Max Parks
Deer
hunting has long been a tradition in Wisconsin, so in recent years when baiting
and feeding deer has come under fire it’s no surprise that there has been
strong opposition from the hunting community.
People choose to bait and feed deer for a variety of reasons, but in
most cases it comes down to personal ethics, which are usually specific to each
person and difficult to change. I’m not
going to go into the ethics of baiting because it is an aspect of the debate
which holds little scientific weight when determining whether baiting and
feeding deer are beneficial to the deer population or hunters.
In the
past, baiting has been banned statewide, but opposition caused the legislature
to compromise. It is steal illegal to
use bait in CWD zones, but restricted baiting is now allowed outside of these
designated zones.
Hunters are
not the only groups that oppose banning baiting. The economic benefits from baiting help not only
farmers, but retailers that sell feed to hunters. Homeowners will often time feed deer and
other wildlife to increase their chances of viewing them. Others provide feed in the harsh winter
months to help deer avoid starvation.
These activities seem harmless enough, in fact they may be considered
beneficial, but in the long run may prove to be detrimental to the health of
the herd.
In a
state where CWD remains a threat, it is important to consider how baiting will
affect the spread of the disease. Baiting
changes the habits of deer by attracting and concentrating them into a smaller
area. CWD is spread from animal to
animal, so when deer are concentrated, the amount of contact between deer is
greatly increased, which in turn increases the spread of CWD.
Deer do
not primarily feed on high carbohydrate foods such as corn, so when large
quantities are consumed it can cause digestive problems. These digestive problems can range from mild
discomfort to death. The corn sold for
wildlife feed is not strictly regulated like it is for livestock. Poor storage of this corn can lead to
dangerously high levels of toxins from common molds to go unnoticed. These unseen problems can make the seemingly
harmless act of providing food dangerous to wildlife. Another unforeseen problem with providing
corn is that they do not primarily feed on corn. So when the deer are concentrated in a
smaller area they tend to overgraze the surrounding vegetation. This habitat loss will eventually prove
harmful to the overall populations.
Having
grown up hunting in an area where baiting was illegal it was always easy to say
that it shouldn’t be allowed solely on the basis of ethics because I never had
the choice to legally use bait. But I
imagine that I may feel differently about the issue if I had grown the merits
of baiting are reevaluated to ensure we can continue this hunting tradition for
generations to come.
Toso, Mark A. "Deer Baiting and Feeding in
Wisconsin." N.p., 18 Feb. 2002. Web
1 comment:
Good, informative article on a topic of hot debate in a state where deer hunting is a very personal subject, though it seemed that very little of the writer's opinion carried through in the post. Though the "cons" of baiting seemed to well outweigh the "pros", I really would have like to have seen some emotion in this blog. Other than that, the facts seem good and orderly.
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