Baiting blacktail for late archery

[whack em]

I'm new to the deer baiting game, and was curious as to the right way to go about setting up bait for blacktail here in the west side for the archery late season.  What I have seen is they can be real picky, and I had very little luck last year baiting them.  I have about 50 lbs of apples in the freezer, and I planned on dumping 10 lbs a week a few weeks before the opener.  Am I off the mark there?  And, what else could I do to get some blackies into the visiting my bait/stand site? :dunno:Thanks in advance...

[blacktailcody]

Apples+wet cob= deer dynamite.

[Highcountry360]

 I think your on the right path, I've had good luck with apples and alfalfa, also took all the leftover corn stalks from our garden and chopped it up like silage. They seemed to like it. Had fresh tracks in every day.

[spin05]

all of the above plus i throw out a deer block from the feed store this is the one. http://wildlife.purinamills.com/products/ECMD2-0017376.aspx there about $16 last 2-4 weeks

[mtbeav]

apples an sweet cob 

[D-Rock425]

Make sure you dont have bait set up in an are with bear.  They will eat all your apples before the deer get a chance.

[BULLBLASTER]

50 lb of apples isn't a lot. If that's all you have I would drop it all within a week of opening day. One deer can come in and wipe out 10 lbs of apples at one sitting. I agree on sweet cob. Might try pumpkins too. The Whitetail over here love them!

[coastie hunter]

 The later the better December is really good for baiting.

[Jonathan_S]

Make sure you dont have bait set up in an are with bear.  They will eat all your apples before the deer get a chance.

When are the last of the bears gone to hibernate over there?  Usually by late season, over here anyway, they're hardly moving if they're not asleep yet.

[xring1983]

I would go with apples only, I have been baiting all my life for deer, i found they wont touch anything better then apples, the area I late season hunt, they wont touch anything else, alphalfa, cob, corn.. you name it.. nothing but apples. The farther east you go, grains work well also. I use about 15 buckets a week min for my 2 spots.. thats about 400 lbs a week.. apples are all over, just drive around and when you see a ton on the ground, ask  the people if you can gather them, I have yet to be told no. You need a cam also, it is pointless to not know what is coming to your bait and at what times. As far as bears, its not a big deal, yes they will eat a ton of apples, but it does not hurt the deer any, I had a huge bear on my cam for a week last year and deer within a hour of the bear being there. My gf got a huge doe last night over apples, I shot a nice 4x4 last year over apples, it works awesome, and for late season hunting, the apples bring in the girls, and if your lucky enough to be in the stand when a hot doe wants to eat.. her BF is never far behind!!

[spin05]

all of the above plus i throw out a deer block from the feed store this is the one. http://wildlife.purinamills.com/products/ECMD2-0017376.aspx there about $16 last 2-4 weeks

Well finally got a buck to come in.  A nice little 3x3

[PolarBear]

Right now I have 12 deer coming into my place every day.  I have a pile of sweet cob, ground corn and a trace block left over from my steer and horse.  The deer just walk by it without a sniff and head straight to my apple and oak trees.  In 16 years I have never had a blacktail eat cob, alfalfa or deer blocks, only apples, berries and acorns.

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I started using apples 3 years ago and it definately has a bit of a learing curve. At least for me anyway. I had dillusions that it was going to be easy to get the deer to eat the apples. Some deer eat them and some do not. I plan to try alfalfa this year as well. I know guys that have started them on apples and when the bears came in they swithced to alfalfa with good luck.

I hunt primarily public land that gets pressure during rifle and bow seasons. I noticed the private that I have access to in Oregon, the deer are fairly easy to bait up and come to the apples regularly, but on private where they don't see apples, it takes a bit of work for them to accept them.

This is what I do.

Scout areas with trail cams and glass cuts in the summer months. Go back to the areas where you found deer and look for rubs and solid trails.

Late October (like right now) I place hundreds of pounds of apples in different locations. I try and leave about a 5 gal bucket full or 25lbs in each spot. Trickle them out every couple of feet down trails that intersect. I check them every week to see if they have been hit.

I give the spot at least 2 wks. to get a strike on the bait. The deer have to find them and they have to accept them as a food source. This takes a bit of time and conditioning hence the saturation method.

I have noticed that the deer really start hammering the apples when the temps. drop into the 20's and/or stay in the 30's for days at a time.

The first week of December is when I really start getting a lot of activity on my bait piles in the lower lands and 3 years ago we got snow around Thanks Giving in a spot a little higher in elevation and the deer were on them daily.

Don't expect instant gratification. If you get deer coming in regular in a short period of time, that is awesome, but don't get discouraged if they don't. It does work, but not every deer will eat the apples and that is why it is a good idea to try mulitiple locations. It only takes 1 deer that likes them a lot.

As an example, I have placed 10 piles out this week and boxed up another 200 pounds to put out over the next couple of days in 10 more locations.. I don't expect every spot to get hit by the deer. I plan to have about 30 sites baited up in various locations with the hopes of getting 5 solid bait sites going. The sites that don't produce, I simply pick the apples up off of the ground and take them to the sites that are producing.

They have to feed in an area that they feel comfortable. Don't be afraid to get into that thick older reprod. Look on Google maps for openings in the reprod. Ground blinds work very well and you can also use ladder stands or strap on stands in the older reprod.

Once you get a buck coming in on a regular basis, you can almost set your watch by him. I am also learning that I don't want a trail cam directly over the bait. I am not puting the cams out until the deer hit the apples and once they do, I am placing the cams ten yards or so from the apples. I don't want to spook them off, I just want to start patterning them and get their daily routine figured out. Black flash or infrared would be okay, but I only have the white flash cams right now.

Also, if you are only getting nocturnal photos, try to back trail and get closer to the bedding area. I also found that one of the bucks I had coming in was doing so just after dark, but when the temps. dropped he started coming in during the last half hour of shooting light. I think had I moved the bait pile back on the trail, he would have been in earlier as he had to cross a small opening to get to the apples. I realized this when he approached my stand.

It is uber fun once you start getting them coming in on a regular basis. I no longer sit in the tree wondering, I sit in the tree expecting to see them.

I killed my buck this year in Oregon's early season and will be hunting WA late archery near Toledo, WA. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[lokidog]

Apples definitely work, though frozen seems like they'd be mushy.  We also put out Del's Allstock which they seem to like though I sometimes have to apple it up a bit before they start eating it.  But, once started they come right to it.

As mentioned deer will eat a lot of apples if given the chance.  I do not put out a huge amount at any one time after they have started hitting them, but then I am about five minutes away from the three or four places I bait.   

If you have the ability to bait frequently, I would suggest only baiting in the morning, that way the deer get used to looking for the apples/bait in daylight.

[whack em]

Thanks for imparting some wisdom, and sharing your lessons learned.  Sounds like I need to score some more apples!  I've tried the craiglsit thing, and so far there it looks like I'm a day late and dollar short.  I'll keep at it, and try the cob thing as well.  I'll post anything I may have the luck of getting into!

[BlacktailBowhunter]

Thanks for imparting some wisdom, and sharing your lessons learned.  Sounds like I need to score some more apples!  I've tried the craiglsit thing, and so far there it looks like I'm a day late and dollar short.  I'll keep at it, and try the cob thing as well.  I'll post anything I may have the luck of getting into!

I was racing BMX in Port Orchard last year, and I could swear I passed apple trees in farmers fields. If you get just outside of any city, you will find apple trees dropping in peoples yard.

Knock on a few doors and you will get all you need. Offer them a few bucks and they will be happy to see you coming back for more.

Good luck.

[hardkorrhunter]

this is my first time baiting deer and on the second i set up my ladder stand about thirty yards from about 100lbs of apples i packed in close to 1500' elevation with one of those apple licker mineral licks you get at cabelas for five dollars and my trail cam about ten yards from that i was banking on that lick holding them in there but sound like i need a lot more apples but im also gonna try rattling and grunting for them from that same set also first time trying that................

[BlacktailBowhunter]

this is my first time baiting deer and on the second i set up my ladder stand about thirty yards from about 100lbs of apples i packed in close to 1500' elevation with one of those apple licker mineral licks you get at cabelas for five dollars and my trail cam about ten yards from that i was banking on that lick holding them in there but sound like i need a lot more apples but im also gonna try rattling and grunting for them from that same set also first time trying that................

Did someone tell you that deer like apples

If you have 100lbs, you may be better off doing what I call a saturation method and set them in several areas about 20lbs each area and focus on the spots that get hit the most.

[pips4bucks]

What's wet or sweet cob, and where can you get it?

Oh, it's too late now, but in the early season Blacktails LOVE plums.  I have 3 different plum trees so I take the extras to my honey hole.  The deer gobble them up!

[BlacktailBowhunter]

What's wet or sweet cob, and where can you get it?

Oh, it's too late now, but in the early season Blacktails LOVE plums.  I have 3 different plum trees so I take the extras to my honey hole.  The deer gobble them up!

Any feed store. COB stands for Corn, Oats, and Barley.

[huntingfool7]

Wet or sweet cob is corn, oats and barley with molasses

[Wildsau]

Baiting is new to me and I am intent on putting meat in the freezer during Late Archery.  How long, in advance, should one put out Wet COB, or apples, befoe expecting results?

[lokidog]

Apples a day or two should show results.  Other stuff may take more time for the deer o get interested.  We have had to apple-up the allstock pellets sometimes to get the deer interested when we haven't used them for a while.

I would only put out a handfull of apples to start with at each location, stomp one or two to release the scent even more.  Once those are gone, then step it up with more apples.  Otherwise you may just be wasting some.

[bowhuntersd]

I have a spot I'm baiting and have my Camera on it, but coming up empty. I found this spot last year in December when I was getting rid of the left over apples. I got tons of pics with 5 different bucks at that time.
I put the bait out early this year to try and set a spot for late season, but I haven't seen a single deer yet and I've gone through 100 lbs of apples.
What do you think? Or is this just a post season wintering spot? 

[lokidog]

"gone through 100 pounds of apples..."

Are they just rotting into the ground or disappearing and not getting camera shots?  This is why I suggest just a few apples at a lot of different places until they get hit, then step it up in those spots.

Also, if there is a really good food supply nearby, they may not be cruising looking for food as much.  When our neighbors apple trees are dropping, we see a  lot fewer deer.

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I have a spot I'm baiting and have my Camera on it, but coming up empty. I found this spot last year in December when I was getting rid of the left over apples. I got tons of pics with 5 different bucks at that time.
I put the bait out early this year to try and set a spot for late season, but I haven't seen a single deer yet and I've gone through 100 lbs of apples.
What do you think? Or is this just a post season wintering spot? 

I have put apples out on one trail and they get hammered. I put them on another trail that looks great only a hundred yards away and they are untouched.

I have also noticed that the weather plays a factor in when they will hit them and available natural food sources. Look for the first week in December to be really good. I have 4 solid sites going now and the best activity for morning and evening was a couple of days ago when the temps. in my area hit 25 degrees I started getting morning and evening photos during shooting hours.

Don't give up. Just like Loki said, spread that 100 lbs out until you get  strike and then replenish and place your cam. The deer have to find them before they can eat them.

Good luck.

[bowhuntersd]

The apple I put out are actually apple scraps for making apple cider. They are rotting on the ground fairly quick. I don't think the deer are in that area right now. I'm going to find another area and see what happens. I also bought some wet cob that I'm going to try,  Thanks 

[D-Rock425]

I just got a 40# bag of deer corn I'll be using with a mixture of apples for the eastside next weekend.

[coastie hunter]

"gone through 100 pounds of apples..."

Are they just rotting into the ground or disappearing and not getting camera shots?  This is why I suggest just a few apples at a lot of different places until they get hit, then step it up in those spots.

Also, if there is a really good food supply nearby, they may not be cruising looking for food as much.  When our neighbors apple trees are dropping, we see a  lot fewer deer.

I agree with this I had a hard time early seasson but I cant keep up now.

[spin05]

Wallyworld has a bag of some kind of deer feed on sale for 9.99...

[BlacktailBowhunter]

We had 2 different bucks in last night. A fork in horn that I have on cam came in around 3:50 and was there feeding for about 5 minutes with no shot for my wife. The wind shifted and he must have just caught a whiff because he paused and then walked off.

20 minutes later, a spike and a half came in and hung out behind a small fir tree for about 10 minutes before offering a quartering away shot and my wife hit a small tree. We thought she hit the buck until she found her arrow in the tree. We were high fiving and everything LOL.

[Grizzly07]

Can you bait in the 510 area?

[lokidog]

Pretty sure you can bait anywhere you want to, well, maybe not in the neighbor's yard....   

[Pilot_Hunter]

I was under the impression that we couldn't bait in Washington. I'll have to check the regs right now.

[lokidog]

I was under the impression that we couldn't bait in Washington. I'll have to check the regs right now.

Don't waste your time checking... just don't shoot a bear over it.   

[Pilot_Hunter]

Alrighty, thanks

[lokidog]

Alrighty, thanks

Seriously though, maybe there are some local restrictions but as far as I know, and I have never seen anything contrary on here in all the baiting discussions, private and state land are not restricted.

[Fishstiq]

[Wildsau]

LMCAO!!! 

[h20hunter]

Should have taken a picture with her and her double lunged tree.....