MONTGOMERY-Contrary to what your buddies at the hunting camp have said or what you’ve read on social media, it is still illegal to bait deer in Alabama.
Similar to previous years, the so-called “corn” bill that was introduced in the Alabama Legislature this year did not become law. Yes, the bill passed the House of Representatives, but that’s as far as it went.
“A lot of folks still think it’s going to be legal to hunt over corn this year,” said Chuck Sykes, Director of the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division. “There was a buzz around Facebook and on social media that the House passed the baiting bill.
“But it takes confirmation by the Alabama Senate and then the signature of the governor to become law. So it missed two of the three, and it takes all three. There are a lot of folks who are going to be disappointed on opening day.”
However, that doesn’t mean Alabama landowners and hunters can’t proceed with their supplemental feeding plans for wildlife.
“Feeding is fine as long as you stay within the area definition,” Sykes said.
The area definition was refined several years ago to give hunters and landow
Chuck Sykes
ners a better understanding of what is deemed supplemental feeding and what constitutes baiting.
The regulation states: “As it applies to the hunting of deer and feral swine, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that any bait or feed . . . located beyond 100 yards from the hunter and not within the line of sight of the hunter is not a lure, attraction or enticement to, on or over the area which the hunter is attempting to kill or take the deer or feral swine. This regulation does not apply to public land. Out of line of sight means obscured from view by natural vegetation or naturally occurring terrain features.”
“Out of sight doesn’t mean putting up a piece a piece of tin in the edge of the food plot where you can’t see the feeder,” Sykes said. “Nor does it mean throwing corn in tall grass. That’s not the essence of the regulation. It has to be natural vegetation or natural terrain.”
Unfortunately, the regulation clarification has not affected the number of tickets that are written annually for baiting.
“Some people are still putting out corn 50 yards from their stand in the wide open,” Sykes said. “They’re just basically ignoring the regulation.”
Another “huge” misconception that Sykes has encountered during interaction with the public at deer shows and other public events is WFF’s ability to change the baiting regulations. He said baiting made up 99 percent of the questions WFF fielded at the public events.
“People are coming up to me and asking when we are going to change the baiting laws,” he said. “Well, we can’t. That’s a legislative matter. The members of the Legislature are the ones who have the power to change the law. We can’t do anything about it.
“The Alabama law says you cannot hunt deer in the area of bait. The only thing we could do at the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was define what that area was. That area is within 100 yards and/or line of sight. If you’re outside of 100 yards, and the feed is out of sight because of natural vegetation or terrain, you’re okay. That’s as far as the Department could take it with a regulation.”
As he did last year, Sykes is touring the state to give hunters and landowners updates on the mandatory Game Check system that is used to report the harvest of white-tailed deer and turkeys.
Another misconception is this year’s seminars are repeats of last year’s. Sykes, who has held six seminars so far this year, said a great deal of new information is included in this year’s seminars.
“Participation in the seminars is about half what it was last year,” he said. “People think it’s the same seminar they heard last year, and it’s not. We’re going over the Game Check results from last year, and some of the tweaks we’re making to the system and additional programs we’re offering this year, so it’s not the same seminar.”
Those at this year’s seminars who used Game Check last year reported it was an easy process and didn’t have any complaints, Sykes said.
According to the analysis of data, Sykes said about 35 percent of deer hunters reported their harvest through Game Check, while about 40 percent of turkey hunters used Game Check. According to Game Check data, 45,561 bucks and 36,867 does were taken, while 9,174 turkeys were harvested. With other information factored in, the total estimate of deer harvested was 130,000 bucks and 105,000 does. Turkey harvest was estimated at 23,000.
“Deer numbers were down a little, but we’re attributing that to the drought,” Sykes said. “It’s not that it negatively impacted the deer herd, but it negatively impacted people’s deer hunting.”
Media Release/Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources/DAVID RAINER
