Deer baiting

[Sam Menard]

I'd advise you not to dump full bags of corn unless you want to kill the very deer you're hoping to harvest. It's a death sentence for a deer who's rumen is not "acclimitized" to eating such a high starch and sugar forage. You'll get rumen bloat, and if it's real bad from gorging on a big pile from a 50lb bag of corn, the acidosis will probably kill the animal. You're better to use a feeder on a timer, or reduce the amount of bait you put out each time if you're using grain. I scatter about 10 cups of full kernel corn , along with about 30 apples, each time I bait, usually every 2-3 days. Has always worked well for me. I prefer whole corn. I found the deer feed mix with the molasses costs more and drws more raccoons.

I thought that this was more of a concern during winter. I need to look into this more.

[greatwhite]

I cannot imagine it being of concern in the fall, the deer around here are out in the fields all day eating corn.

I'd advise you not to dump full bags of corn unless you want to kill the very deer you're hoping to harvest. It's a death sentence for a deer who's rumen is not "acclimitized" to eating such a high starch and sugar forage. You'll get rumen bloat, and if it's real bad from gorging on a big pile from a 50lb bag of corn, the acidosis will probably kill the animal. You're better to use a feeder on a timer, or reduce the amount of bait you put out each time if you're using grain. I scatter about 10 cups of full kernel corn , along with about 30 apples, each time I bait, usually every 2-3 days. Has always worked well for me. I prefer whole corn. I found the deer feed mix with the molasses costs more and drws more raccoons.

[js4fn]

I cannot imagine it being of concern in the fall, the deer around here are out in the fields all day eating corn.

Corn in field is 27 to 20% moisture not 12% over dried corn you get in a bag cracked corn was always better choice

[greatwhite]

I use corn from the field right on the cob and since it's the same corn they are eating then I should be OK.

Corn in field is 27 to 20% moisture not 12% over dried corn you get in a bag cracked corn was always better choice

[smitty55]

I thought that this was more of a concern during winter. I need to look into this more.

It normally can be but it can also be a concern earlier with the sudden change in diet from browse to corn as it takes a while for their system to get used to the different food. Now if you're feeding them corn from summer on and never stopped going into winter it wouldn't be a problem as they were constantly putting into their digestive system. Buddy of mine used to feed them year round in his backyard and would go through 60-70 bags a year. It was great entertainment watching the interactions within family groups and between different ones too.

[smitty55]

any thoughts ? is it worth going back to bait more ? its a 3 hour drive each leg

That's a long tour for sure to go out baiting and have it only last two days. What I would suggest to make the corn last way longer is to spread the bag around in say a 50 yd circle around your stand. They know it's there now so they'll figure out quick enough to spread out and nose around for the scattered corn.
Good luck, hopefully you can keep the girls around the area and attract the boys.

[MikePal]

I use bait as an attractant to bring deer to my trail camera. I use a homemade feeder made from 4” PVC pipe and cost about $35 to make.

I have one behind the shed, I put it out a few years back and had a real problem with the corn getting wet causing the dust to clog up the drain holes and it then it got moldy. I tried a few different set-ups but in the end the same problem so I abandoned the idea.

I see you can now get 'clean' whole corn, it's about 50% more expensive but might be worth a try again.

[Deer Hunter]

do you use a Feeder type of thing for baiting deer ?

how much food do you leave usually ? and has anyone baited public land ? or is it mostly on private ?

so I got 40 KG of corn, carried it to where I wanted to set up stand and set up a camera.


well 2 days and 2 nights in and it looks like the corn is fully gone. I have does coming and eating from 7 PM till 7 AM ... maybe 5-6 different ones [I think] every night.

I have a salt lick under the corn, so hope they come back to lick that. but was thinking of making a PVC feeder, to hopefully make it last time Nov 1st when ill be in the tree ... or someone else taking my spot lol

any thoughts ? is it worth going back to bait more ? its a 3 hour drive each leg

I would buy two or three bails of alfalfa hay and spread it out mixing in in your other bait in it.

[Fenelon]

We used to hunt a property that was adjacent to a heavily baited property where the owner would dump full bags of corn. Over the years we shot at least eight deer that were in serious condition from gorging on the corn. You'd see deer completely bloated out like they were pregnant with quads! You'd, dress the animal and the entire rumen would burst out of the abdominal cavity, filled with gas so tight that there was hemorrhage around the rumen from the mesenteric being stretched and torn. You'd pop the rumen and it smelled like a malt brewery. The bottom of the rumen floor was completely blocked with a solid mass of compacted corn. The contents were drier than usual. The lower portion of the rumen was blueish in color, like it was getting reduced blood flow. We spoke to the dude and showed him some pics. He was surprised and adjusted how he baited.

[Ata83]

very interesting, who would have thought, my GF told me the same about feeding corn, apparently she saw a documentary on netflix called Food Inc about feeding corn to cows ... lucky guess im sure lol

appreciate all the replies and methods, hopefully ill get a chance to bait again before the season. will try the tube method and spread out some alfalfa and the powder mixes. if not ill bait again the night before the opener.

now lets hope noone takes my spot ... apparently thats a whole new thing I gotta worry about and think about now.