Using Deer BaitUsing deer bait is a great idea to help lure in some Whitetails, as long as it is legal in your area! A bait pile is great for young or new hunters, as it gives them an opportunity to shoot a deer without getting easily discouraged.
They are also great in the wintertime, when the Whitetail's food source is scarce, and you have tags you still want to fill! Bucks do feed at bait piles, but does tend to flock to it in herds! Game feeders are great, but we use both feeders and bait piles. We keep our feeders filled year round, so the deer make it a habit to feed there. However, we also use corn piles during hunting season, especially in the winter. We dump lots of corn, 30 to 50 pounds in a pile, at a time. Give the deer a couple of days to find the bait, and filling your tag is almost guaranteed! 
We like to use apples as well as the corn. We actually dump a couple of 5 gallon bucketfuls of apples, right along with the corn pile. Does will eat apples, but the bucks seem to really seek them out. We buy “seconds” at an apple farm, that are perfectly good enough for human consumption, but because there may be a tiny bump on the apple, they sell for a much cheaper price. Deer also like peanut butter. You can screw the lid of a jar onto a tree or post, and simply cut the bottom off of the jar. They will come back often to lick it. Mineral licks and salt blocks are great, but not necessarily to hunt over. Deer do love them, but do not consistently hit them at “set” times, thereby making hunting over them, hard to pattern.
Whitetails love sweet feed, which is made for horses. Never use this in a game feeder! You have to pour it out on the ground because it will bond everything together in your feeder and clog it up, usually as soon as the sun hits it! If you are wanting to fill your freezer with meat, try hunting over deer bait piles of corn or apples, especially in the winter, when they are hungry, and browse is harder for them to naturally find!
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