we hear and are told ,,,, really a bunch of bs reason why we don't need to bait deer . if they were true and the ones telling them would be against supplement feeding year round .

so whats the real reason for not making baiting legal and still allowing year round supplement feeding ??????

i think the core of the problem is that "most" hunters only feed/bait durning hunting season . when they do this it pulls deer away for the hunters that tie up many thousands of dollars to feed deer and manage year round .

like most times it comes down the bs of some body killing some bodies else deer . lol .

I don’t understand it either Frankie. I did have some “professional help” in where we could put feeders and be legal though. We run ours 8- 9 months out of the year. (July to March). There’s plenty of food in the woods those other months. Actually there is plenty of food year round but the feeders keep the deer from wandering too far off.

The only way you can be FOR "supplemental feeding" and, simultaneously, AGAINST "baiting" is if you view it as a moral issue (of shooting an animal over bait).

ethics and morals have no place in management ,,, imo !!!

Sir, you live in the state of Alabama. Everything revolves around money. Year round supplemental feeding while baiting is illegal creates or has the probability to create more money flow and tax dollars. It allows game wardens to still write hunting over bait tickets at their own discretion. The only real care the state has about our natural resources is that they were able to make it a billion dollar revenue to disperse it in economic areas that were lacking. Hence why you are seeing season extensions and yada yada. The state is going to have to do something soon though because license sales are down and the hunting is no where near what it use to be.

Ethics and morals have a place in every aspect of society. If ethics aren't in play, can I run a corn feeder and then dynamite the deer? Same result of dead deer.

People genuinely think that it's "wrong" (unethical and immoral) to entice a deer to a spot and kill it. That's why it's illegal, according to state law.

i am well aware of the good ole boyism in bama lol

I'm opposed to baiting but not adamantly opposed. I just don't like the idea because if you can't kill a deer in Alabama every now and then without corn, you probably don't need to be in the woods with a gun.

Says the guy who lives in Dallas county

Sling shot is all you need there...

If liscense sales keep going down I predict the hunting will get better.every tom dick and harry around are hunting these days. Hunting used to be for country folk. Now everybody in the subdivision is hunting too. I know alot of yall are from the subdivision so youre probably pissed right about now. The fact is, around here 30years ago there just werent too many bodies in the woods , on an average day. Now youve got a house every few feet around here, all them guys hunt, and folks are flocking out of the metro areas to the woods. Too many folks in the woods. I know every one of them has just as much legal right to be there as me. That does not make me feel better. But thats just the way it is nowadays. Cant go back. But I do thank the Lord in heaven for golf and yoga and all that other stuff the slickers like to do, at least that keeps some of them out of the woods.

Yeah, but you're in North Alabama, home to the 10 acre tract. Go south if you want less people. South Alabama is a ghost town in areas. Way less population density....WAY less.

I'll take 10 acre tracts over poverty any day.

that is flawed thinking since green fields are legal .

the other part is just a red heron . lol

by law you're suppose make a reasonable attempt to recover the deer . dynamite would make almost impossible .

Well The Good Lord had to bless us with something to make living with a bunch of thieves, politicians included.

Really it is simple according to how our GW and judges (more importantly) interpret it. Forget about 100 yards and out of sight. If you put corn out in order to draw deer to it in order to shoot the deer it is baiting at baiting is still illegal. They say 100 yards and out of sight is supplemental feeding, which does NOT involve shooting at the deer that come to it. Chuck just confuses people everytime he opens his mouth. To be clear, he does not make the laws nor does he interpret them no matter what he thinks.

License sales are down but that doesn't necessarily mean there are less people in the woods hunting. I would say in some areas at least, more people than ever are hunting..... but without buying a license. When you only have 1 gw per county and some wardens covering multiple counties, and said wardens are more concerned with chasing corn piles than catching poachers (not to mention the joke of a reporting system we have) it lends itself to a lot of folks just slipping and hunting and not buying a license. At least here in my area i know a ton of people dont buy a license.

I just long for the good old days and they are getting farther away all the time. Back then there wasnt any "deer farms" and pouring corn on the ground was a no no. Heck, you hardly ever even saw a shooting house. All this controversy over baiting didnt exist, baiting was baiting. I reckon thers no way to go but forward.

i have not viewed that latest surevy , but last i did look DEER HUNTERS numbers have not dropped . the number drops were in small game hunters .

https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/fhw-16-nat.html.

It hasn’t been too long ago that there weren’t any deer where I’m from. Zero. Maybe 50 years.

i was 13 before i saw a deer on our land in elmore county . 45 years ago ,,, about .
i can't have a garden without a electric fence now

Are you saying that nobody or very few people in AL were corning deer 30 years ago? Just as bad if not worse then, than now. Hunting over corn is and has been a way of life in Alabama, MS, LA, FL and is passed down generation to generation. Just ask Troy if he made any bait cases back when he was an active GW. I've hunted in Bama since the 70's and baiting dang sure occurred back then too. Heck we had a lease in Choctaw County back in the 80's and an outfitter adjoining us used to bring in cob corn by the dump truck load middle of the season.

This is the truth.

There was a guy who hunted over corn when I was a kid. He got snitched out and ran off. Everybody around here feeds corn nowadays. The stigma is gone. But yes, im saying around here there was a time it was a no no and if it got found out you were baiting, somebody would tell on you in a minute. I dont give a crap one way or the other, Ive got two acres standing, and a feeder in the woods for the shy deer. My deer will not go without corn.

I don't know where the hell you're talking about but it sure isn't anywhere I've ever been in South Alabama! I live here and there's no where left to hunt now where the roads aren't beat down by folks!

A cousin would invite me to his new piece of land to hunt a couple or three times during the season,, each hunt I was there I never saw nothing bigger than yearling does that still had some faded spots on em or button head bucks,,, when the killing hour came it sounded like a war against the deer was taking place ,,on my cuzz's land you could have heard a pin drop ..

So my cousin goes and talks to his neighbors asks them what's up,,, he was told if you don't have corn out for the deer you ain't going to kill nothing but time... so he joins in and starts bating and I helped him,,, the next time I hunted with him the deer came out of the brush like a stepped on fire ant mound..... we wuz doing all the shooting then... the neighbors came to ask us what was up,,, said they ain't killing nothing ,,my cousin said if you don't have some sweet feed put out for the deer you ain't going to kill nothing but time... Deer love that sweety feed mixture of grains and stuff ,,,I've seen em dang near eat the dirt .

Now that pretty much everyone is putting something out for deer whether by the rules or not, the deer are reaping the rewards. When I see the folks on them hunting shows in Texas killing their deer like they do with corn scattered on the ground how can that be any different than us Alabama boys having to put feed in a trough or feeder to be legal,,, to me it would be more natural than placing it in something man made. over hundred yards rule,,, must not be able to see it ,must be hidden by natural contour of the land or brush … that's fine with me,,, this thing about bating makes the bucks go nocturnal, I ain't worried about that because I really don't focus on bucks until the rut gets close anyhow ,,,hunting pressure puts bucks into night time movement more than anything else. The neighbors are going to kill free ranging deer, that's a fact of deer hunting. No matter if your feeding the deer or not.

Hits like button

Why do you care how someone else hunts?

Supplemental feeding has no specific law that makes it legal that I know about. It is legal because the rights of private landowners to manage their land have not yet been completely lost, so you can put out corn on your own land as much as you want. The only legal issue is hunting over it, which is illegal according to the laws of the state. Getting it changed would require an act of the legislature, governor signs it, and then baiting becomes legal. So far, it hasn't happened.

The 100 yds and out of sight rule is a recent interpretation of the definition of the term "area" by the dcnr. As far as I know, the law itself hasn't been changed in decades.

poorcountrypreacher

that i understand . Supplemental feeding is still hunted around and is done to attract and hold deer .

i dont see how baiting is any different . only difference is one is done year round mostly.

my point is , the reason they give against baiting is bs if supplement feeding is allowed .

Who is they?

You honestly think everyone that lives in a neighborhood is not country folk? I live in a subdivision in town because its a great environment for my kids and wife, gets my kids in a good school, closer to work, etc. Being country folk has nothing to do where you live and everything to do how you live.

Agree. We live same way.

This is reality. GW’s have the final say on determining a hunter’s intent. This was specifically addressed in the FB Q&A...an actual warden went through the whole BS spiel about 100 yards and out of sight, then specifically pointed out that if they believe your feed station is manipulating deer movement to favor your hunting location...that they can cite you anyway...regardless of distance.
That said...ALL supplemental feeding is in fact placed in an effort to manipulate deer movement.

How can you live country if you don't LIVE in the country?

Commissioner Guy first stated that you may "shoot deer on trails leading to a feeder" but it was a different story when the regulation was revealed smh. That would've have taken care of that bs, so he deserves some of the blame himself

Sitting around a fire pit in the back yard on the weekends, growing a garden on our family land 15 minutes from the house. Owning 3 tractors, more implements than I can count, several dirt bikes and a side x side. I shoot my bow and pee off the back porch. I'd rather own or rebuild an old piece of equipment vs buying new. We put vegetables in the freezer in the summer and wild game in the freezer during the fall/winter. Ride by the house several times a month and you will see my smoker going. I reload close to a 1000 rounds a year on my loading bench in the basement. I could keep going if you want me to.

Just because I live in a nice subdivision doesn't mean I am a city boy. I choose to live here for the convenience and because it offers a better life for my kids and wife and our friends are close. Some of our friends are true blue city dwellers. I spent Saturday night at the country club eating dinner but I spent Friday and Sunday afternoon sitting in a tree stand.

Again, being country has nothing to do where you live and EVERYTHING to do with how you live.

I oversee operations on roughly 50,000 acres of row crop ground up here in N bama. I'm involved with lots of desicions with my core group of farmers. I bust my hands working on planters and my truck stays a mess. My kids know how to set a planter, drive a tractor and kill deer. But I live in a city of 60,000 folks. My kids walk to school down the road. We have neighbors on our street. But they're our friends. Don't tell me you gotta live in the country to be country. I'll forget more "country" than most folks will ever know about "country"

Alabamians = hunting
hunting = deer
deer = money
money = state interest
state interest = regulations
regulations = pain in our asses

any body that gives a reason against baiting and believes supplement feeding is ok . they reason "they" give against baiting is the same reasons they should be against supplement feeding . why i call bs on it .

taint nothing nothing like country living . fore long i'll be back to doing it .

Has the CWD in Mississippi been mentioned in this thread? I didn't have time to read it all.

If you spent the summertime cuttin' up logs for the winter, you could tell everyone to kiss your a$$. David Allen Coe style

If you can't burn garbage and raise hogs in your back yard, you ain't living country.
If you got internet in your house and a grocery store within 10 miles, you ain't living country.
If you gotta drive to your barn, you ain't living country.
If you can't shoot a deer out your back door, you ain't living country.
If your cell phone has more than two bars of service, you ain't living country.
If you can vote for a mayor, or city council, you ain't living country.
If you make a round trip to "town" under an hour, you ain't living country.

yall can say what u want but I still believe it is about the massive amount of money the counties and state make from tickets for baiting. The county or city where the ticket is written gets a cut of the ticket and some really need the money.

I understand your point, but I don't think you are understanding mine. My point is that it's my right as an American to throw out corn on my land, and any infringement of that right is something I hope would be unacceptable to all of us. Nobody "allows" supplemental feeding; it's just one of the basic rights that goes along with private ownership of land and has nothing to do with deer hunting or any sort of hunting.

Hunting over bait is a separate issue, and I really don't care one way or another in regards to hunting deer.

It used to be understood that if you were putting out feed on a tract of land then you couldn't hunt on it. It's the recent "clarification" of the word "area" that has made it hard to understand. I wish that they hadn't done that; it should have been the job of the legislature.

Real country is having multiple family members missing multiple teeth………having at least two uncles that are loud as hell and ignorant as the day is long…..using words that don’t even exist …….Real country is watching your grandad sit at the table in a pair of Liberty overalls and eat a sammich that’s nothing but a tongue hanging out between two slices of bread……or listening to your drunk uncle tell you about the best way to cook a turtle……Real county is your mom telling about seeing chickens under the house through the wood slats as a kid, sleeping with two other sisters under 20 lbs of cover cause there wasn’t much heat…….Real country is having a grandmother who knits and dips Bruton snuff and then puts it on your bee stings…….Real country is having at least 2 or more family members that grow weed, been to prison, and kill deer by any means necessary………..

I got ALL that covered. Most of it by myself. I am the loud, drunk uncle with missing teeth, who cooks turtles and tongues. And I won't comment on the weed and deer killing.

Very little of the money stays in the county. Most goes to Montgomery...

Yall subdivision folks lost me when you started talking about it being a good environment for your kids. If you were ever country folk, it got boring or inconvenient so you moved to a place with more "stuff" to do or people around. When you started forgetting all that country is when you messed up to start with. The more you ramble on about big country living in the city the more you prove my point. About as country as that stuff theyre playing on the radio these days.takes all kinds though to make a world. But I dont think country gives a crap about keeping up with the jonses. Just step back and take a look at whats really going on. Or maybe think about it this weekend when youre out at "the farm".

I didnt mean to get on here and run anybody down this morning and I apologize if I have. The past few years around me I have watched people move to greener pastures and old family land either be sold and divided or grow up and run down. Me and daddy used to ride around and see farms that have been let go and talk about when ole mr. So and so used to work so hard to keep that place up, what ever happened to his kids anyway? Subdivisions are going up all around and the people moving in are city folk who have had enough of that environment. Trouble is they bring the city with them and my hometown is looking more and more like one of them other places. Im watching a lifestyle slip away and trying to save a little of it for my kids to enjoy. This is a pretty touchy subject for me and again I apologize if I have offended anyone bt telling it like it is.

No offense here but mine live the best of both worlds

None taken. Hope I didnt offend you. Just expressing my opinion.

Hahaha nah. I don't get offended

I’d much rather my kids have friends to hang it with in the summer and after school. My kids spend more time outside than most “country” kids because they have friends to do stuff with. Last time I checked I wasn’t keeping up with the Jones’s or anyone else. Just because I don’t live in the middle of 40 acres I’m not “country enough”? Having a family farm makes me “fake country” Did you ever stop to think we could have probably sold our “fake country farm” to a developer for a neighborhood? We choose to keep that piece of land in the family so we have a place to go “practice being country”

Putting my kids in the best available schools and giving them an opportunity to grow up in a place where they have a lot of friends and can play outside with them trumps me moving to the farm.

You have a warped sense of reality.

Nobody said it was bad, just don't say you are country if you ain't country. I ain't country like outback's hillbilly ass but I was as a kid, drunk peddlin prison uncles and all.

This one has some potential………

Aint yall got nothing better to do than argue about who is country? Newsflash, no matter where they live, most Alabama folks are considered country hicks by real " city folk" who live in New York City, Chcago, Seattle, etc.

purely anecdotal, but growing up we lived in the Memphis Metro Area and we had a family "farm" about an hour east of Memphis. As a whole, the kids that grew up in the "country" stayed in significantly more trouble than anyone I knew that grew up in the city. Particularly with drug use and "petty crime" stuff. I attribute it to having less to do and getting bored. I feel like I and my cousins got the best of both worlds - we lived "in the city" but got to spend countless weekends "in the country".

Not to mention their "obsession" with farm animals

i agree . they need to just make it ,,,, yes or no .!!!!!!!