How many states do you allow using bait on big game and which animals?

How do we as a group feel about baiting deer?
Maybe those from different states can check in here.

I'm a new guy here - be gentle.

Texas!

Bait all you want. Good management tool. Works very well when introducing children to hunting. I don't personally do much baiting of big game anymore but I still recognize its usefulness.

Most of our Mountain states do not allow baiting, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota ect.

If we didn't bait in TX, the hogs would greatly outnumber the opromises supporters. At least we get to shoot the hogs. It works.
As far as deer, well I have trouble seeing the difference b/w a corn feeder in TX and planted corn in the midwest or alfalfa fields in colorado.

Washington you can bait deer and elk, but not bears... figure that one out!

Can't bait in Iowa, but you can put in food plots

In the arguement over baiting with corn and baiting with a food plot, is that the corn is often availible for the game only during actural hunting times and that the food plot is availiable for the game several months if not all year. The food plot being a more reliable food source. Corn is often used only for "baiting".

Joe A.

Baiting and feeding whether hunting or not is illegal in NY. Food plots are permitted.

Phil

I put out food plots and feeders. One thing I do that some may not do is that I continue feeding throughout the non-hunting winter months, especially if the weather is bad and I think the deer could use a bit of extra nutrition. I know this only helps a few animals in my immediate area.

I have found that the deer heard is growing in the area's I hunt because a lot of people are feeding. So, in the long run, the deer population is increasing even if some are taking more deer by feeding.

All, in all, I believe feeding the deer helps more than it hurts.

You can bait Deer here in NC but not Bear or Turkeys. No hogs where I live so unsure there. I have personally never baited anything but have no problem with it if its legal.

God Bless; and welcome Buckhunter, Louis

We can bait and /or grow food plots here in the worthless nut (Buckeye) state. But there just about too many crops to do much good though. They are doing an early harvest this year so baiting may do some good.

Rad

No baiting anything in AZ.

Except fish, and even then, not allowed in some waters.

Salt and minerals are o.k. food plots are o.k. but feeders or food (corn) dumped must be removed 10 days before hunting here in Missouri. You can bait hogs and hunt over bait for hogs but not during deer or turkey season…..4 ½ months.

How do I feel about anyone hunting over bait...I don't care.

quote:

How do we as a group feel about baiting deer?

Interesting first post? Who is "we"?

quote:

Originally posted by Slowpoke Slim:
No baiting anything in AZ.

Except fish, and even then, not allowed in some waters.

Not true. Baiting is allowed -- at least for now -- for any big game except bears.

bear baiting is Maine is still practiced.

Baiting for deer is legal in most of Wisconsin. In the area of the state where Chronic Wasting Disease has appeared (roughly the south-central quarter of the state) bating and supplemental feeding are not legal. Food plots are not considered bait. Baiting for bear is legal.

I personally am very opposed to baiting for several reasons. First, it encourages the spread of communicable diseases, such as CWD and TB. When deer are crowding around a pile of corn they are far more likely to come in contact with each other's saliva than in a more natural browsing manner of feeding.

Secondly, I find it very unsightly. For most of us, going hunting means going out to enjoy nature, and nature doesn't produce piles of corn in the middle of an evergreen forest. Whenever I come across such a pile I have much the same reaction I would if I had encountered a pile of beer cans or disposable diapers. That brings me to reason number three. When baiting occurs on public land, or land to which the public has a right of access, it leads to disputes over who is allowed to be there. That is, if I have spent the time and money dumping bait, or setting up a salt lick, I am far more likely to feel that that is MY corner of the woods and that no one else may hunt there, kind of like a dog pissing on a tree. Public hunting lands are already subject to increasing pressure in my state; we don't need to add this sense of territoriality to that pressure.

Finally, when hunters become reliant on bait piles to find deer to shoot at they lose (or never acquire) the sense of woodcraft that separates hunting form shooting. I spend a lot of time in the woods year 'round reading signs of deer activity on the property I hunt. I give a great deal of thought (usually when I am sitting in court listening to a judge blather on) about precisely where to locate my stands and how I will get to and from them. That kind of work-- and fun-- simply can't compare with dumping twenty bushels of corn in the woods, trooping up a trail to it and then sitting and waiting for deer to show up.

I don't have any problem with using bait to cull unwanted deer (such as in an urban arboretum) but I do have a problem with equating shooting deer over bait with hunting.

Bear baiting is allowed in Wyoming, I don't have a problem with it. Or any legal baiting for that matter.

Baiting deer in Ohio is legal. The Ohio annual publication on hunting states that: Baiting deer is legal but studies have shown that it doesn't make much difference. You cannot bait turkeys. I don't think we have a bear season. Very few bears in Ohio.

In Alabama, you could bait deer but it had to be cleared from the ground 10 days prior to hunting. The problem I have with that is adjoining hunting leases/property. If you kill a deer with corn in it's gut and no corn is growing nearby, and you are not baiting, but the guy on the next property is, YOU still get a citation for "hunting over bait" if you are checked. I think that is BS if a hunter is honestly not hunting over bait.

Baiting is not legal in PA for any big game or small game. Feeding is discouraged. Food plots are legal. The only attractants allowed are sex based. Food based attractants are not allowed.

I also hunt in VA. As I understand the regulations, it is also not legal to bait there. Feeding is discouraged. Feeding deer must be discontinued from September 1 until January 1. Food plots are legal.
Bfly

I wanted to get a general feeling of how we feel, kind of like Bob in TX asked, thanks for the input. I live in Colorado where no baiting of any kind is allowed, and I'm trying to get an idea what we, as good hunters, think of it.

Also, when you refer to "food plots" is this a product that is raised and harvested for other purposes, (like cattle feed?), or is it only for the wildlife?

Do you see a difference between food plots and pouring out a bucket of specialized feed?

I am generally against feeding deer but am really trying to learn.

Hard to believe you've never heard of food plots, but I'll take you at your word. Food plots are patches of highly nutritious plants, grown there by the land owner for the deer to supplement natural browse. Various products are out there. I myself see food plots very differently for most of the reasons I've listed above. I don't think that, at least in the sort of country where I hunt, deer would congregate around a food plot the way they do around bait, so you couldn't really hunt over them the way one can a pile of corn.

I think most would agree that a "food plot" is in place for ONE thing only, and that is the game. I've seen plots as small as 50 feet square and up to several acres with corn, beans, peas, biologic, or any of the specialty "food plot" seed companies. The whole purpose is to get the game into your foodplot so you can shoot them.

I suppose it is a little different than pouring corn on the ground because that will concentrate a game animal on that PILE of corn.

Personally, having hunted over bait and food plots, there is a difference because of the size of the plots I hunted. But there's no difference in the concept as far as I'm concerned. Both are "food attractants" for game. But food plots also serve other purposes, such as to get a healthier herd year round as some wildlife management guys do.

Are you against shooting and eating them too?

God Bless, Louis

quote:

I wanted to get a general feeling of how we feel, kind of like Bob in TX asked, thanks for the input. I live in Colorado where no baiting of any kind is allowed, and I'm trying to get an idea what we, as good hunters, think of it.

Good question buck. Personally I believe the food plot question has alot to do with local hunting conditions. Out here in the west, where we have alot of open country that allows spot and stalk hunting technique, food plots and dogs are illegal for deer/antelope/elk.

Baiting and foods plots seem to be more prevelant in area where thick cover and dense vegatation is the norm. This difference in hunting conditions, has forced them to adapt their hunting techniques.

A good comparison out here in the west is Bear and Mountain Lion hunting. We commonly allow baiting of bears, and use of dogs for mountain lion. Out here Lions and Bear are tough to find critters, and baiting/dogs are necessary to give hunters a reasonable change of harvest and keep their numbers in check.

In general I choose not to judge the hunting methods in another area until I've tried them. Changes are they do it for a reason, and if I tried them, I would probably learn something.

I bait for Deer ,Bear in Wi.on private land just so the downstaters on Public land are screwed. I also have food plots for the same reason.

@ sdirks - I have heard of food plots, I just wanted to know if they had any other use, as in cattle feed?

@ youngoutdoors - I wish I was young enough to qualify for your handle. Not only am I not against shooting them and eating them, I have been doing plenty of shooting and eating in my nearly 40 years of hunting Colorado and Wyoming. I can't begin to remember all the deer, elk and antelope I've shot and eaten.

I'm a freelance writer and photographer and may be interested in doing some work on that subject. I haven't put anyone down for doing it, I'm just trying to get feedback. In Colorado we can't bait any game animals, but it's not impossible to imagine someone proposing it to our DOW.

Well...we can bait and shoot over bait. My take:

1) Baiting is a good way to shoot more deer and hogs than the guys around you that don't bait.

2) When everyone baits, all you get is more/fatter/smarter nocturnal animals at expensive feed costs.

In Montana "It is illegal for anyone to hunt or attempt to hunt by the aid of or with the use of any bait, salt lick...

Baiting shall mean the placing, exposing, depositing, distributing, or scattering of food sources or salt so as to constitute a lure or attraction."

It is also "illegal for a person to possess or use in the field any electronic or camera device who's purpose is to scout the location of game animals..."

It is also illegal to feed game animals at any time of the year.

I stopped in at Cabela's in Billings the other day, and I found it odd that they had a whole isle of these game attractant products and another isle of game cameras. I guess all the people that buy these products there are going to use them in some other state.

Buffy, I think it's because they just stock the same stuff in all their stores. Our BassPro and GanderMountain both have a wide variety of blackpowder sabots, which are illegal for hunting here in Colorado as well..

Here in Alabama it is also illegal to bait with corn. But as posted above, every Walmart, gas station, and convience store in the area I hunted sold corn. I would see hunters during hunting season with their trucks loaded down to the axle with corn. Leases around me was baited to high water. Every deer I killed would be full of corn. It was difficult to hunt due to the deer being pulled off my lease. One lease had to travel thru my lease to their lease. The logging trail had corn on it from spilling from their trucks. And the thing about it, all they was shooting was does and young bucks.

Joe A.

The majority of my hunting is in Texas - baiting, snares, claymores - I think they draw the line at full auto but high-caps I think are fair game...

So as far as I know, baiting is illegal in California. And where I live in SoCal, I'm not sure even baiting would help.

I do, however, have to ask why some people have an ethical issue with baiting. As hunters, we (theoretically) learn how the animal behaves. Their walking patterns, their movement, water holes and the like. Does baiting short-cut things? Perhaps, but how is that really any different than watching a deer for months?

I can accept the lack of baiting as a game management technique. Less bait = fewer critters tracked and therefore shot/killed. You can accomplish the same thing by managing the number of game tags in the field.

But as far as I'm concerned, it's just not a real big deal.

In Kansas it is legal to bait deer, elk, antelope, turkeys and other game animals, but not migratory birds. It is also not legal to shoot turkeys from trees, which I find interesting.

The state instituted the baiting several years ago and claim it serves to raise success rates and thin the herd more effectively.

quote:

Originally posted by larrys:
It is also not legal to shoot turkeys from trees, which I find interesting.

I think that means "Don't shoot turkey's from their roost". Turkey's will keep the same roosting area for decades from what I understand. Shooting them in their roost forces them to find a new home...and I hear they don't do that particularly well.

At least that's what my turkey-crazy hunting buddy says.

Yah, I just find it interesting that you can shoot them as they fly down, just not in the tree. Maybe it's just me.

I appreciate all of your input on this.
Let me ask you this if you don't mind; in states where you can bait deer and use food plots, do the hunters work with the state wildlife people to set any restrictions? For example size of bucks, number of does harvested and those type of issues? Or does the land owner have a lot of leeway to feed what he sees fit and harvest what he thinks is right? (Within the rules and number of tags sold by the state of course.

I know it's a lot of questions but you guys have been very informative, thanks a lot.

Where I hunt in Oklahoma we have self imposed restrictions that are more strict than the state's restrictions. We are trying to improve the size of the bucks in the herds and we're trying to get the buck to doe ratio up. In some places neighboring land owners cooperate and in other places they don't--that's a real limitation. I believe we are beginning to see the fruits of our restraint.