How to deal with others baiting?
 

I have been hunting ground behind my parents house for a score now and until this year have had the place to myself. This year the owner has let a young man onto this ground, and obviously this is his right. So, though I don't like it, I suck it up and move on.

Well, this morning I am in the woods, and after my morning hunt I decide to go for a little walk. Much to my surprise, I learned I was hunting less than 100 yards from a bait pile! Now, I was none to happy about this. I don't want to get in trouble for someone else's bait that I didn't even know was there.

So, here's the question. I thought about posting a note to his stand politely expressing my concern but all that would do is warrant a visit from him and his father to my dad's house, and I don't want to put any burdon on him. I also thought of knocking on his door and speaking with him face to face, which I consider the best idea. But then the greedy side of me kicked in, and the 2 red little horns stuck out of my head. Hmmmm....if I informed the local conservation officer of this infraction, I may have my land to myself again. Yeah, I know......not very nice at all, but hey...it's a dog eat dog world out there.

Anyway, how would you handle this situation. I don't want the blame to fall on me. I mean, I hunt there too, and it doesn't matter if it's mine or not. I feel I have a genuine concern here. What would you do?

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Hey, that sucks,, If it weree me Id talk first with the landowner, and inform him that the guy he is letting hunt, is doing it illegally, and could also get you into trouble by doing what he is doing. If the guy cares about his land, he should stop it and revoke the other guys hunting priveledges. If thats not enough to get him kicked off, I dont know, but Id be watching out for more of his bait piles around your stands. If it continues, It may be the best to talk to the local warden, or to the guy, whichever you think is best. Good luck with it,

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Iwould try to keep the law out of it. If you turn the guy in and hes a friend of the lanowner or friend of the family you may be out of a hunting spot too. I think the face to face is the thing to try. If he wont listen or is rude then use your other options

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Tough situation. I have a similar problem......after 8 years of hunting behind my home, another guy comes in and puts up a ladder stand....65 yards or so from mine. Mine is hidden well so I can see how he did it, but I also don't quite know how to handle it without causing a riff.

In your case mobowhuntr, I'd probably contact the guy and ask him if you could get a cup of coffee and talk it over......that's what I'm considering doing, but I can't find out who owns the ladderstand that just appeared near mine.

Let me know what you do and how it turns out.

Good luck.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

I am going to assume baiting is illegal where you hunt. Maybe this person is unaware he is breaking the law. If you approach him and he does nothing then you probably can't go to the game warden unless you want him to know it was you(assumption #2...that he is not dumb).I don't think that even if he is caught by the game warden he will leave the area unless hunting privileges are revoked by law for baiting. Is his stand very close or over the bait? If so, I would stay a few hundred yrds. uptrail from him. Maybe that way you will not be accused of hunting over it.Tough call but I would probably approach him.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

You decide what you need to do. If baiting is illegal yes, you can turn him in. On the other hand, you can use this to your advantage and hunt the trails to and from the property.

I don't want to launch into the discussion of baiting vs. not baiting but hunting itself is very much about hunt around the other hunters, food, and local laws.

Good luck!

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Is it illegal just to dump corn or whatever "bait"? I mean, he isn't breaking the law unless he HUNTS over it, right? I dunno how the laws work there...here you can bait legally. I just thought perhaps the guy wasn't hunting over the bait, and was just dumping feed to keep the deer in the area during winter?

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

well is this land adjacent to yours?? if it were me id first let the land owner know, if that didnt help id talk to the guy myself, and lastif all else didnt work,Iwould take a advantage of the situation, move my stand to intercept these deer. HMMMMMM..

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

I would suggest going to the landowner and telling him the guy set up a bait pile near your stand making it illegal for you to hunt there, and asking him to ask the guy to stop baiting so you can hunt. It is after all, the landowners decision to let the guy hunt legally or illegally, so he should know what's going on, and you come across only as concerned that someone made your stand illegal to use...not as a greedy hunter wanting the woods to yourself. If he is an upstanding landowner, the guy will be kicked off the gorund and you get it to yourself, or maybe the baiting stops at least.

I would think puting it in the landowners hands is the best way, and if you don't like what he does, either live with it or move to another spot. If baiting is legal, you really have nothing to complain to the landowner about and just have to deal with the increasing hunting pressure.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

I would call the Game warden.What's right is right.;) If you let it continue you are just as guilty.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Why would it make it illegal for him to hunt his stand since the bait pile is on someone Else's land in which he has no control over?

I spoke with a game warden one day while getting tips on where to jump into the woods in an unfamiliar area. During the conversation baiting came up.He said it was legal on private property but illegal on state property to bait your spot. He said in no way he could enforce that law because the way it was written.It was illegal for you to bait your spot but not illegal to bait your friends spot.

On the other hand, one of my customer in Ms. I think, was threatened by a game warden with a ticket for baiting because he had a Cornell of corn stuck to his 4 wheeler.

I just prefer to avoid the man all together unless I'm looking for spots to hunt on public land. They can be your best friend and your worst enemy all with in 5 mins.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Because in the state of Missouri hunting over bait is illegal. Period. No exceptions. The ground referred to here is not the guy's that is baiting nor mine. It is a mutual neighbor and he lets us both hunt there.

The bait pile is 10 yards from this guys stand so he is most definetly hunting over it. The one thing I am unsure of is how close to the bait I have to be to be considered hunting over it.

Thanks for the replies, I think I may speak with the landowner unless I see a better idea here.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

I'll solve the problem for you Mo. Go drink a 6 pack of your favorite beverage, beer if you can walk tothe feederor if you have a designated driver, piss into a gallon jug, then go dump it in his feeder. That should just aboutsolvethisissue [&:]

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Deer and turkeys may not be taken with the use of dogs, bait, recorded calls or live decoys. Scents and minerals, including salt, are not considered bait. An area is considered baited for 10 days even after complete removal of the bait. It is illegal to place bait in a way that causes others to be in violation of the baiting rule. Mo. Rules.


I'd call the division and ask them how far you have to be.
Tell the owner the guy is poaching and making it ilegal for you to hunt your stand
Move your stand.
Put moth balls on his bait pile with a warning that he will it is illegal to bait.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

In MN you can not hunt over bait OR a trail that directly leads to a baiting station! Exception is bear.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

We allowed a guy to hunt on our land once. He called my grandparents to ask them and didn't even know who I was. One morning I while hunting I found 10 salt blocks, they are very illeagal here in TN during the season. I guess he took it upon himself to put these out. Then another morning I pulled up in my truck and seen him on his 4 wheeler, we don't allow those either. I stopped him and asked him if he knew anything about the blocks, I knew he would deny it but I just wanted to see for myself. He then asked me where I was going ot hunt, I said I am going down to the corner (where I always hunt) he said "no your not, I have a stand down there". This is by the way the stand that I helped my inlaws put up. This guy obviously didn't have a clue who I was, he was just lying trying to keep his hunting spot I guess. Well when he said that, it just tipped the scales with me. I told him to take his ass on out of here and never come back. This was last year, I haven't seen him any this year. LOL

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Well, about 25 yrs ago, I faced a similar situation. I talked to the guy, told him I did not appreciate his breaking the law. He said he just wanted to keep the deer on the property, but agreed to stop. Landowner never got involved.
-fsh

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

STAY AWAY FROM IT. ONly call the game warden if you can prove you were not the one to put it there. I have heard of many missouri game wardens not listening to the hunter and putting the blame on him. It does say that you are just as guilty hunting near it and not knowing its there as the guy who put it there. It also says it is illegal to put it there as to make other hunters in the wrong. Good luck and whatever you do use your head.

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

Do what We do around Here.

Just walk the woods with "Shock" (clorine for pools) and lay it on nice and thick..........................

You will here em snorting from miles away:D:D

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

i wouldnt do anything to regret later. if i had known a new guy was hunting in my private area with permission the first thing i would do is try to contact him. you can then at least work out a game plan between the 2 of you as far as what days your most likely to be hunting or what areas. im sure you could have helped him pick a good spot that wouldnt screw you up as much. as always i like to offer help in tracking and hauling deer out of the woods because i may need the same. in my state 100 yards for bow hunting or gun is far enough away not to bother me all that much. the fact that you found him baiting makes you part of the bad situation. since you havent personally seen him hunt over it makes it better. i would get in touch with the person and let them know that you know. if feeding deer is legal and you havent seen the person hunting over it but you know they probably do because of stand placement why get the game wardens envoved. if you cant get in touch with person directly let the land owner know secondly. in any case if he stops or cleans the pile up it sounds like you have to change your hunting location anyway because of the 10 day law. try to be the better person of the situation. im sure maybe the person just didnt know he couldnt bait[:'(]

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

i would try talking first,if either one of you is not hunting over it they
would have to prove it,I have quit for the year and am filling feeders
with the corn,sweet feed,etc until its gone,feel it will help them thru
the winter,also putting out mineral blocks,etc we have a great club
where I hunt and most of us do this until the river comes up!:)

RE: How to deal with others baiting?
 

I had the same thing happen to me last year and I didn't turn them in. But this year I did and the game warden caught them he caught them after they killed a deer and they didn't have a gun tag! The guy with the deer got several tickets too bad they couldn't do nothing to the other person and this was on public land and I too live in Missouri.