Baiting deer?

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  • bobjones223

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    Noblesville, IN
    So currently on our property I have a mineral block set up in front of a trail cam just to keep an eye on the heard and see the babies this spring.

    DNR states anything brought into the "hunting area" must be removed along with affected soils 10 days prior to hunting.

    What is the definition of "hunting area" this spot is 120 yards from where I place my stand and you can't even see it from the stand.

    I am sure this will come down to CO discretion but "hunting area" is a VERY broad brush to swipe.

    If I own and hunt 500 acre (1 square mile) and there is bait someplace on it 1/4 mile away is the "hunting area" baited?

    Any ideas or experience from others?
     

    d80hunter

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    To be safe and sportmanlike remove them no matter the location at least a month before you plan on hunting. Another person could stumble upon one and not know or care where you set up and people like to talk.
     

    saintnick81

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    Could it possibly be argued that your stand is on a path that they take to get to the bait? I would remove it to be safe.
     

    buckwacker

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    I have an email I received from dnr several years ago that clarifies that if you are able to shoot to the bait site, you are considered to be hunting a baited area.
     

    bobjones223

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    I know I probably won't get a definite answer here but wanted to pose the question. Next part to the discussion is what it the little old lady that lives next door loves the deer and puts out a mineral block so she can watch them does this mean you can no longer hunt your property because of what she has done on hers?
     

    Willie

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    What the CO on my website says...


    There is not a set distance. It is considered baiting if the hunter does or is likely to benefit from the placement of the salt or mineral block.

    There is no set distance that the bait has to be away from the hunter. Our officers use their discretion very well in these cases. If a reasonable person would believe that the 'bait' was placed there to aid the hunter in the taking of a wild animal where baiting was not allowed, the area would be considered baited.

    The term "area" has not been defined in statute that I was able to locate. The best rule of thumb to use would be to consider if the 'bait' caused or a high likelihood that the bait would cause a deer or turkey to pass by the hunter while going to or from the 'bait'.

    (v) An individual must not hunt deer with the use or aid of:
    (1) bait, which includes:
    (A) a food that is transported and placed for consumption, including, but not limited to, piles of corn and apples placed in the field;
    (B) a prepared solid or liquid that is manufactured and intended for consumption by livestock or wild deer, including, but not limited to, commercial baits and food supplements;
    (C) salt; or
    (D) mineral supplements;
    (2) snares;
    (3) dogs; or
    (4) other domesticated animals.
    The use of manufactured scents and lures or similar chemical or natural attractants is not prohibited.
    (w) An area is considered baited for ten (10) days after the removal of the bait and the baited soil. Hunting an area, such as an orchard, which may be attractive to deer as the result of normal agricultural activity, is not prohibited.
    (x) Notwithstanding subsection (v), an individual may use dogs only while on a leash to track or trail wounded deer.

     

    gregr

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    It should be pretty clear, the intent is, does the bait benefit, or have the potential, to bring game into your kill zone. It`s not really difficult to see the point. The reason they have the discretion to "paint with a broad brush" is because someone always has an answer, some argument, to explain away how/why, that bait pile really didn`t help them kill white-tail deer. Even if 120 yards from your stand, you could pop up a ground blind closer, or the bait may alter deer movement to come by your stand to get to it...
     

    mike trible

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    I'm thinking that if you are having trouble convincing the skeptics of INGO, you are probably going to have trouble convincing a CO.
     

    phylodog

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    We stop putting corn out in August so there aren't any concerns there. We also put minerals out and they're never within bow range and usually well over 100 yards away from our stands in the woods. If a CO wants to call it baiting that's fine but I'm not going out there and digging up the soil under where we put minerals, ain't happening.
     

    tenring

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    You mean like this? 50lbs. of mineral salt [salt and pepper] in the spring for does to maintain a healthy fetus, and then 50lbs. of granulated NaCl toward the end of July [hottest time of the year] . Got permission to do so over 15 years ago from our Master ICO now retired. No one bow hunts, and no one gun hunts anywhere near it. Constant surveillance showed the deer quit using it shortly after the opening of dove season. Now the squirrels are another story. Cousin [owner of property] enjoys using his binoculars from his house about 700 yards away to watch the deer come to it. And the new breed of CO's know it's there. That's at least of 1500 lbs. of supplement over the years, ain't no way of removing that!
     
    Last edited:
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    Good friend of mine is the regional director for NBEF, last year was instructor of the year for Indiana - Hunter Education - he's always TDC on the regs. As has been pointed out, there's no set distance from a bait - your property or an adjoining property. The rule-of-thumb used by CO's is "area of influence". It means what others here have already stated.

    What you may not know is a naturally occurring food - acorns, persimmons, agricultural loss, etc. - if moved any at all, that's also baiting. If you pick up a persimmon on the way to your stand, rub it on your boots, then rub some on trees near where you hunt, you're baiting by Indiana law. Plant a persimmon tree near your favorite stand and you're golden. Kick one from where it fell closer to your shooting lane, you're baiting. Drop your apple core after finishing your lunch - you sir are a baiter. Rub your apple core on your tree while you hunt - BAIT. Open a bottle of synthetic apple scent - LEGAL.

    Grow basically anything you like. Build any ambush you like and "bait" it with growing crops of any kind and you are Indiana legal.
     
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    I will add, that from time to time there are naturally occurring mineral licks. I've found a few. Found one once on the root wad of a fallen tree, rubbed smooth by deer tongues. Completely legal.
     

    two70

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    You mean like this? 50lbs. of mineral salt [salt and pepper] in the spring for does to maintain a healthy fetus, and then 50lbs. of granulated NaCl toward the end of July [hottest time of the year] . Got permission to do so over 15 years ago from our Master ICO now retired. No one bow hunts, and no one gun hunts anywhere near it. Constant surveillance showed the deer quit using it shortly after the opening of dove season. Now the squirrels are another story. Cousin [owner of property] enjoys using his binoculars from his house about 700 yards away to watch the deer come to it. And the new breed of CO's know it's there. That's at least of 1500 lbs. of supplement over the years, ain't no way of removing that!

    The part I bolded is absolutely correct but unknown to most. From my experience, once the deer quit in September they don't start using salt or mineral sites again until mid-January on average depending on the weather and food availability.
     

    Willie

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    It doesnt matter whether the deer quit using it or not IF they can be influenced by it then that is still a violation.

    I've always said this regulation needs a more concise description..

    10/4 on moving even natural foods to your location.
     

    bobjones223

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    I don't mean to imply that I am going to do anything illegal with the block. I was just researching the regs to get clarification and found the waters muddy.

    I have every intention of removing that block prior to hunting season but once we build our house we are going to have goats on the property. Am I correct that mineral blocks for my boys are good to go?
     

    buckwacker

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    Baiting deer is still illegal
    IN Dept of Natural Resources <mydnr@dnr.in.gov>
    To
    Monday, November 2, 2009 1:42 PM
    Click to View Full HTML
    Baiting deer is still illegal
    With deer firearm hunting season just around the corner (Nov. 14-29), the DNR Division of Law Enforcement's conservation officers remind hunters that they will be watching for violators of the fair chase law, specifically as it applies to baiting.
    Despite heavy commercial promotion on some hunting television shows, extensive sales of such products at some sporting goods stores, and evidence of the use of some of these products on some DNR properties, baiting for the purposes of hunting deer remains illegal. "Bait" is best described as anything a deer (or other wildlife) might ingest or lick.
    "It has been a long standing practice for our officers to enforce the hunting over bait rule," said Lt. Mark Farmer, public information officer for DNR Law Enforcement. "Gaining an advantage over your quarry by the use of a food or mineral product is illegal.
    "The definition of hunting over bait is, if a hunter could take an animal while visiting the bait site, with the firearm or archery equipment that the hunter is hunting with at the time, it would be considered hunting over bait.”
    It is legal to place food products or mineral blocks in the wild, but hunting near them is illegal.
    "If a person had put out a feeder or other bait during the summer months to attract wildlife to his property, it must be totally removed 10 days prior to the opening of the hunting season before a hunter could legally hunt in that area," Farmer said.

    Odor differs from bait. Deer lures in the form of scents are legal to use when hunting.

    "Basically, if you place corn, apples, salt or mineral blocks or anything that isn't grown in the area and hunt there, it's illegal," Farmer said. "Hunting from an apple tree is legal, but placing apples under your tree stand would place you in conflict with current Indiana Law."
    Violators apprehended while hunting over bait will face a Class C Misdemeanor charge, and upon conviction could face criminal penalties of up to $500 fine, 60 days incarceration and possible loss of hunting equipment upon conviction.
    For more information: Lt. Mark Farmer (317) 232-0658
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    biggen

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    I think I'd play it safe and get it removed beforehand. It just takes one DNR officer having a bad day and you're in big trouble.

    This is very true. An acquaintance of mine got into this very situation with a CO this past year. The CO explained to him that even though the area where the mineral block was positioned, was several hundred yards away and completely out of sight from the stand, deer might pass within viewing distance of the stand on their way to the mineral block.
     
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