The Georgia House and Senate have passed bills allowing baiting for deer and hogs in the Southern Zone in Georgia. The Senate made a few changes to the bill, so it is now going back to the House for approval. Hunters in the southern zone have been calling for this for years now, with the strongest murmurings coming in the past year or so. GON (Georgia Outdoor News) magazine has run polls over the years to gauge how hunters feel about this issue. Hunters were overwhelmingly in support this year.
Individuals are already allowed to "legally" bait by planting food plots. They were allowed to spread out other foods such as corn, wheat, etc. for deer and hogs as long as they did not hunt within sight of or within 200 yards of the bait. Many hunters use this tactic in conjunction with trail cameras to gauge the quality and quantity of the wildlife on their property on a year round basis. The changes to the law will allow Southern Zone Hunters to actually hunt over these bait sites. This is just a basic summary of the bill, but the entire bill can be read here, www.legis.ga.gov, by entering HB 277 in the search bar on the home page.
In my opinion, this is a good thing for the southern part of the state. People living in town may not be aware of the damage caused by wildlife in agricultural settings, particularly by the wild hogs who are reproducing faster that hunters can kill them,. Deer can also eat their share of a farmer's livelihood. Also, when the population rises, then more deer/vehicle accidents occur and this causes a dangerous situation.
While I can live with or without being able to hunt over bait for deer, I think it is beneficial for hog hunters. In my experience, hogs seem to come to the bait more in daylight hours than deer do. This would help in keeping that population down by allowing for many more of them to be killed.
While it may seem unethical to some, it isn't to others. Deer and hogs are primarily nocturnal creatures. Just because an individual may have bait poured out 50 feet in front of a deerstand does not guarantee that that individual will kill a deer. A person still has to be sitting in that stand at the right time on the right day AND has to make a successful shot while their heart is trying to beat its way out of their chest. The animals may choose to come to that food source more often than another one if it is a preferred food, but it will still be mostly at night.
Another thing to look at is that if most hunters choose to put out bait, then there will be multiple places for the animals to go eat. Nothing guarantees that the animals will go to the bait site that you want them to. They will go to the preferred food source, wherever that may be. Currently if there are only 2 or 3 bait sites on a hunting lease, then those sites will be hit the most. If the law is passed, then the number of bait sites will rise exponentially. As an example, let's assume that Slickhead Huntin' Club has 15 members. Out of those 15 members, in the past only a couple of them hunted over some very hidden bait sites. That was only 2 bait sites on their property. This year, 10 of those members choose to hunt over bait sites, and each one of them have 2 different sites apiece. Now this gives wildlife about 20 different bait sites to choose from, in addition to all the other food sources on the property.
Just because someone throws out a pile of corn, that still is not a guarantee that deer will choose that food. There may be other food sources, either planted or growing naturally, that are more preferred by the herd at that point in time. In the dead of winter the bait sites are more apt to be chosen, but during the warmer months of the year, there is usually plenty of browse for the wildlife.
Another thing this bill will help is our DNR rangers. They are already spread so thin that they cannot effectively do their job. Now, they can worry less about people hunting over bait, and concentrate on more serious offenses.
In summary, I feel like hunting hogs over bait is almost necessary. Hunting deer over bait is debatable. It might allow hunters with lesser abilities and skills to kill a deer or two more than they would without being able to hunt over bait. It might also help those lazy hunters out there who aren't willing to put in the work involved to scout out an area, hang a stand in a great location, and put in a little elbow grease to help improve the habitat. I personally believe that I will be prouder of the animal taken without the aid of bait than one that falls dead in a pile of corn in front of my stand. But, for the purpose of maybe seeing more deer with my child in the stand with me, or maybe during bow season, I may choose to hunt over a bait site if it is legal in the state of Georgia.
