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Corn in 2023?

I'm totally against corn in a pile or feeder, for the simple fact of drawing in coons and Aflatoxin, both of which are detrimental to turkeys. Have used a little field corn in summer plots and screenings, but it usually doesn't produce much. I just personally believe it's a waste of money and not good for the wildlife.
 
Outdoor Enthusiast said:
I have never used corn for baiting to hunt or even for camera bait stations.

How well does it actually work at killing big bucks?
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I think that can vary a lot. I saw a picture on social media early this week of a very nice deer laying dead in big mature hardwoods. I'd bet you dollars to donuts he fell victim to a corn pile. No other reason for him to be there this time of year. I'd say corn killed quite a few this year. I know a very well to do family around here that has a ton of land. The two "big hunters" in the family were tagged out a couple weeks into bow season. I know without a shadow of a doubt all 4 deer fell to a corn pile. With no acorns this year the deer had to eat something.
 
On the last day of legal deer hunting here in Region 3 outside of Crossville, fairly close to the Catoosa boundary I made the executive decision to go deer hunting. (Lifetime license). Wind was right, plenty of does in my field, maybe a heavy slammer might roll threw off the Fairfield Glade golf courses a mile or two away! Have not hunted my property in years and last killed a small buck in 2006 here. It's been a while! I tossed on my orange, strapped on the 15x56's, slung a rifle over my shoulder, grabbed a Bowie knife with a good cup of coffee and headed out. Great morning. Damp with a bit of precipitation, wind good, all is right with the world. All of a sudden the morning stillness is broken with the sound of an automatic corn feeder going off right across my property line! Beautiful, just absolutely beautiful! What an ending to a great morning! You literally can not escape the baiting crowd in TN.
 
Ski said:
The difference is aflatoxin on the corn. It comes from mold. Corn gets tested for it before it can be used for humans or livestock, and if it fails it becomes deer corn. Food plots are green growing alive. I'm not really sure why some states allow it. Seems to contradict the recommendations of biologists.
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Yeah I understand what some have said on here about that and not doubting it but my question is still this ... with this data how in the round world does other states allow baiting ? I've seen others ask this and those that hunt adjoining states say they see no effect from the baiting concerning the turkey and deer population.
 
Snake said:
Yeah I understand what some have said on here about that and not doubting it but my question is still this ... with this data how in the round world does other states allow baiting ? I've seen others ask this and those that hunt adjoining states say they see no effect from the baiting concerning the turkey and deer population.
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I have to agree with this logic. I hunt KY every year for a few days and my best friend has a family farm he hunts religiously and over piles of corn. KY blows away TN for numbers and quality of deer, and some of the biggest dang bucks in the country! They've allowed baiting as long as I can remember…so explain that one??? To each his own, and personally I feel the better chances of tagging a trophy is NOT over a bait pile, but is it detrimental to the deer herd???…KY track record says NOT.
 
ChippewaPartners said:
On the last day of legal deer hunting here in Region 3 outside of Crossville, fairly close to the Catoosa boundary I made the executive decision to go deer hunting. (Lifetime license). Wind was right, plenty of does in my field, maybe a heavy slammer might roll threw off the Fairfield Glade golf courses a mile or two away! Have not hunted my property in years and last killed a small buck in 2006 here. It's been a while! I tossed on my orange, strapped on the 15x56's, slung a rifle over my shoulder, grabbed a Bowie knife with a good cup of coffee and headed out. Great morning. Damp with a bit of precipitation, wind good, all is right with the world. All of a sudden the morning stillness is broken with the sound of an automatic corn feeder going off right across my property line! Beautiful, just absolutely beautiful! What an ending to a great morning! You literally can not escape the baiting crowd in TN.
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They do make an very distinct sound when slinging. I sure do hate that for you
 
It should be legal in my opinion. We should also then codify hunting violations as criminal and therefore punishable by jail time, etc. Got your 2 bucks? You're done. Get caught with a 3rd with antlers greater than 6" - which allows for button bucks and tiny spikes - its 11/29. See you next year.
 
Snake said:
Yeah I understand what some have said on here about that and not doubting it but my question is still this ... with this data how in the round world does other states allow baiting ? I've seen others ask this and those that hunt adjoining states say they see no effect from the baiting concerning the turkey and deer population.
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Yeah I'm in same boat. Not sure what or who to believe. I trust the science when there's no underlying agenda, but its hard to know.

As 13pt pointed out, some baiting states have the best hunting. KY, OH, and KS are perfect examples. Corn piles everywhere and yet they are legendary whitetail states. Makes it hard to form a concrete opinion.

Regardless of who's right and who's wrong, it is currently illegal. People who do it are cheating, illegally taking an advantage over other hunters. Whether or not it results in killing a big buck or not, it unquestionably alters seasonally typical deer behaviors and travel. A cheater can inadvertantly destroy a law abiding neighbor's hunt. And that's unacceptable to me.
 
In NC hunting over bait is legal on private land and the number of deer harvest in the county I hunt has been on a steady rise for the past few years and a far number of better quality bucks are being harvested in this same area, where I would say 90% of deer hunters hunting on private are in fact baiting. But the government telling an individual in other states that he cannot put out corn on his own land even with the purpose of harvesting a deer in the legal season does not sit right with me, but On the other hand the aflatoxin levels in deer corn and the proven health problems it causes wild turkeys cannot be ignored because the turkey population in the same county I had talked about is in fact on a decline. So I believe everyone that baits with corn should be required to buy only certified livestock corn that has been tested for aflatoxin levels. Is that even possible and worth the effort to enforce ? is the government infringing on your rights telling you can not bait corn on your own private land ? and is baiting with corn negativity affecting the non-target species of wildlife that are being baited to a point that it is worth stopping completely ? These are the only real question I have in my head when this issue comes up.
I could care less if someone thinks baiting is a ethical or un ethical means of hunting, in my mind that is the last thing I am considered with.
 
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13pt said:
I have to agree with this logic. I hunt KY every year for a few days and my best friend has a family farm he hunts religiously and over piles of corn. KY blows away TN for numbers and quality of deer, and some of the biggest dang bucks in the country! They've allowed baiting as long as I can remember…so explain that one??? To each his own, and personally I feel the better chances of tagging a trophy is NOT over a bait pile, but is it detrimental to the deer herd???…KY track record says NOT.
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I hunt in KY and have for many years. We DO NOT bait. The guys I know that bait have never killed nice buck that I know of. The area of KY I hunt is by a majority nothing but crops, thousands of acres. What good can pouring out a bad of corn do when there is thousands of acres of it. One guy in a field next to where we hunt poured out a couple huge piles of corn. He almost did not see a buck, never saw a deer hit the corn and killed a small doe. Corn is not magic like many think it is. Maybe real early or late in the season it could help, I don't know, but in KY gun season, deer for the most part do not pay any attention to corn.
 
A good 7/10 hunters around here do it. And yes they kill giant bucks over corn. Usually with a cell camera and night vision added in. I hog bait on a farm that I don't deer hunt and could kill a certain 150 buck that way just about any week.
 
Headhunter said:
I hunt in KY and have for many years. We DO NOT bait. The guys I know that bait have never killed nice buck that I know of. The area of KY I hunt is by a majority nothing but crops, thousands of acres. What good can pouring out a bad of corn do when there is thousands of acres of it. One guy in a field next to where we hunt poured out a couple huge piles of corn. He almost did not see a buck, never saw a deer hit the corn and killed a small doe. Corn is not magic like many think it is. Maybe real early or late in the season it could help, I don't know, but in KY gun season, deer for the most part do not pay any attention to corn.
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I think right now corn could be magic. crop fields have played out. Early on, I agree, deer are browsers. we put out some corn in Ohio County, Ky. Surrounded by crop fields. Giants, absolute giants dined at our pile(s). I took a nice nine point.
 
I don't have a crop field within several miles of me. The closest one is the Corn Maze that's 3 or 4 miles away. If I spread out a hundred pounds of corn behind the house, it will be gone in 3 days. Gone, gone. I haven't had any out since mid September, but I'm going to throw some out in the next week or two just to see what I can see.
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I'd guess the percentage to be around 30%.

Getting caught hunting over it is pretty expensive, and not worth it IMO.
 
I told myself when I saw the topic of corn that I should just keep driving...nothing to see...lol...I just wish every dollar spent on non-certified aflatoxin free "deer corn" would be spent on habitat improvements....heck spend that cash on chainsaw gas and open up areas in a closed canopy forest or don't spend any money and designate portions of a pasture to return to old field growth.
So many healthier and beneficial options out there verses feeding corn...the risk of feeding bagged corn in a higher humid environment far outweigh the minimal benefits....and these threads always mention other states....so look at Texas....they feed more corn than probably any other state and they are even in a drier region (less risk)...but still they only allow certified aflatoxin free feed corn....

I knew I should have just kept driving.
 
tellico4x4 said:
I believe more than most folks believe.

I have neighbors who use it one end of our place. Nearly every deer we kill on that end is full of it. Game Warden has been trying for a couple years to catch them but hasn't yet. Certainly hope that he eventually does.
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Yep. I know that deer are baited on properties behind mine. All the corn around us was out very early this year, mid October at the latest. Both deer I killed in mid November had picked up corn somewhere. These guys are bold enough to ride their side by sides on trailers with bagged corn in the beds, during season.
 

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