Why is it illegal to bait deer ?

[Mongo59]

Spotlighting is not illegal in Indiana, unless you have a firearm or bow In your possession while doing it.

And not shine it into someones house...

 

[rooster]

Diseases such as cwd,EHD and bovine tuburcolosis are all spread when deer come into close contact. Drawing the entire herd from you 2-3 radius into one spot (your big bait pile) will increase transmission risks. Michigan just banned baiting this year for this reason.

 

[Hkindiana]

I never understood why people put salt out this time of year. Deer don't use it until spring.

I have deer at my salt licks365 days a year. As a matter of fact I am watching a couple as I type.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Grew upin Michigan. I've hunted with bait and without. If you want to shoot a deer over bait you better do it the first couple times you hunt it cause after they figure it out they only hit it at night.

 

[trailrider]

Diseases such as cwd,EHD and bovine tuburcolosis are all spread when deer come into close contact. Drawing the entire herd from you 2-3 radius into one spot (your big bait pile) will increase transmission risks. Michigan just banned baiting this year for this reason.

ding ding ding. This is the answer.

 

[amboy49]

ding ding ding. This is the answer.

If that’s the case, then why is it still acceptable to plant food plots ? Additionally, if “herding up” is a problem Somebody better tell the deer. In the winter, especially with a lot of snow on the ground, I often see 15-20 deer together in a wind isolated food source like the back corner of a picked corn field.

I can’t believe a salt block is any greater calling card than a planted site of turnips.

 

[Hkindiana]

If that’s the case, then why is it still acceptable to plant food plots ? Additionally, if “herding up” is a problem Somebody better tell the deer. In the winter, especially with a lot of snow on the ground, I often see 15-20 deer together in a wind isolated food source like the back corner of a picked corn field.

I can’t believe a salt block is any greater calling card than a planted site of turnips.

Salt block small, turnip field big

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Where I grewup we have had baiting for years now, what has happened with baiting with corn and piles of apples and so on is when cronic waste rolled into the state one of the ways it's passed on is through piles of food.
The state as of the last time I looked had stopped baiting in a few counties that have had cronic waste deaths.

 

[rooster]

It’s not necessarily being in close contact that spreads disease. It’s the saliva and nose contact that happens when eating from the same pile or salt lick. A proper food plot mimics natural feeding area and minimizes saliva contact.

I used to feed deer and put out salt blocks in off season for supplemental nutrition but now that I have learned of CWD and other diseases I refuse to do anything that could potentially cause its spread. I don’t want to be part of the reason we don’t hunt and eat deer anymore (if cwd ever transmits to humans).

 

[Lex Concord]

Wives tale. They will use it whenever they get the urge.

Yep, about a week ago I caught a doe at the salt/mineral block about 20 yards from my garage.

 

[two70]

I think most of the usual reasons (valid or not) have been given but I think a few less common but plausible reasons have been left out. One is that allowing baiting can cause an "arms race" between hunters to have the biggest, best bait pile. I have little doubt that this would be the case for many hunters, however, if legalized it would at least put the law abiding hunter on equal footing with and largely eliminate the advantage that those who bait illegally now have. The problem though is that heavy baiting during hunting season can boost the deer population beyond natural carrying capacity and lead to an eventual crash.

Another plausible reason that baiting is illegal is that it can possibly reduce success rates over time. I recall reading the summaries of a couple of studies on baiting, one of which was conducted in West Virginia where hunters in the portion of the state where baiting was illegal killed an average of 1 deer per every 3 days hunted and those hunting in the portion where baiting was allowed averaged 1 deer per every 7 days hunted. The second study was conducted in a state (I forget where) that had legalized baiting a few years prior to the study and it indicated an increase in the annual deer harvest the first year baiting was allowed followed by a quick dip below pre-baiting harvest levels in subsequent years.

Wives tale. They will use it whenever they get the urge.

It's not quite a wives tale but it is often much exaggerated. While deer will visit salt and mineral sites all year long, they don't go out of their way to visit them during the fall months like they will the rest of the year.

Diseases such as cwd,EHD and bovine tuburcolosis are all spread when deer come into close contact. Drawing the entire herd from you 2-3 radius into one spot (your big bait pile) will increase transmission risks. Michigan just banned baiting this year for this reason.

This is another much exaggerated, if not completely imagined, supposition as far as Indiana goes. Maybe in the UP of Michigan, Maine, Minnesota or other areas with large tracts of forest and little agriculture you will see bait piles highly concentrate deer but in Indiana there is more than enough food to greatly reduce the effectiveness of baiting. Even assuming that a bait pile has anywhere near the suggested ability to concentrate deer, the likelihood that many hunters would have their own bait piles is high which dilutes the concentration of deer. When you consider that the severe winters and heavy snow falls in those northern states with large forested areas concentrate deer far more than baiting does, I'm not sure the fear of baiting is warranted. Also, baiting is only illegal in Indiana during hunting season, which is a small portion of the year. If increased disease transmission is a valid concern, then it makes little sense to allow baiting for most of the year.

 

[pitbulld45]

As far as hunting regulations I've just taken the philosophy that the state owns the deer and if you want to hunt them legally you follow the states rules. It's easier than trying to sort out things.

If the State owns the deer, they should be paying for all of the car/deer accidents.

 

[two70]

If the State owns the deer, they should be paying for all of the car/deer accidents.

When the Gov. is involved, those involved in accidents with deer are lucky they aren't charged a fee for killing the deer!

 

[Bill B]

As others have said, baiting is illegal now to help slow the spread of disease. Why was it originally banned? who knows.
I hunt in Michigan between a swamp and an apple orchard and use a little corn to get them to slow down a little so I can see what they are. I'll have to do something different next year though because effective 01/01 baiting is banned in Michigan.

 

[pitbulld45]

I get that salt blocks are illegal because of spread of disease, but if this is truly the case why can you put a salt block out the rest of the year? Is CWD ( and like diseases) spread only during the hunting season?

 

[BStarkey 46947]

I always look at it, much like Leadeye: The deer of the state of Indiana are owned by the citizens of Indiana and the State (DNR/legislature) is responsible for managing the herd for the citizens. Baiting has been determined to be not sporting and it is law.

I would rather hunt over a freshly picked cornfield than a pile of carrots and shelled corn any day of the week. I don't think I would bait even if legal.