I will start this by saying I have absolutely zero problem with people who hunt deer over a bait pile. I have done it many times since I started carrying around a rifle or bow, especially opening day of rifle season up north and late season doe hunting in the lower half of the mitten. There have been many hours spent watching squirrels tear away at the corn laying on the ground in front of me or watching a button buck chomp on sugar beets for hours on end. I also understand that many men and women that hunt small parcels of private or public land that have no food or bedding in the immediate area have to rely on bait in order to lure deer within range.
Without a doubt, baiting has done some wonderous things for hunters; many of us most likely shot our first deer over a bait pile and baiting has given many of us opportunities to shoot deer that we probably wouldn't have got an opportunity to shoot if it wasn’t for the corn, carrot, or apple pile in front of us. I shot my first buck with a bow when I was 13 years old about 150 yards behind my house on a 3 acre strip of timber, and there’s absolutely no way that seven point would’ve been under my tree if it wasn’t for the corn laying underneath me. Furthermore, there’s a popular notion out there that you cannot shoot mature bucks over bait, and that is absolutely not true. They might not be hitting the bait at all times of the day like does and young bucks, but a mature buck will absolutely come into a bait pile if the weather is cold and he’s hungry enough or he’s following a few of his lady friends that are coming in to chow. Mature bucks are shot over bait piles all over the country on an annual basis, so I ask my fellow hunters to stop with that notion.
Don’t tell me you cannot shoot a mature buck over a bait pile. My buddy Robby Enslen has shot multiple mature bucks coming into bait piles during both archery and firearm season. Check out this 12 point stud he tagged in Northern Michigan this past fall. The buck was following does to a bait pile.
With that being said, those days are over for the foreseeable future if you live and hunt in the great state of Michigan due to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources attempt to combat Chronic Wasting Disease, popularly known as CWD. I know many people that are already dreading next hunting season without being able to bait because that’s simply how they hunt, and now they are confident they won’t be seeing deer at their usual spots and are looking to spend more money on out of state hunts in order to increase their chances of filling their freezer come next fall. Now I’m not sitting here telling you to cancel your out of state plans, I myself will be doing quite a bit of traveling next fall trying to fill tags in a couple different states, but what I am telling you is to stop looking at the no baiting law as a negative and try to look at the glass half full and notch a deer tag by putting in a little more time prior to the season or by using a different method of hunting next year.
ENHANCE YOUR SKILLS AS A WOODSMAN
Like I mentioned above, baiting has done wonderous things for many hunters across the state, but it has also had a major repercussion for many of us that grew up hunting over bait piles without many of us even realizing it. That repercussion is the simple fact that it has greatly decreased the average bait-hunters woodsmanship. By throwing down a pile of artificial bait, you are making the animal you are hunting do an artificial act. The majority of the time you are hunting over bait, the deer that are coming to your bait would not be standing in front of you if it weren’t for the artificial bait that you put down, which means you are witnessing the animal performing an unnatural activity outside of its natural pattern. Now before I get hate mail, I’m not saying that all hunters that hunt over bait don’t have any woodsman skills, there’s plenty of people that hunt over bait that are a heck of a lot more educated about deer hunting than I am. I’m sure there’s also a ton of John and Jane Does out there that don’t care that when they shoot a deer over bait that the deer is outside of its natural pattern, and they’re just happy to notch their tag and fill the freezer and I’m completely supportive of that. For myself though, as I’ve become a more experienced hunter, I find the process and the hunting much more exciting when I’m trying to solve the riddle of the deer’s natural pattern, rather than interrupting those patterns by throwing bait down in front of me. Trying to learn an understanding of how a deer thinks, how it reacts to certain situations, and trying to pattern their daily movement has added a very exciting element to the process for myself. Also looking at different maps and coming up with a well thought-out plan of how to hunt a certain area and trying to predict how the deer travel from looking at those maps adds an exciting element to the hunt as well. Trying new things like that will undoubtedly enhance your skills as a woodsman, and add to the gratification when you are able to fill your tag.
I know in order to do things like this, many of you will have to make major adjustments to not just how you hunt, but to where you hunt as well. Enhancing your skills as a woodsman takes time, and you will have to spend more time in the field this summer scouting and learning how to hunt a new area. For those people out there that hunt over bait at a small piece of private property, take a look at some maps and find a large chunk of public property relatively close to home and do some scouting. Look for bedding areas, pinch points, travel corridors, staging areas, and food sources on the property. Once you pin point a couple areas that look promising, throw a stand up and see what happens. I’m well aware of the annual orange army that makes their appearance on public lands across the state every 15th of November, but most public land pressure is very minimal during archery season and I know plenty of people that are successful every year on public land. The new law that has completely banned baiting for 2019 is going to change the way you hunt no matter what, so in my opinion there isn’t a better year to take on a new challenge such as hunting public property or working harder to find yourself access to a larger piece of private property that contains all the essential habitat necessities a deer needs.
Overall, having a better understanding of the deer you are hunting will undoubtedly add to the excitement of the hunt. As a hunter, we LIVE to hear others tell their hunting stories. I don’t know about you, but hearing a hunting story about a guy or girl putting in the work in the summer to scout and find a pinch point between a bedding area and food source to hang a stand, and later tag a deer out of that stand because of their hard work is just the best story to listen to back at camp or around a fall evening bonfire. Much more exciting that a buck coming into the corn pile at first light; those stories are still great, but they don’t contain the same amount of excitement and sense of gratification as the others.
FOOD PLOTS
Another option that is still perfectly legal for those who have the resources and property to do it is planting a food plot. Food plots are not considered to be bait or feed by the Michigan DNR, and hunting over a food plot can still enhance your skills as a woodsman. Knowing what kind of plants deer like to feed on different times of the year, and monitoring what times and how deer are traveling to and from food plots can definitely enhance your knowledge as a deer hunter. Hunting over natural food sources such as food plots or standing agricultural crops can be a very successful way to hunt whitetails, the challenging part is learning to get to and from your stand without spooking the deer out of the food source or bumping them out of their bedding area. I always recommend hunting over food sources in the evening when you can beat them to the food source; I’ve bumped too many deer off food sources in the morning walking to my stand to inspire hunters to hunt over them for their morning sit.
My old man was able fill his tag on this beautiful Michigan buck hunting a travel corridor from bedding to a food plot. My dad gave up hunting over bait piles about a decade ago and he’s killed more nice bucks in that timeframe than he had in his previous 25 years of hunting.
MAPPING
This year I recommend taking that $100 you spent on bait last year, and using it toward purchasing onX Hunt Maps on your phone or PC. OnX Hunt is essentially a plat book for the entire country with public and public land boundaries, landowner names, and topographical and satellite maps with roads and trails to look at wherever you want to hunt or scout. While scouting a property and using the app, you can mark waypoints at certain spots that look like bedding areas, trails, pinch points, prospective blind/treestand locations, and areas where you find past rutting sign such as scrapes and rubs. It is a very effective tool that will sharpen your skills while out in the field all while making your scouting more effective. If you don't want to give public land a try, OnX shows all of the landowner names of the pieces of property you have been driving by on your way home from work for the past decade. Now that you know the landowners name and some information about the property, it might give you the confidence to go knock on his or her door to ask for permission to hunt the property. All in all, mapping is an effective tool that you can use both out in the field, or while at home on your computer so you can essentially use it year around to make you a more successful hunter.
PRESSING BEDDING AREAS
While doing your preseason scouting this spring and summer, try to locate some primary bedding areas on the piece of property you're scouting. You can do this somewhat effectively by looking at a map to get an idea of where the thicker areas on the property are, but until you put foot on the ground on that property you won't fully know until you see for yourself; don’t worry about kicking deer up while walking around this summer, if it’s truly a primary bedding area those deer will come back. Once you locate a primary bedding location, throw a trail camera up in the middle of it and let it sit for six to eight weeks, and once you take a look at the pictures and you like what you see, then its time to make a move that might be a tad out of your comfort zone if you’ve been baiting the past few years. This upcoming fall, instead of locating a bedding area and throwing a bait pile down a 100 yards away from it, press that bedding area and try to sit as close as you possibly can to it. Before heading straight to the nearest food source, a buck, especially a mature buck, will usually get up and hangout in the bedding area for the lengthy period of time before making his way toward the food source at last light. If you can get close to their bedroom, this will increase your chances of seeing a mature buck before dark and maybe fill your tag on your biggest Michigan buck yet by getting away from baiting and thinking outside the box a little bit.
Again, this in no way was intended to bash anybody who has hunted over bait on a regular basis every fall. Like I mentioned, it can be a very successful way to lure deer into range and make an ethical shot in order to fill the freezer. This was intended to give you a few ideas on how to approach this fall if this law holds up and baiting is banned for the foreseeable future. Since I’ve moved away from baiting, I’ve learned to enjoy the process on a much deeper level that has made sitting in a treestand and having encounters with whitetails that much more exciting and appreciated. Solving the riddle of the natural pattern of these stealthy animals is a huge challenge to take on, but I believe if it’s a challenge you’re willing to take on you will learn to appreciate hunting on a whole new level. If for some reason you don't, and the baiting ban is lifted, then by all means go back to baiting and enjoying that style of hunting because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!
If you plan on having a successful 2019 deer season, it’s already late March, so get out there with your Daniel Boone thinking cap and start enhancing your skills as a woodsman like the generations before us had to do it. There are many states in this country where baiting is banned, and there are plenty of successful hunters in those respective states; lets make Michigan one of those states while this baiting ban is in effect. Don’t give up hunting just because things are changing, still go to deer camp and enjoy the comradery, enjoy becoming a more skilled woodsman, enjoy the process, and enjoy the new hunting stories that begin with “No Bait, No Problem.”