Dead on. A lot of things are legal, that doesn't make them ethical. and I tend to think a lot of things are illegal but that doesn't always make them unethical. a lot of people really don't now where there beliefs come from.

Because it would be nice not to have to stop feeding the deer on our land for 2 1/2 to 3 months during each winter when the deer need it the most. Why do we have to stop? Couldn't we just leave them going and not hunt close enough to them to get a ticket? Ahhh, there's the rub isn't it? Nobody, not even the governor of this ####ing state knows what "IN THE AREA" means. So navigating around them becomes a mine field during hunting season if they are left loaded and running. And that's if you are dealing with an honest game warden. All it takes is their word that you were near a feeder and your feeder with corn in it to show the judge and a resurrected F Lee Bailey couldn't get your ass out of the ticket here in Wilcox County. I don't like putting myself in a position where all it takes is someones word to ***k me over. And I know there are good game wardens out there that wouldn't deal dirty like that but there are also some that will "embellish the story a bit" to close the deal on your ass. You can doubt that fact if you want but you do it at your own risk.

Cut him some slack Hogwild. He was just basing that statement on the same amount of facts they base their other assertions on. None at all! LOL!

td,


How about it would eliminate the "traps" created by the vagueness of the statute?

How about elimination of the "trap" that a lot have been caught in when they are in an area where somebody else has put bait out and they didn't know it?

How about not having to disturb the area you intend to hunt with a required inspection first in order to be protected against getting caught in the "didn't know it was there trap".

How about freeing up game wardens to get out and catch serious violators that are actually harming our wildlife resources?

How about it would eliminate a lot of hypocrisy in the DCNR relating to the baiting issue and help start improving it's image?

All good points. Here's another. How about just because it would be amending a totally inconsistent and stupid law. Bait is bait. It should either all be legal or none of it.

That hurt...I'm not used to being wrong So no notations or asterisks if killed over a bait pile or feeder? It's a good thing I prefaced by saying it's a separate discussion.

I've said before that I have no issue with finding a way to make it legal to continue feeding deer though out the year. This is in no way the same discussion as those that want "bait" legalized for attracting and killing deer only.

your opinion and assertions that foodplots and feeders are the same is not factual either... I need to find something more productive to do until turkey season starts.

you cannot legally shut a place down because of bait for two weeks. IF the bait is removed you can legally start hunting after 10 days....

Even so the place would have to be small, like 20-80 acres then. If it was a large enough place you could get away from the bait and hunt legally. Unless the whole place was baited....

I agree with troy.

A couple of years ago I was making my reasonable effort to inspect for baiting during bow season on our lease. I found where a kid whose dad didn't renew his membership had left a feeder with a dead battery and a little corn still in it.

We have our lease divided into 40 acre squares and a member can sign out no more than two squares at a time. I cleaned the corn up myself and then I closed off two squares (80 acres) for 10 days by covering them on our sign out map with a note. The rest of our 6200 acres was left open for hunting. I saw no need to involve the DCNR.

I told our members that if any of them got a ticket for hunting over that bait anywhere other than those 80 acres, I would go to court with them and help fight it all the way up if we needed to.

Until an "area" has been clearly defined, it's my position that the officers of our club are reasonable men who are able to define the affected area ourselves as well an anyone else. I believe I could convince a judge that either I'm right or the law is too vague to be constitutional.

troy's defintion fits what we came up with under the given circumstances.

The way the story was told to me is the club bought a transfer truck load of bulk corn and dumped it in the middle of the lease. I don't know if it's bs or not, but that's what the guy said. There was a 300 acre lease near here shut down 2 years ago during turkey season for corn. Whether that's legal or not, I don't know, but I do know it was done.

Who cares anyway? Every state near us are doing it legally or not legally. If you are in a club make it a yes or no rule if the law passes. I have a-holes putting foodplots next to the property line on my lease with fruit trees and all to lure the deer onto his property but I have a fifty yard rule so I cannot intercept if I wanted to. Big deal. If you get your panties in a twist about it then buy your own land. If everyone is so ethical go out and spear one, according to the rules that is is still legal. Things change just deal with it. Just enjoy hunting. Stop being a whiner.

Hey Todd, where do you hunt?

Only in the woods away from mast-producing trees? Over non-forage sage fields? Pine thickets?

Or do you hunt in the woods around mast-producing trees and also near or on planted green patches?

If we could only get those acorn trees on a timer

I mostly hunt from a climbing stand between bedding and feeding areas. But what's your point? I'm the one advocating that you should be able to hunt over whatever you want.

At what point does the "light bulb click on" that baiting (i.e. hunting over corn) and feeding year round on "private" land IS legal in Alabama???????

For those that say everything is a form of baiting (dropping acorns from oak trees, food plots, a doe in heat, a bedding area a creek crossing, a honeysuckle patch, etc), why the big giant outcry for dumping feed/bait on the ground only during the hunting season (or in this case out of a "legal" feeder)?

All a person has to do is plant corn, millet, soybeans, etc, etc, etc, leave it standing or bush hog it and you have your "bait". Why is that not good enough??? Is it because you BELIEVE what your third cousins girlfriends brother said that he heard that somebody three counties away kills 43 bucks a year over "piles of corn" therefore, everybody is be doing it so they should just let everybody do it to help the GW's out? Or, most likely the point is that it is the easy lazy way to kill a deer, without having to put in the effort to learn agricultural practices or how to hunt?

Also, the proponents of baiting please answer this, should "baiting" (i.e. hunting over "bait" from a "legal" feeder) be "legal" on public land? If so, how should it be controlled? By free for all, through "drawing" (thereby making "public" land no longer "public"), auction (again making "public" land no longer "public")? Or, not allowing "baiting (feeding from a "legal" feeder) on public lands and therefore not allowing the same opportunities and freedoms to the "public" land hunter that the "private" land hunter would enjoy? Or, is that part of the the goal to draw game from the "public" lands to the "private" lands?

Again "baiting" and year round "feeding" IS legal in Alabama now on "private" land!! What more do you think the State of Alabama should do for you????


I anticipate these actual thought provoking questions will not get me banned again, but we shall see.

So, just how much luck have YOU had growing corn and soybeans in 1/1-3/4 acre plots that are common most all of the Timber Co. leases?

Or, do you only propose that landowners themselves should have that right?

I do have a large field here at the house that I plant soybeans in. And they LOVE them! But, I haven't shot a deer here in years!

Reasearch, research, research and find ag products that will grow in what area that a person has rights and access to. A few minutes away from www.aldeer.com and searching the world wide web or local coop will provide many answers.

If you have rights from the landowner then by all means utilize it to it's fullest potential, if not deal with it by understanding the limitations or move on to some property that will allow it. I personally do not have the luxury of owning my own hunting land nor do I have the luxury of planting foodplots on the private land that I am fortunate enough to hunt. As a side bar, I also hunt public land on occassion and occassionally like this year was fortunate enough to kill deer on both private and public land.

I commend your efforts on planting the fields around your house and hope you will continue to do so.

If I plant a persimmon tree in a strategic location and while I'm at it attach a ladder stand, then check back occasionally for the tree to bear fruit (this could take several years), what have I done?