Lochorns...I've been feeding deer at my farm in WV for 20 years. I've had corn/apples/bread/protein pellets, etc out in our yard purely for observation purposes. We've not even shot any deer near our camp in the past 5+ years. I can't even open the curtains to look at them without them running away. And our property isn't overhunted. You must have been feeding those deer for a long, long time.

BTW, I'm anti X-GUN (unless disabled) and Pro-baiting. I feel baiting is just another option...and if it were as "easy" as most folks think that everybody in WV or Ohio would be doing it.

Personal attacks will NOT be tolerated on this forum, or any other forum on this board!

Its not what you harvest...
Its what you learn...
Christine

Just curious--how many of you that are against baiting, will hunt next to a food source? How many will use doe-in-heat urine or other sex scents as attractants? I have never baited, but aren't these other methods pretty much the same--or, at least very similar?

DaveH, I have heard that and that it isn't the sure fire thing many people feel it is. In this case, Pennsylvania is only considering baiting for areas that have both a high human and deer density. It is hoped that hunters can bait deer out away from the no hunting areas to keep their numbers down.

I am ok with any hunting method that is legal. Dont know about other states laws but someone posted on here before that even feeding deer in PA is against the law. DaveH brings up a good point. What is the difference between hunting deer over bait and hunting over a small food plot that you planted to bait the deer in? I think that the deer that come to my baitpile are in better shape than the other deer around here, because most of the fawn does have babies the first year and some of the adult does have triplets. I think that my feed and minerals is the reason for this. I am doing the deer a favor. As far as crossbows go in my state you cannot hunt with a crossbow unless a doctor says you are unable to hunt with a regular bow because of a physical limitation and that is ok with me.

Personally I would think that baiting would initially cause a few more immature deer to be harvested. Once they get shot at over bait a time or two, however, they would likely wise up very quickly and adjust their habits accordingly. I can tell you that Ontario bears sure do! I would think the political fallout wouldn't be worth it. Hunters would have yet one more reason to battle among one another (something some here seem to just love). The anti's would make a big deal out of it. From what I've heard from other states it wouldn't be worth the trouble for the minimal results it seems likely to get.

To tell you the truth, I don't think it would cause any trouble at all. Most of the discussion and debate would be in the handful of online sites dealing with hunting. When it passed in NJ, nobody even knew about it, until hunters started talking about it right before the season. No real difference I can see.
As far as the antis, it's one more thing they'll have to fight to take away. Just one more victory for us, with no real negative effects I can see, except the aforementioned areas where disease is present.

Maybe not but the idea of creating a herd of "welfare deer" sounds pretty unsportsmanlike . I will admit to no experience in this arena but It juat doesn't seem right and the potential health risks (to the deer) that may pop up just make the idea that much less appealing.

I dont have the exact numbers now but baiting deer is legal in about 22 states.

And some states like W.Va. allow bear baiting, but not deer baiting.