Spitting Mad....

[Catalpa]

I live in central Michigan, the land of farms, crops, and DEER. Lots of deer.

The DNR has made a unilateral decision that no bait piles can be put out.

I don't have time, or the land, to scout swamps and build a tree stand. I just want to go sit in my blind, wait for the deer to come munch on the sugar beet pile, and shoot one. Or more! But now I'm not allowed to put out sugar beets or carrots or apples or anything, because one captive deer on a farm someplace was possibly diagnosed with the chronic wasting disease.

I rented my land to my amish neighbor to use as pasture this summer. He'll be taking his cows off the first of October, which would give me enough time to bait the deer back in. Last year I couldn't keep enough sugar beets out there for them, they'd eat a pile in just a few days. Now I won't have any way to draw them in once the cows are gone.

And I was reeaallly looking forward to vension in the freezer! >:(

[RobJob]

Is it too late to throw out some rye or oats or any grass/grain to grow up there? If there is not much else green to eat I'll bet they would graze on it. Don't even have to drill it in just throw it on the ground and it will sprout.
How about all those supplements like Deer Cocaine and stuff you just pour on the ground and the deer will come lick it up?
But, you're right it's hard to beat an established food pile. Down here we just put out corn. Every thing likes corn. Once they find it you can scatter it out in the pasture where you couldn't really see it if you weren't on your hands and knees looking for it (hint). I guess the idea is to keep the deer from concentrating in a spot and spreading disease. But, if someone planted say corn and left it, wouldn't that be doing the same? Good Luck. Just keep you gun close all season and maybe you will get an easy shot!

[MIKENSUE]

One way we have found around the baiting issue is apple trees, and bird feeders. We planted several late ripening apple trees around our land and let most of the apples fall under the tree after we are done with what we need. The deer think they are candy! We've also got 8 new oak trees going, but they aren't producing acorns yet. That is another natural food deer love. I have also strategically placed several bird feeders around the acerage, added a water feature and guess what, we are seeing a LOT of deer sign in the last couple of years. Got 2 of them last year, practically in the back yard.
If anyone says anything, we are creating habitat, not baiting!

[WileyCoyote]

I just don't get it, Cat. How can they tell you not to bait on your own land? How can they keep track? Who said that they could come onto your property anyway?
Sounds like you either have way too many wildlife employees looking for something to do or they are trying to justify hiring more.

In the State I moved from it was illegal to bait; turkeys, deer, anything. Which meant that while walking out in the woods, one might find a pile of corn, or a small planting of corn or oats, or even a salt lick in the brush! Everyone baited... except the hunting lodges, who had standing corn fields as a matter of course... The baiting rule, it was understood, was for out-of-state hunters.

The State I moved to, there are no bait laws. But then, they are so covered up with wildlife that there's really not a need, unless you just want a fatter or a sweeter meat. For the past 10 weeks I've been watching a family of turkeys grow from ugly chicks to fine meaty birds as they wander in the garden, from the trees to the pond.
However, I have been putting out corn anyway; grasshoppers do not provide enough nutrients, IMHO. I love wildlife! ;) ;D

Like the old joke - I don't need a 'huntin' license, I need a 'killin' license. I don't have to hunt them; I know where they are!

[Catalpa]

Nope, the baiting rule is for everyone; I can't even bait on my own land. It's raised a real furor here; there's quite a bit of the local economy taking a hit, since every little general store/gas station/grocery store has always had bags of carrots, beets, and so on for sale as deer bait.

Unfortunately Wiley, the DNR can trespass on my land. >:( Ticks me right off. Hopefully they're lazy....it's all fenced and I keep the gate locked when the cattle aren't there.

My problem is the lack of time between when my neighbor gets his cattle off the land, and the start of deer season. Today's 75 degrees not withstanding, it will soon be too cold to germinate seed - and the cattle are there until the end of next week. And with the cattle there, it's very hard to start any other habitat, or grow a cover crop, as it's grazed pretty heavily. IF, and that's a big IF, I can sell my house next year, I'll be moving onto the property, so then I can start building the habitat, since the cattle won't be there anymore.

As to whether or not I could stay under the radar, it's hard to say. My neighbors are all Amish, and pretty much 'live and let live', so it might be possible. I also have a bit of a hill that would block the view from the road.

Just a thought....what would I call my hunting blind after I plant apple trees around it...the apple shed? LOL.

I love wildlife, too - especially the tasty kind in my freezer! ;D I'll be keeping my 12 guage handy while I'm sitting there waiting for my shelled corn to sprout. ;) ;D

One thing that gets me, they don't want us to bait because it makes the deer herd up. Well, excuse me, but I've lived here long enough to know that the deer herd up every winter with no help from bait piles! It's kind of the natural bent of the critter, so why outlaw baiting? Durn goverment!

[jebrown]

Put up your deer blind and for awhile use a camera to take pictures of the deer. Keep the pictures handy to prove useof the blind.
If they tell you you can't use the deer blind for photography, remind them that by doing so they will be violating your first amendment right to free speech. Don't laugh photography is covered under free speech rights.
Soon they will leave you alone . This may take awhile before you can get back to hunting.

[sawyerob]

Put up your deer blind and for awhile use a camera to take pictures of the deer. Keep the pictures handy to prove useof the blind.
If they tell you you can't use the deer blind for photography, remind them that by doing so they will be violating your first amendment right to free speech. Don't laugh photography is covered under free speech rights.
Soon they will leave you alone . *This may take awhile before you can get back to hunting.

There's NO law against having a deer blind, there's no law against hunting from a blind. The ban is on "baiteing".

As for the DNR coming on your land... They will do it, but you can kick them off just by telling them they have to leave. I told one he had to leave one time and although he didn't like it, he did leave! It then will be up to them to get a search warrant if they want to. The only exception would be if they saw a crime commited, or chased someone onto your property.

SR

[blackpowderbill]

One thing you forget is why most states have banned deer baiting & feeding is CWD.
By herding deer together in one area to feed at an artificial area, it increases the chances of spreading the disease.

BPB

[Catalpa]

Yeah, Bill, I know they're trying to fight the CWD, but outlawing bait piles, in my opinion, won't help stop the disease. Deer naturally herd up - maybe a bait pile will get them to herd up in a different spot, but they're still going to herd up.

Maybe if they would lengthen the season and let us harvest more deer, it would cut down the population some, and keep them from spreading the disease as quickly.

I don't know, I don't pretend to be a wildlife biologist, but I know what see where I live.

And if a DNR ever came on my land, it would be interesting to see their reaction when I 'ask' them to leave.

[walls0stone]

yep, deer get together...it's called the rut..that magic time of year when the deer do to make lots and lots of deer.

You want to make a bait pild that can not come back on you..

salt...just like you use for..um...CATTLE! ;) But get it cheeper the kind you use to make your water soft. 5 bucks a bag.... grind it up a little finner, dig a hole, toss in a hand full...then dirt, then salt...over and over.

Deer will eat the dirt to get at it and if your land was pasture over the year, they can't say boo about it. the same thing happens when a farmers put a salt block on the ground to meet the everyday needs of cattle.

Happy Hunting

[crafty2002]

Years ago when I would take off anywhere someone wanted to go, a friend ask me to ride to Gretna with him. Straight shot up US 29. Well, we got about lit up pretty good on the shine he was going to get and he decided to come back on the back roads.
All of a sudden he locked the brakes down and asked, did you see them???
She what???
All those deer in the field!!!!!
I hadn't seen them but I did when he backed the car up and spun it around with the head lights in the field. I don't have a hair on my butt if there weren't 50 deer in a herd in that field.
I was beside myself. They just stood there looking at us. We got out of the car and looked and they just stood there.
I can't remember his name now, but he told me to look behind us. Another bunch in the field behind us.
We got back in the car and he spun it around and hit them with the head lights and there they were again. There must have been at least 100 deer in that herd. I couldn't count them on either side of the road so don't tell me baiting them spreads
disease.
If I can buy another freezer soon enough a bushel basket of apples will put a couple hundred pounds of meat up for the winter. ;D

[remington]

Lotta deer here in Kansas too. OUr record for one night is 183 individuals. We don't count any seen in the same area after the original sighting so there is no danger of counting any twice. Same thing with turkeys around here. Biggest flock was 226. All these were seen while hunting.

[bigriks300]

Salt lick and a very very low hanging bird feeder; birds like apples dontcha know? ;)

[Tuckahoe]

I would plant some feeder plots. It is amazing how deer can be improved with the right kind of food. Natural foods are a plant and go kind of thing. You don't have to haul bag after bag of corn all season.

[crafty2002]

Is there anything you can plant this time of year for deer Tuck??? *I need to run the tiller a bit anyway. I have a 10# bag of seeds for the chickens I didn't get planted this year but I doubt they will sprout this late.
The jerks are up here during the summer when I have a garden but they don't seem to want to come around when it is hunting season. >:(

[jim]

We used to pour sweet apple juice on the rocks and tree trunks. Attracts them like crazy and isn't as obvious as "bait". Cheap pancake syurp works well too. ;)

jim

[flatwater]

The only real problem you will have is nosy anti hunting neihbors. They can cause alot of trouble if you have any.
flatwater

[Hampster]

in Va.. you are not allowed to feed deer during the hunting season..