j-bird
Moderator
I'll poke the bee hive.... A food plot (in most cases) is essentially the same in purpose as a bait pile! Man is introducing something for the consumption of the deer (directly or indirectly) to assist in the harvest of the animal. You can talk about all the secondary benefits of a plot until your blue in the face....it doesn't matter. The majority of hunters put out bait or plots for the sole purpose to assist them in killing deer. If the law was written to outlaw that sole purpose....we would not see near the number of plots we do. So from that perspective...a food source is a food source.
You have to figure out how to best deal with those influences beyond your property. All those neighbor bait piles are not any different than if they had large white oak groves or standing corn and bean fields and you did not.
You have to combat those the same way. Provide better cover (physically and with hunting pressure) and provide a competitive food source(s). Other than that....until you implement a fence or control 1,000's of acres....it's simply a fact of life. Will you draw deer from the neighbors with cover and food...yes. Will some of the deer that use your place still wander to the neighbors for various reasons....yes. All you can hope for is that they hunt sloppy and alert deer and push them away or that they are only casual hunters and bad weather and the like limit their hunting.
All just my 2 cents worth!
You have to figure out how to best deal with those influences beyond your property. All those neighbor bait piles are not any different than if they had large white oak groves or standing corn and bean fields and you did not.
You have to combat those the same way. Provide better cover (physically and with hunting pressure) and provide a competitive food source(s). Other than that....until you implement a fence or control 1,000's of acres....it's simply a fact of life. Will you draw deer from the neighbors with cover and food...yes. Will some of the deer that use your place still wander to the neighbors for various reasons....yes. All you can hope for is that they hunt sloppy and alert deer and push them away or that they are only casual hunters and bad weather and the like limit their hunting.
All just my 2 cents worth!