legal ?

[Bob33]

Call me crazy but I would still hunt it but just avoid the area closest to the camera. I don't see how I could get in trouble shooting a bear close to a camera that wasn't even mine. The gamie would have to know it is there and how the heck would they be able to prove you even knew it was there?

Thats it right there! He or she dont have to prove anything for a citation. But you would have to spend your money to prove you had nothing to do with it..  Thats a fact...    Yes you would win in court, but is it worth your money?

How could they even write you a citation was my point? First, its not your camera or bait station and second, how can they say with any remote confidence that you knew it was there unless you told them? If it was my camera for elk that would be a totally different story. I mean heck, I am sure a lot of us have hunted very close to cameras over bait we didn't know was there....

The reality is they don't have to prove anything to cite you. If you then choose to fight it and go to court, evidence would need to be provided.

[vandeman17]

Call me crazy but I would still hunt it but just avoid the area closest to the camera. I don't see how I could get in trouble shooting a bear close to a camera that wasn't even mine. The gamie would have to know it is there and how the heck would they be able to prove you even knew it was there?

Thats it right there! He or she dont have to prove anything for a citation. But you would have to spend your money to prove you had nothing to do with it..  Thats a fact...    Yes you would win in court, but is it worth your money?

How could they even write you a citation was my point? First, its not your camera or bait station and second, how can they say with any remote confidence that you knew it was there unless you told them? If it was my camera for elk that would be a totally different story. I mean heck, I am sure a lot of us have hunted very close to cameras over bait we didn't know was there....

The reality is they don't have to prove anything to cite you. If you then choose to fight it and go to court, evidence would need to be provided.

I guess it would be worth the risk to me unless I had better spots to hunt. I have only seen one game warden in the field when I wasn't driving and that was out duck hunting so the odds of me actually killing a bear that ends up close to the bait station AND having a warden there to witness it are pretty darn low.

[Bob33]

The question of whether or not one might hunt there is different than the OP’s question of whether or not it is legal.

[vandeman17]

The question of whether or not one might hunt there is different than the OP’s question of whether or not it is legal.

Understood. I guess I still believe it is 100% legal but that is strictly my opinion

[notellumcreek]

For those of you that say you wouldn't risk it, how far away are you thinking is a safe distance from said "bait"? 100 yards? 1 mile?

 I would think if you are 100 yds from the site and shoot a bear that it would be quite the BS move for a gamey to cite you, especially if it wasn't yours.

[Bob33]

My somewhat educated speculation is that different enforcement officers would view the situation differently. Depending on the specific circumstances, history of the area, and other factors one officer might cite, and one might not.

I don’t believe it is so clearly legal that the chance of being cited is zero.

If the odds of being successful were high, and the chance of being detected was low, and I truly believed that the bait was not attracting bears I might hunt there.

[Stein]

Sounds like most people wouldn't squat on top of it with a rifle.  The question then is how far away would you have to be to not be bait hunting?  Seems like a judgement call but if I was over 250 yards away, particularly if I was upwind, I would feel good about that.  There is junk all over the woods, you can't really ever get 10 miles away from some type of food or food scent left by people.

“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.

If it were me, I would call up the area's game warden and ask the question how far away I needed to be to comply.

[luckyman]

I wouldn't after opening your mouth about it.

[WALLEYEGUY]

I personally know  that you will be cited for hunting over bait while duck hunting even if you did not know it was there and were over a 100 yards away.  Pissed me off so bad I no longer duck hunt.

[ghosthunter]

My somewhat educated speculation is that different enforcement officers would view the situation differently. Depending on the specific circumstances, history of the area, and other factors one officer might cite, and one might not.

I don’t believe it is so clearly legal that the chance of being cited is zero.

If the odds of being successful were high, and the chance of being detected was low, and I truly believed that the bait was not attracting bears I might hunt there.

 

[ghosthunter]

Sooo the guy next door is getting all the birds.

So I walk through after dark and do a little corn seeding. Than drop a dime.
Boom no more competition.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I wouldn't after opening your mouth about it.

  Have to remember one thing ..The people who get caught are either turning themselves in or someone else is ..learn to keep to yourself and things will be a lot better ..I am slowly learning too 

[Machias]

Just salt? I don't see how that shows any intent to hunt bears with the use of bait, since salt doesn't attract bears.

Ah bears LOVE salt blocks!

If the salt block influences the bears behavior, 100 yards or on top of it, you can be cited.  It's just the way it is.  Time and distance have no real bearing, no pun intended.  If the placement of the bait or substance influences the bears travel or behavior, you can be cited.  And you never know when or where someone else has already reported that salt block or bait station.  If this was a defense for getting out of baiting it would be so easy to abuse it.  Me and a partner decide to bait bears in WA.  I establish a bait site "for deer and elk".  5 miles away my partner establishes his bait site for deer and elk.  We see that the bears have taken over both bait sites and are hammering them.  Bears like to leave well defined trails in and out of a bait station.  I put my stand on a trail a hundred yards away from my buddies bait site and he puts his stand 100 yards away from my bait site.  2 dead bears and I never once bait that location and he never baited my location.

[JimmyHoffa]

Just have to consider how would some of the less reasonable wardens interpret.  I'd imagine that some would probably cite you for being within half a mile.     Risk you take since you probably don't know how many baits/cams there are in an area.

[bobcat]

There is bait all over the place. If you can't hunt bears just because someone might have bait in an area, that means you can't hunt bears anywhere. Dumb. Hunt bears wherever you want. And I do have faith in most game wardens. They're not out there looking to pinch someone for walking in the woods with a rifle and a best tag in their pocket, when they happen to be near someone else's bait.