GreatMich.com Fishing Report and More....

Get a 5# bag of sugar, and can of salt and put it where you want them. They will be digging holes in the ground.

I dug up and replanted an apple tree near my stand.  The tree sure drops alot of apples for the size of it.LOL

you can buy a bag of deer cain also it works just like the salt and sugar thing it is about 7 bucks a bag (no pun intended)

You might want to check the laws on that. Minerals are also considered baiting, but its ok to use scents like the buck bomb.

yep u have to use a sent, minerals are all considered baiting

try carrots they have always worked in the past

carrots are illegal to use as bait

I hunt in the UP where it it legal to bait and I choose not to bait. We rattle and use grunt calls this worked last year and produced a nice 6 point buck. We are also seeing more deer than we have ever seen before by not using bait and switching hunting locations frequently. We saw a total of 5 bucks but only had one that we could take a good shot on. One of the bucks that responded to the grunt call was a real nice 10 point which came out behind the 6 point but spooked

Steeliebob must be a fisherman - dont know squat about deer - that rattle and call work for about a week a year - good luck in Dec or Jan or even Oct, I practice the fine art of tree painting - as it is an art form protected and supported by the National Endowment of the Arts it is not illegal or considered baiting - I put together a concoction of molasses, maple syrup and vanilla in a jug then take it into the woods with a paint brush and I decoroate all the trees around my blind with it. If the DNR ask about the funny looking trees I jus tell em they are all black walnut trees - works every time and it is easy to get a deer when it is busy licking at a tree. The scent of this draws em from miles away

BoarDawg get out of the Chicago and come up to the UP for a December bow hunt. You won't need your paint, just stand on a trail and take your pick. I will take you to a spot that has more deer than all of Boone Co. I tried your trick once and had a 200+ pound bear that I could not get rid of. The reason I don't bait in the UP is because the scent of the bait draws wolves. The guys who hunt west of me three miles see wolves at their baits everyday they hunt.

If you can just stand on a trail and take your pick, why would you need to learn to rattle horns and grunt? I am standing here beside myself at the flipflop in tactics.

I been to that great UP spot and a dozen other spots in MI - lots of fun, wish I could put horns on squirrels so I could have something to shoot at - Pike and Brown in IL are the best around! To get a deer in UP - you got to go back in about 100 miles through all the swamp thickets makin a ruckus like a damn freight train - dang deer are 1/2 mile ahead of you the whole time.

Now the above is well and good for a tri-athlete type but I am past those years and all I want is some venison steaks on the barbie to go with the pheasant. by the time I dragged a deer out of the UP it would be spring. Hell I am so far away from there I gots to explain what the UP is to most folks - course with the miserable Granholm economy your way, I gets to see more MI folks everyday - sure wish they would take driving lessons afore they come here though!

Give me 40 acres of corn and a clear strip they have to cross to eat it - they get fat all summer and fall to slow em in the crossing - next thing is gut, skin, butcher, and toss on the barbie!

Try a decoy and a call, doe bleat

If your "tree painting tactic is totally legal and not cosidered baiting, then why do you have to lie to the DNR about it? sounds like baiting to me. i have lived in the UP as a young teen and remember all the older guys talking about the animals they have seen at the bait pile, porccipines, skunks, bears, never really wolves, i thought they were carnivores, but they are up there and in the winter time food can be scarce so who knows what they eat to survive.

I remember going on walks with my cosins and thier dad and he would never go out in the woods without his 357 mag. on his side and when ever we stopped to eat he would always build a fire. you have bigger balls than me to go a mile into the woods to hunt with a bow in the dark in the UP. those woods up there are definatly diffrent then the woods down here.

Rut is just starting as ive noticed lots of rubs n scrapes appearing within last week and a few different bucks chasing does where i hunt in calhoun county just west of jackson, lots of roadkills....your best best if your looking for a buck is to hunt a good rub or scrape line or field edges....doe estrus scent works very well right now as the last 3 trips ive made in last week seen bucks 3 for 3 and they are coming in with noses workn lookn for that doe n following my scent drag or headn towards my sticks...baiting dosent really work very good unless there isnt much of a food source around and very rarely will u take a trophy over bait esp during the rut. best bait is doe pee or maybe a doe decoy.doe bleats will also work as i bleated in a nice 10-12 pt on tue am unfortunately no shot but hopefully will be back. I hope this helps best estrus ive found they sell at gander mountain in blue n white pack (not code blue) 2nd best so far this season is tinks doe pee use a drag rope going into ur stand and put out ur scent sticks, lots easier than carrying a bag of corn out 200yds to ur stand

MUMS the word---After deer devoured my plantings around the house--I decided to plant a couple of Mums near my deer stand--I planted one night and hunted the next--I had 8 does come in that evening and watched them carefully eat all of the flowers! I know it is not very practical for most hunting locations and situations-as well as the price you pay for ornamental plantings-- and it is sure funny to be looking at a fusha colored flower while sitting in the woods--and I do not think the DNR could collect a fine for "tree stand beautification"---especially on private lands?----maybe the more logical answer is some type of plantings that are more affordable and attract deer --being planted and prepared for a hunting location that is used frequently--just a thought I am kicking around?--other than that, some good scouting and the use of calls and creating a scent trail using a drag seems to peak interest most of the time!

I hope my backstraps do not taste like MUMS!!

Jim

HUNT NEAR APPLE TREES OR LEARN MORE ABOUT PLANTING A FOOD PLOT.  DEER LOVE ALFALFA, RYE, CLOVERS LIKE MEDIUM RED CLOVER, WHITE DUTCH CLOVER, ALSIKE, LADINO.  ALSO THEY CRAVE SWISS CHARD AND GREEN BEANS. YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME LUCK IF YOU APPLY ANISE OIL OR VANILLA EXTRACT AROUND A TRAIL. DEER USE TRAILS RELIGIOUSLY GENERATION AFTER GENERATION. BAITING WILL BRING IN SOME DEER BUT ALSO THE PREDATORS WILL BE AWARE OF THIS LOCATION, SUCH AS THE FOX KNOWS THE HENS ARE IN THE HENHOUSE. IF A BEAR OR OTHER PREDATORS ARE LURKING AROUND A BAITED AREA, THE DEER ARE NOT STUPID.  THEY WILL AVOID UNTIL THE DANGER IS GONE.

IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT FOOD PLOTS AS TO HOW TO DO THEM I WILL RESPOND IF YOU WANT AT THIS SITE.

Ive got an idea, learn how to hunt!! Any idiot can sit over a salt lick or pile of bait. Take the time to scout the area you hunt learn the deers patterns and use things like scents and calls.  I am so happy that baiting was banned.

Big dog I agree learn how to hunt and it is not a problem I also am glad its banned

Just drive through Jackson County and hit them with your car.

 Ok bigdogx71 I am curious without bait did you even get a deer this year? if so how many and how big?

I for one, love to use bait to position the deer for a perfect shot opportunity for my weapon of choice. Considering when I'm using my Desert Eagle 50 cal. handgun, I need the deer to be up close and not moving much in order to execute a clean head shot kill. Forntunately after many hunts with no bait, I was still able to achieve this on a 92lb doe this season, but it was much harder than in years prior to the ban.

Robo I shot a nice 8pt and two does with my bow.  Used a buck roar with some code blue and he came running in.  Shot him at 18 yards and he dropped within sight.  By the way robo, I have never baited and I have never gone without killng at least 2 deer a year with my bow.

Legal or illegal????? Can you hang a mesh bag of apples in a tree for scent??? Can you dump apple cider on the ground for scent??? Not that it matters where I hunted there were acorns on the ground all over the place. We still did not see many deer because it was entirely too warm outside.