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HB 1588 Baiting of deer.

I was on line looking at the Bills introduced for this years legislative session in Virginia.

For those unaware, Virginia has just one session a year, and it starts in January.

Anyway, this Bill would allow baiting deer.

"SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Baiting of deer. Allows a hunter, during deer season, to occupy a baited place or to put out bait or salt for deer for the purpose of taking or killing deer. "

Wow! I can see both sides of this one. Thanks, Tony!

Ughhh...

this, in essence, will equal bait hunting black bear, in my area.

Fuzzy, my experience in North Carolina was that they did not bait for deer in bear country.

I was told, and have seen photos that prove, that Bears will just claim a bait pile by laying on top of it until they can eat it all.

Regardless of where you fall on the "To Bait, or not to Bait" spectrum, I do not believe it will pass because of CWD in Virginia.

As of the 18th, the Natural Resources Subcommittee recommended it be struck from the Docket. It is still alive, but recommended to be struck.

everywhere west of Lynchburg is "bear country" now.

I would be all for baiting. I hate sitting in a tree day after day for 6+ hours and not seeing anything or not having a shot if I do see something. My time is limited and my vacation time is precious. Also, I have landowners that wonder why I have not killed any does and when I say that I just don't see the deer when I am there they say maybe you should bait. I know the county baits when they do their controlled kills on the parks. I have seen it and had Wardens tell me it is one of their basic tactics. If they can do it, we should be allowed. Don't really see the difference sitting on a trail leading into a corn field or sitting a stand next to an apple or white oak tree dropping fruit compared to a salt block or pile of corn. My .02 cents

brwndog, you probably need a different hobby

Fuzzy, I don't think I do. I am not a novice, not bragging, but have been bow hunting since 1985 and taken over 200 deer with my bow. If you do the math I am sure I have spent over a year in a tree (maybe 6 months, but who's counting? Just a lot of time in a tree). Just saying that it is frustrating when you take a week off and hunt from sunrise to sunset w/o a shot opportunity.

it certainly is. It also sounds like you've been spoiled by success. Back in the mid-90's when deer populations were crazy high (for the Valley and Ridge) and I had my choice of stand locations on 370 acres of prime mountain hardwood with some pasture edge and a big cut-over border, I figured up my success rate. 1st October through mid November I spent 25 hours in the stand for every legitimate archery shot opportunity. I haven't killed the number of deer you have with bow (about 200 all weapons, maybe a quarter of those with bow) For the area and the time that was GREAT bow hunting. Nowadays I'm happy with 50% more hours per. shot opp. (about 40 hours, ie: a full week if you count a few hours off stand most days, and a family day) . If you figure 50 deer at 25 hours each and 10 hours of daylight a day, I've put in a little over four months of stand time, and killed a quarter of the deer that you have. Then figuring a few misses, that's even more time.

I guess I'm trying to say the best of what I have had, is about what you are saying isn't acceptable.

When I started bowhunting, in 1977, I felt I had a good season if I even SAW a deer during shooting hours. It sounds like you got in on the ground floor of the good stuff, and are having trouble adjusting to the changes. It's all about perspective.

In my view, if I have to bait to keep from being bored, I'll just pack it in and do something more fun.

Fuzzy, I hear ya. Yes, I was hunting some heavily populated areas and the main reason I got to hunt there was to control the population. If I wasn't killing does, the landowners were not happy.

yeah I get into some of that too. My dad used to get PO'ed that I'd only kill two a day on the farm, (rifle or blackpowder) because there's a two a day limit.

Lots of bears east of Lynchburg too. I could see getting a ticket for shooting a bear because he had been on the neighbors corn pile, even if you chose not to bait. I have mix emotions about it. I hunt in Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky too. You can bait in those states. I will say few things it does for sure....it definitely makes for some skittish deer, the one "For Sure" thing is you will get a pile of night time trail cam pics, and trying to hunt over it in the morning will likely increase the likelihood of the previous two.

If they won't let you use real deer urine as a lure because of CWD , how could they approve baiting?? I have set many a day and not seen a deer, but still enjoyed my time in the woods. I've only killed about 75 deer, 30 something with a bow and that seems like plenty to me in my 54 years of hunting.

I'm not in favor of baiting deer or bears. Bears just seem to hang out for the easy food source and the deer stay away.

when deer baiting begins, all natural deer movement stops, and killing a deer with the bow actually becomes much harder. They will sit downwind until you leave. They are in no hurry as the bait will be there 24/7, no use risking foraging for natural food and a bait pile allows them to track human incursions with precision. I watched this happen when baiting became legal in WI in the early 90s. Baiting deer is a big mistake. Baiting for hogs in TX is a big reason they do not kill enough of them. With no bait, hogs have to move almost continually just to get enough food. Pretty easy to spot and stalk, even with a longbow. Once baiting starts they stop moving completely during daylight, and approach downwind with great caution at night until they are sure the coast is clear. Baiting for deer destroys bowhunting IMHO and experience.

when deer baiting begins, all natural deer movement stops, and killing a deer with the bow actually becomes much harder. They will sit downwind until you leave. They are in no hurry as the bait will be there 24/7, no use risking foraging for natural food and a bait pile allows them to track human incursions with precision. I watched this happen when baiting became legal in WI in the early 90s. Baiting deer is a big mistake. Baiting for hogs in TX is a big reason they do not kill enough of them. With no bait, hogs have to move almost continually just to get enough food. Pretty easy to spot and stalk, even with a longbow. Once baiting starts they stop moving completely during daylight, and approach downwind with great caution at night until they are sure the coast is clear. Baiting for deer destroys bowhunting IMHO and experience.

when deer baiting begins, all natural deer movement stops, and killing a deer with the bow actually becomes much harder. They will sit downwind until you leave. They are in no hurry as the bait will be there 24/7, no use risking foraging for natural food and a bait pile allows them to track human incursions with precision. I watched this happen when baiting became legal in WI in the early 90s. Baiting deer is a big mistake. Baiting for hogs in TX is a big reason they do not kill enough of them. With no bait, hogs have to move almost continually just to get enough food. Pretty easy to spot and stalk, even with a longbow. Once baiting starts they stop moving completely during daylight, and approach downwind with great caution at night until they are sure the coast is clear. Baiting for deer destroys bowhunting IMHO and experience.

Michael Schwister that's interesting and makes a lot of sense.

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