MN/Kyle

Yes, but you don't "need" to bait deer in order to kill them. Also more deer hunters than bear hunters, also a longer season...and so on and so on..

Schultzy

Sure could. You get enough deer in a area they can clean up a field.

GMMAT

Fair enough Schultzy. We have "enough" in our STATE, right now....lol to do some damage.

Schultzy

Well said Kyle! Trying to pattern a bear with out any source of bait in Northern Mn isn't going to happen. Trying to pattern a whitetail is a piece of cake comparing the 2 scenarios. You don't need bait to kill a whitetail.

GMMAT

So do youNEED to bait to kill bears? Or....does it just make it easier???

Bears are killed here in NC by hunters (and not over bait). My buddy killed anice 300# bear in VA that wasn't over bait.

I don't think you need bait to kill a whitetail or to kill a turkey.....but it's legal for a reason.

I suppose bear baiting is legal for a similar good reason.

davidmil

Yup, it does seem to be a double standard to me also.... but that's the way it is in some places. You can't bait bears in NY but in Canada it is "The Thing". I think(although am not positive) that they allow it because of the large range of bears, their seclusiveness and the density of the woods where they live. I think it would be almost impossible to kill a bear without bait in some of those parts of Canada. I believe they allow it so they can control populations and make it possible to kill one. Our fish camp guide in Canada told us that black bears are the single most killer of young moose. He says the number that survive the first year is really low. I found this out when i saw a moose swim out to a little island 400 yards off shore. I mean it was a postage stamp with a bunch of thick thick small pines on it. She had her calf on the island. The guide says they do it on many of the islands to get as far from bears as they can. New York doesn't have a large population so they aren't worried about not killing a lot of them. I'd say that MOST(probably 95 percent) of the bears killed here are killed during deer drives and as targets of opportunity by deer hunters. It's easier to kill a bear in Virginia and NC than Canada. In Canada you can travel through areas for days and never come to a trail, road or anything. Entirely different terrain and hunting.

I don't know of any place that baiting turkeys is legal, unless maybe Texas.

GMMAT

Kansas (And yes....Texas)......off the top of my head.

Schultzy

Read my very 1st post. Yes you do where I hunt. Other parts of the country maybe you don't have to. My dad has shot bear in Colorado while elk hunting in the mountains, no baiting allowed there. Completely different hunting areas and woods. I could of shot a bear in Idaho in the mountains elk hunting, I wasn't baiting. Some areas of the country shooting a bear without bait can be done, depends on the surroundings. Other areas ain't happening.

MN/Kyle

Maybe in NC you don't. But here in North and Central MN you do. Unless you get lucky, real lucky. You can't pattern a bear here, you can't stalk a bear here...the only thing you may be able to do is catch one going to a corn field (is that baiting). The only way to kill a bear where I live IMO is to bait (or be the luckiest man in MN).

rybohunter

While only having formed my opinion from reading and watching, this seems like an apples to oranges debate.