The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

Deer hunting is a tradition that runs thick among many Wisconsin families. Perhaps the greatest threat to that tradition is the spread of diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease and bovine tuberculosis, and no practice exacerbates that threat as much as baiting.

Deer baiting is also a tradition among many hunters, as much a part of preparing for the hunt as buying a license and sighting in the rifle. It is no surprise then, that restrictions on baiting have met with resistance, and previously proposed bans on baiting have met with outcry. But the tide may be turning.

Keith McCaffery is a deer biologist with the Department of Natural Resources in Rhinelander. McCaffery, who retired several years ago but continues to work in his office every day in a field of work he has admittedly become addicted to, has spent decades studying whitetail deer and issues surrounding the management of the state’s deer herd.

There are a number of factors that make baiting a bad practice, McCaffery said, including the ethics of hunting over bait, the de facto privatization of deer in some areas and the infusion of huge amounts of artificial energy into the ecosystem. But the greatest concern pertaining to baiting and feeding, he said, is the spread of disease.

“The disease complication really trumps all others concerns, and we should give great weight to that concern,” McCaffery said.

Baiting and feeding deer involves the repeated replacement of food at a specific location. The repeated replacement creates a cycle that isn’t repeated anywhere else in nature, where urine and droppings become concentrated at the site and saliva and nasal drippings are left behind on the food pile when a deer finishes eating and moves on. So if one deer at the pile has a transmittable disease, others visiting the pile will likely pick it up with their daily fix of apples or corn.

Making the cycle even more hazardous for the herd is the fact deer continually lick and groom themselves and other deer, so if one deer from a family unit picks up a disease, the rest of the unit is likely to pick it up as well. At bait piles, where deer from multiple family units often congregate, the ails of one unit can quickly spread to others.

“Why should we create a spot like that and then have deer come and feed there?” McCaffery questioned. “It’s the consensus of scientists and wildlife biologists across North America that we should not bait or feed deer.”

Deer baiting has likely always taken place in Wisconsin on some level, McCaffery said, though the practice increased dramatically in the late 1980s. In Michigan, hunters reported placing 3.3 million bushels of bait in 1984. By 1991 the number had jumped to 13.1 million bushels.

In Wisconsin, the issue of baiting really came to the forefront in 2002 after the first discovery of CWD, an always fatal neurological disease, in the state’s wild deer herd. That year, Wisconsin banned bating state-wide.

McCaffery said anecdotal evidence suggests hunters saw more deer following their natural patterns that year, rather than feeding nocturnally at bait piles. But the ban was controversial to say the least, and by the time the 2003 deer season rolled around a compromise had been reached, with new legislation allowing baiting but limiting it to two gallons per site. Those regulations are still in place, except in the CWD management zone in the southern part of the state, where all baiting and feeding is illegal.

McCaffery said the compromise was good in that it at least limited the amount of feed being placed for deer, but it doesn’t address the most important issues.

“It’s not addressing the disease transmission and it’s difficult to enforce,” he said.

On the positive side, McCaffery said he feels the tide is turning and lawmakers along with hunters are coming around to the perspective of scientists and wildlife biologists. The state Natural Resources Board and the Conservation Congress have both endorsed a ban on feeding to control the spread of CWD.

“We’re still hoping for a statewide prohibition,” McCaffery said.

Tell us what you think...

Comments »

Country Joe wrote on Nov 25, 2008 6:53 PM:

" Dear John, If Keith McCaffery is so educated about deer, then he can show us the scientific documentation that proves baiting with 2 gallons of feed causes the spread of CWD. It should not be that difficult if there is proof. Why attack the guy or gal who wants to hunt over a few gallons of bait for a few months of the year. Humans have always hunted over bait. Also, large groups of deer do not congregate around 2 gallons of feed, nor do they urinate or defecate on a small pile of bait from which they are eating (and you can be sure that deer do defecate and urinate in a food plot). I wish the DNR would just stop the nonsense and make laws that apply to fact not fiction. "

John Rasmussen wrote on Nov 21, 2008 8:45 AM:

" the corporate hunting culture, game preserve folks, Purina animal division, and the outdoor network have a great stake in the privatization of american hunting for one purpose: to make a profit on the enterprise.
Baiting, feeding and food plots all fit perfectly to into this business model. QDM and other deer groups rely on these corporate interests to further their own interests and for their advertising revenue. None of these interests have the ultimate goal of conservation of natural resources including Deer health as a guiding principle. Keith McCaffery is a nationally recognized expert on whitetail who has quided numerous state DNR programs in Whitetail deer management and has dedicated his working life to helping Wisconsin become a destination state for wild wisconsin whitetails. So i guess i would listen when he speaks. "

stephen wrote on Nov 21, 2008 7:50 AM:

" Dear Concerned, You're not much of a hunter if the only way you can harvest a deer is with baiting. The health of the herd and our families is worth the lost revenue to the DNR. "

dale wrote on Nov 21, 2008 7:33 AM:

" If the DNR feels baiting is that big of a problem why not do something about all the illegal baits? The DNR wants people to believe that the reason they are not seeing deer is due to baiting when in fact it is due to the fact that 1-they have issued far to many bonus tags for far to many years. 2-The Wolf population is out of hand! But They are not the people that are spending the time in the woods to know that the bottom line is that certain areas of public land have no deer left! "

Ken Anderson wrote on Nov 21, 2008 7:29 AM:

" Food plots are another word for baiting. The most effective one I saw had pumpkins and cabbage. More than one deer will feed on the same pumpkin or cabbage but only one deer will pick up a scattered kernal of corn.
The politics of fear over TB is a smokescreen, designed to give deer hunters the black eye should TB enter Wisconsin. Why is DNR still allowing whole carcasses from Michigan and Minnesota to come into Wisconsin? How many news releases about TB have you seen from DATCP compared to DNR?
Sportspersons in Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln, Marathon and Taylor counties all voted to keep baiting at last April's hearings. The Chippewa will be able to continue baiting in the ceded territory no matter what happens.
Feeding is another issue; seperate the two and talk about each seperately, something DNR still won't recognize. "

Dave wrote on Nov 21, 2008 12:04 AM:

" As the article mentions, baiting has been going on ever since the first hunter took to the woods. The diseases we are fretting about were around then, and will continue to arise in deer herds. They are naturally occurring population controls that come and go as the deer population rises and falls. Baiting is a minimal factor in the spread of these diseases. On the argument of ethics, what about the fisherman that drops his slip bobber over a fish crib? While not identical, he is using an "unnatural" structure to increase his chances of success. Anyone who has ever used bait knows that it does not guarantee success. In my humble opinion, I feel that baiting should continue to be allowed following the current regulations. I believe we have struck a good balance between using a good tool for harvesting deer and not abusing the privilege. "

bypass wrote on Nov 20, 2008 11:47 PM:

" Let's see.The DNR (insurance companies) want hundreds of thousands of deer killed off. So, remove a system that makes that a close goal. Yup,makes sense "

Country Joe wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:26 PM:

" Mr. McCaffery, please show us the scientific documentation that proves baiting causes the spread of CWD, that anyone (biologist or scientist) knows for sure what causes the spread of CWD. Please! And was it really ethical of the DNR to bring snipers into the deer eradication zone in southern Wisconsin with an aim to kill 100% of the deer population (many of which were perfectly healthy deer, does and young deer as well)? And does two gallons of feed placed under a tree in the woods really disrupt our ecosystem! What are you talking about? I can think of other things that are much, much more taxing to our ecosystem: Large food plots (sometimes as big as a farm field) that require woodland to be cut down, cultivated with gas or diesel equipment, and then artificially fertilized. "

charles wrote on Nov 20, 2008 6:45 PM:

" As with any thing else it would only work for people who follow the laws, illegal baiting is going on and will keep going on long after everyone who reads this has passed on. "

kevin wrote on Nov 20, 2008 4:28 PM:

" i think batting should be banned and food plotsare an great idea and i think also the state of wisconsin should go to a 4 point min on one side to so we would shometing to shoot at way to meny little deer are be shot "

nick wrote on Nov 20, 2008 4:07 PM:

" There is NO scientific evidence showing baiting spreads CWD. There is NO study showing CWD is spread by feeding. Food plots are the same thing. Deer congregate in food plots & farm fields the same as at a feeding station. Deer will go to where ever the food is most plentiful & easy to get. "

Tom wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:35 PM:

" Let's think this one through; banning baiting, feeding and small foods plots is an unenforcable proposition. However, you will have a large number of law abiding hunters bow out resulting in a loss of revenue during a time of great economic distress. In addition to the loss in revenue; I am sure the DNR will request additional warden's for enforcement adding uneeded and ineffective expenses to the already overburdened taxpayers of this state. We need more DNR regulations like the Big 3 need another private Jet. "

Mark wrote on Nov 20, 2008 1:27 PM:

" Keith has always felt this way, and as he gets older, I don't expect he will change his opinions on the baiting. One's man's opinion, and one article in the paper does not make a tide turn. It may sell an newspaper.

Baiting is supported and opposed by almost the same amount of people. With those numbers, I don't see a significant change in the future. "

jeri wrote on Nov 20, 2008 1:02 PM:

" former rez,
i am not talking about banning farming.!!!! i am saying a food plot in the the middle of the woods is just as unnatural as 2 gallons of corn, and atracts just as many deer to one place just like bait. if you talk to a deer biologist and pin them down on small food plots in the woods, they will admit they are not a good thing. check it out. "

former rez wrote on Nov 20, 2008 10:01 AM:

" Ban all baiting! Here in Illinois it is illegal and should be in Wisconsin too. Jeri...your comment on food plots is ridiculous. Plots are natural and deer do not all go to them. With your theory then we should ban all farming in the state also. (farms grow corn do they not?...kill all the apple orchards too)

If you all keep baiting this disease will continue to spread and you will be picking up dead deer in your yard around your feeding stations. Worse yet...if this disease spreads "big time" how long will it be until someone like you and me could possibly become contaminated?

Stop baiting now before it's to late! "

Concerned wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:16 AM:

" How many license sales can the DNR afford to lose. If 100 people like me stop hunting can the DNR afford to lose 100k in funds? I don't think so. Because I know my family will stop hunting and end a tradition. That also doesn't include loss of revenue to local businesses who can use the money "

Jeff wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:10 AM:

" I hope it is banned so the natural balance is restored for once and allow those that chose fair chase methods to hunt again. Baiting is nothing but baddddd. "

jeri wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:54 AM:

" if baiting is banned, ban food plots for deer also, small plots of food attract far more deer than two gallons of corn. landowners with food plots want baiting banned so they can hog what deer are left. the law in 2003 was handled very badly, you could not even feed the birds, if your feeder spilled bird seed, you had game wardens walking around your back yard checking your feeders and writing tickets. "

The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.