Water: is I considered bait?
Connecticut
Guys, is hunting over a bucket of water considered baiting deer?
I would think so. Water is food. If is not categorized as food then definitely would be an attractant.
That being said, just dig a hole and line it up with plastic material to allow for water retention. See "TotalPond 7 ft. x 10 ft. pond skins Pond Liner" on Amazon. A good rain should fill it up.
I would say hunting over a waterhole is not illegal. Now a bucket of water would be different from hunting over a puddle or pond, so not sure how a game warden would view that.
I think notme uses water to bait fish.
Im a master baiter from way back...lol
It would be nice to get a legal opinion from DEEP. I would not consider it food but, is it an atractant? Zones 11 and 12 it wouldn't matter.
Why would a deer come to your pail of water? I could see if this was a desert climate and a scarcity of water would draw game, such as, cattle troughs on ranches.
... unless acorn flavor is added to that pail by mistake ;)
Wild bill, Deer come in to drink from our bird baths. I put a bucket of water out and they are drinking from it. That's why I ask.
Then use a kiddie swimming pool. It is not your fault the deer drink from your children's favorite summer playground. As long as you do not have a sign stating that the swimming pool water is for deer consumption only I think you will be safe. Just kidding.
Look, in the end it is your choice, based on GOD given free will gift to humans, to be a hunter or a killer. Temptation is there only and only to test our will. When the bell rings for the last time we all, individually, will receive the test result. Do you want to pass or are you ready to accept failure?
https://youtu.be/gqF1qq7oF60
https://youtu.be/K5l5eemsEhI
I would imagine that there is no difference in taste between tame and wild deer. Let the law and your conscience be your guide.
Water in a bucket is legal to hunt over. It is not considered food. I asked and researched this topic 2 years ago when we were in a drought, there was a forum where a CT conservation office chimed in and specifically said it was legal. In the same forum he stated that you could actually put bait out to attract deer as long as it isn't in "range" of what you are hunting with...so if there is corn or apples 150 yds from your stand you a bow would be legal, a rifle is a nono
I have heard this before Big D however, I think it will depend on the DEEP officer if called to use his discretion.
I would agree, they all seem to have their own interpretation of the law...especially in the gray areas such as water as a "bait"
What's the best bait? Poland Springs or Aquafina? :)
acorn flavored water is a much better option ... a human nose will not detect the scent but a deer's nose will.
Grey Goose is for the CO ... :)
Bob, Smartwater, or possibly neurowater, after all, you want to keep hunting hard, and smart deer are tougher to kill. That said, you could put out caffeinated water (saw that the other day) to really keep deer moving... Or, for deer in snooty suburbs like Redding, you could put out San Pelligrino :)
Serious question, I've never baited, so never looked into this in CT. Up here, we have no baiting allowed in season. All bait has to be removed from hunting areas within 10 days of the season. I suppose in theory, you could leave bait at a camera site, but I've never seen documentation stating how far you would need to be from there to be safe, legally safe. It seems to me, that having bait anyplace remotely near a stand would allow a EPO to tag you - you cant prove you werent hunting on the ground or what not for example. Outside bait legal areas, is that the same down there - no bait 10 days prior?
(I've never done it - feels like a good way to increase communicable disease rates, and given we already have low deer density up here, I dont want to "add" to that)
The water thing seems so rarely applicable here - so many water sources for deer out there, that it seems like it would rarely be a significant draw unless they were going to be in that spot already, and had learned it was there - opportunity and thirst meet. Hard to imagine, most years, that they would travel out of their way for it in the north east at least.
