Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Chumming, baiting, whatever

An article in the Statesmen tells how Charles D. Steele of Hagerman, a former volunteer president of the Hagerman chapter of Ducks Unlimited, was caught baiting ducks and geese onto his property by sprinkling corn in his fields.  He has been sentenced to a year of supervised probation, a $2,000 fine and 25 hours of community service in U.S. District Court, and he can't hunt in the US for a year.

Okay.  Seems legit.  And then there's this quote:
However, Idaho Ducks Unlimited leaders said their group condemns Steele's hunting tactics, not only as a violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act but also the ethics of fair-chase that govern hunting.
Mond Warren, the group's regional director in Nampa, called corn baiting akin to using salt to lure big game such as elk nearer to hunters' scopes.
Okay, this guy says that baiting violates the ethics of fair-chase that govern hunting.  Agreed.  But here's what I don't get; why is bear-baiting okay?  A hunter puts out food for the bears, gets them used to coming to get it, then lays in wait and shoots the bear when it shows up.  Why doesn't that violate the ethics of fair-chase?



1 comment:

ericn1300 said...

Yep, and chumming for fish is illegal too "Chumming: The use of any substance not attached to a hook that is intended to attract fish. It is illegal to chum while fishing in Idaho." yet the state allows bear baiting and it's happening in our back yard on [Bogus basin](http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?t=233530)