No Baiting in MI
 

Read it and weep Baiters no baiting in the Lower Penn. as of 8/26/2008 for more info you can go to the TV 7&4 website

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I just heard about it, the DNR are making way too big of deal out of this, I think they are overreacting, the only way to hunt deer in northern MI is with bait, wonder if people will still be selling bait or if the dnr will out law the selling of bait too, gonna be a whole different way of hunting up north

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

good buy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bring back good hunting. That would also help out so the deer would not be necturnal and look for you while in your stand. it's time for some people to learn how actually hunt for a change!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Yeah I agree , I have never had to use bait where I hunt , location , location , location .

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Ho boy the comments above all though true will be derided in future threads! Good luck cc23 & ranger 26, I am getting a cup a coffee for this one!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

CWD bad!!No baiting Learn to hunt and not just dump!!!!! Best thing to ever happen to Michigan!!!! Walt

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I agree there shouldn't be baiting, go out and learn to hunt. I would wish that New Jersey would stop the use of baits, 99% of the so-called hunters would be lost and not know how to hunt by goig out and scouting. I'm happy in the deer zone I hunt in NJ there is no baiting allowed

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Man what am I going do with that 500lb truck load of carrots now?[8D] just kidding, but for real it is a good thing.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Personally, I think that baiting has gotten way out of hand. I have seen sugar beats by the truckloads at hunting camp and wonder why you would need this much feed. I don't disagree with throwing a little bit of corn out and two or three sugar beats here and there, but some of the bait piles I have seen are DISGUSTING, no need for that. I think for the most part this ban is a good idea. The only problem I have is that some of the people that hunt on surrounding properties will not abide by this. Sure, you can call the DNR, but with how short of help they are and all the people that will still be baiting, its going to be tough to get anyone out there in a timely matter.Then a week within opening day of Gun season, forget about it. This is going to be tough. On a side note, I personally thinking they are sounding the sirens on this a little premature. Maybe I have heard this wrong, but one deer in a high fenced area has the disease? I guess you want to curb this before it starts, but wow, it isover HNI everywhere now.Should be interesting come October and November, thats for sure!!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

For all of you that are saying people will need to learn how to hunt for real now are probably the ones hunting the private land with ideal ratios and good deer numbers, how many of you have actually hunted public land in northern MI? when you're seeing 5 deer over a week span a little bait livens things up a little bit, i read a fact in one of my recent hunting magazine, it was either Bowhunter or Bowhunting and it stated that hunters that hunted over bait had lower success than those that didnt use bait, so dont go thinking that its like shooting fish in a barrel like so many people think, I can understand not needing bait in the south but up north is a whole different story.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

hey dude! I hunt nothen but state! and I also hunt in the northern area too! It's just to bad that some people that are hunting now have not been brought up from a squirt to a adult have never been taught the best dam sport in the world. It's just like rifle season I've seen guys in the field all tech. out under armor orange out! and when talking to you their rifle is pointing at you and not on safe.[:@]dang Walmart hunters! So anyway good opionion roby but don't jump the gun! Its just to bad our great state can't organize itself!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

What are you complaining about then If that's what It states? Whitetails aren't that tough to pattern. Believe me, you will figure It out.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I am a little confused, according to the DNR website when you could bait :

"The volume of bait cannot exceed 2 gallons at any hunting site." from DNR Website.

Yet ya'll make it sound like people are backing dump trucks of beets and carrots up and ringing the dinner bell. If people were doing that and you could see it then you call the DNR and let them handle it. Or is this just a lot of speculation about baiting? Do you guys that are anti bait make mock scrapes? Put down doe in heat scent? Thats all bait!

It sure seems like a non item to get worried about as everyone proclaims how great they are at hunting. Heck a lot of the northern part of the state you all ready couldn't bait in so nothing new there.

Jake

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

TRUCK LOADS! two gallons is the size bucket you sit on in the shanty on top the bait pile! Deer scent, lure, scrapes is not an artificial food source puchsed by bulk deer hunting.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I can't say I have never baited , I can say I have never baited in excess , no "truckloads" here . I did buy a little auto feeder deal made from a 5 gallon bucket last year took about a week to empty it cycling on at dawn and at dusk , the turkeys, birds, and squirels loved it . lol never saw any deer around it .I do kinda almost feel sorry for the guys who use truckloads of bait to hunt though. NOT. I must admit I am pretty lucky where I hunt it is all private , it has water , and a few apple trees although the apple crop sucks .

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I fee sorry fpor the fsarmers who ,make a living from this 'bait for sale'. It is amjor cash crop for them and (I couldn't find the number) it will have an impact on the economy already being devastated by the car companies. DNR has struck a major blow to the state, not just hunters!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I think the only companies that would be hit would be the gas stations on the way to camp!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

i live and hunt in one of the heaviest hunted areas of northern mi. mainly on state land.you can still get deer without bait every year. you will have to learn topractice estimating different yardages for shooting. and change some of your tactics. i see and consistently get deer every year without bait.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Ranger You hit the nail on the head generations of guys that know nothing of how to truely hunt!!!Lets just dump some bait and sit!!!Walt

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I just found this site and thought i would chime in. I have lived in N.W lower all my life. hunting state land. The only one's this ban is hurting is the farmers who rely on US hunters to substantiate their income. In my opinion baiting isnt for me but to each his own. I garuntee this wont last. there is already too much opposition to it. Stikbow26 has it right its too bad michigan cant get their crap together. and if this crossbow legislation passes the senate, all us TRUE bowhunters are gonna be screwed!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I understand that puttin truck loads out is bad. But what about feeders for the spring and summer. We have tons of stateland by us and all it is is pine tree's. why not give them nutrition while they grow? Not saying that you should hunt over the feeder in the fall but whats the differance between a feeder and a corn field or soy bean. Same thing, just differant location. All you guys that hunt bean fields and corn fields and big food plots thinks baiting and feeding is wrong, but when you look at it through the eyes of the hunters that can't afford to lease those prime propertys or don't have enough land to do work with. Of coarse you can say, just go scout scout and set upand learn. Pressured Whitetails arn't that easy to pattern when you have little land to hunt and no baiters. The most deer i seen on a feeder this year was 3. Pretty sure you got more deer on a trail than on a feeder. I personaly hunt runways and stuff but its people like my grandparents that like to watch the deer 20 yards outside their cabin window i'm talkin about. Why take that enjoyment away from them before they pass away. Sorry but i just had to vent a little.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Very Well said Hoytteen, I agree. People who hunt small acreage and can't afford food plots do need a little help with attracting deer. Food plots aren't always and option and when you are hunting in a heavily pressured area, you need something to draw deer your way when there are many agricultural fields surrounding your property and neighbors who think laws don't apply to them. Personally, I think Corn should still be allowed, but spread over a wide area where the deer are less likely to transfor saliva. Use a spreader or something along that lines. Apples, Sugar beats, carrots, pumpkins, no way, not anymore.

I know the rule was 2 gallons of bait which was strictly followed where I hunt, but I know for a fact that a few neighbors were putting 50 to 100 sugar beats at a time. Unfortunately, even with this law, I know there still going to bait and it sucks for the legal hunter like myself.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

They may be lifting the baiting ban prior to opener. Theyre holding hearings on the matter over the next few days. Stay tuned.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Just got an email from a friend in Michigan who is very active in the DNR and heard that this ban might meet some problems. It's going to be an interesting next few months........

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Probably shouldn't open this thread back up... but I will anyway. :D

I am looking for a fight here so shoot, bang. I, in fact, live about 3 miles from the area in which the deer with CWD was found.

We use bait while hunting, almost everytime I go hunting I will refreshen this bait. It honestly doesn't matter how much bait (as long as it is legal) wether it is three apples, or two gallons. Its still baiting right. I find nothing to be wrong with it. I agree that many "bait-hunters" can be lazy, but I will guarentee you that I spend as much if not much more time than most of you in the field. I also know that there are many people that have seen this thread and not posted because the do not want to be criticized. It's business, and I believe I could easily get deer without the bait. I wouldn't see nearly as many, nearly as early. In the winter (december), after every deer in the state has been put through a rough year, I see deer because I put out some bait. I would never see these deer otherwise, because they would honestly never come out before dark.

Guys seem to rant and rave about baiting, but don't you find doing deer drives the same, in essences? Pushing deer of all kinds, sometimes mature bucks out of their sanctuaries, only to see there tail and never even see that big buck in a shooting circumstancemost likely.

Just my two cents, comment away! :)

I will try to check back in a few days, I'm going hunting!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Buckhunter that is because you come from the generation that was taught to just bait, If you could have been in woods back in the 70"s when I started and seen how the deer walked around all day long because they had to to feed then you would know what we are talking about. Michigan will never be the same as then I understand but baiting has hurt Michigan deer hunting more than any other thing out there. I travel to leave Michigan every year to hunt big bucks because Michigan hunters just don't get it.If we could really get baiting banned here but we wont beacuse to many guys say the he## with the DNR and are going to bait any ways, you would see that probely 1/2 of our 1 1/2 yr old bucks would survive and then if we could get the brown it's down guys to just a doe instead of a little buck Michigan could get back in the ranks of where out of state hunters would actully want to come here and hunt. I knowI am going to get slammed by the you just want to be a trophy hunter guys out there and don't make me, but ask your self this? I just went down last weekend to our property in southern Illinois and just filming Saturday night saw 8 bucks that will go over 150 inchs and 1 that will go in the 170's and about 10 others that would go about 115 to 100 inchs nowwouldn't that be nice to go out hunting here in Michigan and see them kind of bucks running around here instead of 4 spikes and 2 4 pts and think you had a great night.. If we could truely get rid of baiting it would start a shift to bring that back to Michigan.. Walt

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Thanks Walt! Let them grow! need meat? shoot a doe! and for the fly by hunters, learn the great sport teach it to our future and revive our once great hunting state!

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Heck yeah shoot a doe , you can't eat then darn horns anyways !

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

im just casting my 2 cents. My baiting consists of mineral licks and feeders. Some of my properties i am able to plant food plots to sustain the deer, help them grow through in the spring and food for them to get through the winter. But some of the areas i hunt, planting a food plot isnt an option, either not accessible or wont grow anything-pure sand. I dont use baiting as a way of hunting, i use it to help the deer grow, and be healthy. My land were i can plant food plots i dont use mineral licks or feeders, thats what the plots are for. but the lands that i cant put in food plots i had mineral licks out for spring and summer growth and feeders for food in the winter. I dont hunt these sights, but in the past 3 years since i have started this i have noticed dramatic differences in the quality and the size of the deer. I am not a if its brown its down hunter and will glady take does over small bucks. so i think allot of hunters with this perspective are gonna get screwed by this.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

''baiting has hurt Michigan deer hunting more than any other thing out there.'' All though i dont totally agree, it doesnt help.What has hurt michigan deer hunting more than anything is the fact that we dont have any type of QDM. and these restriction on our liscenses doesnt count! thats not QDM. This just makes deer season a free for all. Baiting just makes hunting easier for the opening ''weekend warriors''. who drive to state land somewhere throw out a bag of bait and shoot anything that has horns. Let em go so he can grow. you want bucks in mi like they have in illinois? How about a 500 dollar fine if it scores less than 120 or something like that. That would keep more than a few ''brown is down'' as*@#$'s'' home. Im a taxidermist, and i can tell you that there were maybe 3 bucks of the60 i mounted last year that i would have taken.and 2 of the3 where from canada!!

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

get rid of the youth hunt too! or make it doe only! unless someone can tell me the benefits of it?

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I don't want to start anything, since I hunt in NE Indiana....but......


Since we don't bait here, and have great hunting from October through December, how can the hunting be SO much different in the southern half of the Lower statecompared towhat we have in nothern Indiana?

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

2/3 of michigans deer population is in the southern half of the lower penninsula. I lived in central Mi for 13 years and still own property there. almost everything in that area of the state is private. I.M.O the best hunting and best chance for a big buck is in southern mi. The hunting is great down there. so i dont think there is much difference if any. but the northern L.P. is a whole other demon. Your chance of a wall hanger are slim to none! Because nothing lives long enough to mature. I.M.O.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

Turnabuck, I know what you are saying!!!! I love QDM but not mandetory QDM. and let me explain. We would not need it if we could make a few huge changes, and tisis where it would get sticky because of our hunting heritage here in Michigan. If we could ban baiting 100% that means everyone not just the ones that follow laws, and now the biggy get rid of our 15 day gun season right smack dab in the middle of our rut and make it like 3 or 4 three day seasons spread out like 3 days around Nov18or 20th and then 3 days aroundDec 1st or 3rd and then a late season hunt But it will never happen. Michigan has everything it needs to support and grow huge bucks and I believe the QDM would happen by it's self when you really know you have a chance every time you walk in the woods to kill a biggen.. But we will all just fantisize over this because none of it will ever happen as long as the insurance companies are running our DNR.. Walt

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

stikbow, couldnt have said it better myself!!

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Before I bought my property in 2000, I hunted State land west of Oscoda for 22 years. I never baited and never had a problem seeing deer.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

The one way us hunters that can make a change is voice up to or legislaters in our state. let them know rule regulations needs to be changed. Not let ins. companies make the decisions. You don't voice up nothing is done. Like myself, I have and still do E-mail the state legislaters that they need to change the rule for quads to useall trails. To bring in money for the locals and boostthe economy ofmichigan. The state is not to bright!!!

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Agreed ranger6. we all need to speak up. Problem is nobody is usually listening. Theres strength in numbers, so i always urge everyone who bowhunts to join the MBH. Regardless of what your opinion is of the MBH they are our biggest voice. Been a member for 14yrs.

RE: No Baiting in MI
 

I agree with almost everything you all say.I have grown up in an era that baits. It is what I have been taught by all deer hunters in Michigan. People who state they are QDM hunters are the minority. I don't know if people will ever understand the "let small bucks walk and shoot a doe instead". The only reason I can understand shooting a small buck, gun or bow is if it is your first. I was in the position not long ago and that "baby" fork horn may have been the only thing toget me hooked on hunting.


Stikbow ---- You made a comment on page 3 after I commented the first time about the 70's when people didn't bait and the deer would feed all day. My only question is why would the deer feed all day if people didn't bait? The reason I see the deer some out to feed is the competition for food. This is because most of the areas I do get to hunt have little food sources, but do carry great bucks.