Last night at work a fellow co-worker and I were discussing the deer baiting ban here in Michigan due to the CWD incident. I proposed a hypothetical question to him and it brought up a multitude of questions.
Here is the scenario, Joe hunter walks out on state land on opening morning to his hunting spot he got ready the weekend before. It is still more than an hour before first light, so he is using his flashlight to find his way in the dark. After a good half hour hike in he finds his deer run that crosses the main trail. He takes his turn down this small beaten out path and proceeds to his make shift deer blind just off the deer trail. He knows that the deer come from up ahead, so he positions himself looking that way.
Now it is beginning to break daylight. The sun is popping up behind him and he can now see clearly as a nice buck is coming down the trail towards him. He takes careful aim and takes his buck! It was only a 20 yard shot and the deer drops in its tracks. After taking a few minutes to calm down and unload his rifle, he gets out his field dressing kit and begins to take care of the deer. As he is finishing up a conservation officer walks up from the direction the deer came and begins to question Joe. The CO then informs Joe that he was hunting over bait. Joe denies the accusation stating that he doesn’t bait and doesn’t know what he is talking about. Then the CO shows Joe the bait pile about 20 yards up the trail from where they were standing.
Now here is my question. Since Joe didn’t put the bait out and it is obviously someone’s other than Joe’s, why should he be held responsible for being near an unseen bait pile? Even though it was in his proximity is it his responsibility to check his hunting area before he sits down each time he hits the woods? Now how far away is he responsible for? Your not going to check all around you for 50 yards in each direction in the dark. This probably isn’t going to happen, but these are some of the problems that I have with the baiting ban here in Michigan.
There are many and I do mean many, hunters that have stated they will bait this year. If that is the case, there will be a lot of bait laying on the ground come opening morning and you had better not be near a pile of it if there is a CO around. Just some food for thought for this upcoming season!
