Is it considered baiting....

[DocIndy]

I have a coworker who's father in law is a farmer. He has a pile of large grain bins full of corn that were just filled on his property. There is corn that was spilled when filling the bins, that the deer have been feeding on. So, would it be baiting if we set up and shot them on the way to the bins? He has already given us verbal permission, and said written permission was not a problem if we wanted it. I'm looking at it as an option to fill some doe tags...and the freezer.

So....what does INGO say? Hunt or no?

 

[CountryBoy19]

I don't believe agricultural spillage counts as baiting. It must be placed with the intent of drawing wildlife. Got my first buck on a trail the went from our woods to the neighbors field where he forgot the "auger" was on and he made an entire round in the cornfield dumping it all back onto the ground...

 

[snapping turtle]

Spilled corn from corn fields has always been good as far as I have been told. Placing bait into an area to draw in deer is not.

Those deer eat corn all the time farm spills happen. You should be ok just don't set up right above the corn.

I have eave often wondered if I eat an apple and leave the core under the stand is it baiting.

 

[DocIndy]

We were looking at setting up along the wood line to intercept them coming in. There was a hole in the cyclone on top of one of the bins and a pile of corn was blown out on the backside from where everyone was working. It was fixed... But left a mess for the local deer to clean up. I think we will be taking him up on the offer to fill the freezer. Might even offer to give him a deer.

 

[easy]

Pics will be required you know.

 

[Onebad06vtx]

I had a friend get a ticket for baiting,the farmer who picket the corn field missed the corn wagon and laid down a line of corn.
My friend was hunting on the other side of the field and didnt even know what had happened days before.
Game wardens showed up and wrote him several tickets and it cost my buddy lots of money.

 

[Adrian8]

They can write the ticket, and it is up to you to prove how innocent you are.. perhaps a costly situation. "If" it was a naturally occurring agricultural practice it is ok..but it might be up to the judge to determine that..I would be discreet as this is an iffy situation.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Just my personal opinion, If I had to ask if it is baiting, I wouldn't do it.

 

[bdybdall]

I know I could probably look it up but how far away from a bait pile do you have to be to be legal? One farm I hunt on has another hunter who I strongly suspect puts out bait piles.

 

[hammer24]

I know I could probably look it up but how far away from a bait pile do you have to be to be legal?

You could look, but you wouldn't find anything. It is completely the CO's discretion that determines if you are baiting. No distance is given in the statute.
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...iana-deer-hunting-legalities-bow-hunters.html

 

[buckwacker]

I got an email from DNR once that gave additional info about baiting. The wording in the email was to the effect that if you have a shot from where you are sitting to the bait pile, then you are baiting. I will try to find the email.

 

[buckwacker]

Found it. Not as clear as I remembered it being.

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]Baiting deer is still illegal[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]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.[/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]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.[/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]"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.[/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]"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.” [/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]It is legal to place food products or
mineral blocks in the wild, but hunting near them is illegal. [/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]"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." [/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]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.
[/FONT]

[FONT=times new roman,times,serif]For more information: Lt. Mark Farmer
(317) 232-0658[/FONT]

 

[twolfe82]

I have been told that incidental spillage from normal farming practices is not considered baiting.

 

[Willie]

I have been told that incidental spillage from normal farming practices is not considered baiting.

That is what the CO on my website says....but I do know of folks who were cited hunting over spillage. Pretty gray area that us open to the CO's interpretation and descretion. I think in the OP's scenario I would get a letter from the farmer stating that he did spill it and it was part of normal farming practices. I think a CO would honor that

 

[DocIndy]

Just to clarify.. We wouldn't be hunting over the spillage. We would be on the other side of the property. We are trying to intercept them before they get to the spillage, by several hundred yards.

 

[CountryBoy19]

"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."

Important bits in red. If YOU PLACE something not grown there and hunt over it then it's baiting. If the farmer spills something that is normally grown there it is NOT baiting on 2 different accounts. #1 The item in question, if it was agricultural spillage, was not PLACED there, it simply remained there after farming operations concluded. #2 If it is agricultural spillage then it most likely was grown there as well; it would not qualify for the "anything that isn't grown in the area" clause referrenced above.

Granted, the quoted portion above is not legal code, it is the opinion of a Law Enforcement Officer. LEO opinions hold very little weight of law in court, but it does give you a good idea of how the law is enforced.