Nevermind

Yep, in some states it's legal but even if it were legal here in Illinois I wouldn't even consider it. I can't see how setting up 25yds from a feeder and waiting for deer YOU KNOW will be coming to eat from itamounts to fair chase.

Maybe someone can enlighten me....

PerhapsI'm too old fashion or out of touch with how hunting is done these days. Lets face it, it's an "instant gratification" world we are living in today and I fear that mentality has spilled over into hunting.

It's not my cup of tea but as long as it's Legal, who am I to judge? I have other things to worry about than how someone legally hunts!

Just because it's legal doesn't makeit fair chase and worrying about it ishow we as hunters keep this sport on the straight and narrow and moving in the "right" direction for generations to come.

Obviously there is a fine line as to what's considered "fair chase" and what's not. Enough to where there are many states that don't allow hunting over feeders.

Hey John! I'm finally up with ya here on one of your morning sojourns! (Momma's trying to break baby of the 3 a.m. feeding these days, and now I'm the one who can't go back to sleep! [8D])

Anyway... thought I'd throw a couple things out for ya. One, you're right... I personally wouldn't take a lot of joy in hunting over feeders, but -- as buckeye stated on the other thread -- I'm now old enough to "live and let live" as long as it's legal.

Having said that... Would you classify these statements in the same light as the very question you're posing?

and..

Here's why I ask the question...Should picking up a gun and shooting a deer -- even if it's NOT standing under a feeder -- be any different a moral issue in your mind than someone hunting over a feeder with a bow? Here's the reason I say that: To me (and yep, I know this can open a whole 'nother can of worms! ), shooting a deer with a gun is no more sport than what you perceive hunting over feeders to be!

Maybe it's because I was such an excellent shot growing up, having hunted behind a pack of beagles my whole life and killing perhaps thousands of rabbits in my youth with a shotgun and then progressing on to hunting rabbits with a .22. I kept a running log of how many birds I killed with my pump b.b gun one summer, and killed over 1,500. (An onithologist's nightmare, to be sure... but I sure did get good with that little rifle!) I later went on to of course qualify "expert" with the M-16 at Military Police school.

I don't know... maybe I'm the exception rather than the rule. But the first time I shot a deer with my .44 Remington Magnum rifle, I just felt no joy in the act of accomplishment. I saw the deer, and when I decided I wanted to take its life, the hunt was over. Before I even pulled the trigger.

You guys who can't bait sure make a big deal out of baiting. Yes I harvest 5-6 bucks over corn. It's no different that hunting natural feed or hunting a trail to a corn field, get over it. I also harvest a couple running my deer dogs also, I'm sure you find that immoral too. Don't chastise people for how they hunt, who are you to judge them??????

I realize this is not a personal attack on anyone impaticular but rather a broad attack on all gun hunters. Your questioning the morals of Gun Hunters. Wow, you said it, it's a can of worms that you chose to open



Greg (Mr. Exception) Didn't you just lose a Cow Elk that was poorly hit with the bow? Which instance did you feel lessJoy in..The killing of the above Deer with the .44 or the point when you gave up trying to recover the Cow??

I'm sorry man..I know things happen to even good shots..but boy ya hit a nerve with some of your statements. Especially for a guy in the Hunting Industry..ProStaff, Mod and respected sportsman.

I for one could care less how you get your deer, as long as its legal and not some canned hunt in a 10 acre fence, hell its all about having fun afterall isnt it? Not taking any sides here, but i see where you are coming from bigJ. My question for you is this- Whats your take on sitting on a water hole for antelope? In my mind, its the same thing. Or how about waiting for a bear on a bait up in canada where you cant use dogs or stalk them due to the dense brush?

Well here’s my take on the whole ordeal. I would not find any interest in hunting a place where baiting was a widespread practice and the primary means of getting a deer. (ie, texas ranch hunting) It doesn’t interest me, I prefer to hunt deer in other ways.

HOWEVER, I do understand baiting has a time and place in several situations. Vast areas of unbroken woods might be next to impossible to hunt without baiting? I could fully understand it there. (much how bear hunting in Canada is done)

One area where I think baiting could be a huge tool, is to control populations in suburban areas. Some of my hunting is done on little tiny slices of the pie. Yes there may be “deer everywhere” but if my slice, has nothing they want, I’m not going to shoot many (reduce the population that is greatly needed). So, if I could bait, and draw a few deer that otherwise wouldn’t come there and reduce the pops, it’s a win-win in my book. Why should I be handicapped, sitting in my stand and watch 4 yards down, 8-10 deer go over to Joe tree huggers corn pile so he can watch the pretty deer? The Wildlife agency (and everyone else) complain about the over abundance of deer, yet don’t provide hunters with the tools necessary to reduce them. Lengthening seasons, allotting more tags have already shown to be futile where access is highly restricted. So if I can’t get to the deer, why not bring the deer to me?

So, in general I wouldn’t really care to hunt over bait for deer as a test of my hunting skills, BUT if they made baiting legal in special regs areas that I live in, I would do so as a means of population control in highly inaccessible areas. (my back yard) I have another property in an SRA that I wouldn’t bait on, because the existing mast/bedding areas etc, are enough to provide a draw for the deer where I can hunt them under natural conditions.

I too agree with the fact that not all of us have huge amounts of land to hunt. I personally hunt a piece of property, fenced in for cows, that is just beside a state park. I do have corn spread out, by hand, over a large area but that has never, and I mean never, guarenteed that I will shoot or even see deer! I am not able to hunt natural funnels, draws, rub lines, or scrape lines. Trust me, if I was able to to do that, I would. How is it that much different than finding a well used trail that leads out to a soy bean field and setting up 20 yds off of that trail? I hunt for the pure joy of being in the field and seeing all of God's creation. If I am able to harvest an animal then that is just the apex of time spent in nature. If it is legal, go for it!!