Opinion Talk

By John Pierce

February 27, 2006 07:22 AM | Link to this

Rick Devaney is not a hunter. Webster defines Hunt as ” To seek out.” How is sitting in a nice tree stand over bait hunting. Calling a duck or a turkey takes patience and skill. Locating and coaxing a fish to bite takes patience and skill. Sitting in a tree over a baited field with a $1,000. high power, scoped rifle takes neither. If there are as many deer out there as is claimed baiting should not be necessary. Mr. Devaney sounds as if he is more interested in decorating his walls than he is in hunting.

By David Waller

February 27, 2006 07:46 AM | Link to this

A better line would have been shooting deer over bait is like shooting fish in a barrel. It takes absolutely no skill to shoot a deer with his head in a pile of corn. It takes the “hunt” out of hunting. The proposed legislation that would legalize shooting deer over bait requires the use of a feeder. Most feeders have a timed release so the spreader can be set to go off at a specific time and spread the feed immediately below the feeder. The deer are conditioned to come to the feeder at a specific time. All a hunter has to do is place their stand close to the feeder, get there a few minutes before it goes off and spreads the feed and then shoot the deer.

You call that hunting. Where I come from hunting deer is about learning their habits. It is about learning the type of plants they feed on. It is about learning the area they use for feeding, bedding and etc. It is about scouting in the woods and locating trails, scrapes, rubs and other deer “sign”. Then the hunting skill comes into play by locating your stand in a vicinity that the deer passes by. This type hunting provides respect for the deer and if it is shot it is done by fair chase.

It is not about putting up a feeder, filling it with corn, conditioning the deer to come to eat at a specific time and then shooting them. Real sportsmen do not shoot deer over bait.

By E. Lewis

February 27, 2006 10:11 AM | Link to this

These people aren’t sportman or even real hunters. They are trying to shoot ducks in a barrel. Real hunters don’t spend time baiting, domesticating and fattening up wild animals so they go out and produce more animals to shoot next season. Real hunter don’t go out on canned hunts against domestically raised animal either.

Calling these people hunters is an insult to the folks who really are.

By Michael

February 27, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this

Want to hunt? Put up your high powered sniper rifle and get a bow. Get out of the tree and get at the same level with your prey.. and don’t think butchering an animal over a feeder counts as “hunting”

By Daniel McNair

February 27, 2006 11:24 AM | Link to this

Baiting is a very hot issue throughout Georgia. While many argue that baiting is a violation of hunting ethics and sportsmanship, others argue that baiting is ethical and acceptable for a variety of ill-conceived explanations. First of all, baiting can help populations- but that is only is it is done in the corect manner. The sad truth is that most bait sites are stocked only during hunting seasons. For a bait site to have any REAL

By DANIEL MCNAIR

February 27, 2006 11:46 AM | Link to this

It is impossible to ensure that bait sites provide the year round nutrition that is neccesary to truly benefit a deer herd. Baiting is a practice that is unethical and unsportsmanlike, it doesnt matter how you disguise or ‘spin’ it. Food plots are the way to go- if planted correctly- they will attract game, provide ample opportunities, and most importantly are a reliable source of food (in other words they wont disapear in a day/week) As an avid Sportsman, I understand the role that I personally play in the cycle that is nature. While the two or three deer I may harvest in a season do not greatly affect the great scheme of things, the food plots and habitat conservation practices that I LIVE by surely do! Hunters are also confronted with anti-hunting propaganda more today than ever. The threats from these organizations are real and Baiting sheds a unflattering light upon the hunting community. I want to be viewed as the hunter/conservationist who benefits deer populations, not the baiter who does nothing to REALLY better his hunting environment. In closing i would like to speak about Bowhunting. After reading a few of the posted responses I was angered to find a comment that painted bowhunters as less humane than gun toters. For the record— bowhunters are a group of hunters who are most often seasoned, patient, knowledgable, and willing to wait for the PERFECT shot. A bowhunter is not in it for the kill, he/she is there for the experience. If the kill were the most important thing-they’d carry a gun. A arrow, when fired within the proper range and by a sufficiently skilled archer, is just as effective and humane as a bullet.

By J&J Ranch

February 27, 2006 12:18 PM | Link to this

Some of the most admirable men I have ever known are hunters, including my Daddy. Up until the time Daddy passed in 1966, most of the meat we ate came from what Daddy hunted.

With that said…

“Baiting� is almost as bad as the “Land and Shoot� that is allowed in Alaska. For those of you who have no idea what I speak of:

Same day airborne wolf hunting, also known as “land and shoot,” is the practice of spotting wolves from a plane, chasing the wolf until it is weak, then landing and immediately shooting them from the ground. *The practice controversial— even amongst hunters – because it is unsportsmanlike, unethical and nearly impossible to regulate. It also leads to many other violations of hunting regulations such as chasing, herding and harassing wolves. *(Defenders of Wildlife)

There is also the hunting from snowmobiles: Snowmobile wolf hunting which is also unsportsmanlike allows hunters to chase wolves to exhaustion prior to killing them. Most hunting practices never allow pursuing and shooting wildlife from a moving motorized vehicle.

So now, here in the Southeast United States, let’s “bait� so that we can kill much easier. What is wrong with these people? When you see deer almost daily in some areas, including parts of DeKalb, Rockdale, Henry Counties, how can “baiting� be sportsmanlike?

Every year deer processors have processed deer meat that nobody wants. It benefits me so I am not really complaining about it and I do not and will not complain about the “trophy� hunters at least they are hunting for a reason. But the people that don’t want the meat, don’t want the trophy, these people just like to kill. So let’s make it real easy for them. Let’s allow them to kill while deer are eating the bait left so that they can be killed.?

Michael, E.Lewis, David Waller, John Pierce to all of you: The Big Touché, you sound like real hunters, I especially like the:
Put up your high powered sniper rifle and get a bow.

By Thomas

February 27, 2006 12:32 PM | Link to this

Hunt a deer? Hunt a turkey or duck?

You’d have to be a hick to enjoy either.

By Susie

February 27, 2006 12:46 PM | Link to this

Was married many years to a hunter. He was very anti-baiting. He loves deer meat, but thinks that shooting an animal over bait is heinous.

He can’t even stand to watch those shows about bear hunting, where baiting is allowed. The hunter will put trash cans full of food leftovers right out in the woods, and sit in a tree just above it, then shoot the bear when they come out to get into the trash. It infuriates him that there are hunting shows that showcase that kind of behavior.

I don’t have a problem with hunting for meat, but I do have a problem with baiting animals and killing them when they are eating the bait.

We have a herd of deer that includes an albino white deer where I live that makes the rounds every night. We and a few of our neighbors feed “our” deer, they are very tame, and no one where we live allows hunting on any of our property. But when gun season opens, my husband would stop feeding them, because he was afraid some moron would see them out there eating one night and fire at them from the road. (our house is about 200 ft from the road, but you can see the deer back there.) So during gun season, we aren’t able to feed them in the yard.

By Susie

February 27, 2006 12:50 PM | Link to this

David, what do you think of those “ranches” that my ex used to tell me about, in Texas, and places like that, where you can just go, pay a bunch of money, then practically pick out which deer you want, and they’ll let you shoot it?? Talk about heinous. Talk about real men. People like that really DO just want trophies for their walls.

By Susie

February 27, 2006 12:53 PM | Link to this

Actually, if anyone wants a deer, let me know. I’ve got the ultimate bait, apparently. The front bumper of my car.

By Dan

February 27, 2006 01:19 PM | Link to this

Those ranch hunts are not necessarily like shooting fish in a barrel I don’t hunt but long ago I had a roomate who was a bow hunter. he went on one of those ranch hunts (Now this ranch was huge like 1000 acres)in texas looking for havelena (sp?) which is a small fast pig like animal. and he did find a pig like animal, but it was a 300lb boar that charged him. good thing he was quick and accurate, that was some of the best pork I have had too. Bow hunters particularly when hunting large game are on a whole different level though

By Brian Curtis

February 27, 2006 02:11 PM | Link to this

It’s only okay to shoot trapped, hand-raised, dimwitted, flightless birds no more than a few yards from your SUV.

That’s REAL huntin’, as Deadeye Dick Cheney has shown us. Anything else is un-American.

By Regina

February 27, 2006 03:27 PM | Link to this

Men, you are being hunted down as prey. There is a war being raged on you by women and the family courts of America, especially in Georgia. The women of Georgia, especially middle and upper income women, don’t want their income considered in the child support awards. They are saying their child support will go down. Of course, it will because it was an unfair amount to begin with and with the new guidelines the cost of the children at “both” homes will be considered. A father, most often the non-custodial parent, should not be responsible for all the costs at the custodial parent’s home, and his home also if their salaries are similar or if she makes more money.

Georgia currently has one of the highest child support guideline in the nation. So, if you don’t want to be a victim of the hunt, continue reading…

Support SB 382 Child Support; calculations; definitions; appeal process; change provisions

By: Senators Harp of the 29th and Hill of the 32nd

Support what 36 other US States have deemed fair Child Support for Our Children

Child Support; calculations; definitions; appeal process; change provisions. (Clarification to HB 221).

Support the bill that clarifies the Income Shares model (uses the income of “Both parents�) that was overwhelmingly passed last year.

Allow the work of the bi-partisan Commission, created by HB 221 and appointed by the Governor, to become the law in Georgia.

Allow Georgia’s children to have the financial benefit of BOTH parents and not just one parent as with the obligor-only (non-custodial parent) percentage of gross income model.

Children have associated costs when they reside with the non-custodial parent. Let’s ensure children are supported 365 days a year.

Because Children Deserve BOTH Parents

By Bubba

February 27, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

Thomas, I bet you just LOVED “Brokeback Mountain” … didn’t you?

By Jennifer Bennett

February 27, 2006 04:54 PM | Link to this

I totally agree with you, you can tell you truely are a deer hunter and besides the point you don’t have to call a deer there it could just be standing there eating, then can you shoot it? Well I go hunting with my dad, took the course and all but i still agree with you.

By Ray Hammond

February 27, 2006 05:57 PM | Link to this

Baiting has been proven in many studies to be a major contributor to the spread of disease among browsing animals- which is what whitetail deer are. the state of Michigan has outlawed baiting for this reason.

With CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) becoming a major concern in more and more states across the country we need to look beyond our short-term gratification and do what is best for the long haul so our children will have a resource they can enjoy as we do now.(As of now we do not have CWD in Georgia)

Taking a deer in Georgia with a firearm is a fairly simple task- with shrinking habitat and a burgeoning deer herd. Do you really NEED that task made easier???

The non hunting public has shown in polls that they are opposed to baiting as “less than sportsmanlike”. Should this legislation be passed it will swing public opinion against us.

Call your legislators and tell them to vote no on this bad piece of legislation.

By RKnight

February 27, 2006 06:16 PM | Link to this

Folks, If I’m not badly mistaken, the authour was being satirical (fairly snarky, too). I just sayin’

By Lee

February 27, 2006 08:23 PM | Link to this

In all things related to politics, one of the first rules is to “follow the money.” In all likehood, some well-to-do landowner wanted to “entertain” his guests with a little “hunting.” Nothing like having the city folks down for a little card playing, drinking, and shooting deer while it’s got a snoot full of cracked corn. One little obstacle, that pesky law about hunting over bait. No problem, throw a little money under the table and problem goes away.

The true hunters who have previously posted are all in agreement about their aversion to bait hunting. Count me in with that camp as well…

LoL Susie about the front bumper of your car. I had a pickup once that I swore was cursed. Hit two deer in the front and one deer ran into the passenger door.

By Sam

February 27, 2006 09:32 PM | Link to this

Let’s not kill animals for sport.

Period.

You don’t need to kill to survive. You just like to kill.

Don’t tell me about heritage. If you like the outdoors and being with your kids (no, they shouldn’t take drugs and/or listen to misogynistic rap hip-hop rock whatever music), take them out for hikes with cameras. Mount the cameras on guns, if you must, and fire blanks while you take the pictures of animals. If you are worried about habitat and overpopulation, study the balance of predators and prey and help them both survive.

Yes, animals kill and eat each other. Yes, they only do it when they have to. Not for sport. Not for “heritage.”

If you have to kill to eat, OK. That’s not me, and I’d guess that’s not you.

Want to know God? Want to be more than the animal you want to kill for sport? Ask God, and don’t kill.

Sam Gainor Atlanta, GA

By E. Lewis

February 28, 2006 08:38 AM | Link to this

Actually, I am not a big fan of guns. I’ve lived all over the world, and the safest places I lived had the lowest rates of privately held guns and gun related deaths. I have never owned/shot a gun nor do I ever wish to do so for very valid reasons.

However, hunting has a long tradition in this country, but it’s not the type of hunting that too many so called hunters practice today. There is something understandable about a real hunter who goes out into the wilds with his gun and his skill, who respects nature and the animals he hunts, who hunts only to help control the population when other methods don’t work and who uses the entire animal.

Most of the hunters I personal know should hang their head in shame when confronted by a real sportsman. They prefer canned hunt or else spend time trying to domestic the animals on a plot of land somewhere. They might occasionally eat some meat, but more often that not it gets thrown away because they would rather spend the money on taxidermy than on meat processing.

By J&J Ranch

February 28, 2006 11:41 AM | Link to this

Does anyone out there have any extra deer meat? The processor was a little short this year and my Kugsha Dog needs to eat.