[Handgun'r]

I'm kind of skeptical as well about a lot of the "attractants" on the market nowadays.
This season (almost to an end) in western NY has been dismal, and it's been "all over", not just in my immediate area. The usual ontourage of scrub bucks wasn't even seen this year.
In the last two years or so, I've been passing up the scrub's and waiting out the big rack bucks. You only see one or two whoppers in a season, and leaving the younger ones alone (hopefully) makes for a nicer buck the following year.

If meat is needed, I'd just take a doe with the extra tag.
Baiting is illegal in NY as well, and if they catch you, you'll pay dearly. Old methods were salt licks mainly, but nowadays, with these newer products, it's almost undetectible.
Hunting over a farmer's alfalfa field, I guess, some would look as a "bait like" situation, but it wasn't planted "intentionally" for that purpose. It was planted to feed, or support livestock, the deer just benefit from it.
If I planted a food plot directed at the deer population mainly, I guess it could be construed as "baiting" if I hunt over it, but I think that enters a "grey area" more or less. I'd have to check into it. I retired as a Deputy Sheriff and I worked closely with our state's Environmental Conservation Dept. I'd definitely run it by them before I hunted over a plot that I planted, but it wouldn't stop me from planting one to help the deer out.

I'd really like to support the local deer population more, regardless.

By the way....for those of you planting plots....Pioneer HiBred (whom I used to work for) makes a "Forage Mix" in a 50lb. bag that runs around $60.00 to $75.00 per bag. It contains red mammoth clover, timothy, allsyke, etc., and draws the deer as well or better than the BioLogic, and is much cheaper. That 50lb bag will well seed 3 plus acres (or more) and they love the stuff (especially the clover).
I watched many an acre of this stuff loaded with deer over the years, and they preferred it far more than the alfalfa planted right next to it. Many farmer's around here quit using it and stuck with plain alfalfa for their cows, and the deer just fed on the alfalfa, but they loved that stuff more so.

Ramblin on............

Take care,
Bob