nwpahntr

a good friend of mine has hunted the same spot for about 4 years now and every year he kills a buck opening morning, a few days ago he went back into his spot to trim lanes and found a pile of corn, a salt block and 4 mineral blocks scattered 10 yards from his stand. he is one of 2 hunters with permission for this area, and we know the other guy had nothing to do with it. i think someone has seen his stand there before and presumed it deserted. in pa it is illegal to bait and when an area is baited you cant hunt within 500 yards and there are major fines. i feel horrible for him because we have 2 130" 8 points and a 160" 11 point on video no more then 75 yards from his stand, in the middle of the day. he took his stand down and called the game commision who im meeting with sometime this week to show them the area. i have 94 acres and i told him hes more then welcome to hunt it but he says it will just mess my season up since it is so close. no matter what i say he just wont. he is talking about giving up the season because hes just sick to his stomach about it. have any advice on what i could say to him to get him to change his mind? anything will help

mathews outback

yeah if i where your friend id take out the bait and blocks and put my stand back,i would also leave the guy who is TRESSPASSING a note on a tree to get the hell out and stay out,actually i would just hunt there till i ran into him then tell him myself,theres no way i would let some tresspasser run me out of my hunting spot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!1


edit: deleted profanity.

Rob/PA Bowyer

I think I'd be hunting the guy/guys who baited the area without permission.

As for your friend. Give him time, he'll calm down. Just keep assuring him you'd love to have him come with you ect...when he calms and still wants to hunt, he'll come around. That's a darn shame and I hope you come back and let us know the outcome of the PGC warden...I'll be curious to see how he handles it.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Did you not read the comment where he said the game commission was notified and they are coming to check the area. In PA it's illegal to hunt an area that has been baited within 30 days. What you are suggesting is for his friend to break the law. [&:]

mathews outback

im not suggesting that he break the law,and by the way where is that post,another one of my posts that magically disapear

Rob/PA Bowyer

By telling him to take out the bait and put his stand back in he's breaking the law. In PA you cannot hunt a spot that has been baited within 30 days. Obviously you are ignorant to PA laws. He already said the game commission was notified. If he hunted that site without the OK from the PGC he could possibly be fined, lose his weapons, vehicle and hunting priveledges for years. Why would you suggest that?

Your other post didn't magically disappear, it was not relevant to this topic and was deleted. No magic there.

RIStrutStopper

I would never intentially break the law, but In this case i would talk to the game commission. Unfortunately, the outcome would probably be them saying you can't hunt it. If they grant you permission, they may feel that other people may bait and claim it was a trespasser just so they could get permission to hunt a baited area. On the other hand, they may say go and hunt it due to the circumstances. If I had a beef with someone and decided I want to wreck his season, or if I was a PETA type wanting to do the same, tell me all I would have to do is throw a salt lick and a bag of corn into someone's honey hole then tell the game commission the area has been baited by someone and therefore nobody can hunt it?? Maybe the enforcement folks will be reasonable. Maybe they will want to set up and nab the trespasser? I'd do everything i could legally do to not let some unauthorized individual ruin my hunt.

stikbow26

Don't know much about PA but can he move down the woods alittle ways?? Or how far do you have to be from the bait!! Walt

davepjr71

Your friend is concerned about messing your season up being so close on 94 acres? Unless it is entirely field I don't see how he'd mess you up at all. there is plenty of land to stay away from each other far enough that unless you wnated to see each other you wouldn't even knoew the other guy us there.

As for the area that was baited.

If he still wants to hunt the bucks that you're talking about set-up somewhere else along his travel route that is not within 500 yds that would make it legal. All 3 of those bucks aren't hanging out within 500 yds of the spot all the time.They're traveling between their bedding area andwhere they eat as well as starting to check their terrain out. Especially as the rut starts to come on.

YooperMike

You did a good thing by inviting him to hunt with you, plus, if he gets the bait out of there, or game commission allows him to hunt after 30 days there, then it is the rut, so no real harm done, besides breaking the opening day streak. No question that it sucks though, I would be upset as well.

As for laws, he cannot afford to take the chance of hunting there and having an officer walk up. If he is there and so is the bait, and he has a weapon, he is getting the ticket. Tough to fingerprint corn kernels and salt blocks.