what would you do?

I was hunting a public land spot here about a week ago when i saw a new ladder stand so i went closer to check it out and saw a huge bait pile with corn and apples made into some disgusting smelling mash. Baiting is completely 100% illegal here its never been legal.. so i looked at that and then i see his trail cam and he must've gotten a bunch of pictures of me but what should i do? ignore it? tell someone? If i told someone and hunted there and saw him he would probably shoot me or something lol what would you do?

 

What I have done in the past is call the DNR warden and give him the coordinates to the stand and bait pile. The are empowered to enforce game laws, not me or you.

 

I would tell somebody. If it's illegal there he shouldn't be able to have an advantage of shooting a deer more then you do. Illegal things in hunting just isn't right imo and it makes mad to see someone doing it. Yeah you can do it during the off season but once season comes around let the fair chase begin.

 

yeah i see what your saying we cant bait in the off season either.. but this guys got my picture now i'm bound to cross paths with him at some point

 

I would have stolen the trail cam and then turned him in.

KIDDING!!!

But I would turn it over to the authorities. I really wouldn't worry about the guy retaliating.

 

Turn them in, it's public land right? So my luck I would have been hunting there not knowing about the bait and got caught for hunting over it.

 

Bring a laptop and upload his SD and delete the pics of yourself. WHile your at it see what else is on there!

 

^^^ this is the best answer. especially if it is illegal to bait.

 

Call the warden. Mention about the camera to..chances are it will be taken into posession by the warden.

 

A couple years ago I was on private property bowhunting. Another couple of hunters hunt this same property during Minnesota'a gun season. 5 days before gun season opened I went to sit my stand on this property. As it started getting light out I could see a small pile of something on a logging road 20 yards from my stand. I finshed my morning hunt and went to see what it was and found it was a pile of commercial deer feed or atractant (illegal in MN). Not only did this guy have the nerve to bait illegally, but he also was planning to hunt his bait from my stand. I called the conservation officer and told him what was going on he suggested we meet and we drove in my vehicle to the property, I showed him the bait and my stand, we pulled my stand down and on the opening day of gun season he "just happened" to make a stop at this farm, walk out to the bait pile and found the guy sitting on a log with a freshly emptied bag of deer feed! The guy got a couple hundred dollar fine and lost his rights to hunt that year (he was an out of stater). I've run into the guy on numerous occasions and the topic has never been brought up. He knows he was wrong and if he'd ever retaliate, I'd be calling the conservation officer again. It felt great!

 

I like how you think....

 

I just found a pile of corn and some brown powder. about 200 yds down trail from my stand! If its still there on opening day (MON) then I'll be reading these posts for advice.

 

Actually, not a bad idea. Take the camera, and meet with the DNR officer. Give it to him and tell him why you took it. He can decide what to do with it from there. Which will probably be take it.

 

ehhh .. idk about taking it .. you'll still be in possession of stolen goods and could possibly get in a little trouble (probably not much). I'd do as mentioned above, give coordinates to DNR and he'll probably seize the stand, the camera, and probably even the weapon (if he kills something while hunting over it).

-this coming from a future conservation ranger

 

I would, call the man(DNR).

 

What he said... except for the future conservation ranger thing.

Don't take the camera, that's still theft. Don't mess with the site, it may be under surveillance already. Whatever you do, don't hunt anywhere near it! Call the warden/DNR/troopers and be done with it.

 

CYA and report it now. If you're in the stand Monday morning and that bait is there you could be the one getting busted.

 

I was going to suggest the same thing. i normally bring my PC with me to upload pics and put the card back in anyways. Go there tonight with the Warden and together you can delete pics and probably find a pic of this ace dumping the bait out. open and close case for the warden. That person will most likely be banned from hunting there again anyways. did you flip off the camera while it was taking you picture? lol

 

you have to be with in gun range of the bait when hunting to be at risk of getting busted, but I would stay clear of it, also if you know the person doing it tell them that its illegal and you don't feel confertable hunting around it. chances are they will go back and remove it.

 

Haha will call them tonight an now I just pointed at the bait and made the expressionike slitting a throat meaning like no good so he may have already packed out but who knows