What Would You Do???

[B-man715]

Say you found yourself some new hunting ground close to home. Once you were given permission to hunt it you go out scouting the area.

While you walk the propery you accidentally cross the property line onto the neighboring land and find a mechanical tripod deer feeder (with three deer eating at it).

Here in Wisconsin, any feeder of this sort is ILLEGAL, and is clearly stated so in the regulations. We are allowed to place 2 gallons of bait on the ground, not hang 55 gallons on a tripod with a timer.

The guys that own the property hunt it mostly during rifle season (opens this Saturday). If it makes any difference they are from Minnesota, where I understand these feeders are allowed?

What would you do?

[james_walleye]

Its one thing to have a feeder like that in MN, but you can't hunt over it. I wouldnt hesitate to call the WI DNR.

[tritonman]

Turn his A$$ in!!! I hunt about 20 days a year in wisconsin and never do the baiting thing. I don't have a problem with people that do as long as its within the legal limits. I just prefer shooting a deer that I outsmarted rather than one that has a face full of corn.

[jwmiller33]

i would have already called the DNR or local CO in your area. i would want to have this hunter caught and punished so it doesnt decrease the chances that he illegally takes a deer that i could have potentially end up shooting. even if he is the neighbor, i wouldn't hesitate to call. ask them when you call to keep you anonymous because you don't want to get on bad terms with your neighbor. but him doing this illegal bating is increasing his chances of shooting a nice deer that could have, if he wasnt illegally feeding them, wandered over to your hunting property and been shot by you. i feel like you are being "part of the problem" and not the solution if you do NOT call this guy in.

[picksbigwagon]

call the DNR Bman.....

[Eric Wettschreck]

Couple of thoughts......

I don't know the WI Regs.

When you crossed onto your neighbors land, unless you had permission, you were trespassing.

Are these types of feeders not allowed any time or are they not allowed to be hunting over? I ask as just cuz a feeder is out there doesn't mean they are hunting over it. Good chance they are but not guaranteed.

A call to the DNR is prolly in order but I'm thinking just cuz you saw a feeder doesn't mean a law has been broken, yet. The DNR should know about it, tho.

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Say you found yourself some new hunting ground close to home. Once you were given permission to hunt it you go out scouting the area.

While you walk the propery you accidentally cross the property line onto the neighboring land and find a mechanical tripod deer feeder (with three deer eating at it).

Here in Wisconsin, any feeder of this sort is ILLEGAL, and is clearly stated so in the regulations. We are allowed to place 2 gallons of bait on the ground, not hang 55 gallons on a tripod with a timer.

The guys that own the property hunt it mostly during rifle season (opens this Saturday). If it makes any difference they are from Minnesota, where I understand these feeders are allowed?

What would you do?

Question, if you "accidentally" crossed the property line of "new" ground how do you know you were not actually on the ground you were suppose to be on? And how does one "accidentally" cross a property line anyway?

[Big Dave2]

Why is everyone jumping to conclusions and saying "call the DNR"?

There is absolutely no proof that a law has been broken unless there is a law in Wisconsin about feeding deer. I don't know the laws in Wisconsin so maybe that is the case.

As I see it, if no laws are being broken then what is the problem? If you see them hunting over the feeder then go ahead and call them in if you want but don't make trouble for people just because you don't like their feeder.

The only law I see that was broken was trespassing.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Call the DNR and turn neighbors in for having an illegal feeder (gravity or spreader feeder), but make sure you turn yourself in for trespassing or risk being a hypocrit, because it is possible that like your mistaken trespass, your neighbors mistakenly had an illegal feeder that contained a legal amount of bait (2 gallons).

[deerminator]

It's legal to use these in Minnesota to FEED deer but if you hunt anywhere near them they have to be removed a minimum of 10 days before season. I know this because all spring and summer I drove by these massive feeders and deer all around them right by the side of a county road I take. The property is littered with box stands every couple hundered yards or so, about a dozen in all, surrounding the feeders. The feeders are gone just in time of course for slug season. But they'll be back after muzzleloader season is over and just in time so I hit another deer with my car that is crossing the county road to get to its feeder right by the roadside.

[Musky Buck]

That's why illegal hunters are rarely caught because on private land who's gonna find it and who in your group would dare snitch on ya. The unwritten junior high school code with the principal is lie,lie,lie, don't squeel. Last year the guys illegally baiting deer went 20-20. They must have read this and figured out who I am and they knew not to this year. Same everything except bait, they got 1 deer this year and bellyached there was nothing around. Felt like saying you shot them all the year before you green haired clowns. There is your effectiveness of bait report and changing deer travel. That's just it if MN allows baiting then we'll have people who then won't follow the regulations for legal baiting like your story. We'd have a mess of already lazy hunters becoming even more texas like lazy. Lob in a bad winter and hey maybe we can lose a season altogether. Heck lets bait some of these counties that are already low in deer numbers so our children someday can see what a year of no deer hunting is like after a violent winter. Cmon deerminator baiting doesn't work, all that other stuff is legal salt scent tcams calls,jk, just wanted to sound like a pro-bait crybaby. Here ya go if you want to bait rifle Wisconsin. Baiting is already causing major Minnesota problems, don't believe it ask a CO is is living it each fall.

[B-man715]

Please let me again state that in some counties in Wisonsin you are allowed to place up to two gallons of bait directly on the ground. Any type of feeder is ILLEGAL all year, open season or closed season, for hunting or even just "viewing." You cannot have 150 lbs of corn set on a timer.

Well I called the game warden and told him about the feeder and how I found it. I was walking around the new property and found the tripod feeder. I talked to the landowner about the feeder and described where it was. There are no fences or signs up marking the property line, and he said the area described was about 100 yards off of his property onto the neighboring property.

I did not tresspass on purpose. It was a new area to me with no fences or signs, and I strayed off a whole 50 yards onto the guy's land and saw the feeder another 50 yards in. He has it intentionally hiding under 2 white pines and an oak tree that still holds all of it's leaves. The DNR does airial patrols looking for illegal bait piles and feeders. The guy is obviously trying to hide his illegal feeder.

The game warden thanked me for calling him. He went out this afternoon and found the feeder with 2 deer eating under it as he walked up! He said he will stop by Saturday morning and issue citations.

I don't feel one ounce of regret for turning him in. If you don't like to pay fines don't break the law. True sportsmen play by the rules.

[T.S128]

b-man i think you did the right thing. i would have done the same. everything the guy gets he deserves. nothing makes me more mad then poachers and cheaters. thanks for turnin him in

[picksbigwagon]

well done Bman