blacktail bait???

[PolarBear]

I cant get them to eat anything but tried it all no luck with any of it

I think that in areas where there is limited browse they are more likely to eat cob and other stuff but in areas like where I live with thousands of acres of blackberries (their preferred food), hazelnuts, Oak trees, hay fields etc, they won't touch anything that is purposely put out except apples or nuts.  I have tried absolutely everything to draw them onto my land, not to hunt them but to keep them from being poached by the local tweekers, and nothing works except natural fruits and nuts.  Last summer I had a ton of leftover ground, cracked and rolled corn from finishing off a steer.  I made a feeder to see if the deer would hit it and put a trail cam on it.  They would push the corn and cob off of the tops of the selenium and trace mineral blocks and only eat the blocks but that ended as summer was winding down.  I wound up feeding the bunnies, raccoons and birds instead of the deer.  Alfalfa works great on whitetails and mulies but I have yet to see a blacktail eat the stuff.  Whitetails, you can throw just about anything on the ground and they will eat it.  Blackies, especially those with plenty of area to pick from, are pretty damn picky. 

[pianoman9701]

I didn't mean to sound preachy, although I do that quite well. I've got nothing against legal hunting activities and those who practice them. Good luck with the baiting. I hope you bag a big one with a nice rack! (We are still talking about critters, right?)

[Special T]

I've used Deer cane and Molassis Stump licker The molassis stup licker had lots of elk activity and the deer seemed to like the deer cane. I put the deere cane on a pice of ground under a ceder, realitivley dry. I cleared a 4'circle and then mixed warm water and deere cane and poured into the ground. I did that 3 times with about 2 gallons each time. Saw deer on my bait mostly at night with a camera, and elk during the day Nooksack herd. 

[blacktail luv]

Like said before apples work the best but if you don't know an orchardist that can get expensive.  The only other thing that I have found that they love is acorn rage but it costs ten bucks for a small bag and they eat it all in one day so it doesn't take long for that to put a dent on the pocket book, but they love it.

[beardown]

tried deer cain, wet cob, corn, cracked corn, swamp donkey, every other bait you can think of wasting money on.   Planted Biologic premium perrenial and tecomate monster mix.  Apples are it!  The wife has shot bucks for the last 3 years in our backyard on the apples.  AND for those of you "ethical" hunters, If my wife wants to stay home and watch the kids while I am out hunting and shoot a deer in the backyard, I am ALL for it!  If you got a problem with it...       you

[singleshot12]

An old timer told me to try soaking corn in beer, he said the deer would get a little drunk and bed down in the open close to the feed station, he got several nice bucks that way. Definitely not fair chase but what the hey!

[PolarBear]

 AND for those of you "ethical" hunters, If my wife wants to stay home and watch the kids while I am out hunting and shoot a deer in the backyard, I am ALL for it!  If you got a problem with it...       you

[alecvg]

I want to try apples, but where do you buy them in bulk?

[PolarBear]

Chelan/ Wenatchee, by the tote at the orchards or processing plants, so I am told.

[lokidog]

I want to try apples, but where do you buy them in bulk?

There are so many wasted apples in the fall, just drive around until you see a bunch on the ground and ask if you can take them.  Otherwise, you can watch for sales and get them fairly cheaply at Fred Meyers ($.75/pound)

[JimmyHoffa]

I go to a local farm store and get the cull apples for half price.  They are bruised or are oozing 'apple sauce' out of them, but the critters don't care.  I also saw a guy selling them by the side of the road for 50 cents a pound in town that I'll go check on soon.  For the salt-mineral blocks I go to a farm store.

[Baggman]

This all great information on Black tails. I am going to be putting out different baits to see what works best if any. I have two cams I will be using. With any luck I will get some results. I do know they are creatures of habit and do not start new eating habits at the drop of a hat. It takes time. I will be posting results soon.   

[nontypical176]

A friend of mine uses pears from his uncles orchard.  They eat the pears before the apples even.  I saw him dump a fresh batch out in his yard and within minutes the deer were stepping out of the brush with their noses in the air.

Couple years ago when we had the hard snows here on the west side, I spread out a bail of alfalfa trying to help the deer and elk through the tuff times, but they literally walked out and around it without ever taking a bite.  I threw out apples and they gobbled them up.  Had some pictures of a couple does on my trail cam that used the alfalfa for bedding a couple nights, but not one picture of them eating it.  Stuff was spendy too the picky jerks.

[lokidog]

I've heard that they can't digest alfalfa very well if they have not been on it for a while.  Ours love pears as well, a couple years ago we had an old box of pears and a buck walked up to our front door and buried his head in the box.  Someone forgot to close the gate....

[Baggman]

Well I got two cameras set Saturday. One is on a 25# block of sweet lick buck and doe. buried it all but the top like the directions said.   The other one is on a gallon of cracked corn soaked in beer for a week. I know which one I would go for. I have the cameras set for 60 second video. I will check them in two weeks...