Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Thoughts on bulk feeders and costs ?

Spysar said:
Making a corn pile in Iowa is like bringing sand to the beach.
Click to expand...
It is ironic. Yet- agree - a corn pile pulls em in like crazy!!
Here’s the most ironic thing I’ve seen personally…. We are for sure the land of corn & soybeans. Now- not quite to the extreme in timbered regions - where deer are. The amount of dudes that try & fail to plant say, 2-8 acres for deer is insane. It’s way harder to grow a field than anyone realizes. The fencing. The deer damage. The raccoons destroying a field. U name it!!! Bananas!!!

Thats the one ironic thing I see all the time- dudes struggling (self included!!!!!) to get a plot to get a legit corn or bean field in the land of corn & beans!!! & understandable…. Dudes try and tuck them in secluded spots next to timber. It’s SO HARD & so many mistakes can be made. Which I love that. & why some states - the lazy man’s solution is throw a 6” deep 5’x5’ pile of corn a week before season!!! & the damage that does to: ecosystem, age class, skills of hunters, training the next generations, neighbor/fence corn pile issues, damage to natural browse, mold & turkey issues, pulling it away when season is done, less incentives to improve habitat, reduction of beneficial food plots, on & on !!!! Being totally honest- trying to be empathetic to all views…. I have not heard one PRO-BAIT argument that gives ONE scientific/biological benefit to baiting. (If it’s a corn pile). Not one. & I’m very open minded. It’s ONLY for shooting/killing & ease of it. I have ZERO issue with a dude throwing a few bags out to get pics. As long as corn is in their system/diet- no harm there & I’ll do that on occasion too when done hunting. For wide scale hunting use: the HUGE list of negatives that come with it…. NEVER!!!!!!! NEVER should it be allowed in IA IMO!!!!!
 
Buckscrape said:
This is in Iowa (I think). Where baiting is illegal but trampling corn out to 30yds from your blind is ok ...
Click to expand...
Ya- I understand the hypocrisy of how it looks. & part of it: ya, it’s getting close to crossing a line.
IMHO- it’s not a battle worth fighting- it still needs:
folks to plant countless amounts of acres. Get it to maturity & once it’s gone- it’s gone - no replacing it. It does spread deer out over say 2-3 acres (over 100,000 sq feet) vs 10 sq feet. No mold issues. Few can & will do it. Better for wildlife in that fields can last into spring if done right & provide shelter to deer & birds. Requires lots of effort & work to be able to have it & do it.
But yea, i get it. I do.
If the choice was ever this: 1) outlaw the corn that can be run over or 2) legalize all bait & corn piles. I’d pick #1 10000000000x before #2.


& in SASKATCHEWAN!!!!! I want to make this point…. I see them bait, often with alfalfa bales or hay bales. That’s actually far more healthy & beneficial for deer….. deer that do often starve from lack of nutrition & cold… that literally can be a life sustainer. & the BIG ONE!!!! Saskatchewan has such HUGE & VAST tracts of land with so few people. Baiting doesn’t create the people conflicts like down here where 40’s & 80’s are the norm with lots of hunters on all tracts. Saskatchewan baiting doesn’t bother me personally with u alls dynamics. & heck- I’d do all I could to pack nutrition to them up there with the obstacles they face.
 
A guy near me who used to film would “accidentally” miss his wagon when harvesting. It’s a farm practice right?! He was rubbing elbows with a few of the big names (filming folks) in the state who were mowing their corn... Needless to say, the guys who mow, still are filming...the guy that was missing his wagons, is no longer filming... I DO believe that the folks mowing, wouldnt really "agree" with baiting. I know many of you have been in the industry and know people that are, and being in it myself and filming for many years, I can honestly say I am so glad I am not filming anymore for the big names. The pressure to produce is a real deal. And folks will cross some lines if they can somehow justify it.
As far as a corn pile, the first year I did it at my new place, I had 5 miles of river bottom from each direction coming to my place. I had 100+ deer a night showing up, and the neighbors who had food plots had zero deer. My one neighbor had 2 acres standing corn and 2 acres of standing beans and didnt get touched, as the deer were at my place with a feeder. So dont let things fool you, a feeder/corn pile will draw and keep deer. The folks dumping piles and filling feeders year round, are KEEPING the deer on their ground, period. I could walk through the entire group of 100+ here if I was walking to the feeder with buckets in my hands, they never even ran.
 
I have a neighbor who has connections to a big name filmer. Feeder on a standing bean field. During season I think they “forgot” to take down the feeder or at least empty it 30 days before season.
 
Windlooker said:
I have a neighbor who has connections to a big name filmer. Feeder on a standing bean field. During season I think they “forgot” to take down the feeder or at least empty it 30 days before season.
Click to expand...
It seems like the dnr doesn't enforce baiting laws like they should..it doesn't even mention baiting in the rules and regs paper copy unless I missed it..I have a neighbor who caught 2 different guys driving in with bags of corn during November..He told the warden and nothing came from it. I hate baiters!!
 
DNR needs to make the rules crystal clear. Things are left for interpretation, and I think they do it on purpose. I don't think removing feed 30 days before hunting is a thing. It should be. It should also clearly state how far away feed needs to be from hunting locations. It does not. Example: A person could feed 300 yards away by cut the deer off on their way to it. Things need to be more black and white.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
DNR needs to make the rules crystal clear. Things are left for interpretation, and I think they do it on purpose. I don't think removing feed 30 days before hunting is a thing. It should be. It should also clearly state how far away feed needs to be from hunting locations. It does not. Example: A person could feed 300 yards away by cut the deer off on their way to it. Things need to be more black and white.
Click to expand...
I'd like to see them nip this in the bud before it becomes a big thing. No supplemental feeding at all during deer season seems like a pretty crystal clear way to do it.
 
This is very much like the gun debates...the people who hunt over bait will always hunt over bait. That law already exists. Too costly to enforce, not enough boots on the ground. Push that so hard and some hero at the DNR will say food plotting is baiting and outlaw it. Now we'll have the law abiding with no food plots and the criminals still hunting over bait. If you know someone baiting, turn them in and keep pushing to enforce the law. If it's the Lakosky's, so be it. The gun laws in Chicago are crystal clear and there are more shootings there than there has ever been.
 
Enforcing baiting is hard but easy….
The DNR officer simply needs assistance from folks who know about baiting so they can pinch them in the act.
I’ve talked to multiple dnr officers on this.
For example - if u say “I found a bait pile I can see on neighbors”…. We can’t expect the dnr to camp out there for days or weeks. They need u to tell them “they in there now”. & that can be from seeing their vehicle or seeing them or even a cell cam on the road so u know if they in there.

Give u example from 2 weeks ago…. We got a dude with less than 15 acres of timber in our area. All the folks around him can see the bait pile. The neighbors even took a drone a few weeks ago to see if the bait pile was there. It was. Neighbors saw the chumps walking out there to hunt. Called the game warden, second gun season, he was there 30 mins later & walked up on them 50 yards away sitting on a corn pile. Stone cold busted. Took almost no work or days waiting - just folks paying attention. U make it easy for DNR- dudes can get busted very easily. Very solvable. & heck, these drones now days are like $500. & everyone has cell cams to monitor things. Dude in my area finally got pinched & if he does it again- gonna get far worse for consequences. & now word has spread & everyone in neighborhood knows those clowns up to no good.
 
Thinkin Rut said:
We just flipped the switch on our 800# feeder after shotgun season (done hunting there). The cost of corn is around $70 to fill and how we have it set now that should get us through January. I'll bump it up when the first nasty cold comes through. We were lucky enough to get some brassicas in and also rye to help. We also put some Alfalfa bales on the south facing slopes and dressed them up a bit with corn. We'll keep it going till green up.
Click to expand...
I did not think supplemental feeding was allowed until after season (Jan 10). I have not been able to find what the law actually is. Can you feed as long as you are done hunting for the season ?
Thanks
 
So something interesting that I heard the other day about how some guys keep the feeders going during the season and if a target buck shows up on the cell cam sitting over them they immediately go in a pull the feeder and hunt the surrounding plots. And I’m just relaying a story because that’s all it is just a story.
 
Last edited:
theDoorman said:
I did not think supplemental feeding was allowed until after season (Jan 10). I have not been able to find what the law actually is. Can you feed as long as you are done hunting for the season ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
So, bait can’t be used to “hunt by”. Paths to it & from it. In some ways that language needs cleaned up. Officer discretion.
HONESTY here: I almost wouldn’t clean up language or take gamble to try. It’ll possibly get worse…. 1 of 2 scenarios:
1) “you can’t hunt within 250 yards of bait” is one likely result. That would be a disaster & would cause baiting to explode!!!! Even if they said 400 yards. We all know the BS that would happen. That’s the one that worries me
2) no bait placed during deer season. I’d 100% be ok with this one. IF this was the targeted clarity- no problem. I sure don’t wanna see #1 have a chance of going through. If we do this: it’s simple dates on Calendar - period.

Yes- u can bait. Let’s say I’m done hunting my farm & wanna “keep deer safe” …. I could throw feed out now. No issue. Just can’t hunt by em. That’s the law today.

As long as we don’t increasing chances of baiting - I’m ok with whatever. I sure don’t wanna poke the issue where it backfires. We clearly don’t want the $hit show like OH or KS or wherever - it’s a Frigin bait pile contest. Talk to gazillion dudes “if I don’t throw out bait I’m screwed. Have to. It’s a MUST have to COMPETE for deer”. What a sad landscape & reality!!!!!!!
 
chipterp said:
So something interesting that I heard the other day about how some guys keep the feeders going during the season and if a target buck shows up on the cell cam sitting over them they immediately go in a pull the feeder and hunt the surrounding plots. And I’m just relaying a story because that’s all it is just a story.
Click to expand...
They absolutely could get prosecuted for that. Key word: prosecuted!!! They might fight it and win. But, likely they’d lose. They should lose. That scenario u laid out should 100% be illegal black & white. & the law as it’s written now: they can be ticketed for baiting in that example.
 
theDoorman said:
I did not think supplemental feeding was allowed until after season (Jan 10). I have not been able to find what the law actually is. Can you feed as long as you are done hunting for the season ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
I'm not hunting it. If Jan 10th is the law, I'm breaking it. I'm fortunate enough to let it cook because I have a great lease. I've owned it for five years and have yet to kill anything on it, not that I couldn't. Doing land improvements on it in anticipation of losing my lease. Feeding not baiting...maybe Jan10th does apply? Let me know and I'll go pay my fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom