Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Alabama Senate bill would allow hunters to set bait for deer

Looks like hunting deer and hogs over bait may become legal in Alabama.



From whnt.com

The question is why!!!!!!!!!

...survey says! $$$$$

No doubt the prospect of more money greased the skids, but I think there has been a lot of lobbying from some hunters (resident and non-resident) in AL to legalize baiting.

Should be legal for all game species and not have a fee associated with it. Total bs.

It is a road Alabama should not go down. I have seen how it turned hunters that were once very good woodsmen and sportsmen . These guys could scout, hunt and know the lay go the land . Now days in northern WIs. everyone is a lazy assss that can hardly get off their ATV to dump corn at their bait pile. The sit in blinds and wait for deer that they only know are there cause of trail cams. Most now days dont have a clue on how to even use a compass. It takes the hunting out of deer hunting. it turns a deer into a target. Just put the bait where ya want the deer to show up , put a 14" log in front of the bait . When it puts it's head down to eat the log is in the way and you can draw or raise your gun to shoot. It is not even hunting. I used to hunt over bait but have not in about 20 yrs. I dont see as many deer and dont get the easy shots I used to but my skill and woodsman ship came back and I enjoy hunting much more . I just carry my climber , back pack and bow or gun and hunt about 25 stands I scouted out over the years.

Say it ain’t so! Rednecks hunting over bait ! What’s this world coming to ! 😜

There I fixed that for you!

I'm rather intrigued to hear your rationale on why baiting should be legal.

Why? I can guarantee that the 2 guys I know that own a ton of property there will not engage in that BS in any way shape or form. What is wrong with proper deer habitat and a few year round food plots just for deer?

I'm going to mirror what ihookum wrote earlier. Wisconsin has had baiting for years to the absolute detriment of hunting there. It has created such a cottage industry for junk apples and corn that it will be hard to stop now. Some counties have outlawed it because of the CWD outbreak spread by the saliva one deer to another, but people still do it anyway and risk the fine. What it does do is turn the deer nocturnal. I was talking to some baiting guys who put trail timers around their bait piles and they were lamenting that the deer were eating all their stuff between 12 Midnight and 2 a.m. Deer have a 4 chambered stomach just like a cow does and if they can eat at a bait pile in five minutes at midnight instead of spending all afternoon browsing, they will. It promotes poaching after hours. Then it gets to be a contest of who can out bait who to keep "their" deer in their woods. Two gallons of bait is what is legal, but guys were bringing in truck loads. They spend so much for bait that they consider the deer theirs. Years ago I was talking with a warden about my disgust for baiting and he told me that they had flown that area the day before the deer season and counted 23 corn piles within a mile of where we were standing. I drive 350 miles across the state now to gun hunt where the area is too big and rough to be baited. I pass up bucks every year and see them in the daylight by using woodsmanship instead of bait.

Windfall - spot-on.

I often see folks from the Alabama neck-of-the-woods declaring they need bigger/better rifle optics with better light gathering capabilities because much of their hunting is a first/last light affair.

They haven't seen anything yet if they choose to pass that bill.

I was in Walmart yesterday . Sporting goods still carries “deer corn” over three months since season closed. . Salesman says they sell a pallet a week year round.

$$$ deer corn manufacturers love it I bet

What about baiting for pigs, is that legal? It would be hard to trap them without bait.

Everyone already baits in AL, so no change in the process, only in the legalization.

Everyone? Supplemental feeding is allowed but the feeder has to be out of the line of sight of the hunter. It(Baiting or Supplemental) is not allowed on the property we hunt nor surrounding properties. In fact I have hunted several large properties in a 20 year period there and never saw either.

Alabama hunters should oppose this for reasons already posted.

Baiting in Alabama, or the deep southeast in general is different that what a lot of you guys see. In Bama there is green browse year round, everywhere. Hunting season temps can be in the 70's easy. Deer do not travel more than a few hundred yards per day for food. In other words, corn does not have that great of an effect on deer movement here. Sure it may divert a few does and yearlings your way but that's about it. Deer don't hop from corn pile to corn pile.

Exactly. In much of the south, all a deer needs to do to eat is roll over in it's bed and start over.

This is it. In a year where there's a heavy acorn crop, when deer move it's just because they want to move a little. They're essentially the fat kid in a candy store eating pez candy......they're not going to make a habit of leaving the acorn pez for some corn pez much of the time.

Nope, I had it correct the first time.

They're all forms of baiting. Rationalizing it to make one feel better doesn't change it.

Exactly!!!

I don't know 'everyone' in Al. but I KNOW baiting (feeding), food plots << called "Green Patches">> was well practiced in Al in the 80s when I hunted there a few yrs.

Also, there "WAS" a time when the AGFC said, " deer can not BE baited" in the sense that deer would NOT respond to it.
However their attitude has changed since then, ATST it IS legal to "FEED" /bait deer on private property.

I know w/o a DOUBT the deer have NOT become nocturnal. They will avoid feeders in some areas during daylight but they are NOT nocturnal.

I'm NOT arguing, just posting what I know for a fact in Al. & Ark.

*** I don't use feeders/bait or 'green patches' at all ***


Jerry

Thats my experience too Jerry.

FWIW, An alfalfa field in South Dakota is wayyyyyyyy more effective bait than a corn pile in Alabama, not even in the same ballpark. Deer will filter in from miles away. In Bama deer have so many options.

Yep, deer don't 'Yard up' in the south, nor are they fighting one another for the last spruce needle. Might be the reason one can kill 300 a year and have a 3 month rifle season as opposed to a 9 day season and 1 deer.

No wuffs either.

So true about deer moving at night. To make matters worse, the heavy baiting in northern WIs has gotten worse. The reason is , there are a lot less deer there now days. Now, deer have bait there 24 /7. Ask a buck why he should come in to a bait pile at 4PM when he can wait till 10 PM . With so few deer the bait does not even get eaten sometimes and the 2 gal. limit is a joke. A hunter just moves 100 yds and baits thee too. There was a time , Granted , there were more deer , but there was a time I saw deer at 9AM and 3PM and even mid day . Deer moved in the daytime. Not so much anymore. . ... And dont think those wolves dont know the deer concentrate at bait piles. A pack can circle down wind and know very easily if a deer has been there. If so , the chase is on and that dumb deer is toast. They all complain about wolf kills close to their homes and take pictures of the wolf kills in discust. They are the ones concentrating the deer for the wolves. Oh well.

You do know that Alabama ain't Wisconsin, right?

You know very well I know Alabama ain't Wisconsin. A deer is a deer though and sure a deer will start coming in at night more and more when it figures out there is food there 24/7 but smelly hunters there in the daytime.

But is opener on a saturday? if it is, ya'll don't know what you're missing by a monday opener, just saying..........

You are right about deer WHERE they're few in no.

I promise you that you are WRONG about deer in the South.

Have you EVER watch Realtree Outdoors. They often hunt in Texas -- BIG feeders -- lots of DEERS --- & kill some monsters.!!


I haven't watched ANY tv hunting shows in some years but certainly have.


Jerry

WHat part of not baiting on these properties do you not understand? There are no cornpiles or supplemental feeding. They have 75 food plots to pick from and well taken care of hardwoods.

Even with our new Saturday opener, enlightening to some and a pox to others, baiting with corn is illegal in Pa. unless you plant it first.

I place corn on the edge of the yard for Deer in the winter. They come to it most often at night, because Deer for centuries most often feed at night. Full moon nights are often not the best for daylight hunting, right? Wonder why. Deer are for the most part nocturnal feeders. Always have been, but some act like that is something new. Why do we spotlight at night? Answer: Deer are up and moving.

Bad part of baiting is it often keeps the hunters from being up and moving. However, the tree stand phenomenon has pretty much killed that anyway.


Yet there are times the yard Deer come to the corn during the day also. Especially when it is really cold.

Other thing I’ve noticed is Deer don’t like to eat the same thing all the time. Sometimes they prefer corn, others apples, others just plain grass, others tree buds or nuts. Just because one has a pile of corn out doesn’t mean they are going to rush to it.

If I was into baiting, I would prefer salt over apples or corn everyday of the season.

I've said it before here. "Food plots are the modern day equivalent of the ring of fire."

Don't care what side of the baiting issue you are on, but food plots exclusively planted for Deer is baiting.

I often hunt next to commercial corn fields, there is a reason for it and the reason is bait....

Nope not in this situation , most of the time good bucks don't even come out into the plots in the evening, its usually a doe show with a few smaller bucks(not allowed to shoot) thrown in. We hunt the timber in the AM, thats when the majority of more mature bucks are taken. If acorns are dropping it will be tough to see a deer of any sort in a food plot . I used to hunt SC and if corn was dropped, deer showed up every single time.

I suppose it depends on what you are hunting for. 34 posts and bucks have scarcely been mentioned, only deer. Does are eating the acorns in my yard in broad daylight, yet in three years I've yet to see a buck out there with them, but they are rubbing the trees a hundred yards back in the woods. Does are always going to go for the best food sources. Bucks, at least where I hunt, are so security conscious that outside of the rut, they are real content to stay bedded down chewing their cud until they feel safe to get on their feet. A friend of mine had a deer farm with several large bucks and he told me that outside of the rut, once those bucks got over about three and a half, he never saw them in the daylight and those were penned deer.

Lots of guys are looking for a shortcut and unfortunately an entire generation has forgotten how to hunt without a 4 wheeler and a 50# sack of corn. I took my kid to hunter safety class and the instructor asked the class of 12 year olds what you should do before the season? He was looking for clean or sight in your rifle. What he got was some kid telling him that you should check your bait pile to make sure that you had enough bait. Sad, but true.

Steelhead does make a valid argument that an Alabama woods is green year around and if it is anything like what I see here in central Florida, I wouldn't have a clue about about hunting here. Hitting the road back up north tomorrow, can't wait.

Makes sense to be back in the woods come morning as they are retuning to bed. Although sometimes you can catch them feeding late. I'm not against food plots, but at minimum their purpose is too keep Deer around by supplying bait or to fatten them up. Thus food plots are a form of baiting. You can play it out however suits you, but they are bait, or chumming if that sounds better. If they didn't support what I mentioned, there would be no reason to go to the effort.



If food plots are something other than supplemental feeding, what would it be?


If the Does are around then the big boys will not be far away either.

And as mentioned previous, they tire of eating the same same. They may hit the acorns hard, but eventually they may decide some alfalfa would be a nice change.

How do you boys hunt? Stands? Move around? All day, or morning and evening?

if food plots are something other than supplemental feeding, what would it be?

In all the properties I have hunted in Alabama thats all they are there for. Does have a strong attraction to food plots and you can sit there for hours watching family groups of Does, small bucks, very enjoyable. During the rut some bucks might make the mistake of pursuing does and get shot but that is far and infrequent in my experience.



If the Does are around then the big boys will not be far away either.

Yes but they usually don't make an appearance until very last light and they are fidgety if anything. We see them more in the AM then at any other time .

And as mentioned previous, they tire of eating the same same. They may hit the acorns hard, but eventually they may decide some alfalfa would be a nice change.

I have been there years where a single doe is all we saw on a foodplot at night. They are only hunted evenings. If anything Does are bait. There is so much for them to eat there it is not even funny.



How do you boys hunt? Stands? Move around? All day, or

Get up 1 1/2 hours before daylight , walk 1/2 to a mile to a stand and stay there until you are tired of sitting there. Bucks usually cruise late morning until midday .
Get into the evening stand usually no later then 2-2:30 , sit half hour past sunset.

We are picked up in electrical UTVS(most of the time) . We hunt on roughly 5000 acres surrounded by thousands of acres of privately held land . They have roughly 300 head of cattle and for safety reasons no still hunting allowed. Deer have a lot of options on where to be and what to eat . No Archery, Muzzleloader and Turkey hunting is allowed period. They even have a few days break between hunting . Tracking dog is used if needed , they do not want anyone traipsing on adjoining properties or possibly bitten by a snake of which there are many

Thanks,
However, it sounds like a foreign country. 5,000 acres and you can’t still hunt because of the neighbors cows and other safety reasons. I’ll take Pa no matter what day they decide to open the season.

Pay and you can’t hunt Turkey. God bless Pa’s millions of acres of SGL and State Forests for those who want to hunt as much as shoot.

Landowner has 300 cows as do the adjoining landowners. That is their perogative, they get up every morning at 3am to take care of cows, there are only 2 of them. They would be worn out if they handled all those extra seasons. I have hunted PA when they shot phugging spikes opening day and it sounded like Vietnam. No thank you, I do not miss that crap. I would not expect you to understand the way they do things down there. Just like they would not understand the way things are done in PA.

O E H said above ^^^^

" If anything Does are bait."

I agree. Anywhere near to the rut, the rut itself, & post rut......... I hunt where the "DOES" are !
Where the does ARE, the bucks are gonna B.


Jerry

Nor is Pa that way today. Not even close. But you don’t know, so I understand. I can hunt more than your 5000 and not see 5 hunters in the wood if I don’t want to. However, they don’t allow electric carts in and out.

Spikes have been off limits for years. But you obviously didn’t know or just added that to try and make a weak point.

I know exactly how it is done there . I still have friends that live in PA and NY state. Southern states are better managed then the Northern states. Fact of Life.

Well, not really everyone, just lots of folks. You are absolutely correct here, feed out of the line of sight. As you know from hunting there, lots of folks will take any advantage to get deer on their property vs over on the neighbors, so they definitely do feed on their owned property and leases, along with planting food plots. I think from what I’ve seen hunting there, many will hunt over corn similar to what is done in TX if this gets passed if allowed.

Currently in MS, they are trying hard to ban supplemental feeding due to CWD they have identified in a few animals, which their game and fish dept. believes could be more rapidly spread by feeding. I imagine that AL might follow suit if they confirm CWD there as well (which we were advised by Mr Green Jeans to be prepared for). I hunt each year for the last 20 or so in Western Alabama, and prior to that about 30 miles west of there in Eastern MS. Personally I would much rather out in WY like I’ve done for about 20 years as well, but any hunting opportunity is a good hunting opportunity, especially living in South Florida like I do. I really do appreciate stand hunting, if done right, like you described above (woods in the am, green fields in the pm), and the green fields really do let you see and appreciate deer behavior for hours at a time. There is something to be said for that for sure.

They are partly correct for the farm Pa farm country and completely wrong for the big wood country.

Fact of life: An electric cart won’t get you very far in the big wood.

The Southern States big draw is the Deer populate faster than they can issue tags to kill them and Lord knows they try.

Man, I want to hunt where you hunt. Sounds like an awesome setup.

The owners are not getting any younger and they have cut back quite a bit for this coming year and for the foreseeable future.

Among many things I could say, all I will is:

Life’s tough for a Yank !
Ain’t it?


Jerry

Apparently , good thing they move south and tell us how much better it is up north.

It is, but I’m glad you are where you are. You old farts are always good for a laugh, now get in your assigned stand and pretend you are scouting. Funny that😀😀😀😀

Next thing you know you will be giving some yank that back hand compliment you are famous for. We laugh at it, while you think you are making us feel good.

If you only knew my background you might think differently but I doubt it would affect a narcissist . I believe you are much older then I am BTW.

I know all I need to know re you and your blow hard kind. Bless your little heart.

Probably am, but you embarrass the rest of us. Nor do I care about your background, and from what I read I can’t imagine thinking differently.

But bless your heart.

I can understand for hogs since they are a nuisance. I hate the idea of baiting deer unless in urban areas as population control.

Feeders have been legal here for years. If you don't feed and your neighbors do you won't see many deer. It is just where hunting is going. You can sit and listen to the neighbors shoot the deer you want or you can compete.

I love the guys who call hunting over corn unethical or blast it for requiring no skill then turn around in the next breath and defend green patches. LOL!

A corn feeder is bait placed in a specific location by man to lure deer into gun or bow range. A green patch is bait placed in a specific location by man to lure deer into gun or bow range. No difference.

And please explain to me what unique skill is required to climb into a shooting house overlooking a green patch that distinguishes it from climbing into one overlooking a corn feeder? I'll stand by while some of you run your arm up your backside all the way to your elbow trying to dig some rationalization out of your lower colon that makes those two activities any different from a ethical or skills required stand point. LOL!

Absolutely !!

edit: they called them "green patches" when I hunted there in the 80s.

Jerry

Couple of differences:

If you have 20 deer eating from a small pile of corn , if one is sick the rest might or might not get sick. If you have feeding troughs with a few hundred pounds of purina deer chow in them and one deer is sick the rest can get sick as well. A bait pile will disturb normal whitetail travel patterns.

Once the season is over the food plot still feeds deer , most people that use bait stop baiting once the season is over.

If you have 10000 acres and one food plot then that is a magnet. If you have 10000 acres and over 100 food plots that does change things . The only thing a green field does is attract does, not everytime that you sit on a green field will you even see a deer on even the best managed properties. I have yet to see a fresh cornpile not attract deer even in a heavily hunted situation. You only sit in a greenfield for the afternoon hunts in most civilized places.

The vast majority of the Deer I kill have been between 10am and 3pm while mainly just walking around and trying to catch them out. From scouting I know they are around somewhere in the relative vicinity and for the most part I find them rather then hoping they find me. Damn Yankee that I am. 😇😇😇😇

Have shot some in the evening in a corn or alfalfa field, even while perched. One deadly perch sits in the middle of native grass.

Is one method more civilized than the other?

Know some Gentlemen from the South that I sometimes hang with, and they chase Deer with a pack of mixed breed Dogs.

Are they civilized? Are they really Southern gentlemen?
I’m surprised they invite me to hunt with them. Me being a Yankee and all. Odd from what you would gather from some Johnnies on here.

I am no proponent of dog hunting but I will not criticize it. Mixed breed dogs, they must be real necks. Nothing wrong with Yankees I was one for 27 years, your just being a douchebag plain and simple.

Yes on your unlimited SGL you can probably roam around , not encumbered by fences and property lines or livestock. 10 to mid afternoon is a good time to find bucks cruising, is this something you just learned recently?

They would be Virginia Gentlemen with their own farms and not farmettes. If they are “necks” then you should be so blessed. Me also.

They got most of what anyone needs and then some, but they don’t try to trump others with the elite card. Like you just did with the “necks” put down.

I’m fairly certain they would look at you as a “Yankee”.

Congrats?😕

LOL


It's all about how Battue hunts, everyone else is wrong . This is your quote , doesn't that smack of northern elitism? . What exactly does that mean?

We have fun with each other re the N/S. Since I’m not all that big one calls me a piss ant Yankee. I return the compliment by calling him a goofy looking lanky rebel. Get it. I doubt it but I’ll give you the chance.

You start the N/S deal in earnest and either side will tell you to stick the MD line up your ass.

Get it????

Little doubt, you would be a Yankee, and little doubt there would be more than enough room.

There is little doubt that you started with the insults. What could have been a good thread went to chitt .

Your buddy Jwall started the Yankee insults.There is more than enough room with him also. That’s the trouble with the likes of him. They start the crap, you joined in with him, neither one expecting or liking a come back.

I’ve made my point and with both of your help it wasn’t difficult.

I’ll leave you be from here, Yank.
Happy hunting.

Mr. Battue:



I have NOT been in a deer 'stand' since 2011. I still hunt on 70 acres -- not 1000s of acres. I've killed deer Early, Mid Day, & Late.
**GRANTED** here in the South, a lot of land belongs to Timber co.s, so LEASING is common. I've been a member of at least 3 diff
deer leases. There you don't have the option of 'still hunting' because of other members and stands. You don't know who is where at any given time. I certainly killed my share of WT from stands on leases.

A neighbor identified me to his young daughter as: "he's the one who's always hanging deer behind his house."
He joined that lease ! ! Wonder why ?



Hey Yank !



This plate has been on the front of my truck for 2 years. Pardon me for not washing the truck before hand.




You can call me Johnny Reb anytime. I'm not offended.

Hank Jr said it quite well,

" If heaven's not a lot like Dixie, I don't want to go "

"Just send me to hell or N Y C , it'd be about the same to me". EDIT: correct lyrics

"I've got a shotgun, rifle, and 4 wheel drive, A Country Boy can survive."


I'm not offended being called "a johnny", like you are being called " yank "


NOW, I'll extend an 'olive branch'. I apologize for offending you, sincerely.

I can go on and exchange pleasantries with you. We've had many friendly discussions in the past. I prefer that.


Johnny Reb, aka Jerry

Or you can ban feeding deer. It is illegal to feed deer where I hunt. Supposedly it is about the spread of disease but it might be to stop poachers too. If you get caught hunting over bait in Pennsylvania* or Vermont, you get fine and your license suspended.

*A few urban/suburban areas in PA with limited hunter access allow baiting. Otherwise, the deer would stay inaccessible and the population would not be able to be controlled.

Jerry,

You are being entirely too nice

O E H

Thanks but I'd rather be nice. Obviously I won't be battered around needlessly. I RE read all of the thread PER our discussions.
As I said earlier, There are other things I could have said but I opted not to go there. They would have only inflamed the situation.

Overall these forums and threads are interesting, fun, and informational. IMO there is too much UNCALLED for verbal abuse.
We CAN agree to disagree -- pleasantly.

I'd rather be know as Nice as a Curmudgeon or WORSE ! ! !


Jerry

You didn’t offend me in the slightest. However, it became necessary to point out you did start the N/S insults.

Remember, I’ve been called a piss ant Yankee by die hard Southerners who I consider friends. You think being called Yank by an internet poster I barely know offends me. Think again. You started the insults, all I did was put it in the proper perspective.

You can wrap yourself in the Confederate flag and sit in front of the fireplace and sing Dixie and it is fine with me.

Now if the two of you want to hold hands and tell each other how nice you are, that is fine with me also.

Happy hunting

Mr. Battue

I'm on record: I apologize to you.
We can be friendly........it's up to you.



Jerry

Jerry,
No need to apologize, you didn’t offend me. Neither has OEH for that matter. I can see how I offended him, but we look at that differently. However, your gesture is appreciated, acknowledged and accepted. Thanks.

Harry

Thank you. I appreciate that too.

Jerry

Jerry, Harry let's put this one to rest. Ed

Done !

👍