Feeding and Baiting Deer

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Dear Editor,

The 2014-2015 Virginia game guide booklet (has again) dedicated an entire page this year trying to sell the fairytale on the evils of feeding and baiting deer. Once again, there is a picture from Michigan showing a bait site with many 55 gallon drums in a condensed feeding spot with what looks like a spider web of deer trails through the snow going between the drums. The Va. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) has offered up this extreme photo to bias and demonize deer baiting. No hunter with a working man’s budget (or an ounce of brains) could set up or maintain a baited area as is pictured in this year’s game guide. It is (however) legal in Va. to unleash 100 deer dogs (or more) into the woods at once but, such an act would make for an equally appalling  picture. Such extremes of bait (or dogs) arrayed to kill deer are possible but, highly improbable.  Now that the DGIF has presented its (biased) case against deer feeding, I will present my case as to why their points don’t stand the test of reason!

First off, every state that adjoins Virginia allows the feeding/baiting of deer and to no ill effect. How is it this hunting method works well in those states and not here in VA. ? This point alone casts shadows of doubt on what the Va. DGIF claims. The DGIF does allow the planting of “Food Plots” with no restriction on size. It is (there by) legal to grow anything smaller than a quarter acre to beyond a 1000 acres of grains or corn and leave every bite of it to the deer. The DGIF takes no exception toward this method of feeding/”baiting” however. Ironically, any argument the DGIF advances against feeding/baiting of deer (from a bag) could just as well apply against the legal “Food Plot” due to identical responses by deer.  The first argument the DGIF advances against deer feeding/baiting is that it can, “artificially increase deer numbers leading to property damage, vehicle collisions etc.” … Does not every farm field and or “Food Plot” across the state pose the exact same “supposed/alleged” risk? The answer is, yes! If increased deer population problems were true due to increased feeding from the bag, “food plots” can/will do the same. The hunters of Va. would be delighted to remedy this “problem” with increased bag limits of deer and there would be no objections from, “Hunters for the hungry” either! The DGIF presents its second denunciation of feed/bait concerning wildlife habitat and “altered perceptions” of habitat brought about by the “50 pound bag”. I submit that the 5 to 500 acre food plot, apple orchards and the like has just as heavy (if not greater) effect to alter “natural habitats”.

The next (vacuous) DGIF argument against deer feeding/baiting is, “Deer Behavior” saying feeding/baiting, “alters the natural home ranges and distribution of deer on a landscape.” Do crops and or “Food plots” do exactly the same? Yes! The DGIF goes on to say that feeding deer changes their behavior making them less wild…. (as do crops and food plots)! Deer are the most adaptable game animals I know of. I have witnessed many times where deer have even grown to ignore gun fire around target ranges once they recognize it’s no threat to them. If deer can adapt to the blast of high powered weapons, they will also learn to adapt to all manner of human activity becoming “semi tame” (once they recognize no dangers). We have all borne witness to the “semi tame” deer that live in the town of Farmville and other like developments.  Deer behavior revolves around the danger to them. Once they understand there is no danger, deer will nearly walk into an open door to a home. Consequently, if they once get hunted by any crops, food plot or bait, they will soon steer clear of it. Deer protect themselves very well. Much better in fact than any law will!

The next myth the DGIF advances against deer feeding/baiting is disease. Once again, I point to other states that allow feeding. Where is the evidence of epidemic there? If baiting/feeding can (indeed) spread disease by concentrating the herd, then the “legal” food plot is just as apt to do the same. If the DGIF claims a food plot covers a wider area making it less likely for deer to concentrate, then mandate by law any/all baits/feeds for deer be broadcast over a wide area to align with how food plots are. The DGIF will not subscribe to this (perfectly logical) solution because from the outset of their presentation in the game guide is the unmistakable bias and prejudice against the practice of feeding deer altogether. Since deer feeding is allowed for 8 months out of the year in most counties, how can the DGIF be complacent about all the same ills feeding causes to make feeding illegal for just 4 months ? The DGIF has outlawed the feeding of deer (entirely) in the western most counties of Va. since there are documented cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) out there. This is a very mountainous, colder, harsher and less agricultural portion of the state. If deer health issues exist there, it would be most understandable out where food of any type is harder to come by. The solution the DGIF has offered up for a deer herd (already suffering from the privations of their environment) is to absolutely starve them by enacting a total ban on feeding there at any time of the year. This solution by the DGIF is sure to compound if not out and out promote the spread of CWD and other diseases. A malnourished anything is an open invitation to sickness and disease.

The final case the DGIF makes against deer feed/baits illustrates that their arguments are not only filled with bias and prejudice but, hypocrisy as well. The DGIF says the majority of Virginia’s deer hunters and non hunters oppose hunting over bait. When was this poll taken since I nor any of my fellow hunters recall filling out a survey. If we can use the “Hunting channel” on TV as the “yard stick” to measure ethical hunting, one will see over and over the hunting of deer over bait (from Canada to Texas) along with a wide variety of deer baits advertised for sale. On the other hand, Virginia does allow the use of dogs to hunt deer. One will never see a single deer hunted/killed on the Hunting Channel using dogs. Programmers of these hunting shows know very well if they did, there would be an, ”unethical hunting” uproar that would destroy the ratings and hunting standards of their programs. If the DGIF can make a case (and distinction) that hunting with the use of a food plot is “ethical” and a bait as unethical, I would like it further explained how the DGIF can see “ethical hunting” by allowing packs of dogs to be turned lose on deer bedded in thickets being driven out of their place of refuge. How can this be seen as anything but an unethical means to hunt deer. The Hunting Channel certainly sees it that way! Can the DGIF  explain how it’s ethical (in their eyes) to see herds of exhausted deer with foam and saliva coursing out of the mouths running for their lives (for hours or days)from deer dogs into waiting lines of hunters who mow them down by the score under sheets of buckshot. This is an image of deer hunting (legal in Va.) the “Hunting channel” won’t dare broadcast.  Further, how does this type of hunting  promote the methods of “scouting” and ”identifying deer sign” (that the DGIF specifically stated as vitally important to hunting )? Scouting and deer sign watching is far more applicable to bait hunting over hunters standing shoulder to shoulder in some “Napoleonic linier-line” tactic waiting for panicked deer to blunder in to gun range while being chased by dogs.

I have hunted Whitetail and Sika deer over bait for decades in Maryland. The deer bait method of hunting there works well for deer and hunter alike. Furthermore, it’s a far safer method of hunting. Hunters are not rushed and driven to make hurried or reckless shots over baited sites. Impulsive deer shooting is far more apt to occur here in Virginia (especially with using dogs) as is borne out by the number of hunters wounded or killed in this state as opposed to Maryland. Hunting with bait for deer also offers better opportunities for the very young or the very old hunter as well as the disabled. It levels the playing field between the rich and poor hunter and would increase state revenues if out of state hunters knew Virginia was as good for deer hunting (using bait) as their home state (that uses bait). If the feeding deer/wildlife is a bad practice, why are squirrel, bird and humming bird feeders allowed to be sold/set-up? If the feeding of deer has such a negative impact on the deer herd, why is it disallowed for just 4 months out of the year in most counties in Va.? What other offenses against man or nature is considered a criminal act for just select months in a year? If deer feeds adversely impact the deer population, why is every feed store and retail giants across Va. allowed to sell deer feeds in the greatest amounts precisely during the months the DGIF says it’s illegal to set these feeds in the woods ? By DGIF reasoning, isn’t this tantamount to selling guns and ammo across the ticket counter at an airport?  For those who think deer baits are unethical for hunting deer, what is ethical about using dogs? What is easy about deer hunting in general? Most deer hunters roll out of a warm bed at 4:30 AM. By 5:30 AM, they subject themselves to subfreezing temperatures, wind, rain, sleet, walking through the darkness in a tangled woods under all these conditions just to arrive at their hunting location by dawn. What part of the aforementioned sounds easy?  I think anyone who makes hunting laws should have logged a certain number of hunting hours and or killed/checked in at least 50 deer. If a person does not have extensive experience as a hunter, I consider them unqualified to make command decisions that relate to hunting.

Karl Schmidt, Farmville, Va.