whitetail ethics question

[Robertsj22]

so i currently live in pa and here there is no baiting. we can't even have mineral licks due to cwd in my area. I am thinking of moving to maryland in the spring and been doing some research on areas to hunt and such and one thing i keep struggling with is in md its ok to bait. it just seems wrong to me. maybe im wrong but sitting over a pile of corn or apples just doesn't seem natural to me. am i the only one who thinks this way

 

[Gerald Martin]

Ethics are what’s right for you and the way you hunt.
What the law allows is the legal parameter that defines methods that everyone can or can’t use to hunt.
If it’s legal you can, if it doesn’t feel right and I can’t enjoy a hunt when employing a legal method, I don’t.

 

[406LIFE]

Gerald is spot-on.

When I teach ethics my suggestion is to always elevate how and what you do in hunting. If that is your direction in your mindset you should never be close to an issue.

I think it's also very important to know that hunting cultures vary widely not only in our country but around the world. Just because it is different does not mean that it is unethical.I don't know if I would ever hunt deer behind. But I understand why some people in the South do it. The understory is too thick otherwise.

 

[RockinU]

I agree with Gerald. I know people who feel the same way about sitting agriculture, food plots, or water too. You should hunt the way that you feel the best about, within the constraints of the law.

 

[genesis273]

In NC, I can hunt over bait, bit choose not to. In reality, I kill alot more nice mature bucks NOT sitting looking at a pile of corn, but by hunting thicket edges and swamps. All of my buddies have decent bucks on camera at their corn piles, but it's always during the wee hours of the night.

 

[N2TRKYS]

It’s a food source. Nothing unethical about it. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

 

[Sask hunter]

Just cause you have baits out doesnt mean you have a parade of big bucks at the pile. I baited last year. Had about 6-8 deer on the pile with the odd big one roaming through during the rut. Reality is I can sit on the edge of a field and see way more deer in an evening way easier then over bait

 

[BluegrassBilly]

I assume you're talking private land, as baiting isn't legal on public land in Maryland. If that's the case, and it were me, I'd try to develop habitat that supports deer year-round, or at least throughout the winter. A short period of a gut full of corn can be hard on deer when the pile is gone and the orange army is back inside.

Having said that, I think B&C did a great job with their position statement: https://www.boone-crockett.org/about/positions_baiting.asp.

 

[Pucky Freak]

There will always be things that are legal in hunting but not necessarily a contribution to your own experience. For example, I don't use trail cams for WT. In IA its perfectly legal and nearly all bow hunters use them, but I have more fun doing traditional recon.

 

[Gary]

so i currently live in pa and here there is no baiting. we can't even have mineral licks due to cwd in my area. I am thinking of moving to maryland in the spring and been doing some research on areas to hunt and such and one thing i keep struggling with is in md its ok to bait. it just seems wrong to me. maybe im wrong but sitting over a pile of corn or apples just doesn't seem natural to me. am i the only one who thinks this way

There IS baiting in PA - the Special Regulations Areas. I realize that Bedford isn't in one. If you don't want to sit over bait, don't put any out. Its a personal preference, not necessarily an ethics question. Ever hunted next to a corn field or an apple tree? Really not a whole lot of difference, your still taking advantage of a food source to see/kill game.

 

[FLS]

We can bait and it’s a boring hunt IMO. It can be effective, but no more so than hunting a persimmon; white oak or overcup oak that’s dropping. Before some purist starts, natural food sources are easy to find if you know where to look and killing deer ain’t rocket science.
If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

 

[Robinhood21]

If you don't like it, don't do it. It's up to you to decide what revs your engine and what doesn't.

I can tell you, here in Kansas, if your plan is to sit on corn everyday, you may be suprised on how ineffective it is to shoot a mature buck. After rifle season, a corn pile can pull them in but getting them in daylight hours and being there in daylight hours just don't pan out as much as you would think. That's just been my experience.

 

[tzone]

so i currently live in pa and here there is no baiting. we can't even have mineral licks due to cwd in my area. I am thinking of moving to maryland in the spring and been doing some research on areas to hunt and such and one thing i keep struggling with is in md its ok to bait. it just seems wrong to me. maybe im wrong but sitting over a pile of corn or apples just doesn't seem natural to me. am i the only one who thinks this way

Absolutely not. It's legal where we hunt in WI as well. There are fewer and fewer people doing it, and I'd wager that by next year, it will be outlawed as well.

If you can find where others are baiting, and back off a few hundred yards, you'll see more deer and deer movement at all hours oft he day. That's been my experience anyway.

 

[herb0166]

It is unethical and does not help hunting. It is unethical only because it greatly increases the spread of CWD - as I understand (not as an expert) CWD is more contagious in clay. If you have seen a salt lick or food lot then you know the deer eat down into the dirt and then you have a spot for increased CWD spread. Why add to the CWD problem if you can make an easy choice not to. If you want to bait, plant an apple tree or a food plot. These are way less of a problem and get you the food source you want.

Lastly, I grew up hunting over food plots in WI since I was knee high to a duck. I only starting kill deer every year after I moved off food pile. Fun fact, the deer know you are at the food plot - especially bucks. The only thing comes to a food pile is a doe/fawn or a wandering spike.

Just my two cents.

 

[RockinU]

It is unethical and does not help hunting. It is unethical only because it greatly increases the spread of CWD - as I understand (not as an expert) CWD is more contagious in clay. If you have seen a salt lick or food lot then you know the deer eat down into the dirt and then you have a spot for increased CWD spread. Why add to the CWD problem if you can make an easy choice not to. If you want to bait, plant an apple tree or a food plot. These are way less of a problem and get you the food source you want.

Lastly, I grew up hunting over food plots in WI since I was knee high to a duck. I only starting kill deer every year after I moved off food pile. Fun fact, the deer know you are at the food plot - especially bucks. The only thing comes to a food pile is a doe/fawn or a wandering spike.

Just my two cents.

It that's the stance you're taking with it, then a food plot or apple tree isn't ethical either, they can both unnaturally concentrate deer, and wherever deer are concentrated the potential for shed prions in the soil is increased...it's not just related to "eating down into the dirt".

 

[beginnerhunter]

In AR our game and fish decided to allow baiting only during or around deer season. They said the benefit of increased harvest was greater than the risk of congregating deer for management of CWD. Idk if I buy that or if they were just worried about blowback from the hunters who bait. They are already worried about decreased participation/license sales and retention so I can see why they wouldn't want folks to drop out over the baiting issue.

AGFC doesn't consider food plots or groves to be unnaturally congregating deer. In fact, AGFC plants food plots in your national forests. Lol

 

[herb0166]

It that's the stance you're taking with it, then a food plot or apple tree isn't ethical either, they can both unnaturally concentrate deer, and wherever deer are concentrated the potential for shed prions in the soil is increased...it's not just related to "eating down into the dirt".

RockinU, I agree with you. Just my though is if the deer are eating down to the dirt, they could drop the prions and once in clay i think they are like x1000 more contagious. Compare that to a clover field or apple tree where the deer only eat where the food is, and after they remove the food from one spot, they go to the next. So to me that is much less congregation, and much less prions ending up in clay.

Also, I want to add, it is F'ing America, so do what you want! This is just how I choose to tackle this issue.

 

[genesis273]

To the ones who defend baiting, if it were legal, what's your stance if baiting turkeys were legal? Would you consider it just as ethical and challenging as not baiting?
Just a hypothetical question?

 

[RockinU]

RockinU, I agree with you. Just my though is if the deer are eating down to the dirt, they could drop the prions and once in clay i think they are like x1000 more contagious. Compare that to a clover field or apple tree where the deer only eat where the food is, and after they remove the food from one spot, they go to the next. So to me that is much less congregation, and much less prions ending up in clay.

Also, I want to add, it is F'ing America, so do what you want! This is just how I choose to tackle this issue.

I understand that, but prions aren't just shed in saliva, they are also excreted in urine and feces, so anywhere you congregate a larger number of deer the potential for increased prion presence in the clay is there. I'm not saying do it or don't, I'm just looking for consistency. If you aren't going to bait because of CWD, then you shouldn't food plot because of it either.

I really don't know what the answer is, so I wouldn't feel comfortable offering an opinion either way.

 

[Bambistew]

Having hunted in MD and killing a few dozen deer... IMO, baiting is an utter waste, effort and money and not needed. I never baited because I didn't need too. The big bucks don't come to the piles, other than maybe to check for does during the rut... if there are any does there to begin with. There is so much for them to eat in the woods throughout the fall, especially early season, that they don't really come to the piles until mid/late november, and by then they are pretty nocturnal after being hunted for 2.5 months. I have friends that have taken some really nice bucks... none were on bait.

Sika deer on the other hand are stupid for bait. It will increase your success about 4 fold from what I've seen.

Good luck!