Baiting Deer

[singleshot12]

Robo-dad,you said it ALL....I think alot of anti-hunting peaple would go neutral if they new we ALL hunted "fair chase", like I said before just cause it's legal doesn't make it right. Baiting falls right into the category of canned hunts,high-fence etc. and only leads to the demise of ALL hunting sooner or later.

[Ray]

I have to disagree with the concept that people who are anti hunting would back off because of this sort of compromise. I think they do see it as a way to divide the hunters and conquer them systematically.

Next they'll go after archers because they see it as hard on the animal.

There are bigger fish to fry when it comes to hunting priveleges.

[robodad]

I think some of the folks who are so animated about the situation would be better of focusing on the real enemy.

I'm not sure who the enemy really is anymore !!

[PolarBear]

Huntnphool......  I personally consider hunting over any human cultivated/planted ground as the same as baiting.  It may be fine for some folks but not for me.  I'm not saying that there should be a ban on hunting on farm land but I just dont want to hear how hard of a hunt it was shooting human enhanced, patterned big game.  I do have a problem with food plots, corn flingers or supplements that are specifically designed to attract big game.  To me it just isnt hunting but if it is legal knock yourself out, just dont come bragging to me about it.  I hunt only 100% public, non enhanced National Forrest land.  But that is just the way I was taught, no road hunting, no baiting, no trail cams and fair chase only.

[Ray]

It's the people who want to erode our hunting priveleges. Once they divide us then they go after each segment systematically. You don't have to agree with everyone's style of hunting. Certainly not everyone is made from the same mold and will not agree with each other. I'd say that unless there is some compelling reason to believe that hunting over bait for an animal is having devastating effects on the species' numbers then it should be off limits for banning.

Once you get into a discussion where you have to completely defend or guard or otherwise legitimize your sports activity you are already losing.

[Ridgerunner]

Maybe we should prohibit all hunting on farms where there is food that the deer might eat,   .  this is getting out of control, I'm glad that this state has enough opportunities that if a guy wants to DIY on NF land that is in its natural state he can, or he can hunt farmland if that is what he wants.

[Ironhead]

I Don't care if you bait or not, thats your choice but it doesn't mean I have to like it or support it. I support hunting, not sitting over a bait pile with a bow or firearm. The questions I ask myself are.... If I support Deer baiting how will it help the future of hunting ? Doesn't baiting Deer make us look like lazy and unethical slob hunters in the eyes of the anti's. Doesn't this just feed their fire? If we band together and support Deer baiting will the Anti's leave us alone? I guess the only positives I can see in supporting this are, we are stronger united and it might buy us more time.

[robodad]

These are just different points of view and I respect everyones, that is the truth, I may disagree with your thinking but I still respect your point of view.

I'd say that unless there is some compelling reason to believe that hunting over bait for an animal is having devastating effects on the species' numbers then it should be off limits for banning

CWD comes to mind.

They are eradicating the deer population by any means to eliminate the possibility of this spreading, I'd say it is quite compelling don't you !!

Maybe we should prohibit all hunting on farms where there is food that the deer might eat,   .  this is getting out of control,

Deer are oppertunistic and will feed wherever there is food, and the point I am trying to make is that we should not Intentionally place feed specifically in areas it will attract game animals for the purpose of hunting them.

[singleshot12]

Half the battle is improving our hunter image, and we can do that without conforming to the anti-hunting groups.
We can live without bait piles and canned hunts if it makes us look bad.

[Ray]

I think that Chronic Waste disease is a problem but until you have a study to link baiting deer to widespread disease I'm not buying that. Sounds like a far fetched claim to me.

As far as hunter image goes. I think the image of hunters is not where they kill their animals for the most part... It's how they act where people can see them. I suppose if someone is hunting over a bait pile next to the road your comment would certainly ring true but I would find that to be the exception rather than the rule.

[robodad]

Chronic Wasting Disease and the Science in support of the Ban on Baiting and Feeding Deer.
Timothy R. Van Deelen Ph.D.
Wisconsin DNR Research
Summary
Reliable science provides support for a ban of baiting and feeding of white-tailed deer to reduce disease
risks for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Peer-reviewed research papers published in reputable
scientific journals indicate the following:
• CWD is transmitted laterally (live diseased deer infect other deer)
• Deer can get CWD by ingesting something contaminated with the disease prion
• CWD prions may be shed in feces and saliva
• Disease course and symptoms indicate high potential for transmission where deer are
concentrated
• Evidence from captive situations indicates that deer can get CWD from highly contaminated
environments.
• Baiting and Feeding causes unnatural concentration of deer
• Reduction of contact through a ban on baiting and feeding is likely very important to
eradicating or containing a CWD outbreak.
• Baiting and feeding continues to put Wisconsin’s deer herd at risk to other serious diseases
In addition, experts in CWD, wildlife disease and deer nutrition support bans on baiting and feeding as
part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent and/or manage CWD.
Under a baiting and feeding ban, disease outbreaks are more likely to be smaller in scale and more apt to
be contained or eliminated. With the long CWD incubation period and other factors that make discovery
of a new outbreak difficult, an outbreak that is already widespread when detected because of baiting and
feeding may not be able to be contained or eliminated.

[Ironhead]

I think our image is damaged severely just by the thought of a hunter sitting in a stand, waiting for a hungary animal to come to a pile of corn so that a hunter (and I use this term loosely) can HUNT and kill them.  This image is seen on tv day in and day out. It can't help our cause.

[Ray]

I'd hardly call that evidence that it is happening on a widespread scale and impacting our animal species here robodad. How can someone actually offer some conclusive evidence to support such a cause? Lots of work and less speculation. I'd suspect that people who bait deer are hardly the biggest contributors to CWD. I don't even know anyone that baits..

I'm not saying that the disease cannot spread. That's the distinction and I have not changed my tune either.

I suppose Ironhead you provide a couple of examples worth bannng in someone's book. Stand hunting, hunting near any food source (everywhere in a forest is a food source).

[robodad]

A discussion of CWD in a review of the scientific literature on captive deer done for The Wildlife
Society (Professional society for wildlife biologists, managers, and researchers; publisher of three
premier peer-reviewed scientific journals on wildlife ecology and management)...
“Concentration of deer and elk in captivity or in the wild by artificial feeding may increase the likelihood
of transmission between individuals.” (DeMarais et al. 2002, p. 6).

In a comprehensive review of the ecological and human social effects of artificial feeding and
baiting of wildlife prepared by the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre, Department of
Veterinary Pathology, University of Saskatchewan...
“Significant ecological effects of providing food to wildlife have been documented through observation
and experimentation at the individual, population, and community levels. The increased potential for
disease transmission and outbreak is perhaps of greatest and immediate concern; recent outbreaks of
bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease in Canada and the United States giving credence to this
point. Nevertheless, even if disease is prevented, other significant ecological concerns exist” (Dunkley
and Cattet 2003, p. 22)

[singleshot12]

I think our image is damaged severely just by the thought of a hunter sitting in a stand, waiting for a hungary animal to come to a pile of corn so that a hunter (and I use this term loosely) can HUNT and kill them.  This image is seen on tv day in and day out. It can't help our cause.

You said it!, and that's got to have bred at least a million corn-fed anti-hunters.
Maybe if we stuck together to improve our own hunting laws the antis wouldn't have to do it for us