longspur, great post

I hunt on public land every year for as far back as I can remember, but I don't care if the state does or doesn't allow baiting on it. It's theirs to do with what they chose. On the other hand, I've had several paid leases in which my neighbors used bait and I didn't. That's not a level playing field.

GW's aren't winning the war against baiting, much like LIO's aren't winning the war on drugs. There's a difference. I'm not in favor of legalizing drugs because I can see a clear reason not to. Win or lose, it's a fight worth fighting. It should be illegal. I'm not in favor of legalizing child molestation because I can see a clear reason not to. Win or lose, it's a fight worth fighting. However, I don't see any reason to keep fighting baiting. It shouldn't be illegal to begin with.

Corn isn't the only bait out there, however it is one of the more expensive choices. I feed peanuts and give 5$ for a 100 pound sack and use trough feeders. Pretty cheap to me.

Well said. Nice to read a post by someone that uses a little logic, fact, and common sense to formulate their opinions unlike many of those who oppose baiting yet have nothing factual or of any real substance to back up their "feelings" that corn is evil.

What Todd said x2

1.what the heck is a "less fortunate hunter"?

2. do you believe that any lines should be drawn by the state when it comes to "making it a little easier" for "less skilled"/ "lazy hunters".

By the way, what's logical or common sense to one, might be preposterous to another.

I just ask for all baiters to call it like it is and quit the "corn doesn't really help any ways, I'm just for it b/c everyone else is already doing it and it's no different than tree stands or acorns or foodplots, etc., etc., etc. BS. If you are pro-baiting you are pro-baiting b/c you believe it will either help you kill more deer, help you kill deer with less effort, or help you kill more bucks, or ALL OF THE ABOVE. So if you want to legalize it just admit the reasons behind your support of the new bill.

so where do you draw the line? As far as hunting regs.? Since deer go from one property to another a land owner doesn't own the deer so there should be laws? Correct? or just a free for all?

so... hunting over a food plot isnt "baiting"??? hmmm lol

troudouble, I don't get where you think everyone in favor of legalizing baiting just wants to kill more deer or is a lazy hunter. It no doubt applies to many advocates, but what difference does that make? It doesn't apply to me, but I don't see where that even matters. I kill exactly the number of deer I want to every year. I like watching them and let tons of deer walk. I usually kill one buck a year. This year I killed two. I had the opportunity to kill 12 or 15. I bought one sack of corn and put it out in September with a game camera. Is there something wrong with that? If a GW checked that spot in October, he could have probably found some chaff there and wrote me a ticket for hunting in "the area" of bait even though I never hunted within a quarter of a mile from there. That's freaking ridiculous.

There are an infinite amount of things that are legal that I don't participate in, but don't feel should be made illegal. I don't want the whole rest of the world to be clones of myself. I rarely sit on a foodplot, but I do some. I mostly like being in the woods outside of a shooting house, but not always. I like having the freedom to hunt how I want to.

Where do you draw the line? I would say draw it where it's absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy population and where it's absolutely necessary for safety. There needs to be an open and closed season. There needs to be a limit on the number of deer taken. There need to be laws related to safety. There DO NOT need to be laws tailored to fit my style of hunting, your style of hunting, Corky Pugh's style of hunting, or anyone else's.

Where do YOU draw the line? How do YOU define hunting? Is it okay for a sportsman to kill a deer he doesn't need for food? Is it okay for a grown man to kill a spike he needs for food? Is it okay for a trophy hunter to kill more does than necessary for a healthy population? Would it be okay for someone in a wheelchair to shoot a deer over a pile of corn? What about an active duty soldier home for a few days at Christmas? Who are you to decide what is or isn't an acceptable in hunting?

good point sir....

If corn baiting is legalized
there is going to be a LOT of conflict
between neighboring landowners.

Just imagine all the small properties surrounding larger properties (or whatever)and folks are lining propery lines
with corn feeders. It is bad enough that people are lining
property lines with greenfields. If passed there will be
"the battle of the corn feeders" going on.

Legalized baiting will just make for more conflict.
It is bad public policy.

well , i don't care what the guy next door kills . they just as much theirs as mine some thing a few are forgetting these days .

my definition of bait is manually placing or pouring something on the ground or in a feeder that can be immediately eaten by wildlife for the sole purpose of killing an animal.

Anything else is not baiting in my book. I would consider a foodplot a multipurpose foodsource and wouldn't argue that "one" of it's purposes for most hunters is to attract deer for the purpose of killing them. You could say the same for mast producing trees, browse after a burn or TSI, ag. fields, etc. Which takes us back to my last question. Where do you draw the line? Most states have apparently taken a similar stance to what is considered bait and what is considered a foodsource that could be utilized to attract deer. Intent and benefit to wildlife have to be considered.

By the way, I would be fine with making it illegal to hunt over foodplots if it meant keeping baiting illegal. 75% of the reason we plant foodplots is to feed our deer and to improve the habitat with the goal of maximizing potential and to keep as many bucks on our property as possible. "Hunting foodplots" is great for kids and older people but for me, whether I hunt them or not isn't that big of a deal. I much prefer hunting in the timber or around cut overs or sage fields.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bait


bait... so hunting over a food plot weather its for qdma or whatever is bait. once ya sit there with a gun with the intent to kill a deer its bait... so, whats difference

also hunting over acorns would be bait

What a pretentious load. I'm opposed to the baiting ban because it's a stupid, vague, and inconsistent law. Making it illegal to hunt over corn but perfectly fine to hunt over a green patch is like saying you can't kill people with a rifle but you can murder anyone you want with a shotgun. Would that make sense to you? I guess it would since you obviously can't see the same baffling stupid inconsistency in the baiting laws.

What if the speed limit between your house and where you worked was listed as "In the Area of Too Fast" and therefore wide open to the individual judgment of each cop you passed on the highway as to exactly what speed was too fast.

I don't need corn legalized to help me kill does and small bucks (pretty much all you are going to see at a feeder in daylight). Do you know how many deer I pass up a season? Of course you don't, because like many on your side of the issue you don't have any real factual basis for the insults you hurl at the people opposed to the current state of affairs. I could kill 25 deer a year if I wanted. I just have no need for that much meat or the desire to kill small bucks.

But while we are on the subject of easier, how do you hunt deer? On foot with only a spear? If we are going to ban things based purely on what makes hunting easier then there is a helluva list of stuff we are going to have to heap on to that pile of restricted items. For example which of the following makes killing a deer easier, a corn feeder or a firearm? When you admit the truth of that question to yourself I guess you will be ditching all your hunting rifles. After all, you would want hunting to be easier now would you. Noooo, you are too high minded and moral for that.




Typical but once again no substance. If we are wrong about there being no difference in hunting over green patches then please lay out the facts to us. Is there some strange mystical force in the universe that makes it harder to climb into a shooting house over a green patch vs one near a feeder? Do suitable climbing trees refuse to grow near green patches making it impossible to use a tree stand any where around them? Does it take decades of woodsman hunting wisdom to learn to work the latch on a shooting house door or to be able to open those plexiglass windows? Come on, explain to us how sitting near a corn feeder makes you a slob hunter but sitting over a green patch makes you Daniel f###### Boone. Cause I'd love to hear that explanation.



And if you oppose it then admit your reasons. Look in a mirror and say, "I have had unsubstantiated bulls### pumped into my brain about corn baiting to the point where I cannot differentiate BS from real facts anymore." AND "The legalizing of baiting would be a recognition that patch hunting and feeder hunting are really no different and then all us patch hunters would officially be no better than the people we have erroneously and baseless called slob hunters for years."

Since we are going to assume insulting things about each other, how do you like my version of it?

tell that to the state of Alabama and the 30+ other states that don't consider foodplots, acorns, ag fields and browse as "bait".

So why do you want hunting over a pile of corn legalized? Are you for some reason just adamant about the state getting the definition of "Bait" correct or is there a underlying reason?

And again, where do you draw the line?

simmer big fellow. We are talking about bait here, not murdering people...

"I don't need corn legalized to help me kill does and small bucks (pretty much all you are going to see at a feeder in daylight)."

There you go again. Just call it like it is... If you want hunting over corn piles legalized you think it's going to help you kill more bucks and down deep you know that it could also help you kill a mature bucks.

I could send you hundreds of pictures of at least 10 different mature bucks just over the past few years that I have over a pile of corn during the day time. Granted the date on those pics doesn't go beyond the end of Sept. but I think it's safe to say that if I had continued to pour out corn they would have continued to show up during the day. Darn thing is when I quit pouring it out the didn't show up as much. And what's even more mind boggling is a lot of these cameras were set up on foodplots. Still got pictures of these bucks but mostly at night...crazy, I know...

Here is a fundamental difference between you and me. I don't think people should have to prove why things should be legal. I think the state should have to show a good reason why something should be illegal.

But as to your question, because it would be great to be able to continue the supplemental feeding of our deer through season (two and a half months when they need it most) without fear of passing too close to one of the feeders and getting a ticket.

Blah, Blah, Blah, another post long on questions and devoid of answers. Because you have none like everyone else on your side of this debate.