Why is baiting illegal here?

[Odonata]

So you're saying if I put a pile of corn, regularly, anyplace in the woods, deer wont find it or change their habits to get to it? I don't agree.

I don't have deer in my yard on a regular basis. However, when I put corn out during the winter or anytime, they arrive! It's the same way in the woods. I don't want to cause a forum arguement, but putting bait out has nothing to do with scouting. At least not how I scout.

Baiting for the purposes of hunting, currently, is illegal. What more is there to discuss? It's not a discussion of the disparity between the "who has large pieces of land, lots of deer vs. those without". I don't see the benefit to hunting with making baiting legal. Call me ignorant, that's my opinion.

[FLnick87]

how do u scout? put ur stand over ur planted food plot?its not like 20 deer come flocking to the bait at all hours of the day. i like seeing deer when I hunt and do whatever is legal in order to do so. I know it is not legal here but in my opinion if food plots which are made for the only purpose of feeding animals are legal, baiting should also

[Scott Stein]

how do u scout? put ur stand over ur planted food plot?its not like 20 deer come flocking to the bait at all hours of the day. i like seeing deer when I hunt and do whatever is legal in order to do so. I know it is not legal here but in my opinion if food plots which are made for the only purpose of feeding animals are legal, baiting should also

u find a trail thats being used nicely then put a trail cam by it or a mock scrape

[Odonata]

How do I scout? On foot. I hunt the bush, no food plots. I have hunted plots before, but prefer the woods. I make note of where things are in the woods, what the sign tells me and what the deer do/patterns. I don't have 20 deer flock to my stands either, but if you do your homework you may see a few. If my stand is unproductive, I move. I do what is legal and I see deer. If I wasn't seeing deer I would wonder what I need to change as a hunter. I am the variable when hunting, not the deer. They are out there, we need to adjust in order to understand what they're doing in the different conditions of the season. Are we looking for the most convenient way to see deer or hunting?

[Musky Buck]

Great points by all, it sounds like the haves and the have nots, sell your fishing gear, season tickets to the vikes, buy some quality land or turn it into quality land. Who had that hunter as the variable is right on, my experiences, I've downed 21 bucks with the best bait possible, the rut, patience, passing on immature bucks since 1994, scouting year round, I bought quality habitat in one of the better counties in MN, if you want to know it's Ottertail county. Will someone answer why we can't bait waterfowl ? The food plot discussion is so simple, to the food plot guys thanks for doing it, you also help grouse,turkeys,pheasants,rabbits,squirrels,deer,etc. and during winter it helps those animals/birds a lot. The corn bucket isn't helping anything once its empty, people who bait must have major squirrel issues. Of course neither way guarantees anyone success, it increases your chances. My only example for how bait works happens to come from this year. I found on my neighbors land 3 bow stands and also a pile of corn 10 yards in front of each one. 50 yards away out of the swamp is 100 acres of standing corn, I thought well how are these piles of corn going to attract anything with that field right there, I was happy not to find any gutpiles. These people have bow permission and I have rifle/musket permission, I see 1 of these guys uptown and found out 4 of them actually hunt there, they said been a great year, have you been scouting it yet, I said no, no need to my stand is where it needs to be, I said how great a season, 14 is all he said, they took 14 deer off of those bait piles with 100 acres of still standing corn right there, irrigated 10 foot high jungle corn, worst part is I didn't go hunt there because you can't hunt baited areas correct ? I'm still trying to figure out my next move, turn them in ? go to the neighbor farmer and report ? These are guys that have the utmost respect from our community and are viewed as tremendous bowhunters, now I wonder how many years has this been going on, they'll gladly brag about the numbers of deer they take, I have no clue if they tag them all or what, no gutpiles because I guess they 4 wheeler them out and gut them at home. If you doubt the story give me a holler and I'd gladly show you the whole set-up, worst part is the farmer told me he didn't see my truck on the approach this year and that maybe he'd let a few others in to rifle hunt, I didn't tell him the reasons. Normally I wouldn't walk past there stands but took the shortcut out one day while scouting, that proved the baiting/no baiting theory for me, you have the best bait called the rut !

[inspec_brad]

Great points by all, it sounds like the haves and the have nots, sell your fishing gear, season tickets to the vikes, buy some quality land or turn it into quality land. Who had that hunter as the variable is right on, my experiences, I've downed 21 bucks with the best bait possible, the rut, patience, passing on immature bucks since 1994, scouting year round, I bought quality habitat in one of the better counties in MN, if you want to know it's Ottertail county. Will someone answer why we can't bait waterfowl ? The food plot discussion is so simple, to the food plot guys thanks for doing it, you also help grouse,turkeys,pheasants,rabbits,squirrels,deer,etc. and during winter it helps those animals/birds a lot. The corn bucket isn't helping anything once its empty, people who bait must have major squirrel issues. Of course neither way guarantees anyone success, it increases your chances. My only example for how bait works happens to come from this year. I found on my neighbors land 3 bow stands and also a pile of corn 10 yards in front of each one. 50 yards away out of the swamp is 100 acres of standing corn, I thought well how are these piles of corn going to attract anything with that field right there, I was happy not to find any gutpiles. These people have bow permission and I have rifle/musket permission, I see 1 of these guys uptown and found out 4 of them actually hunt there, they said been a great year, have you been scouting it yet, I said no, no need to my stand is where it needs to be, I said how great a season, 14 is all he said, they took 14 deer off of those bait piles with 100 acres of still standing corn right there, irrigated 10 foot high jungle corn, worst part is I didn't go hunt there because you can't hunt baited areas correct ? I'm still trying to figure out my next move, turn them in ? go to the neighbor farmer and report ? These are guys that have the utmost respect from our community and are viewed as tremendous bowhunters, now I wonder how many years has this been going on, they'll gladly brag about the numbers of deer they take, I have no clue if they tag them all or what, no gutpiles because I guess they 4 wheeler them out and gut them at home. If you doubt the story give me a holler and I'd gladly show you the whole set-up, worst part is the farmer told me he didn't see my truck on the approach this year and that maybe he'd let a few others in to rifle hunt, I didn't tell him the reasons. Normally I wouldn't walk past there stands but took the shortcut out one day while scouting, that proved the baiting/no baiting theory for me, you have the best bait called the rut !

Pee on the piles of corn. HaHaHa!

[FLnick87]

Well i guess our views on the subject are probably different due to the types of land we hunt. I just dont see anything unethical or unsportsman like by using bait.

[vister]

If everyone wants to call baiting unethical, and by using it if legal that would make me not a true hunter, then what are you? if baiting wouldn't be fair chase, then neither would be using modern compound bows or firearms. so the way i hear it here, i had better sharpen a stick if i want to be a true hunter in everyones opinion.

Sure bait can HELP lure deer in. doesn't mean they will walk right up to it. if they see or smell ya, they still won't come in. Maybe it should be illegal to bait a hook too! isn't it the same thing. I believe it is. doesn't mean you are always going to catch a fish, but it sure betters your odds. after all, earthworms ARE an invasive species.

I don't see baiting to be such a bad idea. I just don't think they have figured out exactly how CWD is spread, and by banning baiting, its just one more way to maybe control it.

baiting deer has been illegal long before the worries of CWD. If anyone here can tell me exactly why the DNR doesn't allow it, then lets hear it. Until then, i have had enough of the "unethical" or not a "true hunter" debates. afterall, i am probably a more ethical sportsman then half the people here, but everyone thinks not because maybe some day i'd like to hunt over a pile of apples??

[minnesotahunter]

cribbageboy- 4 rows of standing corn is a lot different then 4 rows of cut corn laying on the ground. Think about it..... whats easier to eat, peeling the husk off the corn then eating it off the cob or eating canned corn already taken off the cob. Your failing to realize the intent behind this law. Im not saying your "bashing" the DNR, but there are reasons why 4 rows of standing corn is legal and corn on the ground isnt. And for you saying you have yet to see a food plot bigger than 10 acres i would invite you to come and take a look at the two biologic food plots in elk river that are roughly 20 acres a piece. I take great pride in producing a deer herd that is 1) healthy 2)abundant and 3) one that grows large mature whitetail. So for you to say that you have yet to see anyone do this pretty much is looking down on us that put ample amount of time into our food plots.

[Scott Stein]

how do ppl see putting a pile of corn or whatever by ur stand and waiting for deer that are patterned to coming to this pile ethical....be a real hunter and scout the woods or wherever you are hunting by looking for well traveled trails finding bedding areas and scrapes and puttin a stand by them and if that doesnt work find something that does....to me baiting seems like its a way for lazy ppl to cheat...im sick of all this baiting [PoorWordUsage] in the "cuffs & collars" of the outdoor news there are so many reports of ppl baiting it makes me sick! mnhunter we have food plots too but we only bow hunt over them...i know how much time and effort it takes to keep these plots maintained and when u do take a deer off them it seems very rewarding...unlike hauling pales of corn to your stand....food plots take alot more time!

[Big Dave2]

cribbageboy- 4 rows of standing corn is a lot different then 4 rows of cut corn laying on the ground. Think about it..... whats easier to eat, peeling the husk off the corn then eating it off the cob or eating canned corn already taken off the cob. Your failing to realize the intent behind this law. Im not saying your "bashing" the DNR, but there are reasons why 4 rows of standing corn is legal and corn on the ground isnt. And for you saying you have yet to see a food plot bigger than 10 acres i would invite you to come and take a look at the two biologic food plots in elk river that are roughly 20 acres a piece. I take great pride in producing a deer herd that is 1) healthy 2)abundant and 3) one that grows large mature whitetail. So for you to say that you have yet to see anyone do this pretty much is looking down on us that put ample amount of time into our food plots.

Note from admin, please read forum policy before posting again, thank you.

I think some are misunderstanding what cribbageboy is stating in his analogy. He is talking about the same corn on the cob still on the stalk that you are talking about. Only, if you cut that same corn and leave it lay on the ground then it is suddenly illegal.

And personally, you are correct in my case, I don't understand the intent behind the law. That is what we are discussing here and I have not yet gathered from anyone what the intent is other than it makes people feel better about themselves because they have some sort of guilty feelings about killing animals for food.

Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating the ILLEGAL baiting of deer, but if it were to become legal for some reason I would try it.

The reasons I have heard so far are:

1. Unethical/fair chase. I don't really buy that one since we don't give cows and pigs a chance to escape before we slaughter them. Hunting is the same thing, it's killing an animal for food. It is perfectly ethical to bait fish, bear and even deer if you are in the right state.

2. Disease spreading prevention. I can get that one except for the fact that the act of actually feeding deer in feeders is what possibly helps spread these diseases. If that were to be made illegal then I could buy this argument but as long as the DNR in it's wisdom allows the recreational feeding of deer in feeders then this argument is not viable.

3. Baiting causes unnatural deer movement and is unfair to hunters who do not bait. I understand this but the argument here is that food plots which are usually planted for the sole purpose of hunting over and killing deer do the same thing to those who do not chose or cannot plant food plots. I think food plots are great and help all types of wildlife make it through tough winters but you could plant these and not hunt directly over them. Plus some of these so- called "food plots" are nothing more than a farmer leaving up 1 or 2 combine swaths of corn in years when the corn around has all been harvested by deer opener and hunting over it during firearms season. This creates a natural draw since there is no other corn in the area. Then he fires up the combine and harvests it when he is done hunting.

[minnesotahunter]

big dave- your arguments are combining all of us "food plot" hunters into one category which is not right. Yes there are people that do hunt over the 1 or 2 swaths of rows of corn but then there are us who plant large food plots for the sole purpose of growing big deer and maintaining the herd, so i find it offensive that you can think i am within that category of select hunters. your first argument does not make sense to me about fair chase. cows and pigs are domesticated..... whitetail deer are 100% wild and hunting them is 100% fair chase. your argument would be good if we all hunted deer inside of a cage.

[jkcmj]

I am one of these hunters that puts up an acre of two of sweet corn, harvest enough for my family to eat and can, hunts over it, then puts the cows in to clean it up after the bow season is over.

If we leave it out, the turkeys, deer, coon etc. build up when snow gets heavy and start causing vehicle collisions on the road(two last winter right in front of the house), damage to the sheds(racoons move in near the food source, and the turkeys hang out evenings on the hills above the plot and spend the afternoons raking the woods clean so errosion sets in.

I take care of all of these problems by cleaning up my bait(food plot) at the end of the season.

[BobT]

Quote:

the way i hear it here, i had better sharpen a stick if i want to be a true hunter in everyones opinion.

Real men don't need a tool!

Bob

[james_walleye]

I've stated over and over on this thread what happened when i put a pile of corn out with a camera over it along edge of a picked cornfield, on a farm where i havent harvested a "trophy" deer in 14 years. After seeing the results i can see why baiting is illegal.

[Black_Bay]

Question - Why is baiting illegal?

Answer - Because the DNR says so. Pretty simple huh? If you want specifics contact them.

Lets debate why it's illegal to drive 80 mph next. Afterall I'm a great driver so it can't be because it's not safe.

[B. Amish]

Quote:

1. Unethical/fair chase. I don't really buy that one since we don't give cows and pigs a chance to escape before we slaughter them. Hunting is the same thing

You can't be serious with this comparison.

[Musky Buck]

Did you guys read my bow story ? 14 deer on bait piles within about 200 yards of one another all the while having 80-100 acres of irrigated stuff standing 50 yards away, the deer still came to the bait and were shot up bigtime, so if baiting is legal someday bow hunters will get the start on it mid-sept through the end of the year, rifle, muzzleloader. I think the question is what do you hope to accomplish by baiting when you put that pile out, what's the hope ? We need to bait for deer because........... Heck lets start baiting turkey and waterfowl as well, I haven't shot a MN duck in 10 years, feel to bad for them, not nearly enough around so lets bait waterfowl and slaughter them, of course I don't wish for that. It's the ulmitate attractant, I think that is what bait is.

[Big Dave2]

Question - Why is baiting illegal?

Answer - Because the DNR says so. Pretty simple huh? If you want specifics contact them.

Lets debate why it's illegal to drive 80 mph next. Afterall I'm a great driver so it can't be because it's not safe.

I guess things just aren't that simple for me. Laws are written and implemented by elected legislaters not the DNR. The DNR just enforces the laws. Not to say that the DNR doesn't endorse this law because I am sure that they do but they don't write legislation.

I think there is always room for improvement in our laws, that's why more are written every day. I don't believe that we should just always sit by and never question any decision that our elected officials make.

But you do make a good point. I think I will contact them and see what they say. I have contacted the DNR before and asked a question and it has been answered quickly and concisely.

I think that you would not get any argument from anyone that you ask that the speed limits are what they are on certain roads for safety reasons.

[Bear55]

I really don't see how people can compare food plots to baiting no matter the size. I'm sorry but even a small food plot, lets say 1/4 acre, is not nearly as attractive to deer as a concentrated pile of apples or corn. Plus a small food plot doesn't have that much food so it won't be as attractive to a large number of deer. People see food plot loaded with deer on tv and thing that a small food plot will be loaded with deer all fall, anyone can just show up and shoot whatever they want. I suggest you go out and make a small food plot and see how you do.

The questions is where to draw the line, small food plots, gardens, small opening in the woods, what about a small group of oaks? Are we not suppose to hunt in a small patch of oaks because its too small of a food source? Some of the comparisons here are getting a little ridiculous. What's next should we compare baiting to hunting a funnel? I mean it is unfair that the deer have to travel through such a small area and if we can't bait that should be illegal too?

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Apples to oranges!

Bait and food plots ALL UNNATURAL and placed by man for the benifit of man in taking game.

Funnels, oak stands, clear cuts are all NATURAL (sure, clear cuts are man made but it's for a greater purpose then deer hunting)

Ban all food plots and baiting and ban all people caught useing these methods from ever hunting again! They are not hunters!

[Black_Bay]

Originally Posted By: Black_Bay

Question - Why is baiting illegal?

Answer - Because the DNR says so. Pretty simple huh? If you want specifics contact them.

Lets debate why it's illegal to drive 80 mph next. Afterall I'm a great driver so it can't be because it's not safe.

I guess things just aren't that simple for me. Laws are written and implemented by elected legislaters not the DNR. The DNR just enforces the laws. Not to say that the DNR doesn't endorse this law because I am sure that they do but they don't write legislation.

I think there is always room for improvement in our laws, that's why more are written every day. I don't believe that we should just always sit by and never question any decision that our elected officials make.

But you do make a good point. I think I will contact them and see what they say. I have contacted the DNR before and asked a question and it has been answered quickly and concisely.

I think that you would not get any argument from anyone that you ask that the speed limits are what they are on certain roads for safety reasons.

I apologize if I sounded harsh. As I read through the thread I kept getting the feeling guys were justifying baiting by comparing food plots, fishing, hunting corn fields, etc to dumping a pile of food out. Some of those are like comparing watermelons to grapes.

Here's an article from the Sept Oct 2008 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer

The Race to Bait

To bait or not to bait -- that is a question some hunters ask as firearms deer season approaches, even though deer baiting in Minnesota has been outlawed for almost two decades.

By John Myers

Conservation officer Tim Collette had a pretty good hunch what was going on in the woods southwest of Longville. He was acting on a tip that three hunters on a tract of public land were illegally using corn to bait deer to their hunting stands -- miles from the nearest cornfield. He even saw spilled corn on the ground.

Collette approached one hunter in the group who was standing over a freshly field-dressed deer. The man insisted they hadn't put any corn on the land for more than two weeks -- in accordance with Minnesota's law that bans feeding deer for 10 days before and during deer season, except in northwestern Minnesota.

Collette wasn't buying it.

"He still had his knife in one hand, so I asked if I could borrow it,'' Collette recalled of the incident during the 2007 firearms deer season. "I reached down and cut open the deer's stomach, and the corn just poured out.

"He looked at me and said 'I guess I'm screwed now.' ''

The three hunters admitted their crime, and Collette issued citations -- $382 each for deer baiting. And he confiscated the deer. The three violations were among the 100 issued last year in the northeast region, making illegal deer baiting the region's fourth most common violation during the firearms season. Most violators don't get caught. Some officers report that nearly half the deer stands they check have evidence of illegal baiting -- a violation seldom seen a decade ago.

Seventeen years after the Department of Natural Resources banned the practice, agency biologists say there are compelling reasons to keep baiting illegal -- especially the potential spread of disease: Baiting brings too many deer too close together.

Baiting Everywhere.

Deer baiting may be illegal, but it's not hard to find when firearms season opens in November.

"I fly over deer camps on the day before the season and see the feed bags in the back of pickups and on four-wheelers,'' said Al Buchert, a conservation officer-pilot in northeastern Minnesota.

"I'm seeing baiting everywhere I fly, even in the farm areas,'' said Lt. Tom Pfingsten, a conservation officer-pilot who patrols much of the central portion of the state. "[in one case] they dumped corn in the corner of a plowed field, right in front of a deer stand.''

Some baiters have taken to using black sunflower seeds or placing feed under balsam fir branches to avoid detection from the air. Near the Twin Cities, a baiter strung up camouflage netting to conceal the bait pile from air surveillance.

Conservation officer-pilots take photographs and mark GPS coordinates of bait piles and forward the information to officers on the ground. The fine for illegal baiting is $300, plus $80 or so in court costs. Another $500 can be tagged on for restitution if a deer is seized. Guns may be confiscated as well. But the threat of a citation doesn't seem to be stopping baiters from hauling feed into the forest.

"It's one of those things I shake my head at because I don't understand why so many people are doing this,'' said Mark Johnson, executive director of the 19,000-member Minnesota Deer Hunters Association. "It's not going away. Baiting is a big problem that's getting bigger across more of the state.''

Why Bait?

Opinions and attitudes about baiting vary from hunter to hunter, from state to state, and even depending on the quarry. Baiting has long been considered among the most heinous of waterfowl hunting crimes and remains a violation of state and federal waterfowl regulations. Yet baiting is legal, mostly accepted, and widely considered necessary for bear hunting in Minnesota because bear are more nocturnal than deer and harder to hunt based solely on their natural movements. Without bait, bear hunter success rates would drop significantly in Minnesota's thick forests.

Deer baiting is accepted in some states (such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Maryland) and shunned in others (Missouri, Mississippi, Iowa). In Minnesota three-fourths of MDHA members oppose baiting for deer, according to a member survey.

Randy Willie of Carlton said some of his fellow Minnesota deer hunters see their neighbors in Wisconsin baiting and wonder why they can't do it here. But he said, "Most guys don't want it.''

Aside from biological issues such as the spread of disease, Willie opposes baiting because it doesn't follow the fair chase ethic.

"I've hunted over bait in Wisconsin because it seems like everybody does it over there. But I feel so [PoorWordUsage] guilty, I don't even enjoy it,'' Willie said. "You see more deer with bait. But most of them are does and fawns. I don't like it.''

Despite the overwhelming perception that baiting helps hunters bag more deer, that's not necessarily the case. A 2001 Wisconsin study showed surprisingly little difference in success among baiters and nonbaiters. A South Carolina study showed nonbaiters shot more deer in less time afield than baiters did.

It would seem Minnesota hunters don't need another edge over deer. There are an estimated 1.2 million whitetails in the state, among the highest number ever recorded here. Hunters bagged some 260,000 deer last season, fourth on the all-time harvest list and not far from the top years. Hunter success rates in recent seasons have been consistently high; and hunters in some areas can shoot three, four, five, or more deer each season simply by buying extra tags.

The MDHA's Johnson sees increased illegal baiting as a symptom of larger societal problems -- namely laziness and impatience. Johnson said people's lives are so busy that they aren't stopping to enjoy the real attractions of deer season and deer camp -- fresh air in the autumn woods, the annual gathering of friends, and matching wits with nature.

"Baiting is part of the quest for instant gratification. Some people don't want to work for what they get,'' Johnson said. "What's sad is that many of these people haven't figured out that the really good part of hunting is working for it.''

Deer season once meant several days or a week at deer camp or the old family farmhouse, with lots of time to linger in the woods and maybe bag a buck, Johnson said. Now, for many hunters, deer "season'' often boils down to sitting in a tree stand for a day or two before having to rush back to the city for their youngster's sports practice, social functions, or work.

Capt. Ken Soring, northeastern regional manager for DNR Enforcement, said some baiters are entertaining guest hunters on their land and working to assure the visitors have success. Many cases also involve fathers baiting for their sons and daughters.

"I compare it to the hockey dad who wants to see his kid score a goal so much he can't control himself. We've got dads in the woods now who want their son to get a deer so bad they're willing to break the law and break the hunting code of ethics to do it,'' Soring said. "What I'd rather see is the dad out there teaching the skills like scouting and finding deer sign and working the wind.''

Johnson and Soring said hunting DVDs and cable television shows often feature repeated hunter success shooting big-antlered bucks. Often, there's a pile of bait or even a commercial deer-feeding machine visible in the background. Baiting, feeding, and planting special food to attract deer has become a multimillion-dollar national industry.

In some cases, officers get the "everybody's doing it'' excuse.

"It's a form of peer pressure. They see someone else bait and have success,'' Soring said. "And if the next deer camp over is baiting, they think they have to bait to keep up.''

The Right Move.

Without much debate, and without a crisis at hand, the DNR banned deer baiting across the state in 1991. DNR Fish and Wildlife director Dave Schad was the division's big game leader back then. At the time Minnesota had little tradition of baiting, though problems were mounting in some states to the east.

"Our counterparts in Michigan and Wisconsin warned us that if there wasn't support for baiting in Minnesota yet, there would be soon, and that it would be very hard to get the genie back in the bottle,'' said Schad. "They told us that baiting was basically out of control in Michigan, that disease was going to be a big issue and that baiting had changed the entire face of hunting over there, from skills-based to who could put out the most bait.''

Minnesota DNR leaders discussed enacting the ban on baiting to preserve the fairness, quality, and tradition of the state's deer hunting. But the key reason then and now is the spread of disease.

According to Schad, deer that eat from the same pile or feeding station have more face-to-face contact. That contact spreads disease faster. Biologists say deer eating together in planted fields or historic wintering yards don't have nearly as much contact as deer being fed or baited.

"There's just no time in nature when they are that close, nose-to-nose, for that much time,'' Schad said, citing fears of bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease.

Baiting also changes deer movement, pulling animals from one area into another. Increased movement leads to more highway crossings and traffic accidents. Sometimes the move causes animosity between landowners vying to see or shoot more deer. In some areas, baiting pulls deer from public to private land, essentially privatizing a public natural resource.

Officer Collette saw baiting concentrate deer near Pine River last fall. On 500 acres owned by a group of hunters, he found 11 of 13 stands had been illegally baited with piles of oats. Collette asked the violators why they didn't just plant crops on their land.

"They said it wasn't worth the effort for a couple days hunting, that baiting was easier,'' Collette said. "Right next to those guys I ran into a father hunting with two sons, 13 and 14. They were hunting on public land and doing it the right way, and they didn't understand why they weren't seeing any deer. I never did tell them there was a ton of oats sitting 200 yards away.'' (Collette didn't tell the family because he hadn't yet busted the nearby culprits and didn't want to expose his case.)

Feeding ban next?

In a Wisconsin DNR study, some deer stopped migrating to traditional wintering areas because they had so much feed -- from baiting and from feeding by wildlife watchers. Deer researchers in Minnesota near Remer now are seeing the same deer behavior because of widespread recreational feeding. In 2005 when bovine tuberculosis broke out among cattle in northwestern Minnesota, both illegal baiting and legal feeding had increased in the region (see sidebar).

At an MDHA meeting in February 2008, chapter representatives voted to support a seasonal statewide ban on deer feeding. In addition to keeping disease in check, prohibiting all deer feeding from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 would end any question of why food was being placed in the woods. Johnson said a statewide seasonal feeding ban would put all hunters on an even playing field to see deer based on their natural movement.

Schad said DNR officials have discussed a statewide feeding ban, but such a proposal won't be made lightly.

It likely would face fierce opposition from some groups, especially businesses that sell feed. Many Minnesota COs report that some small stores and even taverns stock up on feed before deer season specifically to sell to hunters. And lawmakers will get an earful from people who like to watch deer feeding near their home or cabin.

The DNR has been working with legislators in recent years to plug loopholes that impaired the effectiveness of existing baiting and feeding laws.

"We'll continue working and monitoring to see if those changes are having an effect," Schad said. "In addition we'll continue very vigorous feeding and baiting enforcement efforts in the TB area of northwest Minnesota." To report deer baiting or other natural resources law violations, call Turn in Poachers, TIP, anytime at 800-652-9093.

Controlling disease in northwestern Minnesota's deer herd

In 2005 an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis -- a progressive and chronic bacterial disease -- among beef cattle in northwestern Minnesota spread to the local wild deer herd. Since the disease can spread through the exchange of respiratory secretions, the deer were most likely exposed when they commingled with infected cattle on farms and shared unprotected feed.

After the disease was confirmed in deer, the DNR banned recreational deer and elk feeding in a 4,000-square-mile area surrounding the bovine TB management area.

"Recreational feeding congregates animals into unnaturally high densities and increases nose-to-nose contact," says DNR regional wildlife manager Paul Telander. "One infected animal can contaminate feed and potentially spread the disease to every uninfected animal at the feeding site."

Because there are currently no effective vaccines or medications for bovine TB in animals, all of the infected cattle herds were destroyed. Between September 2007 and May 2008, hunters, landowners, and DNR-contracted sharpshooters reduced the local deer herd by 2,656 deer.

"This was a major disease control action that called for extreme measures," said DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten. "The future health of Minnesota's deer herd and the economic interests of cattle ranchers and dairy farmers were at stake."

Thanks to the cooperative efforts of state and federal agencies, cattle producers, hunters, and landowners, the prevalence of bovine TB in Minnesota remains low and is confined to a relatively small geographical area. From 2005 through 2007, a total of 11 TB-infected beef cattle herds and 18 TB-infected deer were confirmed. Preliminary results from 2008 indicate six TB-presumptive-positive deer and several other suspect deer. Surveillance and testing of harvested deer is ongoing.

While it is still too early to know for sure, state officials are confident that the steps taken have greatly improved the chances of successfully eradicating the disease. -Tammi Jalowiec, DNR northwest regional information officer

[Bear55]

Apples to oranges!

Bait and food plots ALL UNNATURAL and placed by man for the benifit of man in taking game.

Funnels, oak stands, clear cuts are all NATURAL (sure, clear cuts are man made but it's for a greater purpose then deer hunting)

Ban all food plots and baiting and ban all people caught useing these methods from ever hunting again! They are not hunters!

How are food plots any different than a hay field or open pasture? A clear cut is the exact same thing as a food plot to the deer. I suppose if you were in charge you would outlaw hunting all farmland too.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

No! Clear-cuts, farmland and the like, may be there because man altered the landscape and made them, but they are there for completely different reasons then hunting! So, being we as hunters have no control over them being there or not, they are basically NATURAL.

I'm all for anyone utilizing any NATURAL food sources, ect....

What I am against is altering the landscape and planting non-native food sources, dumping a bunch of carp full of hormones, ect or throwing piles of bait all over in order to alter the natural feeding patterns of any type of animal so we as lazy humans have an upperhand in killing them!

[Bear55]

I'm agaist baiting too but comparing a food plot with natural clover to baiting is a little extreme. Let me ask again how are food plots any different than a hay field or open pasture?