Deer Hunting & Baiting Dilemma

[Slim Tubby]

For those of you that like to deer hunt, there's a very interesting Bill being discussed in MI that would make it legal to bait for deer during established rifle and archery seasons. The reasoning is to increase the harvesting of deer to cull the booming population and limit the damage to farmer crops and profits.

It's a "common sense" Bill that hits the mark on many levels but I've never understood the thrill some hunters get from making their hunts easier. Lazy hunting is boring hunting to me and most guys I know work on their stands, shooting lanes and food plots all year long. I might enjoy that more than the actual 11 days of the rifle season.

I guess my question would be, rather than running the risk of disease transmission among the deer population, why not just increase the # of tags by 2-3 allowed for each hunter to purchase? Nobody loves venison in their freezer more than deer hunters. You could also stock community food shelves and soup kitchens with the extra harvested deer which the DNR currently does for confiscated kills.

An interesting debate for sure.

https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation-and-sustainability/mfb-supported-deer-baiting-bill-moves-out-of-house-committee

 

[GophersInIowa]

For those of you that like to deer hunt, there's a very interesting Bill being discussed in MI that would make it legal to bait for deer during established rifle and archery seasons. The reasoning is to increase the harvesting of deer to cull the booming population and limit the damage to farmer crops and profits.

It's a "common sense" Bill that hits the mark on many levels but I've never understood the thrill some hunters get from making their hunts easier. Lazy hunting is boring hunting to me and most guys I know work on their stands, shooting lanes and food plots all year long. I might enjoy that more than the actual 11 days of the rifle season.

I guess my question would be, rather than running the risk of disease transmission among the deer population, why not just increase the # of tags by 2-3 allowed for each hunter to purchase? Nobody loves venison in their freezer more than deer hunters. You could also stock community food shelves and soup kitchens with the extra harvested deer which the DNR currently does for confiscated kills.

An interesting debate for sure.

https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation-and-sustainability/mfb-supported-deer-baiting-bill-moves-out-of-house-committee

I would agree. Part of the fun for me when hunting new land is figuring out where the best places are to set up. Baiting seems lazy.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Kinda how CWD blew up down in Mt Horeb WI. There was a year in that specific area when DNR said shoot em

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

As someone who has only taken whitetail with a bow, I'm not the right person to ask. Baiting seems messed up. I would think there are other ways to increase the harvest, like you said, more tags.