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Baiting Bill HB1618/SB1942

Should baiting be allowed on private land?

  • Yes

    Votes: 181 39.5%

  • No

    Votes: 204 44.5%

  • Don't care

    Votes: 73 15.9%
  • Total voters
    458
I've lived and hunted in states where it became legal. What always happens is that the hunter who puts out the most bait sees and kills the most deer. Not necessarily the biggest deer though as some of those old big boys will pattern the hunter better than the bait hunter.

The end result is that the other hunters must compete in putting out bait in both quality and quantity. Those who do not bait the deer and are mainly against baiting will see fewer to no deer at all.

I'm 100% against baiting.
 
Rebel said:
I've lived and hunted in states where it became legal. What always happens is that the hunter who puts out the most bait sees and kills the most deer. Not necessarily the biggest deer though as some of those old big boys will pattern the hunter better than the bait hunter.

The end result is that the other hunters must compete in putting out bait in both quality and quantity. Those who do not bait the deer and are mainly against baiting will see fewer to no deer at all.

I'm 100% against baiting.
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Depends. Baiting is legal where I hunt in KY. My brother and myself have never baited, been hunting there for a while. The guys that bait around us, have little to no success. Area we hunt is crops, thousands and thousands acres of crops. Baiting has almost no affect on deer. Sure doesn't help see them.
 
Openlake said:
On the discussion of Alfatoxin corn, it just doesn't happen only in bagged corn.
Corn in the field/food plot CAN have alfatoxin as well.

I had a farmer buddy that had his corn refused at the grainery for a high aflatoxin level. Some percentage is allowed.
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The operative word being CAN.

With bait piles, is more often WILL develop aflatoxin.

Yes, aflatoxin does develop in harvested corn fields.
Just usually less toxic, and spread out more than concentrated in a pile or small area.

Speaking of aflatoxin levels, how many people are aware that Wal-mart doesn't sell "deer corn" in Texas like they do in Tennessee?

In Texas, all corn must be tested for aflatoxin before being sold, and it's illegal to sell corn that tests positive for aflatoxin for wildlife food. Guess what happens to all that aflatoxin-infected corn?
It is packaged as "Deer Corn", then shipped to Tennessee (and other states where legal) to be sold primarily by Walmart.

Guess why they don't call it "Wildlife Corn"?

I suspect if it were called "Wildlife" corn, the liability would be overwhelming to the sellers,
since it can be so toxic to birds. By contrast, this is not the case with certified aflatoxin-free corn, which is often sold as horse feed and chicken feed.
 
Headhunter said:
Depends. Baiting is legal where I hunt in KY. My brother and myself have never baited, been hunting there for a while. The guys that bait around us, have little to no success. Area we hunt is crops, thousands and thousands acres of crops. Baiting has almost no affect on deer. Sure doesn't help see them.
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"Depends" is indeed the operative word :)
In the scenario you describe above, I've seen similar outcomes myself.

Hunting in KY, areas with lots of agriculture, and abundance of food, and with widespread deer feeding by hunters, the deer simply are drawn much to another bait pile. When everybody (or just many, many) hunts over bait, that baiting seems to lose much of its appear to deer.

Never mind that well-fed, not hungry, deer simply move around less during daylight.
Even in TN areas where deer food is abundant, from lots of agriculture or a massive acorn crop, daytime deer movement can by very low, when the deer are fat & full of food. And as you know, similar happens with fishing. One day the fish feed like crazy, the next day they are fat, full, and not biting anything.

YOU see plenty of deer in KY because you are an accomplished hunter.
Unfortunately for those novices who want to learn how to actually deer "hunt" in KY,
it is actually harder to learn there because of the legalized hunting over bait.

For many, deer hunting has become simply pouring out bags of corn, then taking a shooting position nearby. This is not really "hunting". It's more about "shooting".
 
TheLBLman said:
The operative word being CAN.

With bait piles, is more often WILL develop aflatoxin.

Yes, aflatoxin does develop in harvested corn fields.
Just usually less toxic, and spread out more than concentrated in a pile or small area.

Speaking of aflatoxin levels, how many people are aware that Wal-mart doesn't sell "deer corn" in Texas like they do in Tennessee?

In Texas, all corn must be tested for aflatoxin before being sold, and it's illegal to sell corn that tests positive for aflatoxin for wildlife food. Guess what happens to all that aflatoxin-infected corn?
It is packaged as "Deer Corn", then shipped to Tennessee (and other states where legal) to be sold primarily by Walmart.

Guess why they don't call it "Wildlife Corn"?

I suspect if it were called "Wildlife" corn, the liability would be overwhelming to the sellers,
since it can be so toxic to birds. By contrast, this is not the case with certified aflatoxin-free corn, which is often sold as horse feed and chicken feed.
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Why don't Tennessee have such a law? Wouldn't it be beneficial for all the homeowners and other people who legally feed deer? I've always said if they don't want to legalize baiting make it illegal for anybody to feed year round.
 
I grew up in NC and still hunt in NC every year where baiting is legal. It's not the end all sky is falling everyone says it is. Are their aflatoxins? Sure. But eastern NC has one of the strongest turkey populations of anywhere in the country I'd dare say and there's a corn pile in every block of woods there.

I am curious on here those who are so adamantly opposed to baiting will dove hunt over a "top sewed" wheat field???? If you do and have no problem with it, why does a dove not matter but a deer or turkey does?????
 
Darkthirty II said:
I am curious on here those who are so adamantly opposed to baiting will dove hunt over a "top sewed" wheat field???? If you do and have no problem with it, why does a dove not matter but a deer or turkey does?????
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To me baiting is baiting and I'm not a fan, for all the various reasons listed through this thread. And here in TN the wardens actually patrol/visit the known dove fields, including the one I hunt, to ensure there's no seed on the ground that didn't fall from the plants growing there. I'm not sure how that's going to go for them going forward considering the supreme court shutting down their ability to trespass without warrant, but up until last year it was something they did. And I've never had a problem with it.
 
The top sown I hunted last year had no ground prep, the corn had been picked about a month before, the wheat was very sparce on the rate and it was just among the stalk ends sticking up, very few birds but on the other side of the road the farmer still had standing corn, private, they had bushhogged a pretty wide swath through it, they shot from 12 til dark and very little shooting in the field twra payed for. The only folks happy were the property owners and their friends. It would be the same with deer if baiting was allowed I have no doubt.
 
Darkthirty II said:
I am curious on here those who are so adamantly opposed to baiting will dove hunt over a "top sewed" wheat field???? If you do and have no problem with it, why does a dove not matter but a deer or turkey does?????
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We generally dove hunt over beans and millet after we cut hay or grow sunflowers as we do almost every year. We top sow wheat quite often. But we do it for hay so it's still agriculture. And it's an agriculture practice. Does it mean birds dont use it no but you go through the entire process. You dont take a bushel of wheat and throw it in a pile. Also wheat germinates quick so that line is thin. For me personally turkeys are the only thing I'm concerned of. I said on page 1 or 2 I don't care if you want to bait for deer. But don't compare it to a food plot and don't try to write it off as the same nutrition or the same benefits of a foodplot.
 
Ski said:
I'm not sure how that's going to go for them going forward considering the supreme court shutting down their ability to trespass without warrant, but up until last year it was something they did. And I've never had a problem with it.
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Much remains vague about that.

Doves are a "federal" bird.
Illegal dove & waterfowl hunting over bait has always been as much or more a federal than state issue.

Are federal agents required to comply with our new state rules against TWRA?

If so, the federal officers will be using drones, then getting their warrants from a federal judge less likely to be tipping off his hunting buddies (and/or family) illegally hunting over bait?

Very complicated, beginning with wildlife doesn't read property lines, and wildlife belongs to the People, not to someone owning 5 acres of property being utilized by that wildlife.

Because doves & waterfowl are migratory, they are considered to belong more to the People of the United States than to the People of any particular State. Legally, they only belong to a particular person when they are legally killed?
 
TheLBLman said:
Much remains vague about that.

Doves are a "federal" bird.
Illegal dove & waterfowl hunting over bait has always been as much or more a federal than state issue.

Are federal agents required to comply with our new state rules against TWRA?

If so, the federal officers will be using drones, then getting their warrants from a federal judge less likely to be tipping off his hunting buddies (and/or family) illegally hunting over bait?

Very complicated, beginning with wildlife doesn't read property lines, and wildlife belongs to the People, not to someone owning 5 acres of property being utilized by that wildlife.

Because doves & waterfowl are migratory, they are considered to belong more to the People of the United States than to the People of any particular State. Legally, they only belong to a particular person when they are legally killed?
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I hadn't considered the federal migratory aspect of it. Hopefully they'll retain their ability to police the dove fields. I love eating doves 😋
 
To me baiting birds is different, at least dove. I have hunted to many TWRA fields, on WMA's and leased and the only reason they were not shut down for being baited, is because the TWRA was involved. One of the most crooked things ever. Then I have seen the TWRA shut down a dove field for a bird feeder, literally a bird feeder, small one at that, being to close to the field.
 
Headhunter said:
To me baiting birds is different, at least dove. I have hunted to many TWRA fields, on WMA's and leased and the only reason they were not shut down for being baited, is because the TWRA was involved. One of the most crooked things ever. Then I have seen the TWRA shut down a dove field for a bird feeder, literally a bird feeder, small one at that, being to close to the field.
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They will pay you more per acre to top sow it😂
 
Found on internet …. I felt it needed to be here
 

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deerhunter10 said:
Have you not seen first hand the turkey population? Maybe go do some research. Instead of putting 10 exclamation marks after each thing you type.

Noone is stopping you from baiting, you just legally can't hunt over it. As crazy as some of yal are fighting on this thread about it. I would be willing to bet some of yal already do. When we go down to a 1 bird turkey limit in the future you have no reason to be upset.
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actually they are. no baiting or salt in cwd areas!!
 
Ski said:
No argument here. It's already been settled. TWRA did what myself and according to the poll most other hunters wanted, which is keep baiting illegal in TN. All that's left now is the crying, and yall are doing plenty of that. Not me. I'm thrilled with the ruling
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do you own land in TN??
 

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