Mich. judge upholds ban on deer baiting, feeding

A judge has let stand a recently imposed ban on feeding and baiting deer in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

[Buzz Miller]

Just wondering, why dont they just have the ban in Kent county. It is a penned in deer facility and only one deer found positive? I don't think this is the "economy booster" our recessive state needs in the peek time for these growers. Let them sell there bait to the other 82 counties but now Kent. Maybe even a 100 mile radius of the facility. This is not what Michigan needs, specifically now. From my understanding, the DNR has tested atleast 1000 deer around the site of the ONE positive deer in a penned in facility. Excellent foresite MDNR and the NRC. NOT

[Heimlich]

Their ban isn't going to stop many people,including me.I've got 2 salt blocks,3 coated stumps and 3 bushels of apples out as I type.The ban is ridiculous overkill and just another glaring example that nobody is steering the ship in Lansing.

[Devon]

They are not banning these penned up place from feeding the deer out in a trough.

[Alfred]

Is it ok for deer to eat from corn fields or waste treatment fields ?

[Devon]

The DNR have to be smoking crack.

[Mrs Batch]

I'm in agreement somewhat with Buzz Miller. This ban does hit the economy. I no longer see bags of corn, bags of carrots, or bags of apples at our local stores in Newaygo county. The ban impacts the stores and the farmers. Plus the penalties are crazy if you purchase these items for the purpose of baiting. I just want to get a deer to feed the family during the winter. I'd be happy to get a deer checked out at the check station, whether I bait or not.

[Sarah]

wow

[Reeko]

This really bites. I just got a deer feeder last summer. I don't shoot them, just feed them so the grandkids can watch.

[_Dingo]

Reeko wrote:

This really bites. I just got a deer feeder last summer. I don't shoot them, just feed them so the grandkids can watch.

Slap your feeder up in a tree and out of sight from the DNR with a solar timer and pulley system - let your grandkids continue to enjoy the deer. This is a stupid ruling that deserves to be thwarted. No one should be able to tell you what you can and can't feed on your own property.

[Steelie]

Good Day,

I support this judge's descision. First... I have always thought baiting is like cheating. If you can't hunt without bait, you don't have the skills to hunt in the first place, and therfore shouldn't be in the woods in the first place. More importantly is the very real threat of spreading disease through the deer population. And I think that is the core of the issue. People forget just how big deer hunting is to Michigan. I have read estimates as high as a billion dollars being spent in the State due to deer season alone!

Steelie

[Constitutional Mark]

Steelie wrote:

Good Day,
I support this judge's descision. First... I have always thought baiting is like cheating. If you can't hunt without bait, you don't have the skills to hunt in the first place, and therfore shouldn't be in the woods in the first place. More importantly is the very real threat of spreading disease through the deer population. And I think that is the core of the issue. People forget just how big deer hunting is to Michigan. I have read estimates as high as a billion dollars being spent in the State due to deer season alone!
Steelie

Ever go fishing with only a hook?

No bait, no lure?

Problem is, they don't know exactly how it spreads and there has been ZERO evidence of further spread of the disease. It was the DNR's way of banning baiting, permanently.

As well, the states that do have CWD have lost some of their deer\elk populations but has not destroyed the hunting industries in those states.

What makes even less sense is that Wisconsin is about cut in half for baiting and not baiting. Like the deer stop at that imaginary border.

[Alvin]

My guess is there are not fining or going after the casual folks that just feed deer so they have food, at least I hope so :)

[Shoeless Eluder]

Steelie wrote:

Good Day,
I support this judge's descision. First... I have always thought baiting is like cheating. If you can't hunt without bait, you don't have the skills to hunt in the first place, and therfore shouldn't be in the woods in the first place. More importantly is the very real threat of spreading disease through the deer population. And I think that is the core of the issue. People forget just how big deer hunting is to Michigan. I have read estimates as high as a billion dollars being spent in the State due to deer season alone!
Steelie

I agree: I haven't hunted in a while but I used to just walk out in the woods and wait. No bait, no fancy camo, no scent,. Its really not that hard deer are curious animals. I used to get to my spot before twilight in my red and black mackinaw jacket and orange cap, fire up a joint and wait, the smell of pot seemed to attract them, if I saw a deer and he seemed a little curious I would whistle and if anything it would stop and look around. Seems like an awful lot of work to haul a ton of carrots out to the woods. And it should never ever be allowed on public land, I guess if you own some land and bait deer go ahead just seems like a big waste of time and energy.

[Steelie]

Constitutional Mark wrote:

<quoted text>
Ever go fishing with only a hook?
No bait, no lure?

Good Day,

Meant as silly, not arguementative... Ever been down to the dam downtown in the fall? You can catch fish with a bare hook, I have seen it happen! It's called "lining".

Steelie

[big rig]

better than my bushes,deer ate 800.00 dollars of bushes,cheaper to pa fine

[bobolinq]

good solid Americana;
1) raise holy hell about a guy catching an illegal sturgeon a while back; 'ought to string him up'

2)the hell with the law, I'll damn well bait deer if i want too!

it's a beautiful thing ain't it.

p.s.

i wrote this driving down 57 do'in 90.

[Steelie]

big rig wrote:

better than my bushes,deer ate 800.00 dollars of bushes,cheaper to pa fine

Good Day,

Is the damage occuring in Winter? If so, cover with burlap. Insulates the bushes and protects them from pesky deer!

Steelie

[middle wing nutjob]

baiting deer and fishing with bait are worlds apart...
baiting fish would be more like dropping a worm in the same spot day after day, week after week, then suddenly swinging a hook through the water and snatching a fish...
fishing for deer would be more like firing off a salt covered round every few minutes, at random, and hoping a deer steps in front of it to lick it...

[Thewayiseeit]

I understand Steelie's view and pretty much agree, BUT, isn't the deer population kinda high in Michigan and aren't we like #2 in the nation for deer-car wrecks? So couldn't the deer population stand a little extra thinning in some way, shape, or form?

[Steelie]

Thewayiseeit wrote:

I understand Steelie's view and pretty much agree, BUT, isn't the deer population kinda high in Michigan and aren't we like #2 in the nation for deer-car wrecks? So couldn't the deer population stand a little extra thinning in some way, shape, or form?

Good Day,

I vaguely remember a recent report that I believe verifies your assertion regarding car/deer collisions. And for the first time in a long time, Kent County is no longer the number one county for this, gone to Jackson I believe. Part of the problem with deer getting sick is the DNR and farmer's concern that diseased deer could spread infections to livestock (cows mostly) and do damage in that way. I have a feeling the lobby on this is more to protect farmers and their livestock than neccessarily protecting one of Michigan's biggest cash cows, deer hunting. Did you know it is estimated that deer hunting alone brings in an estimated $1 billion + a year to the State's economy? Big business and important for the economy here.

Steelie