Deer Baiting – The Never Ending Saga

February 20, 2009 by admin

By Chris Hustad

A photo from the ND Game & Fish showing a very large bait pile

One of the most controversial topics to ever come up in the Nodak Outdoors forums is whether or not deer baiting is ethical. Keep in mind, anytime you want to argue ethics you’re arguing a very large gray area. Who decides what is ethical? That is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone’s book of ethics is different.

Many argue that baiting with a pile is no different then using a food plot, which is a very common practice all over the U.S. Yet to others, this isn’t a valid argument as in the following opinion. “There is a difference in baiting and hunting over a food plot. With baiting you get them to come to the exact spot you want them to come. With food plots the deer can go anywhere out in the food plot, most of the time, for me, out of bow range. Now if I was baiting the chances of me getting a deer would increase by a lot compared to over a food plot.”

Some claim they don’t want to bait deer simply because it attracts too much attention. This hunter goes on to say, “…the main reason I don’t do it is when the big boy comes walking by, I don’t want 20 does around me increasing the odds of getting busted.”

Another point that’s thrown around often is how baiting will affect a deer’s natural daily pattern. According to one hunter, “…you’ll never shoot a big buck over bait and it’s actually detrimental to a deer herd and you kill less deer because they tend to become nocturnal over bait.” So while this will bring more deer to your location, it might not bring the deer you’re looking for.

Another element that’s argued often is the potential for baiting to further spread CWD through the deer herds. The state of Michigan recently issued the emergency “no baiting” rule after Michigan’s first case of Chronic Wasting Disease was detected in the Grand Rapids area. Not only did this bring on a lot of heat over the topic of deer baiting, but a lawsuit was filed by farmers and retailers who claimed this recent ban was greatly affecting their business. The lawsuit was recently dismissed so the deer baiting ban goes on in Michigan. Up until that ban, there was a 2 gallon limit per hunting location that could be spread over a 10′ x 10′ minimum area.

There has been a lot of pressure to make the practice of deer baiting illegal in North Dakota. Not only has this been very controversial, but the defining and enforcing of a deer ban will be difficult. There was a recent article from Doug Leier from the ND Game & Fish on the Deer Baiting Issue.

If you’d like to read and comment in the current discussion over deer baiting, see our Deer Baiting Topic.