It’s an exciting time of the year for many hunters as we approach the end ofsummerand begin to entire the cooler months of Fall.The grocery supercenters and gas stations in most suburban and rural areas start setting pallets of one of the highest selling hunting products on the market; deer bait. Suddenly, the timber and fields where we hunt are deposited with concentrated piles of sustenance and we have been practicing this ritual ever since we can remember.Pouringout bait to attract whitetail deer cansometimes be complicated, butitdoesn’thave tobe.
Hunters have been baiting, attracting,and feeding deer for decades, with themain purpose of enticingthat mature buck to come into shooting range during daylight hours. In recent years,and with the wide use of trail cameras, hunters are now using bait to create feeding hubs thatgeneratenumerous qualitytrail cameraphotos of their deer herd.Aswe study tolearnmore aboutthe nutritional biology of whitetails, it’s been discovered thatthesupplemental feeding of deer showsbenefits if done during the off-season.Even with all the complexity and politics surroundingthe world of baiting, deer feedand deer corncontinues to fly off the shelves across all regions in North America. The basic principles of baiting remain unchanged, however,new products, better strategies, and advancedtactics candramatically improve the success you might achieve when baiting and attracting deer.
What is the Best Bait for Deer?
A whitetail buck’s antlers are comprised of 22% calcium, 11% phosphorous, and theremainingbalance is a mix of protein, trace minerals, and ash. When searching for afeed, attractant, or baitproduct, it’s important to look for these key ingredients of calcium and phosphorous on the package.By far the most popular and widely used bait for attracting whitetails is corn. Not only isdeercorn highly consumed and well received by whitetails in almost every habitat across the continent, but it’s also one of the cheapest options for hunters. Corn containsseveral of theseessential nutrients for whitetailsthat improve their health andability to surviveleading intowinter. Baiting with cornis alwaysa highly recommended source for whitetails and remainsas one of the best product choices out there.However, hunters using corn should keep in mind that it can be enhanced.
PHOTO:GYT90’s crude soybean oil content is thick enough to cover the corn kernels with a glaze and acts as an attractant enhancer from its soybean aroma. It also supplies heightened taste and an instinctual need whitetails have for the highest nutritional intake for their time feeding.
One product that is sometimes overlooked, but proves to be highly effective year in and year out, is soybeans. Since soybeans aren’t commerciallysold at the same level corn is, outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen don’t seem to pursue it as much. However, if you have ever hunted over a freshly cut soybean field, or a standing soybean field in the late seasonyou have seen the impactthey have on deer.These locations can act as a free bait pilesand will definitely attract several deer. Corn and soybeans contain a higher combined percentage of calcium and phosphorous than acorns, apples, alfalfa, or clover.Not to mention carbs and fats deer seek in the fall.Without soybeans being readily available, hunters will have a hard time accessing this without planting soybean food plots. Fortunately there is another option!
New deer bait and feed products surface frequently, but only a select few make an impact on everyday hunters. One such product is something that can takestandarddeercorn baitsites, and enhance them with the nutritional power, scent, and taste of soybeans. The soybean oil based deer mineral and feed supplement “GYT90”gives hunters thebest of both worlds when mixed with a standard bag of corn.GYT90’scrude soybean oilcontentis thick enough to cover the corn kernels with a glaze and acts as an attractant enhancer from its soybeanaroma.It also supplies heightened taste and an instinctual need whitetails have for the highest nutritional intake for their time feeding. Deer corn, enhanced with GYT90’s soybean oil based nutrition and 90+ mineral supplement means that your bait site is optimized for attracting deer. Now it’s time to discuss where to put this potent mixture.
How to use GYT 90: Corn
Posted by GYT 90 on Friday, April 13, 2018
The Best Locations for Deer Bait and Feed Sites
With thebestdeerbaitand feed in hand you need to find themost effective locationsfor hunting, recon, or attracting deer. Specific bait locations can vary based on terrain, wind direction, competing food sources,use,etc. However, there is one common denominator when deciding where to place your bait siteand that isitsproximity todeerbeddinglocations.
If youare truly looking to hunt over bait,you need to understand deer movement and how deerwould potentially be traveling to and from your baitsite.In addition, you need to look at how you might access and hunt that compared to where the deer will already be.Several hunters will throw out bait at a location that best suits their access restrictions or feasibility. One of the biggest mistakes hunters make is placing bait in locations where deer usually won’t access during daylight shooting hours.As successful as deer bait is, at the end of the dayitshard to force a deer to travel to a place they do not want to be.Frustrationcan quickly setin when hunting over a bait site and seeing minimal deer activity, then returning the next day to hunt that same location only to findyour bait pile has been almost entirely consumed.Mature bucks may become lazy and purposely nocturnal to avoid exposing themselves in daylight.
Avoid this pitfallby placing your bait near known bedding areas. This willreduce the time it takes for deer to travel when they begin to move out of their beds towards evening feedinglocations. This willgenerate a greater return on your investmentof feed and time,andabetter overall hunting experience.
Conversely, if the sole purpose of your bait site is to generate a higher quantity of trail camera photos and night time feeding is not as much of a concern, you will have more options for your baitsitelocations.Generating intel and surveying your deer herd is extremelyvaluable for in season recon, developing a hit-list, or watching survivors through the winter. The objective is to create a resource or destination point for deer that positions themdirectlyin front of your camera.Bait sites are a fabulous tool to utilize for this activity. You do however want to avoid frequently visiting those sites to minimize intrusion.Using a product and a feeding mechanism that reduces routinely trafficking that area will increase your odds of obtainingquality trail camera pictures.
PHOTO:GYT90 is unique from other liquid attractants in that it uses an oil base instead of a water base. Water based attractants will evaporate and dissipate quicker than oil, which will result in more frequent refills to that bait site.
Deer Bait Station Types
When considering how to distribute your bait, there are several different options available. Elevated feeders, such as open trough style feeders, gravity fed feeders, and mechanized feeders all create methods toraise your bait pile up offthe ground. The purpose of placing bait in elevated feeders is to minimize the consumption ofnon-targeted wildlife such as raccoons, squirrels, wild pigs, etc.The easiest feeders to get your hands on are simple gravity feeders, trough feeders, or more advanced deer feeders that dispense feed on the ground below at specific times.
However, you don’t need to spend tons of money on a feeder to have a productive bait site.In fact, some feeder setupsmay decrease mature buck usage assome deerjust tend toavoid feeder sitesand/or camera sites, especially with human scent in the area.
At the basic level the simplest bait site is a corn pile or mineral site for deer on the ground or on some sort of platform, usually in the form of decaying wood logs or stumps.The rotten wood in a dead log or stump is more absorbent than a freshly fallen tree and will soak inthe attractant or mineral. However, minerals alone are not enough to keep deer enticed throughout the fall from their summer patterns. Mineral use decreases as deer diet changes from lush summer forage to acorns, grain, and woody browse.Read more about transitioning mineral sites to attractive hunting bait sites here.
PHOTO:GYT90has the ability to create a bait site without the use of any additional grain or seed mixed in. A couple alternatives to the previously discussed corn mixture include simplypouring out GYT90 over a dead log, rotten stump,or directly on exposed soil.Another advantage of using the GYT90 blend is that it can be usedjust by clearing away some debris anduncovering the bare soil.Emptying a 1-gallon jug over a few feetof exposed groundwill result inconsistentheavy deer trafficat that site.
Best Trail Camera Setups Over Deer Bait and Feed Sites
For any bait, feed, hunting, or mineral site a trail camera is a must. Normally, without attraction, trying to funnel deer activity in front of your trail camera can be tricky during certain months of the year depending on the type of habitat that you are in. Minerals, supplemental feeding products, and deer attractants can all be highly desiredby deerat various times on an annual basis.Most trail cameras on the market today have settings that let you adjust the picture resolution and the photo/videofrequency. Reducing the picture resolution to low and extending the trigger frequency between photos will prolong your battery life and extend the time between visits to your camera.You can get away with longer picture/event durations since deer at feed/mineral sites will spend between 3-5 minutes at least feeding at or licking the site. Adjusting thesettings downto that 3-5 minute markduring non-hunting months and then back to a higher frequency ofphotos(30 seconds- 1 minute)duringhunting months. This tactic will prolong battery life,slow down the rate at which the memory cards fill up, and reduce the amount of time you spend checking the site.
PHOTO:Using a 3-in-1 product like GYT90 takes the guess-work out of it and allows you to provide all the best resources that deer seek throughout the entire year in one single bottle. More and more hunters are leaving their game cameras out all year long to monitor the herd even in the off-season.
You also want to avoid pouring your bait in an area with mature foliage and tall vegetation. A location that might be great in theFall and Winter might not be ideal during Spring and Summer when thetemperatures warm and the green-up impacts the photos being taken on your camera. The last thing you wanttosee when thumbing through your full SD card is 2,000 photos of grass swaying in the wind.
Hunting Setups Over Bait
Using the right bait and placing it at the right location are two key factorswhen hunting over bait, but hunters often overlook the 3rdcrucial element that is equally as important. Stand or blind placement, down to the exact tree or site,as it relates to that bait site must be thoroughly thought out prior to choosing your location. Again, you want to understand which direction the deer typically travelfrom(the bedding area)in orderto reach your bait site. Then you want to pinpointtheir direction of travel away from the bait site (a large food source). Next, you want to account forthe wind direction thatwill put all the odds in your favor to go undetected when hunting over that bait site.Finally, you’ll have to figure out how you plan onentering the hunting setup without blowing your wind across the bedding area, bait site, or large food source.
Photo: Form your hunting setup before you place the bait, considering bedding areas, deer travel, larger food sources, tree stand placement, wind direction, and access. More importantly don’t be afraid to shut down a bait site if it’s not working in your favor.
The ideal setup has the bait site in between your stand and where the deer will travel from, with the wind blowing in your faceon your hike in and while hunting. Shifting winds that blow your scent over the bait pile will result in poor hunting experiences with minimalmaturebuck sightings. Consider your stand or blind placement and wind direction prior to creating your bait site. Try to also give yourself options. If the wind isn’t consistent or tends to swirl in that particular location, opt out of hunting it or continuing to bait the site. It’s hard to pick up a pile of cornafter ithas been poured, butyou canseal a bait or mineral site upif you choose to relocate.
Conclusion
Baiting deer for the purposes of hunting is a long tradition that has been refined throughout time. There is a lot more thought and strategy that goes into it than just dumping out a pile of tasty treats. Baiting also has several applications that can be utilized for growing and maintaining a healthy deer herd. By understanding what nutrients to look for and which resources contain those nutrients, you can impact the overall attractiveness of your bait site. Combine that with an effective strategy when scouting and hunting around that bait locationand you can maximize your hunting experience year after year!
Note: Check your state’s regulations for baiting, feeding, and attracting wildlife and deer during any time of the year and especially the regulations concerning hunting over bait.
Note:Feeding corn in the winter months, especially in large quantities to a herd that normally does not have access to that type of food source could be dangerous. Since the deer herd might not have enough of the right bacteria to digest corn it can cause acidosis and death for individuals in the herd. Do not feed corn in the winter in large amounts, and if a feed program must be started start in periodic small amounts to allow for the bacteria to adjust in a deer’s stomach.
