CJ, here, deer eating corn is not a big deal - they eat it all year round from the farmers fields. There is a huge difference in the way the deer meat tastes here and from the big woods in Northern Wisconsin where they only eat browse.
But, the points that you bring up is valid. I'll put out corn from the end of hunting season 'till things start to green up in the spring. I believe years ago they killed a bunch of elkk out west by feeding them hay when they ran out of food. They starved with full stomachs because the bacteria couldn't break down the hay.
In my state hunting over bait for deer is OK on private property. Everyone does it. Walmarts and hunting fishing stores sell bags of "deer corn". Most hunters dump corn piles all around their treestand. Its funny, you can spot the bright yellow corn piles from far away. But only if it just got put there because deer come thru and it disappears like a vacuum cleaner came by.
And our deer season is 5 months long.
And yes I agree, corn fed deer taste better and are fatter than deer isolated from the farms and bait pile hunters.
