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An "unprecedented" number of firearms
were seized from Minnesota hunters last weekend as illegal deer
baiting reached new high levels, say Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources officials.


      Exact figures haven't been tallied yet, but conservation
officers across northern Minnesota seized dozens of firearms and
handed out just as many fines, typically $385 each, to baiters.


      In District 1, which includes Roseau, Baudette and Thief River
Falls, nine conservation officers made 28 deer baiting cases over
the weekend and seized 25 firearms, according to Lt. Pat Znajda,
the district supervisor.


      If convicted, hunters permanently will lose those 25 firearms,
which, if valued at an average of $500 each, are worth an estimated
$12,500.


      Conservation officers don't have to seize firearms for illegal
deer baiting, and some don't, but Znajda said frustrated ethical
hunters peppered his officers with baiting complaints before the
season started. The complaints most often came from hunters fed up
with a neighbor's baiting.


      Some hunters showed up at Znajda's house to complain about the
illegal baiting they were seeing.


      "Some people were pretty bold about (their baiting)," Znajda
said. "We had a DNR pickup parked next to a small airport, and
someone was baiting just past the pickup. They would have had to
drive past our pickup to place their bait."


      Deer baiting has become "epidemic" in northern Minnesota, said
conservation officer Jeremy Woinarowicz in his weekend report, and
many officers are now spending the bulk of their opening weekends
chasing illegal baiters, according to DNR officials.


      In the northern two-thirds of the Minnesota, about 114 officers
worked the deer opener and 67 reported either investigating or
writing tickets for deer baiting in their weekend reports.


      Keith Backer of Blackduck reported that the largest buck he saw
over the weekend was taken illegally over baiting.


      Maj. Rodmen Smith, who oversees enforcement operations for the
DNR, said he believed the number of firearms seized from the
two-day opening weekend was unprecedented, because of the spike in
illegal baiting.

      He said baiting essentially has become an accepted method of
taking deer for some people.


      "I worked on Sunday and went on some baiting cases in the
Mankato area," he said. "I heard two different parties say
something that was disturbing. They said they cleaned up their bait
when the 'baiting season' is over. That means they clean up the
bait because it has to be gone 10 days before the start of the
season. Apparently, people are in the mindset now that there is a
baiting season - and it ends 10 days before the season."


      DNR officials say seizing a firearm is one of the most effective
means of getting the message across that officers are serious about
enforcing the state's baiting laws.


      Smith said illegal baiting began "to explode" in the early
2000s, and by 2006, the DNR faced a situation that appeared to be
getting out of hand.


      The agency always has had the authority to seize firearms in
baiting cases, but most officers used their discretion. In 2006,
with baiting getting worse, the agency stepped up its efforts and
sent a directive stating firearms seizure was a uniform option for
officers. The baiting fine was increased from $100 to $300 (court
costs typically add an additional $85 to the fine).


      What more could be done to discourage hunters from baiting?


      One policy that has been floated is to make deer feeding and
baiting illegal from Sept. 1 through the end of December. That
change would require legislative approval.


      "If you put on a feeding ban, it would put everyone on a level
playing field," Znajda said.


      There is no doubt that this year's slew of baiting cases is the
result of ethical hunters turning in illegal baiters. Though aerial
surveillance is a big part of the DNR's baiting enforcement, many
of its best investigations start with tips from other hunters.

      Ethical hunters can become savvy to baiting in their
neighborhood, either by detecting shifts in deer movements or by
field dressing a deer and finding corn spilling out of its guts.
Officers say they get plenty of calls from hunters who have had
that experience.

      Baiting has implications for transmission of diseases and
certainly for the ethics of fair chase.

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An "unprecedented" number of firearms
were seized from Minnesota hunters last weekend as illegal deer
baiting reached new high levels, say Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources officials.


Illegal deer baiting hits new levels, DNR says

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