WDFW proposing to Ban Baiting

[hunter399]

I guess I can always go to parents when they feed there livestock .If I want to hunt that way.

[rasbo]

Never baited for deer or elk,but I still feel it's just another tool to slowly try to end hunting period. Vote these *censored*s out and get involved in your children's education and what's being rammed down their throats.

[Jingles]

Just another small chip in the rights of people. One small chip at a time until nothing left to chip away

[bigtex]

I wanted to add some insight into this.

There are hundreds of WDFW management plans which each have dozens of recommendations of which very few are actually implemented.

Is WDFW currently enacting a rule to ban baiting? NO
Is there a current proposal to ban baiting in front of the Commission? NO

What we have here is simply a draft management plan with recommendations. When you read the document numerous times you see "the Department recommends" that simply means the three individuals (Mansfield, DeVivo, and Hansen) who wrote the report. The report basically adopted the recommendations that the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies put out for reducing CWD.

Personally, I'd keep it on my radar but I wouldn't get all worked up thinking a baiting ban is in the imminent future 

[Skyvalhunter]

  I think more is being read into this than there is

[KFhunter]

Herds are collapsing, ending baiting helps keep a few more deer for predators

[idahohuntr]

I wanted to add some insight into this.

There are hundreds of WDFW management plans which each have dozens of recommendations of which very few are actually implemented.

Is WDFW currently enacting a rule to ban baiting? NO
Is there a current proposal to ban baiting in front of the Commission? NO

What we have here is simply a draft management plan with recommendations. When you read the document numerous times you see "the Department recommends" that simply means the three individuals (Mansfield, DeVivo, and Hansen) who wrote the report. The report basically adopted the recommendations that the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies put out for reducing CWD.

Personally, I'd keep it on my radar but I wouldn't get all worked up thinking a baiting ban is in the imminent future 

Folks - Don't get complacent. While Bigtex is technically correct, I'd strongly advise we not find ourselves playing checkers when the opponents are playing chess.  This is exactly how bureaucrats pull this stuff off.  It was a hard fight 4 or 5 years ago when baiting was before the Commission.  If this CWD plan gets approved it will make it extremely easy for the Commission to ban baiting.  "We are just following the science" will be the mantra and with the current Commission make up it will likely be a unanimous vote.

Lacking any credible evidence that small quantities of bait in dispersed areas increases CWD disease transmission...there should be NO recommendation from the Department to ban baiting...especially if they are not recommending immediate changes to the myriad of other actions that have a far greater effect in concentrating deer.

[KFhunter]

100%


I'll be doing my part and firing off a letter.   Ending baiting will hurt archery the most. 

[huntnnw]

Wow.. like anyone trusts that dumpster fire of a department! Just wow! What they have done to this states herds and salmon and steelhead is robbery. I put nothing past them.

[buckcanyonlodge]

Herds are collapsing, ending baiting helps keep a few more deer for predators

The mule deer herd that I have fed for 14 years has really taken a hit since Feb. Seven of the dominant breeding does have all gone missing ( two of them were over 14 years old ). they would all have twins every year....one quarter of the fawns would survive. I also had 5 yearling spike bucks that all but one has gone missing. Neighbor has a pic of the collared cougar that jrebel has on his cam from 3 miles away. Also 4 other individual cats. They are wiping out the local mulies. Sickening. Started 14 years ago with 34 deer and today have about 12. That is not counting the whitetail.

[idaho guy]

Cwd is literally 2 countys away. 70 miles as the crow flys. It probably just a matter of time before its here. Banning baiting would  slow it  down. i never had a problem harvesting a whitetail on public land without bait and i am not young. From what i read it really spreads were deer are concentrated together. I personally dont relish the idea of eating a cwd deer.

 

That’s a discouraging statement to hear from another hunter. I don’t do it so screw the other guys ? It’s already been stated that this will have NO effect on cwd deer and elk congregate in way larger numbers for many things beyond a bucket of apples. This was the attitude people probably had with bear baiting and hounds. I’m sure there were “superior” bear hunters who didn’t need bait or dogs back then too.

[KFhunter]

can't use bait in Idaho or Montana, why didn't it work there but would work in Washington?

[KB88]

I am not sure whether or not they still do this, but wouldn’t this also apply to their elk feeding stations? Or is it a classic one way street. Just like politics, it’s okay for one party to get away with something that the other gets blasted for …. I’m tired of today’s dramas.

Just like covid they use mandates to push agendas. I still call for mass exodus and stop hunting/fishing for a year. Only way we stand a chance anymore, since public stoning is apparently frowned upon in today’s society.

[BNAElkhntr]

Done

"To Whom It May Concern,

Suggesting a preemptive ban on baiting for deer and elk, when there is no CWD in WA (or ID for that matter), is ridiculous. You’ve already limited the amount of bait allowed. We stood by and accepted it. Now, you want to ban it completely and for no justifiable reason? Your proposal would further reduce the ability of hunters in this state to fill their tags and feed their families. How about instead of yearly changes to the rules and seasons which negatively affect the people who pay your bills, you give us a break. Hunting in our state should not be as restricted as it already is. Do you want to encourage fewer and fewer people to take up hunting here? Because that’s what you’ve been doing. Stop the trend to discourage our state’s hunters and start with this idiotic proposal


Pianoman
Master Hunter
Hunter Education Instructor
Conservationist and Ethical Hunter
License Holder for 26 Years

Thanks Piano  Copy and pasted added my name and address for realism[/size]

[ducks4days]

Cwd is literally 2 countys away. 70 miles as the crow flys. It probably just a matter of time before its here. Banning baiting would  slow it  down. i never had a problem harvesting a whitetail on public land without bait and i am not young. From what i read it really spreads were deer are concentrated together. I personally dont relish the idea of eating a cwd deer.

 

That’s a discouraging statement to hear from another hunter. I don’t do it so screw the other guys ? It’s already been stated that this will have NO effect on cwd deer and elk congregate in way larger numbers for many things beyond a bucket of apples. This was the attitude people probably had with bear baiting and hounds. I’m sure there were “superior” bear hunters who didn’t need bait or dogs back then too.

I dont personally bait, and I dont hold the same respect for people who hunt over bait as I do for people who go pay more in sweat equity for their kills. That said, a ban on any existing hunting technique is a ban on all hunting techniques, and I sure as hell dont support it. Keep in mind that the strategy we are fighting against is the "death by a thousand cuts" play. We need to be vigilant and support all ethical forms of our hunting heritage, irrelevant of whether or not we hunt that specific game or in that specific way.