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)

2nd Birthday!!

Snow Camp Outdoors just had their 2nd birthday a couple days ago!  Thank you all you readers for keeping me writing.  Please comment on what we should do next (adding in different content: video, product review).  

Product Review- Hurricane Bag Target

I think that the Hurricane Bag Targets are awesome.  Sure, you can't put broadheads into them, but they provide great target practice.

Durable
The bag target sustained 100's of shots from my bow, over a few seasons.  Eventually I was careless and left it outside most of the time, and if I kept it in a dryer place, it would have lasted even longer.

Nice Aiming Points
I have a target that has a deer vital area shown on one side, and "hurricane" looking aiming points on the other side.  I used the deer vital side much more than the other side, because it gave me a realistic thing to shoot at.

I Could Move It Around
All I needed to do was to pick up the strap and go!  Now, I wouldn't say that anyone could do it, depending on strength and age.

I like Hurricane Bag Targets.  I would recommend them.

Select A Bow

For those who want to get a bow, you must ask, "What type of bow do I want?"  You can boil it down into two main categories: traditional and modern bows.
  I would suggest that you look at if you want a modern compound or a traditional recurve bow, for example. Compounds give you let-off at full draw, while traditional bows do not.  Check out these two articles that I have written in the past to help you narrow down your choices:

Longbow vs. Recurve

Compound vs. Crossbow

  Another thing to consider is to see if you are right or left handed.  You need to find a bow to fit that need, obviously.  Some bows can be right or left handed, but not many.  Here is an interesting fact I found from "Archery Bows and Arrows Online," "However, reality is if you are right handed you will be holding your right handed bow with your left hand so be sure, if you are shopping on your own, to pick the one that you hold in the opposite hand of your dominant hand.1"  Great tip.

  An archery pro shop would really be of use in helping you find your draw length and weight.  They can measure how far you need to draw back the bow to get it to full draw, and how much weight you can pull back, because it won't work if you cannot.

  I have read that you can measure your arm length to figure out what draw length you need, but, as I said, archery pro shops really help.

Happy hunting!

1. Compound Fitting Guide

Squirrel Tip

If you happen to be hunting squirrels, and it seems to be that nothing is moving, just wait.  Today, I went squirrel hunting and it looked like absolutely nothing was going on, with the occasional birds singing.  But when I got into the woods, they were much more alive than I thought!  Squirrels were moving like crazy.  I got, with an air rifle, about 5 shots at them, all in one small area.  I didn't hit them, probably because my rifle is not in prime condition, but I am sure I also had something to do with it.
Squirrels do move, even when you think not, so just keep your eyes and ears open.

Happy hunting!