Baiting Bill HB1618/SB1942

CrossVolle said:

Stop being dramatic as means to get what you want. 90% of tennessee hunters are not baiting illegally.

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I don't care if they do or don't, I rarely deer hunt anymore anyway .I'd bet really good money that 90% of private land hunters are baiting if it could be proven. On another note i see what the state allows to happen to our deer herd every summer, with 0 boundaries, i think its absolutely silly that they regulate the ones paying their salaries but not the others. I've just got enough common sense to see what's going on around us. Don't be naive, start paying attention and it will open your eyes. Between Walmart, feed mills, and co-ops its not hard to see how many people are buying corn.

All of our deer get wasted on the neighboring properties in the standing summer beans, to the point we don't have any age structure beyond 3.5 yrs of age, and that I can prove. It will happen again this summer.

Turkeys are no different last year me and a few buddies killed double digit gobblers across 6 counties, about 50% public, 50% private. 93% of them had bait in their crop. I couldn't even begin to tell you the last deer I killed that didn't have it in its stomach content. Maybe it's just here but I doubt it.

Biggun4214 said:

Seems like deer hunting is headed toward being a participation trophy sport.

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It's already there brother, has been for several years. Whoever has the most money to dump into the best leases and food plots, feeders, and high dollar shooting houses. Its akin to politics in high school and local sports, you dont have to be the best just have the name. That's the problem, none of it is deer "hunting" anymore.

Rockhound said:

That's the problem, none of it is deer "hunting" anymore.

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Some of these folks need to hit the mountains where you can hunt hard for a week and are lucky to see a buck.

Acorn said:

I have hunted around big ag fields all my life that have a lot of left over corn laying on the ground after harvest and big piles on the ground where they loaded trucks. We were walking a big corn field a couple weeks ago and it was still corn all over the ground. Does this hurt the deer and turkey? Absolutely not they have been thriving in these corn fields for years. There are two different kinds of hunting over bait legally and illegally. Hunting over big ag fields with leftover corn on the ground, growing a field of corn and just bush hogging it down a little at a time, feeding cows corn to poop it back out for the turkeys and spilling corn all over the ground while feeding cows. These are all legal ways to bait. But a man buys corn off the farmer and puts it out on his own property next to these big ag fields with corn all over the ground is illegal. Do I hunt over illegally baited corn? Absolutely not! My kids and I learned to hunt the right way! Do we hunt these ag fields with legal corn scattered all over the ground from natural farming practice. We absolutely do!

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HUGE difference turkey hunting a 40 acre cut corn field where the birds could pick one spot 300y away and stay there without moving for hours versus hunting on a cornpile 30y away from your popup blind and waiting to ambush them

TheLBLman said:

I am particularly disappointed in these two.
Are they really that ignorant of wildlife issues, or just like most other politicians, in to line their own pockets, and own self-serving interests?

Again, this is not a private property issue so much as it's a wildlife issue.

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They probably already bait themselves and want to contine to do so but 'legal'.

When MS passed the baiting law a few years ago, one of the biggest proponents in the state legislature was actually cited for illegally baiting a couple years prior.

Biggun4214 said:

Some of these folks need to hit the mountains where you can hunt hard for a week and are lucky to see a buck.

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Or go east where the population is low already.

Biggun4214 said:

Some of these folks need to hit the mountains where you can hunt hard for a week and are lucky to see a buck.

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They would quit.

Feeding wildlife will never stop regardless of the laws. I live in a community near The Hermitage and there are people feeding the deer through out. There are so many deer that you cannot have a garden or nice plants anywhere. The deer get hit by cars and people fluffy kitten about them. It's a love hate thing with no common sense. Damn ignorance.

Rockhound said:

I don't care if they do or don't, I rarely deer hunt anymore anyway .I'd bet really good money that 90% of private land hunters are baiting if it could be proven. On another note i see what the state allows to happen to our deer herd every summer, with 0 boundaries, i think its absolutely silly that they regulate the ones paying their salaries but not the others. I've just got enough common sense to see what's going on around us. Don't be naive, start paying attention and it will open your eyes. Between Walmart, feed mills, and co-ops its not hard to see how many people are buying corn.

All of our deer get wasted on the neighboring properties in the standing summer beans, to the point we don't have any age structure beyond 3.5 yrs of age, and that I can prove. It will happen again this summer.

Turkeys are no different last year me and a few buddies killed double digit gobblers across 6 counties, about 50% public, 50% private. 93% of them had bait in their crop. I couldn't even begin to tell you the last deer I killed that didn't have it in its stomach content. Maybe it's just here but I doubt it.

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I am sorry you are dealing with that. I really am. That would be miserable. But i refuse to believe i am in a minority group of Tennessee hunters that hunt legally.

CrossVolle said:

I am sorry you are dealing with that. I really am. That would be miserable. But i refuse to believe i am in a minority group of Tennessee hunters that hunt legally.

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I've got bad news for you lol

Snake said:

Just watched a segment on RED RISING can't remember the hunter's name but he said if you specifically plant food for the deer then in his opinion baiting is no different. My thoughts as well as long as you do it to were it don't effect the wildlife physically . Some don't have the means to put a food plot so baiting would even the playing field . Can't understand the logic behind the negatively as just about all states bordering Tennessee allows baiting and to my knowledge it hasn't effected their wildlife physically.

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Food plots being the same as putting out bait is just a stupid comment. You can dump a bag of corn anywhere you want. Deer quit coming to one spot move it deeper n the woods, down a holler or in a swamp. Lets see you do that to a food plot. Dump a bag of corn, you don't have to worry about rain, fertilizer, army worms or any other myriad of problems associated with planting. Just crazy. There are other issues with baiting such as toxins in moldy corn killing turkeys. When did all the quail disappear and when did baiting deer with corn become more widespread? Feeders and bait sites become a buffet line for predators.
Personally I just don't see the need for corn or food plots but if I had to make a choice it would be a plot because, depending on what is planted it is just so much more beneficial to all wildlife.

CrossVolle said:

I am sorry you are dealing with that. I really am. That would be miserable. But i refuse to believe i am in a minority group of Tennessee hunters that hunt legally.

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You're not. Most folks have enough self worth and integrity to WANT to do things the right way. Cheating is easy and offers no real reward. Most people understand that and live accordingly.

Baiting is literally an attempt to buy a big buck in a bag. And it's expensive. Really expensive if done effectively. By contrast a bag of clover seed to plant 1/4 acre is $30, lasts for years, and requires only a cheap sprayer with some roundup. Yet the pro baiting crowd say that deer hunting is a rich man game because they can plant plots.

The way I see it is baiting costs infinitely more than plotting but requires none of the time and labor. It can be argued that both attract deer but one puts a deer in a very specific spot while the other does not, so hunting over bait cannot be honestly compared to hunting over a plot. It also cannot be a landownership thing because the proposal is private lands only. So the nuts and bolts of baiting is wanting to buy a way to put a deer in a specific spot so no scouting, labor, etc. is required. All the comparisons to food plots and saying legal baiting would level the playing field with the rich guys is all just deflection. At its core it's all about buying a buck in a bag.

Ski said:

You're not. Most folks have enough self worth and integrity to WANT to do things the right way. Cheating is easy and offers no real reward. Most people understand that and live accordingly.

Baiting is literally an attempt to buy a big buck in a bag. And it's expensive. Really expensive if done effectively. By contrast a bag of clover seed to plant 1/4 acre is $30, lasts for years, and requires only a cheap sprayer with some roundup. Yet the pro baiting crowd say that deer hunting is a rich man game because they can plant plots.

The way I see it is baiting costs infinitely more than plotting but requires none of the time and labor. It can be argued that both attract deer but one puts a deer in a very specific spot while the other does not, so hunting over bait cannot be honestly compared to hunting over a plot. It also cannot be a landownership thing because the proposal is private lands only. So the nuts and bolts of baiting is wanting to buy a way to put a deer in a specific spot so no scouting, labor, etc. is required. All the comparisons to food plots and saying legal baiting would level the playing field with the rich guys is all just deflection. At its core it's all about buying a buck in a bag.

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I do not even bait in Ohio. More work than hunting. But i sure as heck have figured out how to use the existing bait of others around to my advantage.

Deer Assassin said:

Same could be said for those hunting over food plots in 3 grand shooting houses

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One big difference is food plots are alot of work. Baiting is for lazy people who don't want to put the effort in.

Fellas, we took the bait hook, line, and sinker on this one. As others have pointed out, the bill is sponsored by the same man that tried to take away 12,500 acres of public land from all of us and turn it into housing development.

What business does he have making wildlife decisions that are basically irreversible?

We should first unite against bad policy making processes instead of dividing on the policy.

Well right now you are evenly split between Yes/don't care and No. Just like most everything else in this country.

CrossVolle said:

I do not even bait in Ohio. More work than hunting. But i sure as heck have figured out how to use the existing bait of others around to my advantage.

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I don't either and I own land there. It's too expensive and largely ineffective. The neighbor has bait right up close to the line hoping to draw deer out of my property. Doesn't bother me much other than it effectively ruins the several acres immediately surrounding it, including mine. Deer absolutely learn to avoid it.

This is one of my food plots. I usually hunt it one or two weekends a year.

Biggun4214 said:

View attachment 215973This is one of my food plots. I usually hunt it one or two weekends a year.

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No shooting house here.

Ski said:

You're not. Most folks have enough self worth and integrity to WANT to do things the right way. Cheating is easy and offers no real reward. Most people understand that and live accordingly.

Baiting is literally an attempt to buy a big buck in a bag. And it's expensive. Really expensive if done effectively. By contrast a bag of clover seed to plant 1/4 acre is $30, lasts for years, and requires only a cheap sprayer with some roundup. Yet the pro baiting crowd say that deer hunting is a rich man game because they can plant plots.

The way I see it is baiting costs infinitely more than plotting but requires none of the time and labor. It can be argued that both attract deer but one puts a deer in a very specific spot while the other does not, so hunting over bait cannot be honestly compared to hunting over a plot. It also cannot be a landownership thing because the proposal is private lands only. So the nuts and bolts of baiting is wanting to buy a way to put a deer in a specific spot so no scouting, labor, etc. is required. All the comparisons to food plots and saying legal baiting would level the playing field with the rich guys is all just deflection. At its core it's all about buying a buck in a bag.

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Kind of like turkey hunting with decoys Instead of just a call and woodsmanship.