Baiting deer!?!

I just contacted my district rep. and asked if the Governor is going to pass the lifting of the ban on baiting.

His answer was he didn't think so. He said he got to listen to Ted Nugent and his answer to the baiting issue.

She (Witmer) on the other hand, is a Governor that wants it all her way or the highway.

She has drawn the line in the sand more than once. She has to go next time there are elections.

I just called my Senator for my district and left the question there with a person. They will call me back.

Here's hoping someone gets to that Governor.

Come on you Michigan Hunters/Trappers.

Is baiting really that big of a deal? It’s been illegal here for a while. Sure it makes things a little harder in bow season because you can’t tempt them that extra little bit but I’ve seen better bucks without bait. Besides, I’m sure there’s a loophole. We can’t bait but we can put in food plots. Plant the right stuff in a small spot and you’ve got it made. It’s not baiting. It’s agriculture. Lol

Nothing illegal about baiting in WV on private land. It is prohibited on public land though.

I wish they’d get rid of the ban as well seniortrap. Ted did a decent job outlining why in an editorial about a month ago. I bet she’ll sign it if it gets to her. Trick will be getting it to her.

Planting food plots isn't an option for hunters on public land. And lots of guys hunt public land and dont have time to spend says and days scouting ahead of time, especially if they might still show up opening day and have someone else in the spot they scouted. For the weekend warrior who just wants to spend some time in the woods and take home some venison, baiting has its merits.

I do believe it increases the chances of spreading contagious diseases though. Some will say a food plot does the same, I dont buy it. And for those hunters who seem to feel the need to put other hunters down for using bait where legal, I say we need to stick together and end the in-fighting.

I sure am glad that blacktail don't really respond to baiting. Never been an issue where I hunt.
Just go hunting; don't have to worry about all that other BS.

We’re obviously in different parts if the state.

Must’ve missed the part about public land. That would be difficult for me either way. Baiting there always made me feel like I was drawing deer in for others. They’d have to pass by several others getting to me. But then the public land I hunt is smaller than many.

I grew up in Michigan.
Never liked the baiting deal much at all.
Foid plots and habitat always worked.
Its a hot topic.
Michigan deer are an over rated game.
Sorry, my opinion.

I am glad baiting deer is illegal here.

Some have the luxury of hunting farmlands corn and beanfields some have large acreages with oaks some spend a lot of time and money putting in foodplots but the person who takes some apples and corn to his spot is doing it wrong .

Understand you’re frustration but have you ever tried to bow hunt the agriculture fields? It’s just as hard. You’ll see more deer no doubt but if they’ve got 300 yards of beans or corn to cover on their way to your stand, it sucks just as bad. And these farmers are gonna take as much of the woods as they can. I’ve got about 4 trees on the entire farm I can place a stand in. And they’re gonna take out a fence line in the spring so they can get 2 more rows of crops. That’ll eliminate 2 of my stands now. Woes on both sides. Trust me. Wish they’d change it for you though. I’ve got no issues with it whatsoever.

The woods are littered with yellow this time of year here.

I don't think the it will get signed into law, honestly I don't care one way or another, I don't bait, don't care if others do provided its legal. Teds points are a bit of a stretch. I do think that it is sad that we have raised a huge generation of "hunters" who cant seem to function without baiting.

agree with you wvmnthick and ive bowhunted farmland To my simple mind hunting an area that attracts deer whether natural or manmade is no different in any way there's 2 types of land where I live large clubs and 40 acre plots handed down threw generations kept mainly for deer hunting lots of these small acreages are untillable But my biggest gripe is after watching deer farms import sick deer for decades while the DNR and USDA couldnt decide who had jurisdiction are now loudly proclaiming they're controlling disease by dumping on the little guy

Kill lots of corn fed deer in the pine thickets of south Arkansas. Don't bait myself, hunt travel corridors and such, but don't mind those who do bait.

By hunting you learn about where the deer bed,move to feeding grounds, rut movement etc. you have to scout and put in effort and time to kill a buck. You don't need to learn any of this by dumping bait in the woods and sitting by it. You miss out on some of the best parts of the hunt. I hope the Mi dnr have the guts to enforce the no baiting laws. If someone doesn't want to put in the time to scout and learn to hunt maybe deer hunting isn't for them. Hope all are safe this gun season and good luck to all.

Illegal here too (what isn't?) Now much of the state we can't even use salt/minerals or attracting scents. Apparently that is going to fix the CWD thing....pffft. Welcome to a democrat run state. Coming to a state near you soon.

It is a big deal if all you have acess is small scattered land plots.

Not many 20 acre pcs get sold in my area anymore, even 10 is a find.
No opportunities for the upcoming youth.
Who are beginning to pad the voteing population.
Trust me your gonna see the day you will wish you had those votes.
A youth on a 10-20 acre pc. of land without bait to enhance his chance to interact with everything in nature that uses the bait pile.
Won't return to the outdoors for very long .
Odds are , never again.
Only leaves fishing in lakes and rivers.
Don't need guns for that.

I want every oportunity possible to get the youth interested in the outdoors.
As I feel this is a very big influence in their understanding of the need, respect, and proper use of firearms.
Exactly what I think we all desire.

So to me It Is a very big deal to all sportsman .

The ethics arguments that always arise,
I will leave to the purist, who continue to purify their ranks.
Until they thin their ranks so much they are easilty cut off by the voters they alienate.

We wont even discuss the amount of finacial damage that was done to the smaller farmers in this state.
I live in the apple orchard corner of the state , I see the results all around.

Baiting is a lot deeper issue than many of us sometimes consider.

I do understand how some see no big deal.
But maybe we should not deny those who do it.

Our govener will not sign this,
Too much of a politician to consider it without some type of reward.
Her voter base could care less about the sportsman and their needs.

Calvin in Michigan are deer get enough salt from the main roads

Baiting has always been illegal in PA.

PA hunters kill lots of deer.

Its stupid to limit any way of killing the long legged rats IMO.

I hear ya. They claim CWD as their reasons here. When EHD hits, CWD is nothing. I get they don’t want to transmit it but for those small tracts of land it does make it harder. I belong to a large club back home. Not the place I live currently but back HOME. 56k acres owned by a timber company and leased by the club. Hunt a spot long enough to get comfortable with it then come back to find its all timbered. All I do there now is turkey hunt but that’s nearly impossible since there’s no roost trees left anymore.

I’ll not deny anyone. One place I hunt is only 5 acres. There’s 5 of us hunting it. I’ve killed 3 on it this year. Other guys have done ok too. Just gotta make the best of it sometimes.

I'm glad baiting is still illegal here. There are some trying to change that.
We have some hunters in this who will never find deer hunting easy enough for them, so they keep trying to make every shortcut legal, hoping they get to play hunter too. One group whined that some of the rules for handicapped hunter should be allowed for them. They got their way on some issues.

I'd love to get a lesson on blind sets from you guys that are hating on deer baiters. What do you buy with the money you save on not buying baits and lures for trapping? You must have a good understanding of coyote bedding and feeding areas.

Making sure we’re on the same page, I’ve got no strong feelings one way or the other. I’ve done it and probably still would if it were legal where I’m at. But it no longer is and I’ve had to adapt. It’s unfortunate for some but it is what it is.

Wvmntnhick, that comment wasn't directed to you. More towards gryhkl and others on here intent on putting hunters down for using a legal tactic to put some meat in the freezer because they feel their way of hunting is somehow better than that of others. Surely they dont need to resort to using bait and lure at their sets, that's a lazy man's way of trapping.

tlguy nailed it

I dont think it matters if you bait or not. We cant bait on public land here but can on private. I have probley fed almost 60 sacks of corn so far this year and all that has been killed is my daughter's first deer. The rest has been on public land with no bait. There is plenty of deer. Baiting here is just a better way to watch a good deer grown over the years on a trail camera. The deer stay healthier with all the food and I like running trail Camaras. With all the does that stay around the feed it makes for a interesting year to see how many diffent buck will filter through the year. Killing deer isn't hard with or with out bait.

Interesting how many sports people put down others for the style hunting they prefer. I wonder why all hunters don't drive Chevys and shoot .35 Rem, I mean come on that's how I do it, everyone should do it my way. Michigan hunters are victims of a CWD disease and special interest groups using it to push large antler private land hunting agenda statewide. Our main sportsman advocate group MUCC has sold out totally on this topic.

PA hunters argue a lot about the regulations in their state also. Michigan hunters also kill a lot of deer, so do our vehicles on the roads.

dillrod is right on target ,we have half thee number of hunters as we did I the 90's ,this was just on are local news , an its not just in big city, are local county is down a third of what we were in the 90's, we need to get people involved not drive them away from the outdoors

Amen.I don't bait,but it doesn't bother me that other people do.It was asked if baiting was that big,every gas station up here has bait for sale,along with stores.Its a million dollar seasonal industry,obviously farmers love it.As a kid back in '60's I don't know if baiting was legal or not,I know nobody here did it.It really didn't catch on until the late '80's or early '90's.Then the DNR,apparently not liking what was happening,got involved and the regs went from no limit,to 5 gals,to 21/2,to 2 gallons.All the while different sources within the DNR began whispering getting rid of it altogether.Then a case of CWD hit and viola!,they had a good excuse to get rid of it.Dad said years ago its too late to get rid of it now,its too much of an accepted practice and its big business.The DNR thought it use the CWD thing as a reason to get rid of it,now they have the state legislators involved,and license sales have plummeted to an all time low.Then they try to push APR's and their as controversial here as they are everywhere else.Firearm deer season was as popular as Christmas in this state years ago,not anymore.It seems like its all controversy anymore.

Don't most hunters argue about their state's regs? We kill lots of deer with our vehicles here as well, around 4,000 deer/auto collisions a year according to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.

My post wasn't intended to put anybody down, it was meant to point out that there are lots of other ways to kill deer without baiting. And that the loss of the ability to legally bait is not the end of the world.

Feedinggrounds I do shoot a .35 Rem and drive a chevy. Dillrod there are other animals to pursue with a firearm to make them necessary for our youth. Buck do you think that if baiting were legal the state would not have lost as many hunters? Baiting was legal last year yet the trend has been a declining number of hunters. I am no biologist but it makes sense to me that some peoples baiting practices could be detrimental to a deer herd. I think that the MI DNR has a difficult job trying to balance what makes sense and what people want. I think that APRs are an example of what people want. We have put way to much emphasis on shooting large bucks, sure who wouldn't want to do that. I am just not sure we need laws everywhere for it, when people are seemingly willing to do it without laws saying they cant. Baiting on the other hand is the unpopular decision (obviously) that was made that many wont follow even with laws prohibiting it. That is evident when you see the feed at the gas stations even though its currently illegal. Plenty of other states prohibit the use of bait, as you can see from others responses, and most state game and fish agencies communicate with each other to see what works, what doesn't, what kind of compliance they see with certain regulations. A quick google search shows that only 22 states allow the use of bait on deer, less than half. Only 14 states allow baiting in the entire state. Seems that knowing that states communicate with each other and share data, and most don't allow it, I have to assume their is something too not baiting.

There are 22 states that allow some type of baiting for deer I do believe. The majority of them aren't liberal states either. Montana is a state that isn't a liberal state but no baiting there.

Until you hunt with a self made long bow, wood arrows you made and fletched , flint arrow head that you knapped, no tree stand and in a loin cloth and moccasins you made, you're using shortcuts to make it easier so you can " play hunter" too. You need to get off your high horse.

if I "Plant" a cornfield and hunt between it and the Bedding (woods) im a ethical hunter but if I "Place" corn out there i'm a criminal I suppose if I cut down some cedar i't be considered baiting also
Topknot your rite but not because of baiting The cause in MHOP is the damage that the QDM AND DNR PROMOTED with the let him grow alienated many who didn't wish to be told what to do When I started hunting people asked if you got your buck and if so congratulated you Now your ridiculed for anything less than a Massive 8 point I've talked to many younger folks that were ashamed to admit they shot a doe,fawn or spiker As far as the point restrictions shooting a 1 1/2 year old 6 or 8 with a small rack doesn't add to the herd base it detracts but that's up to the hunterThis crap in Michigan is the result of turning hunting into another video game You wouldn't tell a young person they're not a trapper cause all they caught was a muskrat, Well maybe You would

As usual this opens a can of "OPINIONS"!

Just like what's the best trap...………?

All in all, Its the one method or tool that works best for YOU!

Perfectly legal to bait for deer here and plenty of folks still dining on tag soup at season's end.

I see no issue with it in a well regulated, science based management system. Some people really are just out there to put meat in the freezer and there's nothing wrong with that either.

Personally, I can't be bothered hauling loads of bait into the bush and would rather set up along an established trail and wait... but I don't begrudge anyone who does it differently

and legal

Once again one less tool for the youth.

We are denying the children an opportunity to succeed.
For no valid reason.
Shouldn't matter ?
Not the way I do it ?
We grew up without it, should be fine now ?
Political influence ?

No scientific evidence i've ever been shown,supports this move.

When your kid gets off the bus to go home and hunt, how many others on the bus desire?
But from lack of opportunity, they are denied until the desire burns away, .

If you think it doesnt effect you , your island is under attack.
Understand people, you are allready a minority , and shrinking fast .
I am very alarmed about the future.
To just deny it is folly.

I don't hunt anymore except to carry as many young people into the outdoors as i possibly can.
Family ,friends of family , neighborhood kids with single parents working 2 jobs,
Any child who wishes to go outdoors and parents agree to it, is welcome in my truck.
Don't care if I ever harvest another animal, or catch another fish.

Every person who isolates others, will someday understand their errors.
I know it sounds like i'm preaching.
But if i open one set of eyes , its worth it.

Not here to argue , but your future in the outdoors is at a very high risk.
Your headed towards a wall of negativity.
If you can't see it then I have wasted my breath.

Proactive is the winner , reactive is no more then damage control as you slip into failure in the future.
Don't just take a kids to the outdoors , take a truckload.
I read on here of many who do work with the youth. I commend you. each and everyone.
Those of you who can't be bothered with it.
Your bliss is short lived i'm afraid..

Share the wisdom and passion you have developed through out the years.
We are the teachers ,the trainers, the support , no one else is going to do it, ( if they even care).

Friend to all who I meet , untill they change my mind..
Just my thoughts.
I have probably said enough..
.

Jeff I think part of the issue with planting vs placing is in how would a food plot for deer be defined in such a way to not be a farm field? I think that line gets blurry. Plenty of crops still up in Presque Isle last I checked. If food plots were illegal than so too would farm fields, and I am sure the folks in Posen will kill a few deer this Friday with the aid of a farm field. The point being I think that making bait illegal was easier to define and baiting deer is more of a black and white issue vs trying to determine if someone's food plot is part of a normal agricultural practice.
Again I don't care one way or another but I do agree that we as sportsman shouldn't be against each other. I do think that we should have civilized discussions on issues that are important to. us.

dillrod "No scientific evidence i've ever been shown,supports this move" ?
Man I wouldn't finish a half eaten pie from a sick person at a pie eating contest. It doesn't take a scientist to know that could be detrimental to me. And I don't think we are denying our children an opportunity to succeed. Deer can be killed without bait. Will it be harder, sure. But not everything needs to be spoon fed to kids, nor do kids always have to succeed.

Oh my gosh! Are you available to speak at my school any time in the near future? Just need you to emphasize that last line if you could.

You were right. She is a twit.

the WIS DNR and most others see baiting as concentrating deer in a small space with the possibility to spread CWD and other deer diseases. It won't be going away any time soon.

raptors probably spread the CDW the farthest and widest but that won't change either.

.

I was never much of a baiter we just did drives , best bet is clear cut 5 acres in the middle of a 40 and plant hay you will have a pile of deer on it all the time and not break a single law , you might even be eligible for crop damage tags as a result

I live in the middle of the so called CWD area. For me I don't see how baiting would be very beneficial as its primarily farm land here. The deer simply move between cover and food around me. But we are absolutely overrun with deer and need the herd to be knocked down about 50+% yet its simply not going to happen. There has been pretty much complete open hunting from September into spring for a couple of years now and I can't tell any difference. I've come to consider whitetails to be vermin so if baiting kills more here I'd be all for it even weighed against the potential of spreading disease from close contact at feed piles. And I'm not sure that the bait piles are any more congested than the herd itself; I watched a group of roughly 50 does move from swamp into radish field two nights ago as I was starting to call. Those critters are bunched right together touching each other so I'm thinking disease can spread fast all by itself if its really there to begin with.

This state is so variable though its going to be hard for the DNR to cover all of the bases. Go 100 miles north of me and I'd think baiting would be useful tool compared to here given the lack of food in comparison.

I had two very good aquaintances get a fine for baiting Turkeys in Ohio when they were hunting turkeys in the woods near a corn field and there were pieces of corn on a trail leading to the corn field. Three pieces of corn to be precise. The pieces were not placed by the hunters and when the warden approached them about looking at their hunt site they abliged. they had went through the site three weeks prior to remove any bait that was there. They even had bait removal on their calendar to make sure the site was good to go 2 weeks before like the law at the time stated.

My point of adding that note is not that baiting should or should not be legal but the second you take that step then you have to classify what is and isn't and leaves a whole list of things that could be and could not be. By taking the ability to do so you also step in and take the ability of one to know if you are in the right and not in some circumstances. These two hunters could recite the rule and regulations manual for the state of Ohio to you. They eventually had to pay the fine and have that mark on their record. One of the two has not hunted turkey in Ohio or bought a tag since.

Should be the hunters personal decision whether he/she wants to bait, not state law.