Article is below. I oppose this. My primary reasons are:
1) possibility of disease transfer at bait sites.
2) Will increase the annual harvest which could subsequently lead to a shortening of Alabama's generous season.
3) Don't consider it ethical to hunt over bait.
Braz
Hunting over feed
Senator: Year-round feeding would keep der hunters in state
01/04/04
RICHARD SCOTT
For The Birmingham News
Most Alabama hunters would agree that Barbour, Bullock, Henry, Lee, Macon and Russell counties rank among the state's best areas for producing deer quality and quantity.
State Sen. Myron Penn, a Democrat from the state's 28th district, would argue that the deer hunting in those counties, and throughout the state, could be even better if hunters were allowed to hunt over feed.
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"Other states, like Texas and Georgia, already feed year-round," said Penn, who represents those counties. "I had one hunter, who was originally opposed to this, say if you want to hunt over bait go to Texas. That's exactly why we're trying to expand our deer laws, so hunters won't go to Texas and other states and we can keep those dollars here during a time in which our state is in a financial crisis."
The issue of hunting over feed creates a passionate debate among Alabama deer hunters. That discussion will most likely reach the state Legislature next month when Penn submits a bill to legalize deer hunting over feed.
Penn's proposal is the result of two meetings during the past year with a group of approximately 40 hunters from his district.
"I represent a district where deer hunting is king," Penn said. "What we're trying to do is just enhance the deer hunting and feeding laws to where everyone can benefit while still maintaining the integrity of the sport."
Alabama law prohibits hunting over bait or feed. That does not include planted food plots, trees or shrubs. But it does preclude hunting over supplemental food containers or food scattered on the ground.
During the 8½ months when it's not deer season, supplemental feeding is permissible. That's already a popular wildlife management practice for many Alabama hunters and landowners. Allowing that practice to continue during the hunting season is an issue that is likely to divide hunters.
According to Penn's proposal, the feed will have to be placed in a container. Each supplemental food container used during the hunting season would require a $25 permit, with $20 going to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and $5 going to local government.
Hunters against the bill argue that hunting over feed is not fair for the deer. Such a law also could favor hunters and landowners who can afford more permits, feeders and feed, they say.
Those who hunt on public land wonder what's going to happen if they leave food in a container for deer and someone else shows up to hunt near their container.
Another huge concern is the possibility that hunting over feed will lead to disease among deer.
"There's always the potential for disease if you're concentrating animals into one feeding area," said Stan Stewart, a wildlife biologist for the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries.
Penn heard that argument last year when his original proposal stalled in the Legislature, so he researched the issue and said he could not find any scientific evidence for likelier spread of disease.
"In fact, we've found some biologists who say that's not a concern," Penn said. "With deer feeding going on already (when it's not deer season), there would already be disease problems."
Penn, a long-time fisherman who recently became a deer hunter, has heard the long list of reservations from hunters, especially the issue of fair chase hunting.
"I fail to see how that's the case when it's already perfectly legal to hunt over grass or rye and shoot deer while they're eating the grass or rye, Penn said. You can say the grass or the rye is more natural, but at the same time if the purpose of planting the grass is to shoot the deer while they're eating the grass, that argument falls short of logic."
Penn shares hunter concerns about tossing a pile of low-protein corn onto the ground as a bait. In addition to requiring containers, the proposal will require that at least 50 percent of the feed must include proteins other than corn, such as soybeans. The size of those containers must still be defined, and it's possible the bill will require the containers to be located in or near food plots.
Penn sees several benefits to the legalization of hunting over feed: The additional revenue, the ability of hunting preserves to compete for out-of-state hunters, and easier thinning of the state's rapidly growing herd.
It would also lead to sales of more feed and feeders, which could make the bill a potentially sticky situation for Dan Moultrie, the founder and owner of Moultrie Feeders in Alabaster and the current chairman of the Conservation Advisory Board to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The 10-member board, appointed by the governor, assists in making policies for the DCNR.
Efforts to reach Moultrie for comment were unsuccessful. But another advisory board member, Louis Coles of Enterprise, attended Penn's most recent meeting with hunters in his district.
Coles said a meeting between Penn and the Advisory Board is tentatively planned for sometime in the next two weeks.
When the Advisory Board holds its next open meeting at 9 a.m. on March 4 at the State Capitol Auditorium in Montgomery, Penn's plan is sure to be a popular topic of discussion.
"There's a growing concern out there that people would like to be able to hunt over feed," Coles said. "Twenty-six states allow you to hunt over feed now, including Georgia.... I venture to say that if you took a poll, probably 90 percent of the deer hunters would want to be able to hunt over feed."
DCNR officials such as Stewart and Fred Harders, an assistant director for the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, say they need to know more about the proposal before taking a stand.
"There are pros and cons," Stewart said. "In Texas, hunting over feed has been legal for years. You've got the same thing in Florida. In the North Central states and the Great Lakes states, hunting deer over feed has been traditional.
"It's just different philosophies about what's accepted and what isn't."
