Went out today at my camp to freshen the posted signs and trim a few trees for the climber. Found 2 ladder stands, one at 5 yards off the property line, and another 15 yards off the property line. Between the stands was 2 small mountains of corn, with about 5 gallons of apples mixed in for good measure. PA law says no hunting a bait site for 30 days.......the opener is in 21. Technically I don't think he has broken a law, however the second he has a bow in his hand it becomes illegal. I took pictures of the site, date stamped with a pic of the date on my iPhone, then saved it on the GPS. What would you do about this? Pics to follow tomorrow when I get home and have a full size PC.
That is a tough call. Since it isn't on your property you won't have any problems. Do you have any idea who's stands they are or who owns the property? I would attempt to make them aware of the law and if that doesn't work then I wouldn't give it a second thought.
I'd be very tempted to forward some attached pics to my local conservation agent with the GPS coordinates.
Copy the pic, laminate it, and put it in thier stand with a polite note asking that they move the stand away from the property line by XX yards
I would say youy should call the game warden give him all your info and let him stake it out opening day. BUT since the bait is so close to your line, I don't know if they will tell you that the area of your land near there is off limits as well.
Until the bait is gone and 30 days have gone by, anyone, including yourself who is within 150 yards is fair game for the game commission. Be careful bud. Don't let yourself or anyone you hunt with get burned cause some chucklehead was out "chumming" up the water a few weeks before. My landowner at one of my spots last year dumped a ton of apples and pears out like 3 weeks before the season, I moved them to the far edge of the property 500+ yards from any stand of mine and then waited the 30 days before hunting. It sucks, but I have said it before and I will say it again. I love this game, it's far to important to me to chance losing my ticket. Also, once you cross a line, its gets easier every time there after.
Thanks guys. Good news is that I don't hunt within 250-300 yards of there. It won't affect me a bit, it's actually in a spot I wouldn't spend time in anyhow. Technically since nothing has happened yet, I think I'll write a letter and include a rules book with the rules highlighted that cover this, and the pictures as a bookmark. I'll check it again on opening day (without a bow, only the camera). If it's still there, I will call the authorities.
The 150 yards thing is balogna too.......all a game warden has to determine is that the bait is causing an unnatural movement of game to the source and they can extend the "No-hunting" boundary as far as they see fit. If the deer are beating down a path from a bedding area 500 yards away from the food just because you are 150 yards away on your property doesn't mean they can't stop YOU from hunting. YOU will still be determined to be hunting baited animals. There is no magic line for baiting in PA. If there was every knucklehead in the state who wanted to kill a bear would lay out a gigantic pile of Doughnuts and place their stand 175 yards away on the trail leading to it. This is a SUCK situation because they very realisticaly COULD shut down a large portion of YOUR hunting area if they determine the deer are coming from your property. I most definitely would consult the local warden and explain the situation NOW and tell him that you are concerned about your property and hunting as well as the obvious future illegal activity of the neighbor. (Even though I guess it's not technically illegal for it to be there until some actually hunts over it) Maybe they will take a ride over the property and tell the guy to get it out of there now in which case 30 days from that point the bait is no longer a concern. Sure wouldn't want that 30 day window to start around October 15th.
Matt's exactly right and I don't think it's 150 yards, I believe it's 250 yards. Matt (RJ). I'd give the commish a call and have it squashed. When it comes to our hunting privileges, I wouldn't chance it.
Trust me.......there is NO SET BOUNDARY LIMIT. A WCO can stop hunting on as large of an area as they determine is affected. This how the regulation actually reads as well as quotes from actual PA WCO's on this very subject: "Upon discovery of such baited areas, whether prosecution is contemplated or not, the commission may cause a reasonable area surrounding the enticement to be posted against hunting or taking game or wildlife. The posters shall remain for 30 days after complete removal of the bait." "The courts have found people guilty of baiting at didtances farther than 275 yards. If the deer are comming to and from the baited area to where you are you would be in jeopardy of being cited for hunting over bait. The courts have recognized that bait causes animals to habituate an area and it is this more than distance that proves taking advantage of bait, especially now that you know it." "There is no set distance, depends on terrain, trails ect." Response to a question by a person asking why the WCO's will not mention a distance limit: "You got an answer it depends on enviromental factors. So should the law say 100 yards from bait? then guys would sit on the trail leading to the bait at 101 yards. once you set a distance you create ways around the law. Here is a black and white response dont bait and you cant be caught in a grey area. Its only grey if you muddling around looking for a loophole. I havent seen your scenerio as far as a neighbor placing apples however if he is doing it on his own property and not hunting over it he is within his rights. That being said if that is really the case of a neighbor dispute then I dont know a WCO that wouldnt work with you, believe it or not were pretty good a sniffing the truth out."
Got the problem resolved guys. The pile is moved. Hopefully I squashed one of my trespassing problems in the process too. Matt - This is literally on the other side of the primary bedding areas that we hunt. The deer patterns we tend to hunt focus on food sources (plots/mast/corn field) that are literally on the opposite side of the primary bedding from this bait pile. Closest stand is a couple hundred yards from there, and they all focus on movement that goes from bedding to food that is in the opposite direction of that bait pile. If you remember where we bumped that lone gobbler last spring on the other side of the creek, it was that neck of the woods, but another 100 yards in the opposite direction from where we called your bird in further down that logging trail. I don't mind that the guys hunts the line there, that's why we don't focus on that area or those patterns...........I just don't want any bait near us. It's gone now so we will just stay completely out of that area till after the first week of the season.
I'm glad you got it resolved, but it would also have been nice for the perps to get busted & fined as well.
Heh........bingo. I'll be back in there opening weekend, that Sunday I'll poke around in there with no bow to make sure everything is still cleaned up. Like I said, I don't mind them hunting the line, that's fine and I stay away from that part of the property because I don't want their pressure affecting my hunting......I just don't want bait affecting my hunt. I could have had a PGC guy in there waiting for him on opening day, but technically speaking the guy hasn't done anything illegal yet and I just wanted the bait out of there. If there are any further problems, I'll call the authorities without hesitation and let them sort things out. A few pics of this slobs setup for everyone to see. :smash:
Well done Matt. Looking forward to sharing the woods again. I still owe your dad some of my delicious bologna from last years bounty.
