Deer Baiting?? (2015, high school, live)

[inthetrees]

Let me preface this with saying that I was raised around firearms, learned gun safety before high school... I have no problems with hunting, or baiting Bears and other animals that are much harder to hunt without baiting.

But I really dont respect people that have to Bait a deer to "hunt" it. I consider it almost like hunting in enclosed 'game preserves'. For anyone besides severely disabled, this is really sad.

Can anyone offer any perspective that might change my opinion on this? Seems more popular here than the midwest where my family is from. My dad goes hunting every year, almost always gets a deer and has never baited one. Same with my uncles that are still alive and one of my brothers...

Seems too easy (to bait them). They can be easily hunted without baiting, although I dont think driving them is legal here like it is in the Midwest?

I should also say I dont think it should be illegal, I just don't understand the locals I meet that brag about this, like its some big accomplishment taking a deer this way. Are they really that simple or just lazy?

[kevin5098]

Baiting deer is prohibited.

http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_tra...untinglaws.pdf

[maineborzoi]

Originally Posted by kevin5098

Baiting deer is prohibited.

http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_tra...untinglaws.pdf

Thank you- I was going to type the same thing...

[inthetrees]

Obviously these people are not putting food out during deer season. They are putting it out the other 11 months of the year. When it is perfectly legal.

[American girl]

Lots of people feed wild animals - seagulls, turkeys, deer, raccoons. It is a harmful practice in my view

[kevin5098]

Originally Posted by inthetrees

Obviously these people are not putting food out during deer season. They are putting it out the other 11 months of the year. When it is perfectly legal.

Technically that would be supplemental feeding and not baiting. I agree with American girl that the feeding of wildlife (esp. deer) is a bad practice. Below is a position statement from the Maine Dept of IFW regarding the practice. I won't judge people for hunting areas where deer have been fed. I would judge them for bragging about it. I grew up hunting in New York where driving is legal. Some people consider this practice as unethical. I don't object to any legal means of harvesting game as licenses are issued on the basis of population control, and a successful harvest is essential for the welfare of the species.
http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/sp...ding_deer.html

[maineborzoi]

Good article on feeding deer. What I found interesting was the change of digestion in deer during the winter as a natural occurrence.
https://www1.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_t...er_feeding.pdf

[inthetrees]

I realized I used the wrong term, and It should have been deer feeding instead of baiting, however for some silly reason this forum locks the editing of post after a short time...

[Maine Writer]

We feed wildlife but not in the way most people think of. We have food plots planted in clover, grasses, kale, oats, forage radish and turnip. We aren't giving them corn or molasses-laced foods. Deer, partridge and snowshoe hare use the plots more than the bear, moose and turkeys. Our deer population is very low for several reasons. We had a record number of deer at one time in a plot this week - four. As you can see, they've had a long winter and some aren't do well.

The ground has been bare in the plots for about a week so the deer are just now coming back. Small turnip survived the winter and are being eaten by the deer and hare. They're eating the roots and the tender greens that were already on the turnip when the snow melted. They've nibbled at the clover and some green grass but don't spend much time here. They could gorge on what's there if they wanted to but don't. In this photo, the starving deer is eating Old Man's Lichen from the dead tree.

I'll seed clover to fill in the bare spots but won't plant anything else until July. The deer will disappear back into the woods after the grass greens up and won't be around much until September when apples start dropping.

[maineborzoi]

Maine Writer- it was reported in 2015, after winter ended, had it not been for those food plots, the population of deer would have taken a massive hit. It was a Brutal winter by all standards....