I use a bag per site every other month on most sites. There are a few that get hammered that I use more during April through July while there antlers are growing. I also average 1 site per 40 acres.
I'm trying to find a way to word this in a way that isn't going to piss you off, but I've also been told to just shoot straight in these situations so take it or leave it this is my .02. When in a position where you represent an entity, be it God, a label or a website (BH.com)...you need to strive to do things right. Not only because it reflects your character but those you carry a name for. I get the feeling you don't take the mineral law seriously and while that's fine and I guess your right I feel you cannot simply disregard them and sleep at night. Skirting the laws by crafting your words or your claimed motives ("viewing purposes") doesn't change the fact it's still breaking the law...I mean atleast call a spade a spade. Do I feel the mineral laws in Indiana are ridiculous, YES! Will I put out minerals still, YES...but only if I'm willing to dig them up prior to the hunting season as to be within the legal boundaries of the specified law. It's just the right thing to do according to the law, and in my opinion isn't worth the fallout of getting caught doing it. I love hunting whitetail deer far too much to risk my integrity, my family's or anyone associated with me as well. Not to mention it isn't worth possibly not being able to hunt for "x" amount of years as a judgement. Just my .02, may seem like an old-timer way of thinking (from a youngin') but just my opinion. Take it, leave it, accept it or hate it.
I appreciate your concern, and hearing your opinion doesnt upset me at all. It isnt that i do not take the laws seriously. It is that this particular law is not purely black and white in our state. I too have spoken with DNR officers about it, and there is actually a current post on the same Hunting Indiana proboard sight you quoted earlier regarding the subject......I have been a member of that forum for a long time. The current post brings to light the point I am trying to make perfectly.... http://huntingindiana.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=coanswers&action=display&thread=41761 Officers have discretion to decide what the intent is. In the post you quoted from, another user asked if he has a small property with two neighbors on either side that feed deer year round, could they in effect prevent you from hunting your own property because the deer movement will obviously be affected by the neighbors feeding the deer? the response was the same. Discretion will be used in these cases. There is a difference between someone who is trying to monitor and manage his property for bigger bucks and someone who pours out a corn pile and hunts over it illegally, and conservation officers know this. I dont hunt near my mineral sights, and I dont feed corn until the dead of winter to help the deer make it through.
Unless bowhunting, hunting even 200 yards from a mineral lick to me would be obviously illegal no matter how friendly the DNR officer is. I mean muzzleloaders of today or rifles (if we lived in rifle states) can shoot 250 easy-peasy...just not worth the risk to me. Either way thanks for not taking opinion in a bad way.
