# Law on baiting?????



## p&y finally (Mar 19, 2015)

Im in a lease with one other person and turkeys are spotty there at best. He claims to have contacted DNR and they told him its perfectly legal to bait as long as were over 200 yards from the feeder (said he asked specifically about turkeys). I VERY seldom hunt there anymore so it really dont bother me as Im usually on public ground anyway. 
200 yard rule just dont seem right to me since Im going to set-up 200+ yards on a gobbling bird anyway 

Anybody know the law on this?


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## AStrick (Mar 19, 2015)

200 yards & out of sight. You can bait deer all day long in da southern zone.
You can never hunt turkeys over bait in the whole state


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## aj.hiner (Mar 20, 2015)

It is unlawful to hunt turkeys if the property is baited


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## trophyslayer (Mar 20, 2015)

If the property is 2000 acres and one member baits the side opposite of where you are turkey hunting you can still get popped... says the dnr feller we asked.


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## spydermon (Mar 20, 2015)

Some things you just don't ask on public forums..... if your friend says he asked a game warden I wouldn't question him


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## Jody Hawk (Mar 20, 2015)

Seems like every time this gets brought up, no one knows for sure what the answer is. Some say 200 yards, some say it's the officer's discretion. DNR really needs to address this. We have folks baiting hogs and deer and there needs to be a clear set of rules on what you can't do.


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## Curtis-UGA (Mar 20, 2015)

I'd say call the game warden in your area. I've heard several different things.


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## elfiii (Mar 20, 2015)

Jody Hawk said:


> Seems like every time this gets brought up, no one knows for sure what the answer is. Some say 200 yards, some say it's the officer's discretion. DNR really needs to address this. We have folks baiting hogs and deer and there needs to be a clear set of rules on what you can't do.



Yep. The interpretation depends on the local GW for sure. Some go with the 200 yd rule for deer, others, if there's bait on the property you're getting a ticket.


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## Milkman (Mar 20, 2015)

elfiii said:


> Yep. The interpretation depends on the local GW for sure. Some go with the 200 yd rule for deer, others, if there's bait on the property you're getting a ticket.



This ^^^^

This is exactly the way it was stated to me by a couple of folks HIGH up in the Ga. DNR.  However, if anyone is taking a vote I say this law is bovine excrement in its most raw and smelly form.  
Somebody running a feeder for hogs a long distance  from somebody trying to shoot a bird is not baiting the bird.


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## ryanwhit (Mar 20, 2015)

Jody Hawk said:


> Seems like every time this gets brought up, no one knows for sure what the answer is. Some say 200 yards, some say it's the officer's discretion. DNR really needs to address this. We have folks baiting hogs and deer and there needs to be a clear set of rules on what you can't do.



I think they leave it that way for a reason.  It gives the warden the ability to use discretion and ticket if the think the hunter's intentions are on the wrong side of the law.  Also gives them the ability to ticket if they think he did something wrong during deer season but never could make it stick.


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## fishnfool (Mar 20, 2015)

The law states 200yds and out of sight. If they gave me a ticket they better have a measureing tape as the on the property is a croc. They would be taking me in!
Either way if I hunted over bait I would not turkey hunt, it would take the fun out of it.


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## Beagler282 (Mar 20, 2015)

elfiii said:


> Yep. The interpretation depends on the local GW for sure. Some go with the 200 yd rule for deer, others, if there's bait on the property you're getting a ticket.



Elfiii the one's I know working the area around you and I could care less about some yardage.It's ticket time in their eyes!


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## hold em hook (Mar 20, 2015)

This is my first year turkey hunting and first year in a club.  We have areas and some guys keep feeders out all year after deer season ends.  I have no control over what these guys do.  Luckily the closest feeders to me are at least 500 yds through the woods.  It is all technically one property but I have no access to these other areas.   I called the warden in the area and he said 200 yds and out of sight.  I still didn't trust this in case another officer came out so I wrote GA DNR a private Facebook message explaining the situation.   They also replied that the law was 200 yds and out of sight.  Since I now have this in writing I feel confident to hunt my area that is not baited without risking getting a ticket even though somewhere on the 1200 acre property there is a feeder.


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## returntoarchery (Mar 20, 2015)

I called the Macon office with the same question as I'm on a lease where members are baiting hogs. They told me the same thing. 200 yards and out of sight.


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## Timber1 (Mar 20, 2015)

So if its 201 yards behind you and you dont turn around and look its out of sight.


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## Flaustin1 (Mar 20, 2015)

Its a grey area for sure.  Our lease is probably 2 miles long.  If I bait hogs on one end and somebody turkey hunts on the other, there shouldn't be any issues.  Some wardens don't see it that way though.  

Wonder how far, upon, around, over, or NEAR is.  That's what the regs say.


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## sowgabuckstalker (Mar 20, 2015)

lol.


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## straightshooter (Mar 20, 2015)

Go to the Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Facebook page.  There is a discussion there with DNR participation.  Bottom line is this...there is no 200 yard bait rule that applies to turkeys.  If there is bait for any animal anywhere on the property, it is considered  baited and is therefore illegal to hunt turkeys there.  Period...End of Story!


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## erniesp (Mar 20, 2015)

straightshooter said:


> Go to the Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Facebook page.  There is a discussion there with DNR participation.  Bottom line is this...there is no 200 yard bait rule that applies to turkeys.  If there is bait for any animal anywhere on the property, it is considered  baited and is therefore illegal to hunt turkeys there.  Period...End of Story!



^^^^^^ This


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## mose (Mar 20, 2015)

I saw last year on the DNR Facebook page that if bait is anywhere on the property, it is illegal to hunt that property. Though it does seem like most that have talked to a DNR rep say it's up to the warden. Would be nice to have it STATED CLEARLY in the law.


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## hold em hook (Mar 20, 2015)

I went back to look at the message that DNR sent me in response to baiting.  Here it is:

"The law only specifies 200 yards and out of line of sight for deer. It just states that hunting other game over bait is illegal. To keep hunters from being in a bind over situations like this, Rangers generally extend that 200 yard courtesy to other game species also. The best advise it to make sure you are well outside the 200 yard mark."


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## Milkman (Mar 20, 2015)

mose said:


> I saw last year on the DNR Facebook page that if bait is anywhere on the property, it is illegal to hunt that property. Though it does seem like most that have talked to a DNR rep say it's up to the warden. Would be nice to have it STATED CLEARLY in the law.



AGREE,  If they would make it clear to all the DNR folks and us then those who like to bait hogs could continue baiting through the turkey season without worry of messing someone else up.


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## fredw (Mar 20, 2015)

straightshooter said:


> Go to the Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Facebook page.  There is a discussion there with DNR participation.  Bottom line is this...there is no 200 yard bait rule that applies to turkeys.  If there is bait for any animal anywhere on the property, it is considered  baited and is therefore illegal to hunt turkeys there.  Period...End of Story!



I looked but didn't see a discussion.  Do you have a date where it was discussed?


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## returntoarchery (Mar 20, 2015)

straightshooter said:


> Go to the Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Facebook page.  There is a discussion there with DNR participation.  Bottom line is this...there is no 200 yard bait rule that applies to turkeys.  If there is bait for any animal anywhere on the property, it is considered  baited and is therefore illegal to hunt turkeys there.  Period...End of Story!



No it isn't "Period...End of Story". When I called Macon's Enforcement office last week I expressly asked them about this and such post here on GON and they said the entire property is not off limits and stay away from (200 yards) and out of sight of the  bait.  If different region offices are giving different info then DNR needs to correct that and all should give the same message.

Now does DNR need to get the language in the law straightened out? Absolutely. They need to do that or go back to no baiting period statewide.


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## Wayne D Davis (Mar 20, 2015)

*Bait and Taking of Game & Feral Hogs*

I for one don't use bait other than sent / cover sent.
The wording is a bit confusing but this is from the reg book 2014-15.

Take it for what its worth and make your call.....Possibilities of misdemeanor of a high or aggravated nature and subject to $5000.00 fine OR BOTH

I hunt wma's and its a no no baiting any state or federal managed lands....period


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## returntoarchery (Mar 20, 2015)

I don't need bait either. I can kill late season WMA birds. But when you pay good money for a lease and non turkey hunters put out corn 1000 yards from where you intend to hunt what are you to do? You call the DNR district LEO office explain the situation and ask for clarification. If you sit your butt on top of bait then your butt is toast. 

Personally I think baiting should be illegal over the entire state.


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## Flaustin1 (Mar 20, 2015)

Cant win for losin in these situations.  period, end of story!


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## returntoarchery (Mar 20, 2015)

Flaustin1 said:


> Cant win for losin in these situations.  period, end of story!



That's about the size of it. Typical State Legislature work.


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## Killdee (Mar 20, 2015)

I'll put it this way, if theres bait anywhere on a property, I'm not hunting. I read the Facebook posting from last year and they were specific that the 200 did not apply to turkey so I'm not chancing it. Had one Ranger tell my buddy that if he could hear a guy calling when he stood by bait, that guy gets a ticket.


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## returntoarchery (Mar 20, 2015)

It's about to the point that if you turkey hunt NEVER join a club in the Southern Zone unless all its members are turkey hunters who will not bait anything during turkey season or they clarify the law or ban baiting all together. Basically as the law is written now it puts half the private land in the state out. But the South Georgia legislators could care less about turkey hunters. All they care about is keeping their pockets full from the deep pocket South Georgia deer hunters.


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## 3darcher (Mar 20, 2015)

straightshooter said:


> Go to the Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Facebook page.  There is a discussion there with DNR participation.  Bottom line is this...there is no 200 yard bait rule that applies to turkeys.  If there is bait for any animal anywhere on the property, it is considered  baited and is therefore illegal to hunt turkeys there.  Period...End of Story!



Exactly what he says.   Can't have corn anywhere on property during turkey season


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## Mudfeather (Mar 20, 2015)

The law says one thing but it is not enforced that way......Probably because it would not stand up if someone forced the issue....I hunt 2500 acres that deer are fed on year round......If feed is out anywhere on the property the WHOLE property is considered baited and according to the law it is illegal to hunt on the property.....However when checked by Eddie Akins last year he explained that the rangers are told to use discretion and most of the regions enforce the 200 yd and out of sight rule...

It is an example of the law really being overwritten but left to allow the individual ranger to write law and enforce it at his discretion...


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## Mudfeather (Mar 20, 2015)

BTW.....Its not just deer feed....

If your land owner has cows or horses and feeds them sweet feed in a trough for instance that whole farm is considered baited and therefore illegal to hunt........for that matter...the farmers wife can have bird feeders for song birds along the edge of the yard.... and the law says it is baited...the whole property...

Its just not reasonably enforceable the way it is written...


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## Scrapy (Mar 21, 2015)

Mudfeather said:


> BTW.....Its not just deer feed....
> 
> If your land owner has cows or horses and feeds them sweet feed in a trough for instance that whole farm is considered baited and therefore illegal to hunt........for that matter...the farmers wife can have bird feeders for song birds along the edge of the yard.... and the law says it is baited...the whole property...
> 
> Its just not reasonably enforceable the way it is written...


I think that is why it is imperative to always testify to the truth. To establish yourself as a truthful member of the community. I think that is also a good reason that magistrates and some judges are elected, not appointed. If I was issued a ticket by someone under the situation described, I would go to court and explain it,  With or Without a lawyer . Just me explaining it.

If an individual Ranger is allowed discretion , then I expect a judge to have ten fold more discretion and good reasoning capabilities. After all, that is what a Judge is for. Maybe I am too simplistic, but if a judge has a tendancy to believe more of what a ranger says than me, I will do my very best to make sure he is NOT RE Elected.

The saying of  old Wives tales that "ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the Law is blastphemous in American Law. A judge has to judge if you placed the bait or knew the farmers wife was feeding sparrows or she was baiting turkeys. Whether you "were ignorant" of Those circumstances.
A good Judge's job is complicated and deliberate and has a lot to do with his ascertainment capabilities.


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## savage (Mar 21, 2015)

200 yards and out of sight is rule of thumb for turkeys....


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## Flaustin1 (Mar 22, 2015)

Mudfeather said:


> BTW.....Its not just deer feed....
> 
> If your land owner has cows or horses and feeds them sweet feed in a trough for instance that whole farm is considered baited and therefore illegal to hunt........for that matter...the farmers wife can have bird feeders for song birds along the edge of the yard.... and the law says it is baited...the whole property...
> 
> Its just not reasonably enforceable the way it is written...



Please show me where this is written.  It does not state that in any regs ive ever read.


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## Milkman (Mar 22, 2015)

I got a scenario that challenges the crazy way the current baiting laws are written.

A farmer or gardener plants seed for a crop or garden. Of course in the process some seed is spilled or uncovered.

Is that property baited??


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## LIB MR ducks (Mar 22, 2015)

Scrapy said:


> I think that is why it is imperative to always testify to the truth. To establish yourself as a truthful member of the community. I think that is also a good reason that magistrates and some judges are elected, not appointed. If I was issued a ticket by someone under the situation described, I would go to court and explain it,  With or Without a lawyer . Just me explaining it.
> 
> If an individual Ranger is allowed discretion , then I expect a judge to have ten fold more discretion and good reasoning capabilities. After all, that is what a Judge is for. Maybe I am too simplistic, but if a judge has a tendancy to believe more of what a ranger says than me, I will do my very best to make sure he is NOT RE Elected.
> 
> ...



It's not an "Old Wives Tale" as you stated. Straight out of the Official Code of Georgia:

_§ 27-1-34.  Defenses not available in prosecutions for violations 


   In any prosecution for the violation of any of the provisions of the wildlife laws, it shall not be a defense that the person taking, possessing, selling, transporting, or storing wildlife was mistaken as to the species, sex, age, size, or any other fact regarding such wildlife or that the person lacked criminal intent, it being one of the purposes of the wildlife laws to penalize recklessness resulting in the violation of the wildlife laws._


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## Turkeydoghunter (Mar 22, 2015)

Baiting is for fisherman !


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## Killdee (Mar 22, 2015)

Milkman said:


> I got a scenario that challenges the crazy way the current baiting laws are written.
> 
> A farmer or gardener plants seed for a crop or garden. Of course in the process some seed is spilled or uncovered.
> 
> Is that property baited??



Not if normal agricultural  methods were used in the planting.Some moron who plows a field, broadcasts corn all over the top of it and claims to have planted a corn field this time of year gets a ticket.


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## Bob Wallace (Mar 23, 2015)

The way I understand it is if the property is baited then you can't hunt that property. Some idiot had dumped a whole bunch of seed at one of our best turkey spots on our property. We had to clean all of that off the land before we would even think about hunting.


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## returntoarchery (Apr 1, 2015)

I had an Epiphany moment regarding this baiting question.

For the sake of argument, let's assume that  all GWs in the Southern zone are applying the 200 yard rule as stated in the Regs for Deer in the Northern Zone  to hunting turkeys in the Southern Zone even though  there is no such exception in the regs. (That's what the Macon LEO office told me they were doing for that district) You're a member on a 500 acre lease with 10 members. Now let's do some simple calculations.

Area of a 400 yard diameter, 200 yards from the feeder/bait, circle is 26 acres. Assume there are 10 feeders for deer - 1 per member. 26 x 10 = 260 acres. So every turkey hunter on that lease has just lost over half of the lease to hunting when you've paid for ALL 500 acres. 

That's not counting all the other spots from "Oh let's scatter some corn over here and over there" because we see hog sign.

Puts it in a difference perspective don't it?

Does for me.


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## Reminex (Apr 1, 2015)

savage said:


> 200 yards and out of sight is rule of thumb for turkeys....



This is very helpful information, thanks!


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## spurrs and racks (Apr 2, 2015)

*Anyone........*

who would place bait on the ground and hunt turkeys over it, is not a turkey hunter, does not know the satisfaction of calling a gobbler to the gun, and is not a member of the tenth legion.

And they never will be......ever.

Please do not call yourself one.

s&r


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## fishnfool (Apr 2, 2015)

I would like to see where an officer can change written laws!


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## spurrs and racks (Apr 2, 2015)

*Dnr*

are state police. If they say you are hunting over bait, you are hunting over bait.

I hope hunter who places grain on the ground for turkeys get caught.

s&r


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## returntoarchery (Apr 2, 2015)

spurrs and racks said:


> who would place bait on the ground and hunt turkeys over it, is not a turkey hunter, does not know the satisfaction of calling a gobbler to the gun, and is not a member of the tenth legion.
> 
> And they never will be......ever.
> 
> ...



With all due respect you seem to be missing the point of this entire thread. Nobody here that I've seen especially myself is advocating baiting turkeys. The discussion is with respect to hunting turkeys in the Southern Zone where it's legal to hunt over feeders for deer and baiting for hogs occurs. Deer hunter out number turkey hunters by at least 3 to 1 if not more. That means if you're in a club 3/4 or more of the members are deer hunters only and could care less about problems their baiting causes turkey hunters in the club either for ethical reason, as you suggest and I agree with, and legal reason due to the regulations and law. Even inactive feeders with dead batteries but with feed still in them is a problem. Then you have the problem of members putting out bait for hogs or just thinking they need to keep the feed active for deer year round.


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## fishnfool (Apr 2, 2015)

I do too, do not get me wrong. But their tickets will not hold up in a court of law if not written within the law, they are law enforcers not law makers.
And for discretion the only discretion available to them in this case would be line of sight! That means if you are sitting on a hill top and see bait 2 miles away you my friend are illegal and hunting over bait! In this situation it is the officers discretion to decide if he will write you a citation...whatever his decision is in this case will hold up in court. 

If you can not see the bait and are in fact 200 yds away no law broken...they can write you a citation but will not hold up In court.


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## Throwback (Apr 2, 2015)

oh dear.....


T


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## spurrs and racks (Apr 2, 2015)

*With all due respect ...............*

With all due respect you seem to be missing the point of this entire thread.

It is illegal to hunt turkeys over bait, statewide.

If you are Turkey hunting, and there are feeders with feed in them working, or bait is thrown out in the leaves by hand or on harrowed ground, that is baiting.

Good Luck,

s&r


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## Flaustin1 (Apr 2, 2015)

Yea but if you hunt the same club as a hog hunter who has bait out a mile down the river, are you still hunting turkeys over bait?  Even a mile away?


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## Mudfeather (Apr 2, 2015)

Since when does a judge care about what is fair?...The ticket if written by a state ranger will indeed hold up in court....The DNR has more leadway in alot of areas of search and seizure..That is why one of them is always on the drug task force and such...

The can do many things legally  your local LEO just can't..


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