ORIGINAL: tastyvenison
Has anyone seen the release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources that has banned baiting in the entire Lower Peninsula of Michigan because they have identified one case of CWD in a penned animal in a county in southern Michigan?
The Michigan DNR is clueless. Did you know that in Michigan when you high fence your property you have to kill all of the deer inside, then bring in fully tested deer so that they know you are starting with a clean herd? Unless you double high fence your property, that is useless. Your deer will still have nose to nose contact with deer outside your penned facility unless you have an extra high fence to separate the animals.
Now that they have banned baiting in all of the Lower Peninsula, what is going to happen to all of the farmers who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in crops that they typically sell to hunters in the fall? And what is the difference between a plot of alfalfa and a bale of alfala scattered about?
What is next? No planting food plots? Cut down your fruit trees? Cut down your mast bearing trees?
This is a "knee-jerk" response to an isolated incident. I can smell law suits coming from damaged farmers.
Jeff
Mountain Home, TX
This is not totally accurate. A good friend of mine runs a high fence in the U.P. and I was there when he fenced it. What actually happens, is about 3/4 of the fence is constructed, and then there are endless deer drives to push the game out, all game, including coyotes, fox, everything that can't fly has to go. We did drives for 2 weeks before the fence could be permanently sealed. Upon sealing the fence, the DNR sends an army in to make sure that no wild game remains inside, and all deer brought in are from other facilities, not wild animals. You are correct on the double fence part. He has two fences, about 16 feet apart, surrounding the entire acreage (1450).
As for the crops, they will get sold regardless. The amount of corn hunters buy compared to the harvest is minimal. If you harvest at 150 bushels per acre, that is roughly84 100# bags per acre, the average hunter where I am at, goes through maybe 20 bags in a season. So, I think the farmers will survive just fine. What grounds do the farmers have for a lawsuit? If you own a restaurant, you can't sue everyone that walks by for not eating, right?
I coulnd't agree more than the MI DNR is worthless, but a baiting ban is far from the worst thing that they could do. Plenty of states have phenomenal hunting without baiting. People will make the argument that deer need the food from hunters to survive the winter. Well, what happens to that deer that eats for 3 weeks, then there is nothing for 11 more months? How much help does that three weeks of corn really amount to? Not a whole hell of a lot. If nothing else, the deer will actually move how they are supposed to during the seasons, and may even reduce the pressure in areas, which would be a welcome change.