Man admits to baiting. What would you have done?

[AGarbers]

They way he said it indicated he was using it to bring the deer in to hunt. As far as not hunting over it, that is left to the discretion of the ICO. (I have interviewed many.) If they feel the deer was attracted to the area you are hunting because of bait nearby, you are in violation.

 

[MRP2003]

laws are laws. Most of use break them, ie exceeding the speeding limit, and there are different degrees of penalties depending on the law. If he mentioned that he was having trouble getting money because all the cars he breaks into don't have not had any in them lately? Or if you watched him shop lift some candy bars in the convient store? We all have our opinion on what laws REALLY need to be enforced and which ones are ok to break once in a while. Some people think that smoking marijuana should be legal and look the other way when someone they are friends with smokes it while the next person may run and tell the police.

I would have asked the guy if he understood that it was illegal to bait. Depending on his answer, I may have taken a picture of his license plate and reported him or just suggested that he stop and try putting on cameras to understand if the deer are just coming through at night.

 

[Hookeye]

Wait until Saturday and then call the DNR..............like they won't have enough to do.
Break open another box of Cracker Jacks...........evidently everybody else is getting a sticker badge as a prize these days.
Really now..............one is willing to take the word of some clown that admits to breaking the law, to a stranger, in public...............
if they're that brazen and or stupid, by golly they automatically are 100% honest.

And worthy of getting into further discussion where confrontation could happen. It might even escalate.

Challenging a moron in public is always a good thing.

 

[jimbobcooters]

I personally do not think that retailers should be allowed to sale bait or any kind of attractants other than scent during this time of year. I understand people would just buy more during the spring/summer and save it to use now. But I think it would still stop a bunch of them.

 

[Hookeye]

Background check and waiting periods...........for bait.

"If it saves one fawn's life...."

More laws, to "enforce" laws already being broken. Makes sense.........if you're a liberal.

Some folks own property and don't hunt.
Maybe, just maybe... they want attractants/bait for photo opps during season..............or to draw deer in an effort to keep them from going elsewhere and being legally shot.

Think that last bit silly, have heard of coworkers trying it. Doesn't seem to work.
But hey...............their property, they're not hunting................more power to them.

I say the rules are well written, leave them alone, don't make more rules. Enforce what we have.

And unless you have damn good proof, mind your own business.
If you have the proof, then contact the authorities and let them do their job.

Times have changed. The poacher you spook off or confront.............might not be the punk kid or rube of yesteryear.

Too many crazies out there.
I really don't need to cash in my 401K to pay for attorneys (because some idiot made me kill him).

Cell phones and trail cameras...........great tools that can get the job done (or help with it) and offer minimal risk.
Avoid confrontations.

 

[Hookeye]

Isn't Meijer a Michigan based company (and baiting legal there)?
Even if the biz model is used elsewhere............they won't stock stuff they don't sell.
Dunno if baits can change deer pattern before season and once removed that pattern hold.

Not really a believer in food plots either.
I prefer woods hunting, over ag.

Seemed to be more fun and better success. Of course that place was sold.
Think it more my style to learn the deer and hunt them rather than try to change their behavior.

Sure I'll hunt along a corn field edge if I have to. Thickets and acorn stands in big timber my pref.
Food plots or preseason baiting...........no thanks.

I don't even buy doe pee or estrous stuff.
Can and grunt calls and my bow/rifle. That's good enough.
If it puts me at disadvantage at times, so be it. Minimalist. Less crap to screw up or forget.

 

[Hookeye]

Personally I'm still honked off about general X bow allowance.
Using one.........in bow by able bodied.............hell I kinda see that along the lines of using bait.

 

[cschwanz]

how the hell is using a xbow considered side by side with using bait? I've read some dumb stuff but that might be the top so far. They are legal, so what. I don't use one or want one.

I like my compound. but longbow shooters think a compound is cheating. Spear hunters think a longbow is cheating. People who hunt with a knife only think a spear is cheating. Hell a knife is cheating when compared to a wild animal that has to run down its prey and bite it's neck to kill it. While we are on cheating subjects, better get rid of all your camo clothes (you shouldn't hide from deer) and all your cover scents, attractants, calls, etc. its all baiting and luring the deer in.

smh...




As for this topic of people baiting, maybe my first post didn't come off the way I wanted. I certainly wouldn't want the guy to think I think its ok to bait like he might be doing. I'd just ask in a way to know if he was doing it deliberately or if he just didn't know. Im certainly not going to get in a fight over it. Just tell the guy "Hey, I don't think its legal to do that. Better be careful if you break the law"

 

[bwframe]

I ran into town after hunting the other night, so I was still in my camos. When I stopped at a gas station I had a fellow strike up a conversation with me about his season so far. He complained that after shooting three does (with an arrow) his area seemed to have gone dry. He said he didn't understand why because he was keeping his feeder full.
At that point I said good night and walked away...

Any thought given to possibly this being a DNR baiting trap?

I remember very clearly a few years back some young buck DNR officers dressed in camo, carrying fishing rods discretely checking licenses and catch limits on the trout stream.

 

[cschwanz]

Any thought given to possibly this being a DNR baiting trap?

I remember very clearly a few years back some young buck DNR officers dressed in camo, carrying fishing rods discretely checking licenses and catch limits on the trout stream.

Never thought of that. Could be looking for a reply like "Yea, me too. Nothing coming to my bait pile either" GOTCHA! stranger things have happened I suppose

 

[midget]

There used to be a video of the DNR using a robotic deer to catch people doing drive-bys on the DNR page... They are a tricky group of people...


edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOipZyp4-g

 

[mammynun]

FTR, I don't hunt, but I had a vague idea "baiting" existed from perusing Cabela's catalogs. I figured it was legal if not exactly "sporting."


My first thought was "Nothing. I'm not into gay porn or auto-erotic exhibitionism."

 

[printcraft]

Farmer hunting his own field in which he planted corn....... baiting?

 

[midget]

Farmer hunting his own field in which he planted corn....... baiting?

No. Food plots and farm fields are not baiting.

 

[bwframe]

No. Food plots and farm fields are not baiting.

Yet, I have a neighbor a few miles away who was busted for "poaching" a deer out of his own garden during legal hours of the gun season. I believe it was a bit more complicated than the story he told. There was a problem next door neighbor and another brand new CO involved, it sounds like all contributed. The young CO made it clear to the fellow, that he could confiscate his truck (that the deer had never been in.) They did confiscate his gun.

The guy said he intended to fight it, but gave up after the first court date. Seeing how the liberal Monroe County female judge handled things initially with the bust motivated CO, the gent figured his chances were poor. He also quickly figured that the poaching fine and gun loss was way cheaper than the legal fee's he would incur.

 

[midget]

There has to be more to that story...

 

[bwframe]

There has to be more to that story...

I only heard one side. From the "poacher" who is a local co-op businessman, landlord and fire chief. Still though, I wouldn't dispute the legal fight end of things.

 

[midget]

Probably cost more to fight it than the gun was worth...

 

[Zoub]

If you want to take a tour of what legal baiting for deer looks like, read WI regs. It well defines baiting versus feeding for observation. It's also big business for the feed stores, HW stores, gas stations and even locals who live in the middle of large forest areas.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I personally do not think that retailers should be allowed to sale bait or any kind of attractants other than scent during this time of year. I understand people would just buy more during the spring/summer and save it to use now. But I think it would still stop a bunch of them.

Stop and think about what is/can be used for bait (i.e., grain). Are you saying that everyone else's sheep, goats, horses, cattle, hogs, alpacas, and llamas should go hungry for the duration of hunting season?