Baiting law changed?

[4wanderingeyes]

I am not really a fan of baiting, but it looks like Wisconsin may have just changed the law? At least for feeding.

http://www.startribune.com/local/419152084.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[westonwhitetail]

I wish Wisconsin would do more to stop the spread of CWD. IMO, this is a step backwards because people everywhere now are going to bait and argue that they weren't going to hunt over it.

 

[ruskbuckss]

Dumb, this is what happens when politicians take over the DNR. IMO the DNR has been on a downward spiral since Walker has been in. Politician after politician appointed to positions in the DNR while scientist pushed out, layed off,or fired. Walker appointed Cathy Step a politician/business owner to secretary of the DNR. I remember a interview with her, they asked her if she was a hunter. She said she did try to "hunt turkeys one time". Now she deer hunts for PR and shot a fawn a few years ago. Almost all scientist and a majority of hunters support the baiting and feeding ban in WI,yet the politicians don't listen to them because they think they are smarter than everyone else. So if I understand this law feeding and baiting all year won't contribute to the spread of CWD, but a hunter can't sit over bait in the fall because that is when CWD can be spread?

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I use to bait, when it was legal in my county, never thought anything of it. They made it illegal, then I started food plots, and making my land better for wildlife. I know some still bait, and they are successful because of it, but I like my new hobby of creating a better area for wildlife. I wont go back to baiting, or even feeding the deer, if it stays legal. Although to be honest with you, what is the difference from me growing apples, and the deer eating them, or me hauling a few bushel up, and spreading the apples out?

 

[ruskbuckss]

I use to bait, when it was legal in my county, never thought anything of it. They made it illegal, then I started food plots, and making my land better for wildlife. I know some still bait, and they are successful because of it, but I like my new hobby of creating a better area for wildlife. I wont go back to baiting, or even feeding the deer, if it stays legal. Although to be honest with you, what is the difference from me growing apples, and the deer eating them, or me hauling a few bushel up, and spreading the apples out?

Not a big difference if your talking about feeding apples vs apples falling off your trees. There is a big difference growing apples trees vs hunting over a bushel of apples. The big difference is those apple trees are will be beneficial to a variety of wildlife for a long time, probably long after we're not around anymore. I think a statewide baiting ban would cause a lot more people to do some positive property improvements, such as planting trees that will benefit wildlife. A bait pile will provide little to no value to wildlife for a short hunting season, likely only help them to get shot. I don't bait, but do a lot of wildlife habitat improvements and also food plots. I like to give a little back. I don't plant food plots to just make shooting a deer easier, but to benefit a whole list of wildlife thru out the year from spring to winter and songbirds to bear.

 

[Tree Spud]

Dumb, this is what happens when politicians take over the DNR. IMO the DNR has been on a downward spiral since Walker has been in. Politician after politician appointed to positions in the DNR while scientist pushed out, layed off,or fired. Walker appointed Cathy Step a politician/business owner to secretary of the DNR. I remember a interview with her, they asked her if she was a hunter. She said she did try to "hunt turkeys one time". Now she deer hunts for PR and shot a fawn a few years ago. Almost all scientist and a majority of hunters support the baiting and feeding ban in WI,yet the politicians don't listen to them because they think they are smarter than everyone else. So if I understand this law feeding and baiting all year won't contribute to the spread of CWD, but a hunter can't sit over bait in the fall because that is when CWD can be spread?

This has nothing to do with the politicians, they only do what hunters (voters) demand. This, like many hunting issues, falls directly at the feet of hunters themselves ... a bit like blaming Dunkin Donuts for making you fat.

 

[dsinwi]

There are some that argue food plots are no different then baiting. I would expect that one day there could be scrutiny put on plots as well.

 

[Tree Spud]

There are some that argue food plots are no different then baiting. I would expect that one day there could be scrutiny put on plots as well.

It will never get any legs as the DNR can't tell people they can't grow things on their property.

I mean really, how can you tell one property owner that they can't grow 2-3 acres of clover and then let his neighbor grow 200 acres of corn or beans?

.

 

[ruskbuckss]

This has nothing to do with the politicians, they only do what hunters (voters) demand. This, like many hunting issues, falls directly at the feet of hunters themselves ... a bit like blaming Dunkin Donuts for making you fat.

Oh Really? I take it you don't read WI Outdoor News. Gov Walker asked the conservation congress,DNR,Dept of AG, and the DATCP to organize a CWD review panel. The one thing that they all agreed upon was support for the ban in CWD affected counties. The CDAC was asked was asked to poll hunters. Seventy Percent of counties supported a statewide feeding/baiting ban.They then had two public hearings and both opposed assembly bill 61. The bill was chaired by (POLITICAN) Joel Kleefish and despite all the opposition to this bill it was ignored by the Assembly and passed on a majority party line vote, only one republican voted against it. So explain to how something like this has nothing to do with the politicians and how well they listen to the hunters demand?

 

[shawnv]

As long as deer use licking branches and lick each other, I don't see the argument against it on private property. We worry too much about what others do if it doesn't fit our mold.

 

[bueller]

I personally like the feeding/baiting ban in our area, but not just for the chance that it may slow the spread of CWD. IMO bait piles encourage deer to go even more nocturnal and they also create unnatural movements and patterns of local herds. Since the end of baiting I've experienced a more "pure" hunt with noticeably increased daytime movements of deer. I dread the potential of returning to the days of our section having more bait piles than mature deer present on the landscape.

 

[John-W-WI]

There are some that argue food plots are no different then baiting. I would expect that one day there could be scrutiny put on plots as well.

I don't have a strong opinion on the topic (I don't bait and don't care for people doing so, but to each his own if it keeps them out in the woods).

I've always thought though, for those that don't think there is a difference between baiting and a food plot:

Pretend you are in an aids infected country and at the aids hospital. Do you want to eat off of a 10" plate that everyone else eats off of or out of the garden? Same thing right?



Not directed at you or anyone else in this thread dsinwi - just a thought I always have when the topic comes up.

 

[buckdeer1]

Not really sense it is more contact rather than where they eat.I haven't ever seen any proof that anything has reduced the spread of CWD.

 

[dsinwi]

There is a thread about this on another site. It's full of a lot of nonsense but some of the banter is about plots being the same as baiting, i.e., growing bait. I won't comment on that site however, the growing bait concept did provoke some thought and how other's perceive things. There are certainly many differences between dumping corn and growing corn, I get that. Just found the thread, or parts of it anyway, interesting is all.

Spud, Government in whatever form tries to tell us what we can and cannot do all the time. I think it's absurd that the DNR could regulate food plots as well but government's track record on absurdity is not the greatest.
John, No offense taken. Just trying to have a meaningful conversation and add some observation is all.

Just for the record I don't bait or feed. I'd like to at my residence as we have some very impressive deer in the village limits but my proximity to the road and deer trails could cause issue with passing traffic. I do enjoy doing food plot at my land but seldom hunt over them.

 

[yoderjac]

I don't have a strong opinion on the topic (I don't bait and don't care for people doing so, but to each his own if it keeps them out in the woods).

I've always thought though, for those that don't think there is a difference between baiting and a food plot:

Pretend you are in an aids infected country and at the aids hospital. Do you want to eat off of a 10" plate that everyone else eats off of or out of the garden? Same thing right?



Not directed at you or anyone else in this thread dsinwi - just a thought I always have when the topic comes up.

John,

The issue comes not from the food, but from how deer relate to it. From an ethical standpoint, a food plot is available 24/7 for deer to use. Once hunting pressure is applied they simply use it at night. So, it primarily benefits the deer herd as a food source. A bait can be easily time manipulated. Feeders can work like a dinner bell going off and last one to the table gets only scraps. Bait piles are concentrated and can easily be restricted so they are only available during hunting hours. They benefit the hunter more than the herd.

Aside from ethical concerns, for a disease perspective, different diseases have different vectors, but some diseases spread faster with increased face to face contact. If you watch deer feeding in a food plot, they naturally space themselves and when one deer gets too close to another there will often be some rebuking between deer. At a bait pile, deer tend to increase their face to face contact significantly. Airborne pathogens have increased movement between hosts. Deer, like people have a certain amount of intimate face to face contact naturally with grooming activities and such. These typically occur between a fairly narrow group of contacts and airborne pathogens do take advantages of this just like in humans. However, this level of disease spread is part of the normal ecosystem.

Having said that, I think the risks of disease transmission though increased face to face contact caused by point source attractants can vary a lot with conditions, pathogens, alternate disease vectors, deer populations, and more.

I think there are probably techniques that could be use to supplemental feed deer that don't stretch ethical bounds or increase disease risk, but these are not typically used by most.

My state has always outlawed baiting on an ethical basis but it has been widely ignored. In recent years with disease spread being a concern they have outlawed feeding by anyone during the hunting season including by backyard camera buffs and such. We have a neighboring state where baiting is legal and in come cases encouraged. I don't see a big difference in disease trends between these two states.

Thanks,

Jack