It used to be a string and a bowed tree limb, a sling shot, or a simple stick that came to a point that brought down big game by natives wearing nothing but a strip of animal skin as camouflage. Oh, how the game has changed. Now, there are guns that easily shoot accurately over 500+ yards, and bows that sling arrows at lightning speeds. Just as weaponry has greatly evolved, so have the various techniques of chasing game, specifically whitetail deer. I’m not talking about equipment, but rather the use of food plots and baiting.
A Land management technique for whitetails by implementing food plots on one’s land is a relatively new concept in the hunting world and has caused quite the controversy between the views of food plotters and baiters. There are plenty of arguments as to why both are negative, as well as positive. For me the choice is clear, food plots.
In Wisconsin, baiting for the use of hunting is legal in the majority of the state and I believe that they should ban it for the greater good of the sport, at least on public lands. Baiting alters natural deer habits by providing a food source that deer can quickly fill themselves with little effort. This often causes the deer to be extremely nocturnal and to reside within short distances of the food even if it is not favorable habitat. Baiting on public lands takes away from the hunters who put in a lot of time and effort scouting for a quality deer site. Regardless of the amount of sign, that hunter may never see a deer because someone else has a bait pile within close proximity, in which the deer lay low until it is dark and safely fill their stomachs with little effort. Many people feel that food plots have the same effect as baiting, I however feel differently.
Food plots are tracts of land in which a nutritional crop is planted to aid in the overall health of wildlife year round. Although the majority of food plots are planted to grow larger deer to be hunted, the crop allows for much more gain for multiple wildlife populations. Deer that are attracted to food plots have to forage around for a much longer time to get there fill, and while food plots may hold deer nearby, it provides for a much healthier herd for all surrounding properties. Deer and other wildlife are able to use food plots in a many different ways compared to the circle of corn in the middle of the woods. For one thing, that is just unnatural, and secondly, bait piles are primarily used for one objective, to kill. A food plot is just one source of nourishment that a deer can seek in an area and just like us, they like variety as well, which means they will travel. Food plots increase the health of a herd far more than a bait pile, and allows for deer to grow older and larger.
As I see it, if you want to put in the work to cultivate your land into a prime wildlife management area and put in the labor to do so, then you should be rewarded.
2 comments:
I agree with your standpoint that banning should be taken out of deer hunting in Wisconsin. However, I think the people that use food plots to supplement the diet of whitetails on their property should not be allowed to hunt over them. Sure I understand they are used to add nutrients to promote body and antler growth and work as a source of food in winter months, but they also concentrate deer in a smaller area. Too me this makes them easier targets for hunters and easier to pattern. I don't have a problem with managing land and deer herds for quality harvests, but personally if your hunting over a food plot, you might as well be hunting over a pile or shell corn in my eyes.
Many people share the same view as you, however I believe baiting and food plots are on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. A food plot could be a corn field that you let stand for the entire year whereas baiting involves timed displacement of food in one spot. Food plots are much more natural and deer come and go as they please, just as any other agricultural plot. Most crops are still standing for the first half of the hunting season which means the deer will not be drawn into your food plot as much due to the other available options. However, if you throw a bait pile in the middle of the woods that is surrounded by cover there is a significantly greater chance that deer will come to it in the daylight. My main issue is with baiting on public lands. Here nobody can plant food plots unless the county or government does, but everybody can throw down some corn in most counties and totally disrupt natural movement and behavior of deer. Neither baiting or food plots gaurantee a kill, but at least plots provide nutrtion out of season to multiple species and improve surrounding habitat.
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