Michigan Baiting Law
 

Good morning everyone. I am wondering how everyone else feels about the baiting law Michigan, or in another state. Some people I talk to think that it will be lifted in a year, and that they have read this. I have heard that it will be like this for a very long time. I do not know, Not a big deal to me, I am just curious to know everyone's opinion on the fact that they based this law off of one last deer that was fenced anyways, so the story goes. CWD, I am curious to know how long it has been around before some one could have tried to prevent some of it. I know it is like alot of sickness, and will be pretty much impossible to get rid of. What do you think?

Personally I don't understand the need to bait. I kill deer (sometimes multiples) every year in a state that does not allow hunting over active bait (removed 10 days prior). I could bait in the offseason but it is just way to much a hassle to comply with during season so I don't do it. My point is that baiting IMO is not neccessary for success. Since it is not neccessary and the evidence is preety clear that concentrated feeding areas are a prime culprit of CWD, why risk it.

Not a knock to hunters that are allowed to bait and do so.

I see more and more states going the route of outlawing baiting. In addition to CWD there are other deer diseases like bruscelosis and blue tongue that have become problematic recently in different areas of the country. Eating in confined spaces and over crowding are often all that is needed to bring on an epidemic.

I live in Michigan, and I have no problem with the no-baiting law. Years back, when we could bait, deer would come in to eat, and then go a few hundred yards and bed down. Now, they have to travel more, and the chance of seeing a deer during the daytime, is much greater. In fact, last year was our best year hunting,so far. We saw more deer than ever. I hope the no-baiting law sticks!

I know I could get some flak for this, but I'm having a difficult time believing that sitting in a tree over a big bait pile qualifies as "hunting." I'm especially intrigued by discussions about "dipping," relieving oneself, listening to a Walkman, reading the Bible, etc., while "hunting."


:sheep::sheep::sheep: We tried to warn her And she doesn't have any asbestos panties either

I get a kick out of laws that allow baiting up to season, then no. What sense does that make?:rolleye0011:

PSE, looks like you are pretty new so you may not have been around last year for the craziness that took place on this topic. I think we made it to 18 pages if I remember correctly.

I Rifle hunt Michigan every year and have hunted over bait and without bait there. Personally, I don't see any difference at all. People think that baiting is like a feeding trough for cattle. In Michigan Ive taken exactly one buck over bait and have only seen VERY few more than that. The majority of bucks that I have seen are traveling and not even going near the bait. I do get a few does but mostly the deer I see are heading to the agricultural fields around me and leave the sugar beats and corn alone.

From what I have heard, it sounds like the Michigan Government has been trying to outlaw bait for a while and was just looking for a reason. Once that single case of CDW came up they found their reason. I know many Michigan people are fighting it since there have been no other recorded cases in Michigan yet.

The problem is people are still baiting. It was a way of life in Michigan for so long and people aren't letting it go. Last year there were still the same number of side-of-the-road places to buy bait on the way up to my deer camp. My guess is that a majority of people are still baiting, just not putting out 50 sugar beets and 50 pds of corn at a time. Personally, I don't need to. Im set up near a bean field and a corn field so it would do no good for me.

The disease is very tough to get rid of. They have been dealing with it in Central WI for a while now and the only answer they have found is to kill every deer possible and start a new herd. They aren't succeeding real well, except for pissing off a lot of hunters from what I hear. I say if they don't find any CDW this year, let the hunting public decide whether to bring back baiting or not.

On another note, for those who think "baiting" isn't hunting it kind of makes me chuckle. These are the same people who plant food plots, place stands next to corn fields and use every sex lure imaginable to get a deer. I won't knock anyone for doing anything that is legal, but if you hunt over ag fields and use sex to attrack deer then you are doing the same thing. IMO, anything that was humanly placed in nature is some form of baiting. Whether it be with sex or food, its the same thing. Heck, you tell me theres food 100 yards to the right and sex 100 yards to the left, I most likely will be going left!:)

Personally, I don't like hunting over bait but don't mind it. I hunt Illinois a lot where we don't have baiting and find it just as fun as Michigan when baiting was allowed, just bigger bucks in Illinois. As long as your having fun and doing it legal, thats all that matters!

Well....if u think about it, hunting with a rattle bag, grunt call, estrus, food plot, over a natural food source, scrapes, rubs. Its all the same thing! Dont matter if u put it there or your hunting over something there already...come on guys get real here. You are ambushing and using everything in your arsenal to succeed. Baiting is no different than anything else u use. Funny thing is the only time I use feed (normally whole corn) is for my trail cameras. Thats it....I agree its not the same and it seems unethical, but realistically its all the same.

sorry dude I didnt finish reading yours before my post...pretty much said the same thing you did. Well, I agree with you bro. Its all the same

We live in town and hunt public land and we don't use any of that stuff. We don't even use a stand. We "still" hunt. (That word still hunting amuses me because you're not standing still. I wonder how it got started.)

I'm not going to knock someone else's hunting style becuase, even including "high fence hunters," I believe we should all stick together. But the mental image of a hunter sitting in a tree stand over a pile of day-old donuts, (people buy them from a bakery in town and, apparently deer like them), peeing in a bottle, dipping and spitting, (in the same bottle?), while listening to a walkman, and reading his Bible, sort of amuses me. I don't think it's the picture of a hunter that most non-hunters would have.:)

I don't think all hunters engage in all those activities while hunting, but I have read of guys doing each of them on these forums and I'm sure it's possible for one guy to do all of them. :s1:

:sheep: Sheep might like donuts too Stephanie Why don't you get us some?