Proposal would eliminate big game feeding in N.D. – Minot Daily News
January 26, 2009
BISMARCK (AP) – Hunters who attract big game by putting out piles of feed are the target of a legislative proposal to eliminate baiting, but the law also could affect animal lovers who just like having deer around.
Greg Link, an assistant wildlife chief for the state Game and Fish Department, said his agency has not monitored feeding by animal lovers as closely as baiting.
”That’s kind of on the fringe of our responsibility,” Link said. ”We don’t have a good handle on the number of people who do it and for what species. Obviously, there are people out there throwing out feed.”
The bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Curtis Olafson, R-Edinburg, said the state must do something about such threats as chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis. Those diseases can be spread by baiting or feeding deer, he said. Click Link Below for Full Story!
Farmers, hunters protest deer-baiting ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com
October 28, 2008
by Roberto Acosta | The Saginaw News
Tuesday October 28, 2008, 6:51 AM
Farmers say the state is stealing their livelihoods with a deer-baiting ban to battle a killer disease.
Hunters are up in arms complaining that the state is adding unfair rules for pursuing their game.
More than 70 hunters and farmers gathered in Frankenmuth during a heated presentation Monday from state officials on chronic wasting disease.
Economists estimate that deer bait sales bring in $50 million annually in the state.
Department of Natural Resources officials presented information on the disease and how to prevent its spread during the two-hour meeting at the Wallace and Irene Bronner and Family Performing Arts Center.
An hour-long question-and-answer session aimed heated dialogue from audience members toward the four-person panel.
“You’re taking away people’s livelihoods,” said Roy E. Stolz, a 51-year-old Blumfield Township resident. “You’re killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer. Click link below for full story!”
Farmers, hunters protest deer-baiting ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com.
Bait or switch? Using feeders to attract deer isn’t sporting, but some have little choice | Dallas Morning News
October 21, 2008
By Ray Sasser
When the traditional deer season begins Nov. 1, most Texas hunters will go hunting. But they won’t actually hunt the deer.
Instead, they will train deer to come near their blind or vehicle by baiting them, usually with shelled corn.
As sportsmen compete with ethanol production, corn prices have risen. That’s not necessarily bad news. It may persuade a few more deer hunters to become purists, eschewing the use of bait in attracting deer. Some states have made it illegal to bait for deer or other game.
I’m always amused at Texas hunters who claim to have “patterned” a trophy buck’s movements so they could shoot the animal. In the old days of deer hunting, B.C. before corn, patterning meant scouting for trails, rubs, scrapes, tracks and glimpses of a target buck.
Nowadays, patterning means setting the timer on an automatic feeder to dispense bait at a certain time, then placing motion-sensitive cameras to record any animal that passes close enough to trigger the shutter or the video.
Some game cameras can be checked via the Internet so the modern hunter can “pattern” his buck from the comfort of his living room or office. That’s a sad commentary on modern hunting. I don’t care how big he is, I don’t want to kill a trained deer with a name. Full Story
Deer baiting, feeding ban approved – Petoskey News-Review
October 15, 2008
By Marci Singer News-Review Staff WriterTuesday, October 14, 2008 8:55 AM EDT
The Natural Resources Commission voted unanimously last week to approve a permanent ban on deer and elk baiting and feeding in the Lower Peninsula.
Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries issued an interim order placing an immediate ban on baiting and feeding on Aug. 26, after a captive deer from a privately owned facility tested positive for chronic wasting disease. Humphries’ order, as prescribed by the state’s CWD emergency response plan adopted in 2002, would have expired Feb. 26, 2009, but the NRC action removes the expiration date and makes the ban permanent.
While the ban will generally not impact Petoskey resident John Jorgensen’s hunting practices, because the area where he hunts has a good population of deer and he and his hunting partners started putting in food plots years ago, the Petoskey sportsman thinks the baiting issue has gone “over the top.”
“The ban should be restricted to the area where the infected deer was found, not the whole state,” Jorgensen said. “And I think it’s interesting that traditional bait is still being sold in the Lower Peninsula, even with the ban in effect. It doesn’t make sense. The state is encouraging someone to get into Full Story
Petoskey News-Review – News – Deer baiting, feeding ban approved.
Tricks help deer hunters overcome baiting ban Michigan Outdoors – MLive.com
October 2, 2008
by David V. Graham | The Flint Journal
Wednesday October 01, 2008, 12:55 PM
Bowhunters who plan to honor the state’s ban on baiting in the Lower Peninsula shouldn’t despair — there are still ways to get deer broadside and within shooting range without using bait.
The Department of Natural Resources has banned all baiting in southern Michigan because of the discovery of a deer that died at a Kent County game farm from chronic wasting disease, an infectious disease that has killed deer in several states. Michigan’s bow season opened Wednesday and runs through the end of the year.
Biologists claim the infection can be spread from deer feeding together in small areas, and that the disease can even persist in the soil for a considerable time after stricken deer drop infected salvia or feces on the ground.
The new regulation has led to widespread protests by hunters, who charge the DNR with overreacting, and a lawsuit has already been filed against the DNR challenging the bait ban.
DNR officials claim they intend to strictly enforce the new regulation and promise stiff fines and sanctions for those who violate the ban. They say chronic wasting disease is a serious threat to Michigan’s deer herd.
Michigan bowhunters had traditional ways to getting deer within shooting range long before the state start Full Story
Tricks help deer hunters overcome baiting ban Michigan Outdoors – MLive.com.
Deer Farm Industry in Michigan Issues Statement on the Recent Chronic Wasting Disease Case Identified on a Kent County Deer Farm
August 29, 2008
HILLMAN, Mich., Aug. 29 — In response to recent news about Michigan’s first identified case of chronic wasting disease (CWD), members of the deer farming community have issued the following statement.
With hunting season fast approaching, the tragic incident regarding a CWD positive test for a deer on a Kent County farm understandably has created concern among hunters, outdoor enthusiasts and deer farmers across the great state of Michigan. The deer farming industry in Michigan is committed to preventing the spread of chronic wasting disease and is cooperating fully with both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources to bring a swift and conclusive resolution to this difficult situation.
Michigan’s protocols to handle a chronic wasting disease case are working the way our industry, DNR, and MDA originally conceived them. It should also be noted the farm in question was fully complying with mandatory state regulatory requirements issued by MDA, which is why we remain hopeful that a thorough investigation will reveal this case to be an isolated incident.
The deer farming industry and state officials in Michigan have taken the issue of chronic wasting disease seriously, long before this incident ever occurred. In fact, it is because of our united commitment to testing that this case was even identified in the first place. The Cervid Farmers of Michigan, Michigan Deer and Elk Breeders Association, North American Deer Farmers Association, along with regulatory state agencies continuously work together to make sure deer farms and wildlife in Michigan are CWD free. The recent incident only serves to reaffirm our resolve to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease.
With more than 600 deer farms under quarantine right now, the entire industry is at a standstill. Deer farming, as a regulated alternative livestock industry is a $1 billion industry in Michigan and it is a vital part of the state’s agriculture community.
Every dollar the local agriculture community produces gets used 2.6 times before it leaves those local communities, according to research by the Michigan State University Agriculture Economics Department. This means the $104 million locally-based agriculture industry has an economic impact of $270 million annually for local communities in Michigan. A damaged deer farming industry will have negative repercussions on the state’s agriculture community and the economy as a whole because the longer Michigan’s deer farms are shut down — the greater the financial impact there will be for local communities.
We as an industry are continuing to be cooperative and helpful to ensure this incident did not spread outside our state and federally regulated and secured properties. The deer farming industry is committed to assisting in any way possible to find the cause for the chronic wasting disease case in Kent County, but the industry is asking for a swift resolution to this issue and the lifting of the quarantine on those farms with no connection to the affected farm.
SOURCE North American Deer Farmers Association; Cervid Farmers of Michigan;
Michigan Deer & Elk Breeders Association
Hunters, Bait Sellers Angry About DNR Ban
August 28, 2008
by Cole Waterman | The Saginaw News
Wednesday August 27, 2008, 6:41 PM
Deer hunters are going to need extra finesse and resourcefulness to nab their quarry this fall, while sellers of deer feed will feel pain in their pocketbooks.
Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced it is banning all baiting and feeding of deer and elk in the Lower Peninsula.
The announcement comes on the heels of the DNRs confirmation of chronic waste disease in a white-tailed deer from a privately owned herd in Kent County.
The ban will prevent hunters from luring deer with foodstuffs, a common hunting method, during the upcoming archery and firearms seasons. Archery season runs from Oct. 1 through Nov. 14, and again from Dec. 1 through Jan. 1, while firearm season lasts from Nov. 15 to Nov. 30. Click Link Below for Full Story
Hunters, bait sellers angry about DNR ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com.
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