State laws on baiting deer

Interesting comparison.

We find the hunting on public land to be generally poor by comparison to private land here. Wonder if it's any worse in the states where private land can be hunted over bait, but not public.

Georgia would also appear to offer an interesting comparison between areas where baiting is allowed and disallowed, with the state divided between the two.

Strong feelings on both sides of the issue, based on both science and traditions.

I've openly suggested on here and on state questionnaires that I have come to favor baiting being allowed here. It would offer several advantages on the smaller parcels that we now find ourselves hunting, which are increasingly surrounded by non-huntable land. But the main factor IMO is the fact that the current inability to effectively enforce the baiting restrictions leaves us with the poachers being guaranteed an advantage unobtainable by those who follow the rules. Self-restriction is a fine thing and many of us include varying degrees of it in our harvest goals or equipment restrictions, but those are personal limitations voluntarily imposed. Restrictions imposed by the state on everybody should be enforceable, or they become just another advantage to the outlaw who disregards them. Poachers have quite enough advantage already without help from the referees.

I've always said "A bait bucket is a poor man's food plot"..

I'm in favor of doing away with baiting laws just so you don't have the neighbor setting out bait to entrap someone hunting the next property kind of issues. Hunting both bait and no bait states I just don't see it as a big deal

Ted Nugent had it right when the state of Michigan was arguing the deer baiting issue when he said..........

So whats wrong with me spending hundreds of dollars fattening up deer to help them make it through the winter months while I wait to kill that one deer that the law allows me to take.

I am not a fan of Ted Nugent but this made sense.

I'd be happy with just allowing the mineral sites to be hunted.  That would take a whole lot of headache out of things.

It is legal to bait Deer here in Kentucky, but I think it should be illegal though. I've had never had to "bait" Deer in order to harvest one. When you have to bait them, I don't consider it "fair chase", just a simple way to bag a Deer, without any real hunting skills.

Depending on who interprets the law, food plot could be considered bait here.