Baiting vs. Supplemental Feeding

Baiting deer is a very debated topic.  I've read the pros and cons of it, and I think that if you want to bait, and it's legal too, fine.  If you don't bait, that's fine too.  I personally might bait a little bit, and I still will hunt over natural foods and when available, food plots.  But, let's make the difference between baiting and supplemental feeding (minerals)

Baiting- Attracting deer to a hunt site with the use of corn or deer attractant.
Supplemental Feeding- Giving deer minerals they need to get big, strong, and healthy.  You don't hunt over the spot, you leave it alone.  Doing this after the season would help deer to get through the winter without a lot of weight loss.

Baiting can be done with help from a feeder, or it can be piled on the ground.  I don't think it matters if you get a $400 one or make it out of pvc pipe for $5.  Deer have patterns, and they will stick to those patterns unless they have a good reason, so if you use a gravity feeder, it will only use feed if deer come.  Meanwhile battery feeders throw out feed that may or may not be eaten.

Mineral blocks can be used for bait, but I would say that they should be used to give deer much needed minerals.  Giving deer corn and mineral blocks can help them during winter, when food is scarcer than during summer or fall months.  Food plots are another example of feeding deer, if the food plot is there in the winter.

My personal experience.  I only used a little bit of corn in front of a camera to see if deer were coming to a particular area, that's it.  I haven't done the whole thing long, only a couple weeks.  But I think I will mostly stick to supplement feeding.  And if you have pvc or gravity feeders, why not just catch some acorns and put them in it so deer can have them?  (Check out my article on acorn gathering: Gathering Acorns for Hunting)

Big and J, Sportsman Choice, Whitetail Institute, Evolved Habitats, C' Mere Deer, all make good feeds and mineral items.
Salt blocks are another good investment.  But use them for minerals, not for bait.

That's all for now, happy hunting and Merry Christmas!

(CORRECTION): A couple weeks after I posted this article, I decided to hunt over my corn pile a little bit, as a last resort to get another deer, and I almost succeeded.  (3/26/14)