DEER BAITING

[MUSKYMAN1011]

M.B.

After that rant,

I think you are the one with Mental Health issue...

[Musky Buck]

Sorry MuskyMan1011, it's probably the transformation of what I've seen since 1983 when I first hunted compared to the craziness I now observe in 2008. I hunt in Ottertail county and it has pretty much turned into every 20 acres or less has a deer stand on it unless you own a large tract, I think some feel they need to bait because of the competition between deer parties and all of the stands out their. Where I hunt, I have numerous stands around my land where the hunters are hunting dirt, absolutely zero deer on the land they have permission on, but they can sit on my fencelines and shoot in or pray one jumps the fence and runs through the harvested potato field, on 3 of the 4 sides of my property that is the case and on each side there is a stand, this is the way it is each year and I don't feel very safe walking those fencelines during low light, the hunters are facing straight in on my property and until they shoot, I have no say. Baiting is just another issue. Speaking of Muskies I cranked in a nice 52-53 incher the other day on West Battle Lake. I last baiting issue is my neighbor lets me rifle/muzzleloader his land and he has a group that bow hunts and checking my stands out I found theirs with 50-100 pounds of shell corn 15 yards away from each, been told they have taken 11 deer so far this season, they brag uptown how great of hunters they are. I don't want to be the one in trouble for baiting and the farmer, I don't want to upset him and them and create a big mess, I'm not sure I can lawfully hunt their this year, I wished I wouldn't have seen that corn, now I have to do the right thing, M.B. These people are AKA game hogs with walleyes and geese and deer, enough is never enough and the worst part is they have money to burn. Good Luck all, be safe.

[MUSKYMAN1011]

M.B.

If you seen the Bait Piles & your pretty sure who is doing it, then turn em in !

If you hear em BRAG up at the local Pub, turn em in !

That is a option.

Best of Luck

[magnum165]

I think the purpose of deer hunting in general is to keep the population under control.Overpopulation plus disease would allow it to spread easily with more animals present.I don't bait because it is illegal but I am not totally against it.It just seems ironic that in my area I can purchase up to 5 tags in order to decrease the population to needed levels but am not allowed to do it in an efficient manner.I haven't shot many deer in my life but also don't measure success by filled tags-thats just a bonus.Bowhunting and baiting would seem acceptable if legal but my main concern would be the non-hunting publics view of hunters in general as a result.Good Luck people and hunt safe!!

[wolfman-k]

Hunting over a bait pile just seems too much like shooting a cow feeding on a bale of hay to me. If I needed to bait, I think I'd become a (cough) vegetarian!