Free: Contests & Raffles.
Here is the abomination........ RCW 77.15.245 (d) As used in this subsection, "bait" means a substance placed, exposed, deposited, distributed, scattered, or otherwise used for the purpose of attracting black bears to an area where one or more persons hunt or intend to hunt them. As a matter of fact.......it could be read into this...that if you happen upon an unoccupied bait area, or an area that has a natural food source, but was moved or piled up.....and you hunt over one of these areas....you could be quilty of baiting. Case and point: A young kid has permission to hunt geese in a farmers potatoe field.....but a day or two before....the farmer gets a truck full of potatoes stuck in the muddy field while on the way out with a load.....the only way to get the truck out is to dump the load of potatoes in the field and pull just the truck out with a tractor......two days later...the kid shows up to hunt geese.....sees the load of potatoes in the field and that it's attracking geese.....so he uses the potatoe pile as a blind and slays them......lo and behold....here comes one of our agents and tickets the kid for hunting over bait. Takes his geese, his gun and leaves him with a ticket. The kid finds a lawyer who is also a hunter to defend him in court.......the kid mows.....weedeats....split wood for the lawyer in order to pay him back somehow........they go to court.........lost......$500.00 fine.....a hunting violation on his record and no gun. Now tell me that a hunter can know that by reading that RCW.......not a very warm and fuzzy feeling about what is given to us in our Game Reg's.