# Food plot versus bait



## Hunter33

I own land in upper Michigan and plan to put in a few acres of food plot next year. Probably a clover/chicory mix. Will the deer stay on the food plots during season or will they be lured away to the neighbors bait piles?


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## Waif

You'll know more in a couple years.....

Deer can spend less time at either place for a variety of factors. How you and the neighbor hunt them will be important.

Have security cover adjacent , and don't let deer know you are hunting them.
Have no cover , spook the deer , and expect them to wait till dark to return. If they return.

IF you can offer a secluded plot (even a small one depending on deer numbers) away from trouble and leave it to the deer they should use it if the browse is palatable.

Deer have requirements , preferences and urges. They move accordingly.
Unmolested security cover can be most valuable sometimes. Where do deer go when harassed?
They don't have to go far (by our standards). But if it's not where you are , it is far.
Secure cover. Browse when leaving it , and they'll be around more. They have all night to go elsewhere if a treat awaits.
If your neighbor is good at hunting , you'll have good competition. If not , he'll have competition anyways.
The deer will react according to how they are hunted. And where and when they feel secure.


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## Tilden Hunter

Hunter33 said:


> I own land in upper Michigan and plan to put in a few acres of food plot next year. Probably a clover/chicory mix. Will the deer stay on the food plots during season or will they be lured away to the neighbors bait piles?


Eschew both, and be a hunter.


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## Dish7

This sounds like fall fishing at it's best, lol.


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## 98885

Food plots take a few years to optimize your hunting. Even then (in my location), food plots are not going to be the first place deer will visit. Ours are on land with large ag fields(beans and corn) and the deer are using my plots till around mid September then there gone into the ag fields where they seem to stay till late season. The UP may be a better place for them where there isn't any other better food source. Even then, deer will utilize other food sources with food plots. I think food plot location is more important than what's in the plot.


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## Hunter33

johnIV said:


> Food plots take a few years to optimize your hunting. Even then (in my location), food plots are not going to be the first place deer will visit. Ours are on land with large ag fields(beans and corn) and the deer are using my plots till around mid September then there gone into the ag fields where they seem to stay till late season. The UP may be a better place for them where there isn't any other better food source. Even then, deer will utilize other food sources with food plots. I think food plot location is more important than what's in the plot.





johnIV said:


> Food plots take a few years to optimize your hunting. Even then (in my location), food plots are not going to be the first place deer will visit. Ours are on land with large ag fields(beans and corn) and the deer are using my plots till around mid September then there gone into the ag fields where they seem to stay till late season. The UP may be a better place for them where there isn't any other better food source. Even then, deer will utilize other food sources with food plots. I think food plot location is more important than what's in the plot.


for the record, I get more enjoyment out of seeing my plot full of deer then I do actually shooting one. The reason I asked the question is my local bait shop said they went through several pallets of corn just over the weekend. I have been putting in food plots for many years but this is the first time in the big woods. With so much baiting going on in the UP, I wondered what attracts the deer the most


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## 98885

Hunter33 said:


> for the record, I get more enjoyment out of seeing my plot full of deer then I do actually shooting one. The reason I asked the question is my local bait shop said they went through several pallets of corn just over the weekend. I have been putting in food plots for many years but this is the first time in the big woods. With so much baiting going on in the UP, I wondered what attracts the deer the most


That's exactly how I feel. I love bringing the deer into natural food sources like growing food plots more than placing bagged bait on the ground. I also bait in the UP but do not have land to plant on. If I did, I'd do both.


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## Lightfoot

My small food plots here in the EUP had a lot of deer on them up until a few days after September 15th. There are a couplie of does and bucks still cruising through a few times a week but nothing close to what it was before the 15th.

Deer patterns changed due to people in the woods chasing birds? people scouting? People tending bait piles? bait itself? Something else?


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## 98885

Lightfoot said:


> My small food plots here in the EUP had a lot of deer on them up until a few days after September 15th. There are a couplie of does and bucks still cruising through a couple of times a week but nothing close to what it was before the 15th.
> 
> Deer patterns changed due to people in the woods chasing birds? people scouting? People tending bait piles? bait itself? Something else?


Agreed. That's typical on these plots. Big ag fields on my lease doesn't help. All the guys that have stands hung near those ag fields have all the bigger bucks on their cameras. They hold deer and the food source is more preferable to the deer. I see that change every year and it's not from more human activity on our 600 acre lease. Nobody is in there the entire month of September. It's just that deer do change their movement due to fall food sources change regardless of what they are.


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## Bucman

Bait is way easier, no weather involved.

To each his own


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## Hunter33

Some people complain about food plots but the truth is they are expensive and time consuming to put in. If I am lucky I will kill one deer per year (since I don’t gun hunt) but I provide an excellent food source for many deer. I see fawns sitting on my small clover patch in the middle of the day. They value food plots provide in the UP is immeasurable in my opinion. But some will say I am the bad guy for spending $1,000’s on equipment and seed,fertilizer and not to mention many hours per year so I can shoot one deer.


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## 98885

I compare putting food plots in to baiting bears. I enjoy watching my cameras as much as hunting in both scenarios.


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## Lumberman

Bait is way more attractive then a foodplot.

Deer will browse through a food plot just like any natural food source then continue on about their way. 

Deer will set up on a bait pile, eat their fill, then go and bed down. 

The biggest difference being bait will encourage the deer to be more nocturnal.


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## Luv2hunteup

Food attracts deer. It doesn’t matter if it’s from a bag, has been planted or is naturally occurring. Acorns are hard to beat but most people that plant them never live long enough to reap the rewards. If you want food around that benefits the herd from the time they return from the yards until they leave again food plots are hard to beat. They also attract and feed a wide variety of other wildlife. I spend way more hours improving my habitat than actual hours hunting my property, it’s the legacy I’ll leave behind.


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## 98885

Lumberman said:


> Bait is way more attractive then a foodplot.
> 
> Deer will browse through a food plot just like any natural food source then continue on about their way.
> 
> Deer will set up on a bait pile, eat their fill, then go and bed down.
> 
> The biggest difference being bait will encourage the deer to be more nocturnal.


And they aren't relaxed when eating off bait piles.


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## Hunter33

How many acres of food plot do you have? How much land? I have 40 acres and hope to get 2-2.5 acres in food plots next year. Have you noticed a lot more deer on your property since putting food plots?


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## brushbuster

Food plots is a small part to keeping deer on your parcel.
Browse, cover, water, little pressure all help. Give the deer a home and let the neighbors feed them.


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## brushbuster

brushbuster said:


> Food plots is a small part to keeping deer on your parcel.
> Browse, cover, water, little pressure all help. Give the deer a home and let the neighbors feed them.


Also having travel corridors and setting your property up with lines of travel around barriers, pinch points funnels allows you to hunt the deer as they travel back to your property and as they seek out does.


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## brushbuster

Food sources that highly attract would be foods that release sugars when frost has occured. Brassicas tend to rule. Food that stays green when everything is brown like winter grains( wheat and rye)will bring deer in. A mix of grainss and clover or strips of brassicas, clover grains all help bringing in deer at various times. Don't rely on one type of plot, variety rules.


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## Hunter33

brushbuster said:


> Also having travel corridors and setting your property up with lines of travel around barriers, pinch points funnels allows you to hunt the deer as they travel back to your property and as they seek out does.


I have several trails left from the logging several years ago. They are used pretty heavily by the deer and moose now.


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