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Nontypcl1

Nontypcl1

Member
The title of this article caught my eye in today's DM register.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ar...w-about-feeding-wildlife-high-on-DNR-s-agenda


Looks like this issue will be brought back up again in the coming legislative session. Probably a good idea to keep an eye on this since it could potentially place food plots in the baiting category.

You have to sift through quite a bit of other stuff to get to the part that talks about wildlife feeding.
 
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Nontypcl1 said:
Probably a good idea to keep an eye on this since it could potentially place food plots in the baiting category.
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"Supplemental feed makes people think they can keep deer on their property," Suchy said. "That causes unnatural concentrations, like in our urban areas. Then there are people who suffer the consequences because of deer damage. Deer don't want to concentrate, but if you bait them, they will."

This has food plots written all over it.
 
i like the "deer don't need extra food in iowa"
hey thanks dr. deer, if i want to put my whole farm in food plots to give deer ample food whats it to you?? and dont tell me that the corn and salt licks help pass on disease.. what about deer licking eachothers a$$ or a licking branch, or just feeding in normal concentrations in the same general area? this all just dumb, even if they some how outlawed food plots I'm still planting them, thatd be a good citation for improving herd health and the habitat
 

Faust100F wrote:

Sounds good to me, these animals stuff themselves on my corn and soybean crops. So lets have a law suit against farmers who are feeding the Kings Livestock. What I think should be done, is if we can spread any disease that will kill these animals, we should do it. If I thought they would catch a disease and die, I would dump a few hoppers of corn on the ground at harvest. But this is just another alarmist tactic by the DNR. I think it is time for the DNR to have its budget reduced annually for the damages deer do to crops, orchards, and automobiles. Lets start with the DNR payrolls, it is clear to me they live in fantasyland, and have no idea on how to control the damages deer do. They should have a continuous open season so people can consume these "rats" but coyotes like them too."

Thats a response to that article, These are the people that we as hunters need to look out for...the angry farmer..
 
That farmer is just crying because the $50000 of subsidies he received as "supplemental income" wasn't enough to pay for his 30 ft ski boat and condo in the ozarks...
 
Last winter I talked to a C.O. and he told me that he thought the use of corn to get deer to trail cameras would be coming to an end. He also said it might be permitted if it is w/i so many yards of buildings. Other states do this (Minnesota, I think?) and word it as wildlife watching or something along those lines.
 
yeh, what's next. Making it against the law to NOT harvest crops. That would be the same thing. If you plant 10 acres of beans and dont harvest it so you can hunt over it would be the same thing. RIDICULOUS.
 
I love the arguement about baiting deer. Most people think its wrong or unethical to drop 50lbs of corn in the woods and then go and hunt over it. Most of these same people would'nt hesitate to hunt over a specific 1 acre clover plot that was planted for the very same purpose the 50lb bag of corn was used for. The only difference between the two is that one persons bait pile is bigger then the other. I will never argue against baiting deer for hunting purposes as long as food plots can legally be hunted over within a private landowners setting. The two are the same. To outlaw a bait pile but allow a food plot would be discriminating against the non landowner. Anti baiting laws are a hypocracy. Baiting should be allowed as long as food plots are allowed, and I dont see the food plots going away in my lifetime.
 
dc240nt said:
I love the arguement about baiting deer. Most people think its wrong or unethical to drop 50lbs of corn in the woods and then go and hunt over it. Most of these same people would'nt hesitate to hunt over a specific 1 acre clover plot that was planted for the very same purpose the 50lb bag of corn was used for. The only difference between the two is that one persons bait pile is bigger then the other. I will never argue against baiting deer for hunting purposes as long as food plots can legally be hunted over within a private landowners setting. The two are the same. To outlaw a bait pile but allow a food plot would be discriminating against the non landowner. Anti baiting laws are a hypocracy. Baiting should be allowed as long as food plots are allowed, and I dont see the food plots going away in my lifetime.
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I disagree. Baiting is much different than planting food plots as it can be put in places where food plots cannot grow. I don't think there is anything wrong differentiating between the two. I thought some types of baiting were illegal during the hunting season and thought currently in Iowa you had to remove some types of them so many day's before the season?

A planted vegitation will never be outlawed as there is no way they could enforce what is a food plot and what is normal crop ground. Outlawing this would basically ruin every deer hunting show as we know it and IMO they have significant pull in the state as a free "advertising tool" of our "deer quality." Little do people know these are micro-managed large tracts of land and are not typical of the entire state.
 
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In no way shape or form is baiting the same as food plots, I bust my ass all year preping and planting food plots instead of just dumping some corn out come hunting season. and number one deer have access to them all year they don't just magically show up. Deer can be anywhere in the food plot and not in range where as a baiter dumps the bait right in range of the stand. The amount of time and effort required for food plots clearly distinguishes it for a bait site.
 
It wouldn't bother me if they banned food plots. In my opinion food plots are basically a form of baiting. The main reason for food plots is to attract deer and keep them in your "area." Then you go and put up a stand on the edge of the plot. How is that not baiting? And don't so it's no different from hunting over corn or beans. Corn and beans are not planted to attract deer, they are there for and economic reason, food plots are not.
..........just my opinion, lets see if anyone goes pyscho..It also just seems ridicoulous to spend all that time and money to plant food for deer.
 
sep0667 said:
Corn and beans are not planted to attract deer, they are there for and economic reason, food plots are not.
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Looks like I am going to have to set up a stand once a year at the neighborhood farmers market. How much would you charge for radishes, turnips, sugarbeets, and sunflowers?:grin:

It is possible that supplemental feeding refers only to piles of corn and the use of feeders. It will be interesting to see the DNR's definition. I think that food plotting by hunters is driving sales of equipment including ATV's, tractors, and seed which means sales tax that the state can't afford do without.
 
This is not a new subject. Wildlife feeding has been on the DNR's agenda for a couple years now. Last years bill got rejected because the wording was too broad. It's all about the way it is worded in the bill. I'm not going to argue whether food plots and baiting are the same. But answer me this. Would you consider the apple and pear trees I planted baiting? What about the oaks, dogwoods, and other shrubs for browse I planted. These were all strategically located to increase the amount of food in an area. It was also done primarily for the sole benefit of whitetail and wild turkey. Just something to think about
 
sep0667 said:
It wouldn't bother me if they banned food plots. In my opinion food plots are basically a form of baiting. The main reason for food plots is to attract deer and keep them in your "area." Then you go and put up a stand on the edge of the plot. How is that not baiting? And don't so it's no different from hunting over corn or beans. Corn and beans are not planted to attract deer, they are there for and economic reason, food plots are not.
..........just my opinion, lets see if anyone goes pyscho..It also just seems ridicoulous to spend all that time and money to plant food for deer.
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yeah really ridicoulous to provide plenty of food for deer and other wildlife, guess its just a big waste of time and there are no benefits to it....:moon:
 
dc240nt said:
I love the arguement about baiting deer. Most people think its wrong or unethical to drop 50lbs of corn in the woods and then go and hunt over it. Most of these same people would'nt hesitate to hunt over a specific 1 acre clover plot that was planted for the very same purpose the 50lb bag of corn was used for. The only difference between the two is that one persons bait pile is bigger then the other. I will never argue against baiting deer for hunting purposes as long as food plots can legally be hunted over within a private landowners setting. The two are the same. To outlaw a bait pile but allow a food plot would be discriminating against the non landowner. Anti baiting laws are a hypocracy. Baiting should be allowed as long as food plots are allowed, and I dont see the food plots going away in my lifetime.
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I would love to agree with you, but then we would both be wrong!
Food plots and "bait piles" are not even close to the same thing. If you ask anyone who plants food plants they will tell you that it serves a much bigger purpose than just to shoot a deer over. It is a resource that the deer can utilize in conjunction with as well as individually when the rest of the crops are gone. It keeps the deer herd healthy and gives them nutrients during the hardest time of year for them (which is winter and early spring). Im not saying I think it is wrong or unethical to put out baitpiles, I just don't think in Iowa there is any need for them. With that said there are plenty of places where without supplemental feeding, ie bait piles, hunters probably would not see a deer. UP of Michigan, Northern Wisc., parts of Minnesota, most of Canada, are just a few that come to mind. I have a bunch of plots in and I can honestly say that with the exception of one late season ground blind, I dont have any stands on any of them. I put them in solely for the purpose of keeping a healthy and abundant deer herd. Not the same as what someone would dump a 50# bag of corn down for.
 
Food plots and bait piles are way different. They put out timed feeders so the deer learn to come up and eat at a specific time and it concentrates them to a small 15 yard area. You control the location, how much food is there, when it comes out, etc. A buck cannot choose to come out after dark and still eat his fill. He can't come out 80 yards away out of bow range and eat. The hunter gains way more control with a bait pile than with a food plot.
 
I love these threads..

I'll side with dc240nt, sorry to ruffle any feathers guys. Food plots aren't necessary to keep midwestern deer healthy, that's the smorgasborg of the deer world down there. Timers....are timers and bait piles the same thing? Are timers even legal everywhere? I ask b/c I don't know.
I'm sure planting and growing plots feels good, is fun and rewarding, heck if I had land I likely would, it's the farmer in me. I won't begrudge the guy though that doesn't have the land or equip. and chucks down some grain. I even tried it, back in 07, felt like I was doing more work than hunting so it can't be all that "easy and for lazy guys". Carting a 100 pound sack of lentils in a mile wasn't easy...or fun after awhile.

I guess I use bait piles b/c at this time of yr I feed grain in my garden. No it isn't to give them the nutrients to get them through winter, it's because I enjoy seeing them out my window as well as the 3 months worth of crap I get to till into the garden every spring.

If I were hunting them I am sure I could arrow one right out of the garden shed, but they don't come in that early, not quite as early as they did in October after a few hard frosts killed all the Whitetail Institute I had broadcast in all the empty garden space. They raced in for a few days to mow that stuff back.

I know it isn't necessary to supllementally feed, Mother Nature takes care of itself. It does feel good though to provide something to the wildlife and it's just plain fun to be able to pull into your yard with your children while a buck is chasing a hot doe all across your yard. The "bait" is the reason why they were there, I won't feel bad about it not being a food plot b/c it gives us enjoyment. I'm sure there are many people there who do it for the same reasons.
 
Let me ask you this, if you plant a bunch of oak trees and in 10 years they produce acorns - is this considered a food plot?
 
Beats me...

The thing I always found weird about that argument is that about 90% of any positive cwd cases here are in mulies not whitetails. Mulies are not like whitetails in that they'll gather on a bait or yard into groups upwards of 100 in a farmer's haystack or on an uncovered grain pile. You'd think if such situations created disease then here it'd be the other way around, 90% in the whitetails not in the mulies that don't yard near as much and spend the winter on native prairie grasses for the most part.
 
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