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Baiting Question #7243923 08/03/18 01:45 PM
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PoppinPiggies Offline OP
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How far do you have to be away from a deer feeder so as not to run the risk of being accused of baiting while dove hunting?


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7243936 08/03/18 01:58 PM
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I can't find anything in writing, but for some reason, "out of sight, and 300 yards" seems to be sticking in my mind.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7243940 08/03/18 02:01 PM
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One would think that out of sight and out of shotgun range would be a reasonable definition, but well out of shotgun range might also be reasonable. Maybe call a warden and ask?


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7243963 08/03/18 02:13 PM
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I'd call TPWD. Even if you are 600 yards away and shooting birds going to that feeder things could get iffy the way the rules are written.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7243968 08/03/18 02:16 PM
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Herbie Hancock Offline
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A hunter may not:

hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area
hunt over any baited area until 10 days after all baiting materials have been removed


Very very gray of what it means over a baited area with it being a deer feeder. I would be far from that feeder, since it would be hard proving it's been turned off for 10 days.


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7243983 08/03/18 02:25 PM
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Yeah, there are deer feeders spread across the ranch and none of them will be turned off for the sake of dove hunting. I see hunting over bait as being close enough to shoot a bird on the bait or descending on the bait. All this seems to be a little grey and I guess could fall under the discretion of the GW and what mood he is in on any given day. Do ya'll think out of sight and 200-300 yards would be safe?


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: Herbie Hancock] #7244011 08/03/18 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted By: Herbie Hancock
A hunter may not:

hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area

It’s really as simple as this. Distance from bait does not matter. If you have birds going to bait area, and you pattern the birds going to/from baited area and kill them 2 miles away, you are “hunting migratory birds with the aid of bait”.

If you don’t have birds goin to the deer feeder I would not worry about it. If the deer feeder pulling in birds, that could be a problem.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: Guy] #7244028 08/03/18 02:48 PM
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Originally Posted By: Guy
Originally Posted By: Herbie Hancock
A hunter may not:

hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area

It’s really as simple as this. Distance from bait does not matter. If you have birds going to bait area, and you pattern the birds going to/from baited area and kill them 2 miles away, you are “hunting migratory birds with the aid of bait”.

If you don’t have birds goin to the deer feeder I would not worry about it. If the deer feeder pulling in birds, that could be a problem.


By saying that aren't we all breaking that law every time we hunt, since you may be hunting near a property with deer feeders that you don't know about?


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: Guy] #7244031 08/03/18 02:49 PM
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Originally Posted By: Guy
Originally Posted By: Herbie Hancock
A hunter may not:

hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area

It’s really as simple as this. Distance from bait does not matter. If you have birds going to bait area, and you pattern the birds going to/from baited area and kill them 2 miles away, you are “hunting migratory birds with the aid of bait”.

If you don’t have birds goin to the deer feeder I would not worry about it. If the deer feeder pulling in birds, that could be a problem.


This isn't my situation, but say you are dove hunting on a small property and and the birds roost to the north fly over your property on their way south to a deer feeder on the neighbors property a mile away. Then based on your claim it would be illegal to shoot them.... I just see this as possibly making it impossible to know if you are hunting legally if it is as plain as "if a bird goes to a feeder than it is illegal to shoot"
I will have dove visit my deer feeders but that is just whats gonna happen when you have corn on the ground in areas dove frequent. Now I am not skilled enough to tell one dove from another, so if I shoot a dove I will not know whether or not it is one that visits a feeder.


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244035 08/03/18 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted By: PoppinPiggies
I see hunting over bait as being close enough to shoot a bird on the bait or descending on the bait.

There are 2 parts to the rule, 1) you cannot hunt over bait area (if there are birds going to bait or not), and 2) you cannot use baited area as an aid. Your statement address #1. But if you got birds goin to the bait, they could get you with number 2, regardless of distance from feeder.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: Herbie Hancock] #7244079 08/03/18 03:30 PM
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Originally Posted By: Herbie Hancock
Originally Posted By: Guy
Originally Posted By: Herbie Hancock
A hunter may not:

hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area

It’s really as simple as this. Distance from bait does not matter. If you have birds going to bait area, and you pattern the birds going to/from baited area and kill them 2 miles away, you are “hunting migratory birds with the aid of bait”.

If you don’t have birds goin to the deer feeder I would not worry about it. If the deer feeder pulling in birds, that could be a problem.


By saying that aren't we all breaking that law every time we hunt, since you may be hunting near a property with deer feeders that you don't know about?

Maybe. If birds are poring into baited area, and federal GW gets a call to investigate, and your are on the next ranch over smacking birds going to bated area, you can bet he is going to get ya.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244091 08/03/18 03:47 PM
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I would ask the GW in the area you plan to hunt his definition of the law. He/she would be the one enforcing it.


There is time, and you must take it, to lay your hand on your dog's head as you walk past him lying on the floor or on his settle, time to talk with him, to remember with him, time to please him, time you can't buy back once he's gone" GBE
Re: Baiting Question [Re: RayB] #7244186 08/03/18 05:03 PM
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Originally Posted By: Barny Topwater
I would ask the GW in the area you plan to hunt his definition of the law. He/she would be the one enforcing it.

Good idea for local state GW. Good luck getting a fed GW to come visit. Fed GW is like the IRS, they show up at your front door, they are going to find something. They are not making a trip to your place for the fun of it.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244203 08/03/18 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted By: PoppinPiggies
Originally Posted By: Guy
Originally Posted By: Herbie Hancock
A hunter may not:

hunt migratory birds with the aid of bait, or on or over any baited area

It’s really as simple as this. Distance from bait does not matter. If you have birds going to bait area, and you pattern the birds going to/from baited area and kill them 2 miles away, you are “hunting migratory birds with the aid of bait”.

If you don’t have birds goin to the deer feeder I would not worry about it. If the deer feeder pulling in birds, that could be a problem.


This isn't my situation, but say you are dove hunting on a small property and and the birds roost to the north fly over your property on their way south to a deer feeder on the neighbors property a mile away. Then based on your claim it would be illegal to shoot them.... I just see this as possibly making it impossible to know if you are hunting legally if it is as plain as "if a bird goes to a feeder than it is illegal to shoot"
I will have dove visit my deer feeders but that is just whats gonna happen when you have corn on the ground in areas dove frequent. Now I am not skilled enough to tell one dove from another, so if I shoot a dove I will not know whether or not it is one that visits a feeder.

I’m just giving facts per your original question, how far do you need to be away from feeder. And fact is, distance is purposely left out of the regulation. If distance was in there, say 600 yards, you can bet barney would be gaming the system, he would bring a dump truck in full of bird seed, dump in the middle of his ranch, and make 600 yard circle with all his buddies around the pile of seed.

But in reality, I have never seen dove going to a feeder. Not anything significant to worry about. I have hunted dove and duck on private property with deer feeders, never saw birds going to feeder, so I did not worry about.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244225 08/03/18 05:52 PM
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Call your GW and ask him/her. I’ve spoken with game wardens in every county I hunt and have gotten mixed answers, from out of sight to 500 yards. The one doesn’t care if I’m 50 yards around the corner as long as the feeder is out of sight, while others say be 150+ yards and best if I just quit feeding. One says 500 yards and can’t be shooting birds on the flight line towards the feeder. It’s all about your game warden, so give him a call.



Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244288 08/03/18 07:10 PM
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"Maybe. If birds are poring into baited area, and federal GW gets a call to investigate, and your are on the next ranch over smacking birds going to bated area, you can bet he is going to get ya."

They can write all the tickets they want but that one would be pretty simple to get out of. If your on a separate ranch hunting legally ON YOUR PLACE and the other ranch next door is braking the law again....simple to not pay that ticket.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244355 08/03/18 08:39 PM
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Update: Just got off the phone with my local Game Warden and he said that the only safe way to dove hunt on your property is to have ALL deer feeders shut off. Now I asked him, what about large properties? And all he could say was that the way the law is written there is no distance limitation like stated by others on here and said he has written tickets in the past. I specifically asked if I was hunting 1/2 mile away from the feeder, on the same property, and the feeder was not in sight would I be safe, and he said "Probably." Basically my understanding is you can not hunt dove and be completely safe if you are also seriously managing your property for deer as well. But on the other hand I have never gotten in trouble for dove hunting and have hunted on properties with feeders going. My plan is to use common sense and not hunt birds near any feeders to where anybody could "reasonably" assume that I was baiting. Obviously an unreasonable GW still could write a ticket but thankfully I think the chance of that happening is extremely low. I didn't ask him what the case is if a neighbor has a feeder but that is an interesting discussion as well.


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Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244381 08/03/18 09:04 PM
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I can only remember a few dove ever with corn in the crawl. They don't hit feeders until dead of winter on our place. I don't worry about. They are full of grain from local fields.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244493 08/03/18 11:03 PM
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My GW told me to keep my guys 150 yards away from active corn feeders.
He also told me the distance is up to each GW's discretion.

Last edited by Stompy; 08/03/18 11:13 PM.

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Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7244650 08/04/18 01:29 AM
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they like to keep it that way. I've always worried about it the way they have it written. on places less than a thousand acres, a but hurt neighbor could easily keep you from hunting.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: woodduckhunter] #7245009 08/04/18 02:17 PM
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Originally Posted By: woodduckhunter
they like to keep it that way. I've always worried about it the way they have it written. on places less than a thousand acres, a but hurt neighbor could easily keep you from hunting.



I don't see it that way. Again any LEO can write tickets all day for anything but its determined in front of a judge. On your place( your land, lease etc) your hunting legal I could care less what my neighbors are doing. You have a right to hunt, and that right trumps illegal activity on a property you have no right on (neighbors)

Re: Baiting Question [Re: Txduckman] #7245015 08/04/18 02:19 PM
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Originally Posted By: Txduckman
I can only remember a few dove ever with corn in the crawl. They don't hit feeders until dead of winter on our place. I don't worry about. They are full of grain from local fields.


Dove are all over our feeders when we bowhunt deer in oct/Nov. I sometimes stand up in my stand and shoo the dove and quail away so I got corn left when the deer show up!

Re: Baiting Question [Re: BDB] #7245252 08/04/18 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted By: BDB
Originally Posted By: Txduckman
I can only remember a few dove ever with corn in the crawl. They don't hit feeders until dead of winter on our place. I don't worry about. They are full of grain from local fields.


Dove are all over our feeders when we bowhunt deer in oct/Nov. I sometimes stand up in my stand and shoo the dove and quail away so I got corn left when the deer show up!

You need to shoo them away with your shotgun, its very effective. smile ani

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7246930 08/06/18 05:02 PM
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Great topic. I believe the law is ambiguous to allow the GW to use his judgement. If there was a specific law, folks would be gaming it....

I called our GW and asked about shredding wild sunflowers to spread the seed. My concern was that I was not harvesting the crop, just shredding to spread the seeds and set up some lanes.

He encouraged me to shred lanes so the hunters could find the birds and ensure a safe hunt.

Good common sense.

Re: Baiting Question [Re: PoppinPiggies] #7248306 08/07/18 06:15 PM
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Forget about the feeders. The best time to plant your winter wheat is in about two weeks. No doves will be around your feeders. Problem solved

Last edited by Nitro27; 08/07/18 06:16 PM.
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