rooted in legal or ethical issues, but rather on science. From a habitat stand point, baiting in areas of high deer densities can have bad consequences on the habitat. Several years ago, when I had a different opinion on baiting/feeding, I maintained a feeder in the woods behind my house in order to watch deer. An area of severe overbrowsing developed extending for a good ways away from the feeder. The ground around the feeder became a muddy mess. All manner of wildlife was unnaturally concentrated around the feeder area. Squirrels, raccoons, crows, turkeys, deer, mice, etc. were drawn the area. The good Lord didn't intend for animals to exist in such a way as he gave all these animals inherent behaviors that serve to disperse them across their world. My efforts were doing the exact opposite. As a cattle farmer, with a somewhat proficient knowledge of ruminant digestion, I know how devastating the effect of suddenly providing highly attractive food to a ruminant can be. Ruminants, such as deer, depend on a delicate balance of bacteria in their rumens in order to digest food. Sudden changes in diet that do not allow time for readjustment of bacteria can kill animals. A deer that has been surviving on a diet of browse and low quality grass can starve to death on a stomach full of corn it suddenly can eat unlimited quantities of. It simply cannot digest food it has suddenly found, and will feel too full to eat what it truly needs.

Folks often debate that food plots are the same thing as feeding corn. That argument is very unsound biologically. Food plots sprout and grow in the greater context of a natural environment that also has actively growing plants. Food plots do not appear overnight in an environment that is devoid of green matter. Even the tastiest of food plots emerge and grow at a pace that allow deer to incorporate the food into their diets, therefore not creating a hostile rumen environment. Corn, or other highly palatable baits/feeds actually taste too good for the deer's own good, and when suddenly available in large amounts are harmful. If I suddenly gave a cow that is on pasture all the grain it wanted, I would have a sick cow at best. Folks think that animals, such as deer, can handle large amounts of grain like cattle in feedlots. The problem is that cattle in feedlots have a short life expectancy already. When they are slaughtered at a young age, they already have liver damage as a result of their diet.

Thanks for the education. I think a few small food plots are okay. Too much of anything isn't good.

Vic

I am strongly against baiting for all the usual reasons: unsporting, potential for spreading disease, tarnishes public perception of hunters. I would also like to see the current prohibition against feeding during the fall extended to the entire year, for all of the above reasons, plus it would simplify enforcement. I am proud that Virginia prohibits hunting over bait and am completely unmoved by the argument that other states allow it.

I'm curious to see how this debate would go if we were talking about using doe estrus and and other scents that we use to bring deer in.

I agree with va bird, and others that posted like him. If ethics is your reasoning then i hope you dont use doe "pee". Hunt with a rifle, or a scoped in line muzzleloader etc. Because as we all know for years and years our grandfathers and so on killed deer with side-hammer muzzleloaders and buckshot double-barrel shotguns. And they killed alot of them, so "unethical" hunting starts waaay before you even get into the woods if you ask me. I mean if you can take the time and money to grow a food plot to kill deer over, and feel ethical about it. then take the time to learn to shoot open sight rifles and black powders, and take the time to make sure the shot is close because you are carrying buckshot in that side by side. not to step on any toes or sound disgruntaled. I dont care how anyone hunts, i just think some people preach ethics like they are saints. But really if they took the time to think about what they were saying, or really even cared about the "ethics" they preached then they would have a totally different outlook. Not at all saying that anyone on this forum is guilty of this, i just know a few people close to me that are this way. and it chapps me to no end haveing to listen to them. Sorry for the rant fellas

One thing I will say for baiting is it will help the game get through a rough winter. My grandpa puts corn out at his house in WV for the game. Man, when there is no mast the game come runnin. So, it has its place I think.