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Quote from: bobcat on December 04, 2023, 11:48:13 AMI've never had a problem getting blacktails to eat apples. I can put a pile of apples in a random spot and almost always within 24 hours the deer will be there eating all the apples. I do remember a couple of times that it took 2 or 3 days before they found it, but at least one of those times a bear found it first and ate all the apples the first night.That's weird - because that's totally what I keep hearing from most folks. I wonder if they're just different in different areas? (All the places I've tried bait have been within roughly 30 minute drive of Monroe, mostly to the north. Maybe the deer in that area are just strange?)
I've never had a problem getting blacktails to eat apples. I can put a pile of apples in a random spot and almost always within 24 hours the deer will be there eating all the apples. I do remember a couple of times that it took 2 or 3 days before they found it, but at least one of those times a bear found it first and ate all the apples the first night.
I find it extremely easy to bait blacktails with apples and wet cob. I find it difficult to kill them using bait though. The ones you want to kill vanish when it's legal to do so. During the rut the big boys also walk right through the bait they used to care about. I did start peeing in front of the camera this year and I got a lot more bucks pics all of a sudden.
All good advice. I've had apples (or carrots or whatever) sit out for weeks, and remain untouched. I've tried it in thick cover, in small openings, in large openings, in clearcuts ... One issue I've had is finding enough apples to keep the pile fresh, especially during the early season. This year I tried gathering about 50 gallons of apples and storing them in my freezer - and I learned why you don't do that. Next year I'll see if I can free up room in my garage fridge.
The farther south you go, the more the blacktails are like mule deer. California blacktails may be the same species biologically, but behaviorally and from a hunting perspective they may as well be a different animal. I think most of the Oregon blacktails are the same creature as our WA blacktails, but maybe they're more bench-leggy where Iverson hunted I don't know.