CWD

[retch sweeny]

I disagree. Its like saying if your in China where there are a lot of people, killing one or two should be no big deal but if you are in a less populated area, those lives mean more but to your point, 2 gallons of turnips spread near a stand would pale in comparison to vast ag fields to beg the question, why bother banning it? You either want to ban baiting for CWD reasons or you don’t. Banning half of baiting just frustrates people and causes disparity and ignore equal protections and real CWD management (if you belive baiting is a vector to begin with). It says landowners you can put in bait plots can congregate deer increasing prion buildup and advantage their hunting but public land hunters cant.

[Deebz]

I wasn't talking about how important lives are or whether or not we should ban baiting. I was simply referring to your statements about food plots attracting deer to the same place over and over.

I cannot argue with you that food plots attract deer. That's why people plant them. However, the effectiveness of a food plot is not going to be the same the world over. In a region where high quality or highly preferred food sources are scarce, a "bait plot" would definitely congregrate deer to small areas.

In the area where I live, the only trees/woodlands around are very small acreage plots along waterways or isolated patches in ground that is difficult to till. The rest of ground is cleared and tilled and planted with corn and soybeans. I'm talking thousands and thousands of acres. A food plot just isn't going to congregrate the deer in the same manner as an area with less food available.

[Dan Salmon]

I agree with both Retch & Deebz.

I can see where Retch is coming from, when he says what he does about the litigious nature of Americans (humans for that matter) being the problem and that if bait piles are outlawed, then so too food plots need to be outlawed.

I also see where Deebz is coming from, having grown up in SE Minnesota where the amount of corn and soybeans would seem to make a food plot a waste of time. Where it doesn't, is where it would afford more protection for the deer than any of the other food sources around.

One could argue that the DNR, in trying to protect the remainder of the state from CWD spreading is enforcing a baiting and food plot ban by DMU much like it enforces deer harvest in the state. The problem then becoming the litigation.

The question would now become one of whether or not the state has any right to enforce such a rule by DMU as reasonable protections of a state resource. I don't know, I'm not a law scholar, but would think that somewhere there is some clause that would allow some such thing. The next big hurdle would be getting an audience in a state court (Appeals and/or Supreme) that would set precedent for those protections put forth by the state. This would define what is or is not considered a food plot and the amount of litigation against such claims would more than likely lessen.