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Is Baiting Worth the Fuss?
By Jeremy Swanson
I try to read as much as my schedule allows, and for that reason I have three different subscriptions to hunting related magazines. My wife considers this overkill, so I try to reassure her that I am doing my economic deed for the print industry. Besides that, they are great publications and a good hunter has to stay informed!
A subject that has been recently making the rounds in the outdoor community is the topic of baiting. This is a prime, hot button, issue in the world of the whitetail that creates strong opinions on each side of the fence. Nationally, 28 states ban the practice in any form, while 22 allow it. In my neck of the woods, just crossing the border into North Dakota from Minnesota will provide completely different perspectives and rules on the issue.
Whether used as a noun or verb, bait is considered to be a lure or temptation. Those words are the real crux of the debate. The 2009 Minnesota Hunting Regulations define what the MNDNR considers to be bait, and it boils down to any type of food placed by a human to attract or entice deer for purpose of killing the animal. The regulations also expand and clarify that food plots or land management activity doesn't constitute baiting. (Please click here to read them for yourself.) So following the direction given in the yearly regulations, there is a clearly defined right and wrong way to increase your odds for hunting success.
The Minnesota DNR released its 2009 baiting numbers back in January and the numbers did not shock me at all.
o Overall, 545 baiting complaints during the 2009 deer seasons (archery, firearms, muzzleloader), resulted in 129 citations being issued and 140 firearms seized.
o Half of the citations led to additional hunting violations ranging from tagging or tag validation violations, no licenses, and trespass.
o Apples, corn, and sugar beets dispersed in open areas figured in over 80% of deer baiting cases.
o Officers reported that nearly 60% of the hunters who were cited for violations admitted to conservation officers that they knew baiting was illegal, but chose to do it anyway.
o Almost 50% of the persons cited admitted they were fully aware of baiting regulations through DNR Enforcement Division news releases, media reports, or the Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook.
Looking at the above information it seems to me the lure of bait is just as much a temptation for hunters as it is for deer!
In a recent article in one of my magazines a well publicized hunter, and outspoken advocate for the outdoors, said supporters of baiting bans were “...strange, selfish, unsophisticated, and small-minded…”. To me this is very sad commentary on respecting others opinions. I am certain that you will get a much different opinion from Minnesota hunters in the Bovine Tuberculosis zones, Michigan hunters dealing with Chronic Wasting Disease, or hunters in the South losing deer to Blue Tongue.
Much like sniffling noses in daycares all over the place, nose to nose contact in the whitetail world is going to spread disease. Now to be clear, I am not silly enough to believe baiting is the lone reason for an increase in numbers of diseases or mortality linked to them; deer will always have nose to nose contact in the wild. But bait piles do concentrate deer travel and will significantly narrow the proximity with one another. If and when a disease takes hold it can quickly spill over into the shared ecosystem affecting the entire herd. Even worse it could affect local livestock. When you start losing livestock, and the money tied into them, your problem just got bumped from coach to first class.
Questions on ethics and fair chase are typically included in baiting conversations, but for the sake of simplicity I am going to steer clear of the hunting over bait topic. Let’s keep the thought on this more black and white. “If you wanna play, you gotta pay” is a saying that my father always uses to point out the potential consequence of actions. People who are breaking laws by baiting do so at their own risk, and as the DNR numbers above point out, there are many gamblers among us. Laws can seem arbitrary and antiquated at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that they remain a code of conduct for us all to follow. To draw a line in the sand and say that Joe Hunter can plant 9 apple trees on his hunting property, but that he cannot dump 9 five gallon bucks of apples in a pile can lead to a heated argument very quickly. Some may question what the difference actually is in the grand scheme of things; after all, the end result could very well turn out to be the same. But if that is the law, isn’t the difference clear enough?
To me, land management is not only the right way to increase your opportunity for hunting success, but it is also the best route to strengthen wildlife management locally and nationally. Plus, it is the straight up legal way. Elements involved in land management significantly benefit a deer herd. Food plots provide supplemental nutrition that can drastically improve overall herd health and can form a much needed bridge to survival in hard winter months. Water holes can be tremendously helpful to deer especially in areas located far from natural water sources or that are prone to drought. Clear cutting and tree topping promotes forest growth and increases the amount of bedding opportunity in the deer woods. The list could go on but the bottom line is; all of these elements, whether alone or combined, will benefit your hunting experience and success. So knowing what a bonus land management can be for all parties involved, why is baiting still so prevalent?
Many times when I have a land management discussion with people I get four letter words thrown at me: work, land, cash, and time. These four letter words are what I view as the main reasons hunters choose illegal baiting methods over legal land management methods.
Opportunity and access to land is one major hurdle that is difficult to overcome. A lot of hunters either lease hunting rights or just have basic permission from landowners to hunt. Most times this leaves little options for food plots, clear cutting, or anything of the sort.
For those who do own land, tillable acreage on hunting property typically makes up a very small overall percentage, so food plots aren’t feasible for every situation. Plus, man made food plots also take a lot of equity (both sweat and financial), and access to equipment.
Time is also quickly turning into a currency in our hectic lives. Between work, family life, kids’ soccer practice, or whatever else you have cooking, free time is scarce; spending your free time plowing, seeding, fertilizing, and weeding looks much less attractive after busy days and weeks. So where does that leave most hunters?
If you are going to take the plunge into land management you have drive, means, commitment, and all the intangibles connected to do so. Many hunters fall short on one, two, or even all of these items. Even more find themselves torn on making a decision. Many hunters would rather bait to simplify things and increase their odds for success. That is not a cheap shot against the hunters who find themselves in that boat; it is just a fact. At the end of the day, legal or illegal, we all will hunt how we want.
The intention of this article is not to be a platform to tell people what is right and wrong, local states and government agencies will do that. But, I do hope this article serves as a brief reminder that as a hunter, and member of a larger fraternity of your peers, all of our actions have consequences that directly reflect on each other. Whether you are opposed to baiting or openly practice it, each side has a right to support their belief.
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