WaterfowlForum.Net

Legislation has been introduced in the Senate to allow baiting and hunting of migratory birds on farmland. For details, see http://www.examiner.com/article/bill-wo ... n-farmland

This is just a common sense definition change to normal farming practices and not a baiting bill.

"The hunting could go on only if the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had determined that the crops on the land could not be harvested because of a natural disaster during the current or preceding year."

Why should that land be unhuntable if the crops are considered a loss and therefore not harvested normally (e.g., they are mowed)?

I would argue that this is in fact normal agricultural practices. It is simply what you do when you have a crop failure, which is a normal, but thankfully not too frequent of an occurrence.

As the law is now, you could show up an hunt a field that as far as you know was harvested normally. If it were not, you would be hunting a baited field. Even if the field was harvested normal, and the next field over was mowed and that is pulling birds, you would still be hunting baited birds.

http://www.fws.gov/le/waterfowl-hunting-and-baiting.html

The presence of seed or grain in an agricultural area rules out waterfowl hunting unless the seed or grain is scattered solely as the result of a normal agricultural planting, normal agricultural harvesting, normal agricultural post-harvest manipulation, or normal soil stabilization practice.

If the crop is a loss and not harvested, any manipulation of that crop makes it a baited field as the law reads.

You cannot legally hunt waterfowl over manipulated agricultural crops except after the field has been subject to a normal harvest and removal of grain (i.e., post-harvest manipulation).

How close to bait can you hunt without breaking the law? There is no set distance. The law prohibits hunting if bait is present that could lure or attract birds to, on, or over areas where hunters are attempting to take them. Distance will vary depending on the circumstances and such factors as topography, weather, and waterfowl flight patterns. Therefore, this question can only be answered on a case-by-case basis.

If a "baited" field is pulling birds over you, you are breaking the law.

Without reading the specifics, this seems like good common sense that part of normal agriculture is failed crops. A failed crop should not put hunting in or near that area in legal jeopardy.

I didn't read the bill, but as it stands, the farmer can't collect crop insurance unless a lost crop is plowed under, which precludes legal hunting.

If what spinner is saying is right, it really needs to be done. Plowing under the crop really shouldn't make it a baited field

Everything I quoted is from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement site on baiting regulations.