# Baiting Deer in Ohio



## ernie gooding

A buddy of mine told me the other day that baiting deer in Ohio was legal. If so, how many of you have had success hunting over bait?? Here in WV, all baiting seems to do is attract bears. Of course the deer come in every now and again for a quick bite, but they don't usually stick around too long. In many parts of Ohio, I'm sure baiting is prolly pointless because of the huge corn and soybean fields. Just wandering if anybody in OH hunts over bait....or if that's just something us Hillbillies do. lol


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## Bassnpro1

I've seen it work in the right situations, such as hardwoods in january. early season= too much other food for them to eat. But the deer get smart real quick. I saw a abit site once that the deer would look right at the permanent tree stand to see if anybody was in it. and it was set 25 ft up. Had to use the climber, but they caught on to that as well. Any place full of fields won't work great for baiting. but just the same, it is better to hunt to routes into the bait site instead of the bait site itself, they do like to go nocturnal.


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## kasting king

I only hunt over bait a few times a year. The first part of bow season, with my wife, and then again in january when we harvest the rest of the does for the season. The area that i hunt has both corn and hay fields and the deer run to the feeders.  We usually feed 6 months of the year, to get them through the winter months, then let the food plots take it from there. At one time there might be 15 - 20 deer at a feeder.


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## rac123

The best places around here are the random apple trees on the hillsides. we have corn and soybeans in the bottom and pasture on ridge tops.I see most of the deer on the hillsides in the apples early in bow season, when picking starts they hit the cuttings in the evening. I am always looking for the pattern of travel from bed to browse.It varies as to farm activity or pressure.seems they pick up on our patterns too?? I know the "cow droppings" with the corn sure attracts turkeys.


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## PoleSnatcher

RAC's patterns work pretty good as I never get a deer up there!!!!

lol


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## WISH IT WAS YOU

what it works great git some com er deer that is the best also corn and other bait work just well you just up you chances of haveing deer come by you


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## Fishstix

My suggestion is to stand in the woods with a hand full of corn and wait for the deer to come in...LOL! I don't have any experience baiting deer. I hunted in North Carolina last December and the land owner put corn out a week before I went down. I didn't see a single deer while in that stand the first two mornings I hunted. I only saw deer while sitting in a stand over looking a field.


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## Onion

I usually have a bait pile going throughout the season.

The reasons being:

1. It gives me a good spot to get photos of the bucks in the area.

2. It is my fallback position if all else fails throughout the season. I know I can take a deer there.


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## BigChessie

IMHO The best way to work a "bait station" is to only hunt the deer on the way to it or from it. If you were in Texas and had a 300 acea food plot I would say yea go ahead and hunt over it. Once you hunt over your feeder, leave your scent there, get busted by moving around. The deer will avoid going back (or just go nocturnal). Your best bet is to just get them when the leave the bedding area or head to the bedding area. That way they never associate you and the food source. If you want to get serious with it and actually help your herd. Start with corn in your feeder and then gradually start adding in soybeans, your goal is to have about 75 % bean to 25% corn. Soybeans have alot more usable protein than the corn. If you just slowly switch over they will still eat it up but get more out of it.


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## peple of the perch

i thought that it was illegal to bait all species of game in ohio


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## Onion

peple of the perch said:


> i thought that it was illegal to bait all species of game in ohio



That would make fishing tough 

j/k Baiting is legal just not encouraged


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## peple of the perch

i knew i should of said besides fish. i thought to my self that someone would post somthing like that by the end of the day. i didnt think it would be this soon .lol


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## avrock30

PoleSnatcher said:


> RAC's patterns work pretty good as I never get a deer up there!!!!
> 
> lol


Polesnatcher never gets a deer up there because his gun jams or he is eating his sandwich


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## harjo02

In my experience, baiting only works for very small groups of deer that are very close by. For example, a friend and I have been feeding deer and getting pics for some time. It never fails, its the same two does and their 3 fawns. In just a couple of pics, we see anything different.

I figure once one or two of those deer are gone (in my freezer) the baiting will probably be pointless until Jan/Feb. 

We're working hard on cleaning out some does and I have yet to take my first bow kill. so I'm going to bait for a little while.


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## theprowler

All I want to know is what size hook you use for baiting deer? I figure a good tuna stand up rig should work as far as tackle goes.... Anyway, I with the hys who say set up inbetween bedding and the food plot... but I feed the deer all winter, just to see what survived the hunting season...


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## flypilot33

A shark hooks works best for me, but more the shape of a circle hook.


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