If It Was Legal In Alberta Would You Hunt Over A Food Plot?

[Saskabush]

I'm not even sure food plots would do much here anyway. For the most part the deer in Alberta have access to pretty good food in the commercial cereal and hay crops that are grown here. I'm sure they would attract deer, but are they really necessary? Food plots are used mostly in places with poor soil and or milder winters than we tend to have. Most of those feed mixes would freeze just like everything else up here.

Originally Posted by buckmaster

what do you mean exactly by a food plot (hay field);(pile of grain)?

They have special formulated food you plant especially for deer down there. They go crazy for it like cats with cat nip .


My buddy in Michigan does it...I don't agree with it but then again I don't agree with baiting bear. To each their own I guess??

[Redfrog]

So if you are against baiting for bears, how about baiting for fish???

[Cordur]

I don't often bait for fish anymore (Didn't help me much ice fishing this year). I've seen enough bears around during spring and fall season to not worry over much about getting a bait stand set up. And that's the same for deer hunting as well. There are an awful lot of deer wandering about Alberta. I don't agree with anything though that contributes to CWD and baiting certainly seems to lead that way.

I don't think there is much ethically wrong with harvesting an animal that is having a snack, heck I'd shoot a buck off of a doe in heat, hope he dies happy! I just couldn't be arsed to take the time to bait something in this province when there isn't a need.

And as far as finding deer in a hay field standing around waiting to be shot. Well... I only wish deer were that dumb. Be easy though if you could hunt them at 2 am with a night scope!

BTW: When it comes to fishing how else would you catch a fish without using something that looks like food, is food, or a net? Guess you could go bow-fishing. What we really need though is water piercing ammunition. Something that will let us bag trout at about 10' depths. I couldn't wait to spend a morning on the banks of the bow river shooting those huge trout that surface but never bite my flies!

[Big Moose]

Ok I've read the posts here and there is a lot of mis-information here. Food plots are sizable affairs and are not specifically illegal. Fish and wildlife like to keep the rules in this area vague so they can charge somebody they feel is abusing the letter of the law. But food plots are not baiting. A sustainable food plot is going to be in the neighbourhood or at least 100m by 100m. Anything smaller and you'll be planting on a regular basis and thus yes you can fall into the baiting side. But if your food plot is large enough and self sustaining for long periods of time its "habitat improvement". And seriously what do you think these food plots are planted with? Some magical plants that drive deer wild? Anything they use in the states can't be used here do to climate. So food plots here are planted with the exact same thing the farmers plant for cash crops and forage for their livestock. Fish and wildlife won't call food plots baiting if the plot has a diverse plant variety thats available to wildlife all year round. Hence the animals can learn to aviod said food plot when there is hunting pressure.

Seriously do you think habitat improvement is illegal or immoral? CWD is transfered do to high deer densities. Ok I'll give you that. But we have high deer densities in Strathcona county and no cases of CWD. And food plots don't attract all 150 deer in a five mile radius every morning and evening. Painting this issue with a black and white brush is well just plain wrong. As a landowner I'll plant whatever I want. If you own a piece of land (like was mentioned on another thread) and you brush it and plant a few small hayfields and create transition zones between them and the surrounding bush, do you think this baiting? Come on.

[ElDiablo]

I think the real issue here comes down to the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law. If a landowner plants a 200 sq. ft plot of something that deer are crazy about in amidst his 1/4 section of something else, that is coincidently 80 yards from a real nice straight tree...that just happens to have a treestand hanging on it.....ya, thats baiting deer, and should he br crusified for it? We'd probably be split 50/50 on it.....is it right? Is it wrong? The more important question... IS IT ANY OF OUR BUSINESS WHAT HE DOES WITH HIS LAND? I don't think so. If we're talking about a hunter that plants something on crown land with the intention of drawing in game.......that should be our business, CUZ ITS OUR LAND.


.....And really, with the headaches the massive Alberta deer population is creating...is this something we really need to argue about? Theres how many thousand Metis out there that are on the deserving end of our ill will, lets let the farmers do their thing

[fat cat]

Gees: there is a fella living just south of G.P. that has been doing it for years...just thought is was legal!!!!!

[lazy ike]

Originally Posted by Gamehunter

Of course not Who would want the spread of cwd like i said at the start of this thread i dont know enough about food plots to say yes or no.

Alberta has no food plots that i know of but yet we have cull's and deer are found to have cwd .So it could be safe to say that wild deer killed in a cull on a alfalfa field where they concentrated helped to spread cwd kind of a (catch 22 )wouldnt you think .

Here's a couple of links to products used by plot hunters. Yes deer like a nice Alfalfa feild however this is just a secondary result of a man putting food on your table and providing a living for himself. As for our CWD Deer culls , they are on the Sask border and as far as I know the initial spread of CWD started on a Sask Game Farm.

http://www.deer-crack.com/
http://www.rackbuck.com/rackbuck2.htm

Food plots are ultimately about people trying to fabricate a situation that increases their odds of harvesting bigger deer. That is the can of worms.

[Splitbrow]

Read big moose's thread... I was told in the past from a credible CO that as long as it is growing out of the ground it is not baiting. Then again, other CO's will say it is illegal. Again the size etc... will play a factor but it is vague and something I will try and dig to get the proper answer too.

How about we all have a read in the regs hey?

[Saskabush]

Originally Posted by fat cat

Gees: there is a fella living just south of G.P. that has been doing it for years...just thought is was legal!!!!!

if it's the same guy i'm thinking of, It's amazing how much hay 2 horses need to make it through the winter

[TBark]

If it were my land, and it were a comonly grown and harvested crop,
I'd be right over it when the hunting season began.
I'd stay away from those add ball deer cane, and antler enhancer stuff though, 'til this grey area law of baiting is fine tuned and understood.

TBark

[Unregistered user]

The laws are not keeping up with the times. We can bait deer with deer **** that may even contain CWD prions and other bad stuff but can't use a bag of Taber corn or a salt block. Many deer congregate at natural mineral licks, are they passing CWD as a result? nope that's a product of bad farming and research practices. Hunting deer over food should be allowed IMO maybe let the bow guys have at 'er first, close up shooting means better kill ratio.

[Darrell]

If you think that way ? why don't you go to the U.S and hunt? Oh sorry forgot that they come to hunt here due to no deer there other than deer farms because of allowed baiting for years and no deer left! Just like taged walleye ,o limit, no barbs, no bait!? how long does it take to clean out a lake.. A bush of deer? Give your frecking head a shake! our parents, grand parents hunted without bait useing there hunting skills! why do you need or anybody else need to bait deer????? In Alberta you can get two doe tags and a general.. would that not be enough for you or anyone else?

[Big Moose]

Splitbrow,

You hit the nail on the head. Your absolutely correct in that its the interpretation of the local CO of the regs. I contacted the CO for my area and know exactly what he told me was acceptable and not. But the interpretation will change from office to office and CO to CO. So anyone who is interested in starting a wildlife habitat improvement should make a phone call and/or visit their first priority.

As for this thread its been beat around the bush before and there is no new information here with a whole lot of wild speculation with opinion based as fact. Most of it based on purely emotional views with little or no facts.

"If you think that way ? why don't you go to the U.S and hunt? Oh sorry forgot that they come to hunt here due to no deer there other than deer farms because of allowed baiting for years and no deer left! "

This statement alone proves nothing productive or educational is going to come from this "discussion".

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by Big Moose

Splitbrow,

You hit the nail on the head. Your absolutely correct in that its the interpretation of the local CO of the regs. I contacted the CO for my area and know exactly what he told me was acceptable and not. But the interpretation will change from office to office and CO to CO. So anyone who is interested in starting a wildlife habitat improvement should make a phone call and/or visit their first priority.

As for this thread its been beat around the bush before and there is no new information here with a whole lot of wild speculation with opinion based as fact. Most of it based on purely emotional views with little or no facts.

"If you think that way ? why don't you go to the U.S and hunt? Oh sorry forgot that they come to hunt here due to no deer there other than deer farms because of allowed baiting for years and no deer left! "

This statement alone proves nothing productive or educational is going to come from this "discussion".

Co? If your asking a CO your gonna get butkas for a reasonable response. Since the CO's in Alberta only deal with Provincial Parks.
You need to talk to a Fish and Wildlife officer. (Which I'm sure you did)
They dropped the CO title about 3 or 4 years back.
FWIW

[lazy ike]

The "it's my land and I'll do what I want!" argument is a little short sighted with regards to the future of hunting. It's very unlikely that a fella is going to go to all the time and expense of dedicated deer feeding and then allow other hunters on to his property. Deer that are feeding on crops are usually considered a pest(atleast by the ranchers and farmers I know), deer that are raised for hunting will be considered the owners property. The natural evolution of this logic is there for all to see in some of the states South of us.

[Unregistered user]

Originally Posted by Darrell

If you think that way ? why don't you go to the U.S and hunt? Oh sorry forgot that they come to hunt here due to no deer there other than deer farms because of allowed baiting for years and no deer left! Just like taged walleye ,o limit, no barbs, no bait!? how long does it take to clean out a lake.. A bush of deer? Give your frecking head a shake! our parents, grand parents hunted without bait useing there hunting skills! why do you need or anybody else need to bait deer????? In Alberta you can get two doe tags and a general.. would that not be enough for you or anyone else?

If I gave my head a shake would I be as smart as you or would I have to slam it into a wall a few times? We have 10% of the population of the U.S. and no shortage of deer.

[Blackwolf]

NO!!!!

[Tuc]

No

[Reeves1]

What if the wife has declared war on Deer, for eating the garden plants. Is that a food plot ?
And if I ignore the wife, and let the Deer eat her garden stuff/trees, whom is the greater power ?

[Dunezilla]

Originally Posted by buckmaster

what do you mean exactly by a food plot (hay field);(pile of grain)?

Sorry bushmaster I wasn't able to get on to the computor until now.

To answer your question...I mean plots that attract deer to the area that you hunt in. Stuff that the deer like (kind of like baiting) I guess you can say. To bring bear into an area you bait...so do the same thing for a deer, moose, etc.. Except it would be legal to do so.

You would plant a food plot the size of a house garden. Then after the deer get a-custom to the food plot you kill them. Anyhow they as this question on a american hunting sight:"would you concider a food plot baiting"

[Rackmastr]

Hope you werent talkin to me......it was bushmaster who posted the question.....heh

[Dunezilla]

Originally Posted by Rackmastr

Hope you werent talkin to me......it was bushmaster who posted the question.....heh

Sorry to you to Rack, I had a stupit attack...no offence I hope...again I am very sorry.

Excuse me for butting in and actually answering the question, but I wouldn't bait deer. The thrill of a stalk is too much to pass up. Even if I don't shoot anything, a good stalk = a good hunt.
It's all about me getting better than I was last time, not getting better at tricking the deer.
That's why I hunt.

[Rackmastr]

Originally Posted by Dunezilla

Sorry to you to Rack, I had a stupit attack...no offence I hope...again I am very sorry.

Heh...most definatly not offended....just a good laugh was all....

[Reeves1]

Another twist on yer food plot....and the wife's "War on Deer"!

Went to my pole barn this morning & I have a 4x4 Mule living in it ...again. (it's cool in it)

So, when the time comes, is it OK to shoot a "pet" Deer ?



Bugger scared the crap out of me (again) when he bolted !

[

[Dunezilla]

Originally Posted by Reeves

Another twist on yer food plot....and the wife's "War on Deer"!

Went to my pole barn this morning & I have a 4x4 Mule living in it ...again. (it's cool in it)

So, when the time comes, is it OK to shoot a "pet" Deer ?



Bugger scared the crap out of me (again) when he bolted !

Just wait for him during hunting to move 283 meters from a occupied building and bang you got meat.

The question is could you kill that deer?

[Rifle]

No, I wouldn't. And Gamehunter, no one is really sure how CWD is spread, just theories. The one hard fact is high densities increase the likelihood of CWD occurring. The "cull area" down by the Saskatchewan border has CWD primarily due to GAME FARMS on both the Sask and Alberta side in the area (mostly Sask). What do you think is going to happen when you stick hundreds of deer together in close quarters? It's like salmon farms and sea lice. And Dick, thanks for saving me the "CO's are not F&W officers" speech.

[Unregistered user]

Pat McM would be proud.