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Michigan to ban baiting

Jackalope

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They also proposed a ban on urine based lures. Intetessting.. It'll only be a matter of time until they ban baiting in Ohio.
 
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giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
I stopped using scents made by deer farming a few years back. I bought some ever calm last year off another member and it’s still in my fridge unopened. I’m all for the stop of farming deer. Even if they banned baiting, I’d be alright. Force me to do more plots is all.
 
Was watching the show Wardens which often has a Michigan connection. There is the tuberculosis zone in the NE portion of the lower peninsula that has had baiting banned for almost 20 years and the Conservation Officers (game warden) were saying that they feel at least 80% of hunters in that zone still bait in some form.

The way I read the recommendation for the baiting ban is they are waiting til the end of season to implement it (January 2019) to allow farmers time to plan their future farming practices. That would also include using minerals of any type.
 
As many of you know I came from PA which allows no baiting. WHen I started in Ohio, I started baiting and assumed it would be easy to kill a deer and boy was I wrong. The deer are very weary of coming into them except for fawns. Adult deer sense the slightest thing wrong and they are out of there. Both buck I have killed I caught circling downwind of the feeder and I grunted to them. I don't believe either one were going to the feeder, but were merely scenting to see if any doe were there. The only adult deer we killed on bait was a doe my son killed the year before last and we actually were walking to check trail cams and when we came around the corner she was looking the other way.

It honestly wouldn't bother me if they did away with it. When your neighbors do it, I think you are almost stuck having to do it to, but I think the deer movement would be better without it.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried the grape koolaid yet, so that could be our issue. Fully intend on doing it this year. LOL.
 
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Fletch

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Let the baiting debate begin....Doubt it will ever stop...All about money... Nice to hunt a state where baiting of any kind is forbidden... Illinois your not even allowed to have a mineral site... We have had pics on trail cams of wardens walking around, so they do check... More power to them...
 
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Jackalope

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I do think it is rather shitty that a state is willing to ban baiting in the name of preventing the spread of disease but they are not willing to ban deer farms which is how the wild population becomes infected in the first place.
 

motorbreaker

*Supporting Member I*
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North of Toledo
I do think it is rather shitty that a state is willing to ban baiting in the name of preventing the spread of disease but they are not willing to ban deer farms which is how the wild population becomes infected in the first place.

I don't believe that's its always because of a deer farm. Deer farms test more extensively. And that could be the only reason its found more often on deer farms. Fact is that there is way to much unknown about CWD, I believe because of this the DNR is scared of CWD. I also believe that the DNR knows more about CWD then they are telling the public.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...articleID=13&usg=AOvVaw1HmNb_X21lzRq9GB3-gqa4
Some good info on CWD here.
 

motorbreaker

*Supporting Member I*
1,542
63
North of Toledo
Was watching the show Wardens which often has a Michigan connection. There is the tuberculosis zone in the NE portion of the lower peninsula that has had baiting banned for almost 20 years and the Conservation Officers (game warden) were saying that they feel at least 80% of hunters in that zone still bait in some form.

The way I read the recommendation for the baiting ban is they are waiting til the end of season to implement it (January 2019) to allow farmers time to plan their future farming practices. That would also include using minerals of any type.

I hunted the TB area for years. Started hunting there in the late 80's. There were so many deer in that area it was crazy. By the early 2000's with the cheap doe permits the deer numbers were very low. My buddies still hunt there and say that the deer herd is pretty good again. They also says its normal to find bait piles while hunting.
 
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Jackalope

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I don't believe that's its always because of a deer farm. Deer farms test more extensively. And that could be the only reason its found more often on deer farms. Fact is that there is way to much unknown about CWD, I believe because of this the DNR is scared of CWD. I also believe that the DNR knows more about CWD then they are telling the public.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjvvsTW1NXbAhXDz1MKHRr5BBMQFggvMAE&url=http://www.stopcwd.org/library/library2.cfm?articleID=13&usg=AOvVaw1HmNb_X21lzRq9GB3-gqa4
Some good info on CWD here.


Deer farms love to play the chicken or the egg situation. They rely on the lack of data to claim they were infected by the wild population and not the other way around. But the fact remains that in 99.99% of cases where a new wild infection is discovered a deer farm or research facility is discovered to be infected that imported animals from a known CWD infected area.

They then go on to make statements such as this.
CWD is neither a “wild deer” disease nor a “captive deer” disease but can be found in both.
There are 3 States with CWD only in captive deer herds and 8 States with CWD only in wild
free-ranging populations. Based on USDA positive test prevalence numbers, CWD is more
common in wild cervids than in captive cervids.


What they fail to mention is the 8 states with only wild infected populations each instance can be traced back to captive infections that were eradicated thus an infected captive population no longer exists leaving behind an infected wild population.

The "StopCWD" site above is obviously a deer farm funded information initiative as evident by this obviously bias statement.

SO IF CWD IS PREDOMINATELY AN UNCONTROLLED WILD CERVID DISEASE, WHY ARE CERVIDS FARMERS SUBJECTED TO CONTINUING ONEROUS REGULATIONS? Quite simply, an agenda to defer attention and responsibility away from the ongoing wild problem. The Zero CWD risk currently demanded of farmers via excessive regulations, regulations not based upon scientific fact, will NOT have a significant impact upon the steady progress of the wild disease. Onerous rules serve only to eliminate farmers from a private business that "competes" with government agencies; agencies which desire to control cervid species, exclusively. To date, scores of farmers have been put out of business with virtually NO impact on the rampant progression of wild disease. "FACTS from the Farm" suggests that corrective, scientifically justified regulations and procedures are now necessary.
 
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jagermeister

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Ohio
I do think it is rather shitty that a state is willing to ban baiting in the name of preventing the spread of disease but they are not willing to ban deer farms which is how the wild population becomes infected in the first place.

It's all politics. Decisions based on politics instead of science. The DNR can get baiting banned, but the deer farms have too much political power for anyone to stop them. It's all bullshit. And anyone that defends the deer farms has obviously not been around enough of them. Yea, there's some legit operations. But by in large they're all ran by shady individuals that do whatever they can to bend the rules I'm the name of the almighty dollar. Said thing is we hunters have created this mess. The infatuation with big antlers and bragging rights is feeding these deer farms. Supply and demand.
 

bowhunter1023

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Appalachia
Don't forget the most powerful lobby in this state, Big Ag, will be silently supporting bait. How many millions of bushels are sold to deer hunters? It'd be a real hit to the shelled corn market if Ohio banned baiting.
 
I do think it is rather shitty that a state is willing to ban baiting in the name of preventing the spread of disease but they are not willing to ban deer farms which is how the wild population becomes infected in the first place.


My issue with feeding bans is that they only affect hunters. They won't stop Grandma from having her bird feeder out. As we all know deer congregate around them as well. Probably way more bird feeders out there than deer bait piles.
 

Jackalope

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My issue with feeding bans is that they only affect hunters. They won't stop Grandma from having her bird feeder out. As we all know deer congregate around them as well. Probably way more bird feeders out there than deer bait piles.

Indeed. And the one article that motorbreaker linked above said there is zero data to support that baiting assists in spreading the disease.
 
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