Proposed Baiting Regulation Changes for ODWC

[Okie4570]

This..........I have to be honest I did not realize you could bait on public land and I have hunted several of the WMA's out west over the years. It just concerns me that like AllOut said, first it's public, then next time it may be private.
Here is what the ODWC had to say about the issue in last Sunday's Daily Oklahoman. I don't know if I buy this rationale, I will post my comments today. Deadline to do so is January 13.

No more baiting on WMAs?

State wildlife officials also want to eliminate baiting of all wildlife on the state-owned public hunting areas.

Alan Peoples, head of the wildlife division for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, cites several examples as reasons for the proposal.

It's illegal to hunt turkeys over bait but on wildlife management areas in western Oklahoma - where calling the birds can get difficult - some hunters are baiting areas to lure turkeys and then ambushing the gobblers between their roosts and the baited areas, Peoples said. Technically, those hunters are not violating the law but are circumventing it, he said.

Also, hunters who bait deer on wildlife management areas have complained of other hunters setting up deer stands over or near their baited areas, Peoples said.

Eliminating baiting entirely on the state's wildlife management areas would prevent that kind of hunter conflict, he said.

Other situations occur where a hunter lawfully baits a public area for wildlife but then another hunter could come along and unknowingly and illegally shoots dove or waterfowl over the baited area, which is illegal.

“It (baiting) just creates all kind of issues,” Peoples said.

Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-departme...ations-for-2012/article/3638508#ixzz1jALPkPEj

I harvest deer walking to milo fields almost every year, and turkeys walking to alfalfa fields every year. I still setup and work the birds to the decoys, knowing that they travel to a feed field is part of the scouting and ultimately the hunt. So it looks like I may be in violation of circumventing the rules as well. Deer and turkey are browsers, everything could be considered bait if one wants to start that game. I know the ODW is talking about dumping or scattering feed but it always seems that once the ball is rolling, the rest of the pins start falling soon after. JMO

 

[Jared]

A definition of "Bait" will need to be put into statute. However the proposal is not to change the hunting over crops or any natural food source.

I don't hunt public land either, but I think its BS they are proposing this.
Upper Kaw has been planted in corn/milo/beans for many years. If its illegal to hunt over a food source, then all oak trees, wheat fields etc on public ground should be off limits for hunting.
Just because one does not hunt public ground, we need to keep those that do, in our thoughts.

 

[Shadowrider]

BE dammed sure you go to the ODW website and voice your opinion!!

Done!

 

[AllOut]

A definition of "Bait" will need to be put into statute. However the proposal is not to change the hunting over crops or any natural food source.

I would think everyone realizes that, it's the idea that hunting and oak patch full of acorns or a small food plot isnt really any different than a feeder or tossing some rice bran out on the ground. We are hunting food sources either way. Ya it's a man made food source that we put out specifically for hunting but so are small food plots. Plus on a normal year finding a good stand of acorns that are being demolished by deer isn't that hard either. I would also argue that naturally falling acorns are easier to kill deer off of than a feeder.

 

[r00s7a]

Done as well.


It's illegal to hunt turkeys over bait but on wildlife management areas in western Oklahoma - where calling the birds can get difficult - some hunters are baiting areas to lure turkeys and then ambushing the gobblers between their roosts and the baited areas, Peoples said. Technically, those hunters are not violating the law but are circumventing it, he said.
So what? Isn't that a basic strategy in hunting anything? Pattern the quarry, ambush between feeding and bedding areas? They are not circumventing the law. The law says don't hunt turkeys over bait. They are not hunting over bait.

Also, hunters who bait deer on wildlife management areas have complained of other hunters setting up deer stands over or near their baited areas, Peoples said.
Again, so what? This is just something you have to deal with on a communal hunting ground. It might be a nice draw with a good field of view, people are still going to fight about it, the baiting is not the issue.

Eliminating baiting entirely on the state's wildlife management areas would prevent that kind of hunter conflict, he said.
So would eliminating hunting altogether, neither of which is the problem. The problem is with the people, not the regulations.

Other situations occur where a hunter lawfully baits a public area for wildlife but then another hunter could come along and unknowingly and illegally shoots dove or waterfowl over the baited area, which is illegal.
Really? Does this happen so often that we have to take such extreme measures like is being done?

 

[fishfurlife]

I support the rule change and voiced my opinion. I personally know the Biologist that suggested this rule change. It came from in house, not out of house.

I hunt public ground 99% of the time and the number of feeders/bait piles/feed stations that I encounter over the last few years has sky rocketed. So has the number of hunters out there that get the sense of "mine" when they throw bait on the ground. I have also witnessed plenty of confrontations between hunters for various reasons concerning a bait pile. I visited a WMA this past season that I have not visited in nearly 4 years. I literally could not walk more than 1/4 mile without seeing a feeder or stumbling across a bait pile. It pissed me off.

Yes baiting/food plots/food sources are essentially the same, but throwing bait on the ground raises the risk of disease substantially. Just imagine the area that is covered by one bait pile and then imagine all the critters that eat/crap/roll around in that pile (usually less than a 15 square foot area) Compare that area to the area of only 1/4 acre food plot(10890 square feet) and it is obvious that disease/sickness will be spread at a very escalated rate on the bait piles. No we have not had a huge outbreak of sickness in our deer heard but if it happened, I can guarantee you that baited lands will crash faster than any other.

Bait piles bring in unwanted plants. Every bag of bait you buy is only guaranteed to be so pure. After that, there can be a wide variety of different plants mixed in. We don't want Bermuda, Johnson grass, old world blue stem, etc etc on our public lands. The ODWC is already fighting tooth and nail to chase these plants off.

Again, I stand for the rule change and feel that there is solid science in it's initial proposal.

 

[sesh]

I don't hunt public land either, but I think its BS they are proposing this.
Upper Kaw has been planted in corn/milo/beans for many years. If its illegal to hunt over a food source, then all oak trees, wheat fields etc on public ground should be off limits for hunting.
Just because one does not hunt public ground, we need to keep those that do, in our thoughts.

BE dammed sure you go to the ODW website and voice your opinion!!

Right with you Dennis, I went and shared my input.

 

[AllOut]

The disease spreading debate is overly played up. I've seen large groups of deer huddled under a single oak in an area not much bigger than what a feeder would spread out corn. The idea behind it is that it groups a lot of deer close while feeding and the closer they are to each other the easier for disease to spread plus they keep coming back to that exact location where the diesease may be. What about bedding areas? Decent groups all huddled up sometimes for hours at a time sleeping... Does that spread dieases?
Deer, doe in particular are social animals. They interact with each other sometimes in groups all year long, not just while feeding. I could believe that a baiting sight might make it a little easier for the spread of disease, but if it can it would be a very small increase in probability. Probably not enough to really matter.

 

[willystruck]

I added my thoughts to the odwc page.

 

[264Magnum]

I don't hunt public land so it's no concern to me.

That's a very poor outlook to have here. I hope people that think like you are the minority. Its like me saying since I don't have kids, I don't care if anyone else's kids are able to hunt.