Neighbor baiting

[giovani]

Whats the first lesson a hillbilly teaches his son about deer hunting?

 

[giovani]

You gots to member to roll down the winder boy!

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

"..After all, it is not the killing that brings satisfaction; it is the contest of skill and cunning. The true hunter counts his achievement in proportion to the effort involved and the fairness of the sport." Dr. Saxton Pope, 1923

I agree with Dr. Saxton Pope. I don't think rifles are unfair any more than I think Compound bows are unfair. Both - under the right circumstances - require proportional effort. Fairness lies in the ability one possesses and the "achievement" one seeks.

In the interest of a general standard by which to rule, so that the ultimate goal - management of the game - is achieved, we must have game laws and someone to enforce them. If the majority of ethical hunters in Indiana believe baiting is too much of an advantage for deer and turkeys, but not coyotees and other varmints, then we should obey those laws. However, climbing on some imaginary moral high-horse is completely unproductive.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

With bait that close to your property line, chances are the deer will be moving across your property to get to it. I would put up a stand on your side of the property line at a strategic location and be happy.

That is illegal and you can also be cited for poaching.

 

[Rhoadmar]

Or even your own property?
What happened to fair chase?

If I was hunting for sport fair chase is a viable part of the hunt. As I said I hunt for food, subsistence, survival. I could buy all my meat at the store, not my preference.


Feel free to pursue your concept of hunting, within legal parameters and I'll do the same.

 

[Rhoadmar]

You gots to member to roll down the winder boy!

 

[MRP2003]

I would strongly suggest not putting a stand near the property line as there have been many stories of someone getting cited for baiting when the bait was on a neighboring property especially if you know there is bait and there may be pictures of you near the baited area.

IMO the guy baiting is creating a potential issue that gets you involved and just going to talk to him or the land owner asking if they can either remove the bait or move it to a different part of the property because you do not want to get mixed up in something that is illegal.

Heck, I get too nervous to carry a field point with me so that I can take a practice shot or shoot a squirrel while I am waiting around for a deer to come by because I have heard you can get cited for hunting with the wrong arrow tip.

 

[Mark 1911]

That is illegal and you can also be cited for poaching.

So if my neighbor is baiting, now I can't hunt my own land???? How much of my own land is now off limits for me to hunt because my neighbor is breaking the law?

I'm not saying he should shoot deer off of his neighbor's bait pile. As long as he doesn't set up a stand that's an obvious direct line of sight to the bait, I would think he's still legal to hunt his own land. Just saying, there just may be more deer moving across his land than usual, and he could use the situation to his advantage.

 

[Trigger Time]

...and you've been on how many hunts for bears over bait?

. I think I made it clear I don't believe in it as hunting, so it's an obvious ZERO

 

[Trigger Time]

I agree, go talk to your neighbor.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

So if my neighbor is baiting, now I can't hunt my own land???? How much of my own land is now off limits for me to hunt because my neighbor is breaking the law?

I'm not saying he should shoot deer off of his neighbor's bait pile. As long as he doesn't set up a stand that's an obvious direct line of sight to the bait, I would think he's still legal to hunt his own land. Just saying, there just may be more deer moving across his land than usual, and he could use the situation to his advantage.

Don't shoot the messenger brother - that's the law. It's up to the CO's discretion.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Exactly (Trigger-Time).

You know nothing about hunting over bait. In any state - legal or not. You have no reference from which to judge except your perception of what it might be like.

I've tried it once. Ontario, 1998. Sat over several different baits...for days...without even seeing a bear. The baits were hit at night. Bears are smarter than you think. Go back to my comments on Saxton Popes quote on fair chase.

 

[Mark 1911]

Don't shoot the messenger brother - that's the law. It's up to the CO's discretion.

No shooting intended. If there's any chance that my own hunting would be restricted because my neighbor is a dumb a$$, I would certainly have a word with him.

 

[MRP2003]

If the bait causes more deer to travel to your area, then it is typically considered illegal. As JJ stated, it is up to the CO's discretion.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

No shooting intended. If there's any chance that my own hunting would be restricted because my neighbor is a dumb a$$, I would certainly have a word with him.

I would too. I think it's an unfortunate and unintended consequence. It doesn't even have to be malicious. Your neighbor could be feeding with a feeder to just take pictures or enjoy seeing more wildlife - perfectly legal - but if the deer start "trailing" to that "bait" on your land and you shoot one off that trail - by the letter of the law - you are now a poacher.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

One more thing to chew on about the baiting issue. Neither the Boone and Crocket Club, nor the Pope and Young Club list baiting as unethical or against the rules of fair chase. It is only in those places where it is illegal to bait that are the exception. Both institutions are steeped in fair chase tradition; the Boone and Crocket Club founded by Teddy Roosevelt.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I would talk to the neighbor and let him know what was going on. The OP stated that the and owner didn't know much about hunting regulations or what was going on. I used to own 61 acres in Owensville, IN. I had a lot of people that wanted to hunt my land but I limited it to five close friends and family members. I let a guy hunt the land and he shot a deer. I found out that the let it spoil and never processed it. I let him know the next time he asked to hunt that I was told that he let the meat spoil and he wasn't welcome anymore. I was glad someone told me about it.

Neighbors are neighbors and should help one another with the issues that are going on that they don't know about. For the people that say "I would stay out of it" would you want to know if it was happening on your land?

 

[churchmouse]

So because this guy was breaking the rules, you broke the rules in return, by going onto the neighbors property and cutting the tree down?

Not me. I have no skin in this fight. It is deeper than just the stand and him taking deer over the property line which is obvious due to where he set up his stand.
His idiot kids run 4 wheelers all over his property and have ran off any possibility of hunting over there. They are now running over my friends property as well and tearing up everything. My friend has grown his land ownership over 30 years of hard work and legal acquisition of land. He has groomed it for wildlife and maintains it as such. The A$$hat neighbors are a destructive force and they are very lucky all he has done is drop a freaking tree. He has had opportunity to drop a few 4 wheelers and has not. There are some who would under these conditions. He has refrained from involving the law in hopes this would work itself out. It has only gotten worse. So the tree is just a first strike. If it continues the law will come into play. If that fails....knowing him....well, I hope it does not fail.

Yeah, he cut down a tree. I would have done far worse well before now.

 

[churchmouse]

We had that on our land. The stand was across the line in ideal spot on a field edge and too far in to be an accident. We removed the steps as it was all we had time to do. A day later I saw him out there rebuilding the steps with the lumber we had removed! We removed them again and saw sign of turkey having been poached. Later that day, I hunted out that way and all of a sudden some serious gun fire broke out. Like a dumb ass I headed over that way and all of a sudden it was like a Dukes of Hazzard reunion came over the hill out in the field in 3 vehicles. I dropped back. Next day we went out with a ladder, tools and fire. Removed and burned all lumber right there, dropped a few smaller trees around the big one and tied one of those GI Joe like hunter dolls to a rope and left it hanging in the tree.

Did that fix the issue?????

 

[Steeler]

Wow. didn't expect this one to blow up to 6 pages!
To clear a couple things up, the "baiter" is deer hunting an d has every intention of taking a deer over the bait. He only deer hunts this property. The deer do move across the property line from mine to hers in the exact location of the bait.
This guy has had history of property line hunting. I had to get him to remove his stand from my property once.
To be fair, the land he hunts is small. He might have 2 acres of woods tops, so the best spots are cclose to my land.
I`m definitely not wanting to start any poop with this guy. Neither of us have big plots of land and could easily ruin deer hunting for each other.(Good morning to cut some firewood eh)

To the guys who say "his property he can do what he likes". That's BS. I cant grow weed on mine, you cant bait deer on yours. Illegal is illegal.
As others have said, being so close to the prop line could bite me in the ass. Luckily I`m hunting a few hundered yds away.