Baiting blacktail

[highside74]

My deer eat a 5 gallon bucket of apples every night at my blind site. Occasionally I bring two buckets and they eat that all overnight to. Here’s the key I learned after years of doing this, take a machete and cut the apples to small pieces, you’ll be amazed at the difference. I spent hours watching deer try and eat the apples and move on before realizing that if you make it easy, the will smell them from farther and stay there way longer.

I just stomp them
Maybe not all of them but a fair amount I step on.

[Martinhunter]

A couple of years ago I was going through 1000 lbs of apples every month on some resident blacktail around the house. At one point I was seeing 5-6 different bucks on camera and one particular buck was one of the biggest bucks I've ever seen as far as Blacktail go. This was from March to August.
Not sure why they wouldn't be eating what your putting out unless your putting your scent all over it. 

[The Gobble-stopper]

I did some experimenting this year with bait. I planted clover, it did pretty well, attracting early on just before it bloomed. Which was right before archery season. Then the Apple trees started dropping apples. I noticed the deer ignored them. So I got some free apples from a local store, different types, scattered them in the yard during september. Not much interest. So I thought maybe it was my smell that was warding them off. So I did the opposite of what I thought would work. I went back into the yard, picked 5 or 6 apples off the tree and took one bite out of each Apple and scattered them around. A couple hours later the deer came by the window, they stuck their heads up in the air, obviously smelling something. They followed their noses and picked up all the apples with my bites in them with no hesitation. I know it wasn't my smell that attracted them, but rather the fresh smell of the apple, as a few others on here stated. Yet also it sorta proved that maybe you do not have to worry about your own smell while hunting. Which reminds me of a true event. About 40 years ago my father and I were hunting cocktails up high in the hills above the Snohomish watershead. It was a week into season and we had been seeing a lot of smaller bucks, mostly spikes. It was a warmer day and we weren't in a big hurry to fill out tags. We were mostly still looking for big bucks,shooting some grouse, and scouting new areas. We stopped for lunch in the middle I a clearcut. While eating I spotted a spike above the road, about 200 yards up the browsing in a grassy area. I told dad to watch this. I told him I was going to see how close I could get. I had a super bright yellow sweatshirt on. (Before hunter orange was required) and carrying my rifle. I began to make my way up the hill, as the buck occasionally looked up at me. When I got to 100 yards he acted a little nervous, so I stopped for a second and decided I would make myself look like a grass water instead of the meat water he may have thought I was. I began stopping every few feet and pulling grass out of the ground and chomping my teeth as if I was eating it. At this distance I could hear him pulling the grass and chewing too. I continued up the hill repeating this. When I got within 20 feet of him, she moved a few feet away. I turned to my dad down the hill and gave him the enough sign, as he was laughing loudly. Then I gave him the thumbs up sign, letting him know I was gonna make this work. I pretended to take a few more bites as I walked the last few steps , he looked away and I made it to him as I played my gun on his back. He turned towards me, snorted and ran about 50 feet. Of course dad was really laughing by then, which got me laughing also, which was enough to make the buck move away and out of the clearcut. So that incident locked me into not worrying about my smell out in the woods. Sorry for segue! Back to my post. Others mentioned COB which here in town we call it barnyard buffet. Which is corn oats and barley, with molassis. I put it out every year on my father-in-laws yard. (He is dissabled) I made a feeder to keep it dry. I put only a quart of COB in it at a time. I found it you put too much in it, that they only feed at night. It I use a small amount, out in it after daylight,that the bucks will hang close so they will try to beat the does and fawns to it. And it brings in enough bucks in, that he only shoots a 3 point or bigger each year.

[steeleywhopper]

I usually take one or two apples and shred them against a tree getting the juice of the apple all over it. I don't know what it is, but deer find the apples that day or evening. If I don't break up a couple apples it takes a while for them to find them. I am going to try dumping some apple cider around and see if that gets them on it.
This is up in Timber country where no apples grow

[Boss .300 winmag]

I usually take one or two apples and shred them against a tree getting the juice of the apple all over it. I don't know what it is, but deer find the apples that day or evening. If I don't break up a couple apples it takes a while for them to find them. I am going to try dumping some apple cider around and see if that gets them on it.
This is up in Timber country where no apples grow

Great idea on the cider, splash it nose level on the trees.👍

[shadowless_nite]

I agree with the apple being in bits and helping. I usually stomp a few crispy ones in the pile.

Another bonus tip.... during peak of the modern deer season on the west side it also happens to be peak cider season. Put a post on craigstlist/fb/social media saying you are looking to collect cider pressings. Most of the time people are pressing hundreds of pounds which results in lots of nice apple waste that isn't necessarily just mush and they have already put them in garbage bags or containers. This makes it very very easy to obtain apples without bending over to pick up apples one by one. If kept in a garbage bag in a garbage can out of the light in a cool place and closed up they will last quite a while. They don't stink, if anything it just eventually turns into apple cider vinegar. But this is probably the easiest way to gather a large amount apples for free with minimal labor.

[smithkl42]

Man, some great suggestions on here. I'm definitely going to try the "smash up some apples" one. And asking for cider pressings also makes a ton of sense. I'll do that next year.

[dilleytech]

I have tried about everything and in my area I have had the same results. They will eat apples a little bit but it’s like they try them and decide a leaf is better. And within a couple days bears show up. And idk around here new rare pretty active all year. Last week I saw a crazy amount of fresh bear sign in an area that had a 1’ of snow a week before.

The only thing that works to attract deer is salt. And it’s works really well for bucks in the spring and summer but not so much in the fall and winter. But they are still
More likely to lick salt in October then eat an apple or the rest of the stuff. So I use salt to get an idea what lives in an area but have pretty much given up on bait. So far I have not killed a deer or elk because I used bait or a game cam. It’s fun though.

[ridgefire]

Have any of you tried water softener pellets? One of my buddy uses them on Blacktails and they can’t stay away from them. I will occasionally put out mineral licks at my cameras and they seem to like them.

[highside74]

Have any of you tried water softener pellets? One of my buddy uses them on Blacktails and they can’t stay away from them. I will occasionally put out mineral licks at my cameras and they seem to like them.

Mind blown

[dreadi]

The best apples are wind fall apples that are getting soft.


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[hunter399]

Have any of you tried water softener pellets? One of my buddy uses them on Blacktails and they can’t stay away from them. I will occasionally put out mineral licks at my cameras and they seem to like them.

Mind blown

I don't use them.
But have seen them used.
Dig a hole ,drop a bag in hole, lightly cover back with some dirt.
Seen it on YouTube.

[IFunk]

The best apples are wind fall apples that are getting soft.


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Dana,

Are you suggesting that blacktail only eat fruit that has voluntarily fallen off the tree?  Are they fruitarians? 

[dreadi]

The best apples are wind fall apples that are getting soft.


BLACK HAMMER ARMS
07/02 NFA Dealer

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Dana,

Are you suggesting that blacktail only eat fruit that has voluntarily fallen off the tree?  Are they fruitarians? 

I’m trying to say that the more ripe they are, the more they are attracted to them.


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[blumtnelkndeer]

i bet if you could get ahold of some garbanzo beans they would be gone within a few hours if there is deer within a short distance.