Bear Baiting for Trail Camera

[wormfood]

What if you find a hunting partner that is willing to walk around with jelly doughnuts in his backpack and he never stops to place the food anywhere. Is that still baiting?

[Skyvalhunter]

Not as long as they are raspberry filled doughnuts!!

[boneaddict]

I always shove a couple extra maple bars in Idabooners pack without him knowing about it.   Course I always end up eating the bait.....

[Todd_ID]

If you've got a bait site (corn feeder) like I do on my property, then how am I supposed to convince someone that I'm not hunting bear, and that I'm not going to shoot one when he comes in.  I want to be able to shoot the nice buck I've got coming in and hopefully a cow elk, but I also don't want to be investigated for a crime I don't have any intent to commit.  The state has to have better things to do with their money than sit over bait sites and hope to catch someone hunting it and then hope they shoot a bear; that kind of rubs me the wrong way that they'd assume my feeder was put up with the intent to commit a crime instead of the intent to hunt deer and elk legally.

[Lowedog]

That is where they would have to prove intent.  I doubt that many officers are out there sitting on obvious baits for deer or elk waiting to cite someone for bear baiting.

I reported an obvious bear baiting situation several years ago and all that happened was the officer talked to the guys doing it and told them to stop.   

[bigtex]

That is where they would have to prove intent.  I doubt that many officers are out there sitting on obvious baits for deer or elk waiting to cite someone for bear baiting.

I reported an obvious bear baiting situation several years ago and all that happened was the officer talked to the guys doing it and told them to stop.   

It really is up to the individual officer how they deal with situations. Some officers will cite every bear baiter they find, others won't. It's just like how some police officers will cite every underage drinker they find and others have never cited a underage drinker.

I will say this, bear baiting has kind of become the equivalent of a DUI for WDFW. What I mean is, everybody knows that State Troopers love getting DUI arrests. Well bear baiting has kind of become the equivalent of a DUI for WDFW Officers. I think this is mainly for two reasons, one is it is pretty difficult to find a bait site, officers have a lot of duties to do and simply don't have the time to go looking for a site, unless they receive a complaint/info about a site, and two, the penalties for a bear baiting conviction are pretty severe, you lose your hunting rights for 5 years on top of all the legal fees and fines.

[bigtex]

If you've got a bait site (corn feeder) like I do on my property, then how am I supposed to convince someone that I'm not hunting bear, and that I'm not going to shoot one when he comes in.  I want to be able to shoot the nice buck I've got coming in and hopefully a cow elk, but I also don't want to be investigated for a crime I don't have any intent to commit.  The state has to have better things to do with their money than sit over bait sites and hope to catch someone hunting it and then hope they shoot a bear; that kind of rubs me the wrong way that they'd assume my feeder was put up with the intent to commit a crime instead of the intent to hunt deer and elk legally.

Most officers know that a corn feeder is obviously not intended for bear, but rather for deer/elk. However if you switched it to apples and molasses which bears and deer would eat then you would be in a different situation. And read my post above, bear baiting is a crime that many WDFW Officers are really taking more serious with long term surveillance. Just read some articles across the state that have resulted from bear bait arrests, they often involve several officers and many hours spent watching the bait site.

[carpsniperg2]

i was told it is legal to feed bears here but if you have any thoughts of hunting around it or are caught with a bear tag in your pocket sitting over bait it does not look good and will probably get a ticket or worse for it.

[bigtex]

i was told it is legal to feed bears here but if you have any thoughts of hunting around it or are caught with a bear tag in your pocket sitting over bait it does not look good and will probably get a ticket or worse for it.

I think people are confused about the penalty for bear baiting. You don't just get a "ticket", for bear baiting you don't just simply get a ticket with a fine on it. Bear baiting is a mandatory court appearance and the fine is up to a year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine because it is a gross misdemeanor. Bear baiting is something that you will get a court date for and have to appear before a judge, most other wildlife violations are just dealt with bail forfeitures (usually known as fines) which is when there is a fine on the ticket. And if you are convicted you lose your hunting rights for 5 years. So it is very possible for your buddy to get a $1,000 fine and another buddy to get a $2,500 fine, but they will both lose their license for 5 years. It's not like fishing without a license where you just simply get a "ticket" with a $109 fine on it.

[Ray]

I use high mountain blueberry fields for bait. Works great.

[rasbo]

I use high mountain blueberry fields for bait. Works great.

shhh thats next on the dont do list,then calling

[boneaddict]

LOL, I agree Ray, and its so much more satisfying.   Even when it was legal to bait, thats what I did.

[rasbo]

I use high mountain blueberry fields for bait. Works great.

Nice camo you guys are wearing

[Bob33]

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/97764979.html

[jackelope]

There are no regulations regarding the placement of bait to take pictures of bears.  However, be careful.  Make sure that you do not have in your possession any firearm because if confronted by an officer, he/she may determine that you may be hunting black bears with the aid of bait.  A violation.   
 
Thank you,
 
Sean Carrell
WDFW, Enforcement Program
360-902-2936
FAX: 360-902-2155