people still baiting

[DeerCamp]

I have  talked to a lotta people lately on the new rule change this year. Not a lot are to happy about it. Many say they are still going to bait. They said they will bait and do what they want, its there land and the dnr cant tell them what to do as far as that goes. Many even said that unless they (dnr) pay their property taxes there still gonna bait cuz its there land. One even went as far as saying if the dnr comes on their property to give them a ticket they will shoot at them. I myself wont be baiting, and it ticks me off that others will... Whats going on in your area as far as this is concerned?

[mag30079]

Well let them break the rules. When you down that shooter you've been waiting for it will be much more rewarding.

[Demoderby4]

I personally don't really like the whole baiting ban, i haven't done it this year, i respect the rules by all means, but that doesn't mean i have to agree on that subject, if you think about it just about all researchers think cwd has a lot to do with the exchange of body fluids/ lots of deer coming in close quarters with one another, i understand the food is from an outside source most the time when you bait, that can contribute to it, but a lot of the time deer are in groups when they feed, or they urinate and poop or clean one another when they are eating and when other deer come to the same plot to eat they are going to come in contact with that bodily fluid anyways, i don't know it just doesn't seem like it would do much to prevent the spread of it if it were present in a group of deer, I support all we can do to stop the spread of it, but hopefully they let us go back to baiting, i like any advantage i can get out there lol [;)]

[Bear]

I will admit that i was not happy about the baiting ban either. Now i have a lot of corn piled up in the pole barn and nothing to do with it. However I am a sportsman and will always follow the rules.
I would also like to commit on what i heard while on stand on opening morning. A LOT OF SHOOTING. Then when i went out again on Saturday again SHOOTING. The shooting was at first light and again just before dark. Coincidence!
 
 

[Demoderby4]

Not everybody is going to follow the rules, and if breaking the rules makes them feel like a better hunter than so be it, hpefully they get caught, cant shoot any deer when you're stuck at home! But i like to think i can shoot a deer while hunting a natural food source, or hunting a trail to the food source, even though im not happy about the ban either i look at it as a new challenge and it will be even sweeter when that bruiser walks by...

[DeerCamp]

Thats true Demoderby4, it is a big challenge for all hunters who use bait. I myself only baited while hunting heavley hunted state land. I have noticed a big drop in the amount of deer I use to see, but hey at least Im in the woods. I think that after a few years this ban is going to be a good thing... Lot of the littler bucks that get shot coming to piles will make it to live a few more years. Also I believe that there will be less hunters in the woods. So it will be up to us more than ever to manage the deer. (If you were able to get your hands on the D&DH Almanac read the article on pg 190..CWD-ZONE Produces Monster) Maybe youll feel a little better after reading that article.

I might be getting ahead of myself here but Im starting to like what the DNR is doing.. No bait= bigger bucks and more deer, less hunters. 

The UP: NO SPIKES! And Bucks have to have at least 3 antlers on one side. I really like that rule, sure it's going to tick a lot of people off, but if we follow it there will be some monsters in just 2-3 years!

Like I said...I might be getting ahead of myself, but Ill just have to wait and see what the DNR pulls next.

I read in the paper today, that the bait stores are still selling lots of bait...It's sad to see people break the rules like this..

[Demoderby4]

i like the way that sounds DeerCamp lol, i have been meaning to order the almanac, but i just about emptied my bank account on gear for the season lol so im ow on cash, but its def high up on the list of things to get though. And yeah i really don't get why they still sell bait if its illegal, i think its kind of odd, especially stuff like the acorn rage, rut n' apples and stuff like that.

[bigbuckhughes]

Big article in the Muskegon Chronicle this AM about the poor farmers getting stuck with all the extra feed that they have grown and harvested for deer feed.  I guess they don't understand that if this disease gets going big time that it could wipe out the deer herd to where EVERY ONE loses out.  Deer hunting generates some 500 million bucks to the state economy every year, and these guys are criing about a few thousand dollars.  I don't know of too many area farmers that have lost thier a__ __ yet.  They seem to keep right on doing it every year.

[DEERSLAYER]

"Many even said that unless they (dnr) pay their property taxes there still gonna bait cuz its there land."
 
I guess that means for these guy's it's ok to shoot them under a spotlight, out of season, etc.
 
It's amazing & sad how many people only care about what they want. Forget the what the top disease specialists from across North America think or that these guy's don't own the resource (or that everybody pays for it), etc. It's sad so many people equate hunting with throwing out and depending on a pile of bait instead of actually hunting for the deer and out witting the animal. I can remember when baiting was almost unheard of and there were far less slob hunters. I suppose that could be a coincidence though.
 
Also, the vast majority of people (the non hunting public) find baiting distasteful and ultimately this could result in polotics and the ballot box potentially being one of the biggest threat to hunting. Remember, the anti hunters said they will slowly beat us one court case and ballot proposal at a time. My experiance has been that baiting is by far the single biggest thing non hunters have a problem with.

[Dingwell]

I agree with you Deerslayer. I especially agree with your last paragraph. The only thing I would add is that baiting is the least of the hunters problems. The next 4 years ( or more) is going to be tough on hunters and sportsmen. Baiting is still happening, at least in this area, but people need to be careful about they portray themselves. It reflects on all of us.