Deer Baiting

[uptracker]

Over here in MI, our DNR is going to make a final decision on bringing deer baiting back to the Lower Peninsula on June 6th. There has been a bait ban in effect now for 2-3 years when a penned whitetail was found to have CWD. Now, it's become very controversial as to whether or not bring it back. All CWD aside, MI has been a pro-baiting state for over 30 years. It seems as though hunters don't know what to do without bait and it's really causing some division among hunters here.

Being that MN is a non-baiting state, how do you guys feel about it? Would you like to be able to use bait? Are you anti-baiting? Why? How do you think it effects a hunter chances? How do you think it effects other hunters chances?

I personally hate baiting. Maybe it's because I've had to deal with it my whole life, but I just can't stand seeing it, hearing about it and listening to all the baiting stories. I love the fact that MN has strict anti-baiting laws. Wish it'd happen here.

Thoughts?

[uptracker]

P.S. I was in NE MN last week shed hunting. A pic is below!!!

[NoWiser]

I can't stand it. I guess its just the way I was raised but it doesn't seem right.

I hunted a few years in northern Wisconsin where it was fairly common and people were very divided about it there, too. Many hunters baited because they felt it was easier to shoot deer that way than putting the work into scouting. In my opinion these were the lazy hunters. It left many other people with a moral dilema. They felt it was wrong to bait, but without doing it, there was not much deer traffic on their land compared to the neighbors who did bait. Many people also felt it made the deer a bit more nocturnal. It just wasn't a good situation.

I'm glad the MN DNR has enough sense to take such a harsh stance against it. It is something we do not need in this state. It makes me smile every time I hear about someone losing their beloved hunting rifle because they were dumb enough to bait, although I'd rather not hear about it at all.

I quit watching hunting shows on weekend mornings altogether because I got sick of watching "hunters" sit in tripod stands, wait for the timer to spread feed on the dirt road, and then shoot a big buck and brag about what a trophy they have, and how exciting it was. That's not what hunting is about, and if I wanted that, I'd go pay the neighbor to shoot his holstein when it is munching on a hay bail. Just my opinion...

[TooTallTom]

Being that MN is a non-baiting state, how do you guys feel about it? Would you like to be able to use bait? Are you anti-baiting? Why? How do you think it effects a hunter chances? How do you think it effects other hunters chances?

I'm somewhat against baiting. I don't have any desire to do it myself, and I hope that it stays illegal. I know that there are disease-transmission issues that come along with feeding deer, and that's primarily why I'm against it.

BUT, I plant food plots and put out minerals. I see them as a way to provide food for deer and other animals on an ongoing basis, and stop a deer for a clean shot. I think this is probably hypocritical (especially the minerals) but I think that there is some difference between a mineral site and a bait pile as far as attracting deer. Maybe not.

[LightningBG]

I think that there is some difference between a mineral site and a bait pile as far as attracting deer. Maybe not.

Probably not.

BTW. Watch out. Pretty soon there will be a license and tax for sheds collected. This is Minnesotax afterall.

[Jameson]

...Being that MN is a non-baiting state, how do you guys feel about it? Would you like to be able to use bait? Are you anti-baiting? Why? How do you think it effects a hunter chances? How do you think it effects other hunters chances?...

I'm glad MN is a state that does not allow food placement for deer shooting. No, I would not like to be able to place food. Yes, I'm anti-baiting, but if it was allowed, and I needed to compete with the neighbors, I would do it. Competing with the neighbors at that level is not something I wish to do. It would effect different hunters chances differently.

[DHost21]

I love putting food out all summer to see pictures and help get pictures of deer but as soon as september comes I agree it shouldnt be legal. Do your scouting and learn your area its gotta be so much more rewarding shooting a deer moving through an area because thats its natural habitat than shooting one over a bait pile because it NEEDS food and doesnt have a choice but come into your arrow or gun

[PerchJerker]

I'm glad MN is a state that does not allow food placement for deer shooting. No, I would not like to be able to place food. Yes, I'm anti-baiting, but if it was allowed, and I needed to compete with the neighbors, I would do it. Competing with the neighbors at that level is not something I wish to do. It would effect different hunters chances differently.

Good points Jameson and I agree completely.

I hunt MN every year and I'm glad baiting is not allowed. I wish the DNR would be more strict against it. As it is, a neighbor of mine about a mile away feeds the deer. He feeds them all year long, feeds them a ton of food, and feeds them a variety of food. He really pulls in the deer and your point about "competing" with that is exactly how I feel. I have deer on my property but I feel I'd have more if he didn't have such a big feeding operation going on a mile away from my place. BTW, he hunts on his place too (80 acres), and his neighbors hunt, and as far as I know he keeps feeding right through deer season.

I hunt WI pretty much every year too. There is some baiting in the area where we hunt, but we don't bait ---- and we don't feel like it hurts our chances there. But in all honesty we are on some pretty good land in WI.

I've hunted in MI a couple of times. What an eye opening --- they are professionals over there when it comes to baiting. Every gas station, grocery store, convenience store etc. was loaded with deer bait - cracked corn, shelled corn, cob corn, beets, carrots, grains, hay, etc etc etc. Every stand we hunted was over a bait pile. It was a neat experience, even a fun experience --- but I am glad it is not like that here in MN. I don't think I saw 1 deer in MI that was "acting natural" --- every deer I saw was coming to the bait pile.

[fr0sty]

Baiting should remain illegal in MN.

[Fowlmouth]

It's sad how much it happens here in MN though. Nothing but a bunch of slob "hunters" who are wrecking it for everyone else. If you get caught baiting you should lose your license for good. It's a simple law to follow, don't put bait out. Plain and simple.

[Antero]

I do not hunt so I have no horse in this race but what is the difference in hunting over bait or hunting over a plot of beans or clover or standing corn for that matter?

[uptracker]

I do not hunt so I have no horse in this race but what is the difference in hunting over bait or hunting over a plot of beans or clover or standing corn for that matter?

I know what you mean to an extent, but if you came over here, you'd know the difference. Plus, a natural ag food source is a lot different when speaking of deer behavior. If you throw 10 bait piles in a sq. mile of big woods of the U.P., it screws everything up for a couple months.

[Bear55]

I do not hunt so I have no horse in this race but what is the difference in hunting over bait or hunting over a plot of beans or clover or standing corn for that matter?

IMO a food plot is very closely related to natural or agg food sources. They really aren't that much different then a hay field, you also have to get the deer out in the open and a lot of times when the pressure is on the deer will not come out into the food plot until after dark. People often see food plots on TV loaded with 50 deer but that just isn't reality. You really have to hunt a food plot like you would any natural food source, sometimes the deer are there sometimes they are not, other times they are out of range and other times they are at a different food source.

Now baiting on the other hand I associate more with a mouse trap, you can strategically place them in thick cover or near bedding areas and give the deer a false sense of security and then BAM! The other thing I don't like about it is it can become an arms race, who can get the biggest and best bait pile going. Most states have laws against this but we all know that doesn't matter and even in MN there is a pretty large number of guys baiting already, we don't need any more.

[Antero]

If I am not mistaken, bait piles are set out to lure deer to an area (your stand) and food plots are planted to lure deer to an area (your stand). If food plots were not effective in doing this why do so many bother with the expense and time involved in planting them? Why are most magazines and outdoor stores filled with different seeds and seed mixes, products that are marketed to do just that?

I have helped hunters in Mn break ground, disc, fertilize and plant food plots. Funny, but after doing all the ag work we set in in putting a stand right nest to it. I have eaten venison harvested from said stands.

[uptracker]

If I am not mistaken, bait piles are set out to lure deer to an area (your stand) and food plots are planted to lure deer to an area (your stand). If food plots were not effective in doing this why do so many bother with the expense and time involved in planting them? Why are most magazines and outdoor stores filled with different seeds and seed mixes, products that are marketed to do just that?

I have helped hunters in Mn break ground, disc, fertilize and plant food plots. Funny, but after doing all the ag work we set in in putting a stand right nest to it. I have eaten venison harvested from said stands.

For a lot of guys, it's more about management and providing a quality food source where the deer are in need of something better than say corn. A lot of plots are packed with protein and trace minerals. Just the ticket for nice, big healthy deer.

[bigbucks]

I hunt MN & WI. We don't bait in WI. Sure if we happen to wind up with some food scraps or bad apples we'll dump them near a stand, but that's rare & it's not anything maintained, so they just clean it up when they discover it. I sometimes wonder if it hurts our hunting over there, but we really don't know who's baiting around us. I haven't noticed a huge impact from it, but I'm not really a fan of it. I'm happy MN doesn't allow it, but I don't really see it as an ethical dilemma either.

[Bear55]

If I am not mistaken, bait piles are set out to lure deer to an area (your stand) and food plots are planted to lure deer to an area (your stand). If food plots were not effective in doing this why do so many bother with the expense and time involved in planting them? Why are most magazines and outdoor stores filled with different seeds and seed mixes, products that are marketed to do just that?

I have helped hunters in Mn break ground, disc, fertilize and plant food plots. Funny, but after doing all the ag work we set in in putting a stand right nest to it. I have eaten venison harvested from said stands.

Like most outdoor laws, things that are less effective like scents, calling, foodplots are legal while more effective techniques like baiting and shining are illegal. Now there can certainly be some gray area in there but it is pretty easy to draw a line between bait piles and a foodplot that closely resembles any open field deer feed in.

If there is one thing I have discovered over the years it is that outdoorsmen will put in untold amounts of time, work, and $$$ into what they love to do. So while it might be much easier to pattern the deer and find the food and hunt them, it can be just as fun and rewarding to work your own land and try to draw the deer in.