Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Traverse County

November 1, 2008

Deer baiting complaints rolling in

DNR expects to write more tickets

BY SHERI MCWHIRTER

TRAVERSE CITY -- Not everyone has abided by the state's ban on baiting during this year's deer hunting season, a fact reflected in both local and statewide records.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources received 18 complaints in Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau counties to tip off officials to deer baiters, officials said.

Conservation officers investigated and either arrested or ticketed five people in those counties. More citations are expected, said Lt. Dean Molnar, DNR conservation officer.

"A lot of the complaint sites we're getting in don't have anybody there right now. That will change with firearms season," Molnar said. "We are taking an aggressive stand on this."

The DNR instituted a ban across the Lower Peninsula on the feeding of deer, whether or not for hunting, in late August after the state's first case of chronic wasting disease was discovered in a doe at a private facility near Grand Rapids. Since then, tipsters reported nearly 350 bait complaints statewide and more than 100 citations were issued, records show.

Molnar said officers know the locations of various illegal bait piles across the region and state and intend to return to them and find the responsible hunters. That will bring a corresponding upswing in the number of arrests and tickets, he said.

Hunters and residents who violate the ban could be strapped with a misdemeanor charge that may cost them between $50 and $500, depending on what local judges order.

Archery seasons run from Oct. 1 through Nov. 14 and again from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1. Firearms season runs Nov. 15-30.

Scientists believe CWD is transmitted through infectious, self-multiplying proteins called prions, found in saliva and other fluids from infected animals. Deer and elk are more likely to contract the disease if they share a bait pile with infected animals, experts say.

South Boardman hunter Jason Grahn used bait piles in the past while bow hunting, but not now.

"It's not worth the $500 ticket," he said. "I think it's a step that will be preventive and stop the excessive baiting that was going on."

Fellow bow hunter Sarah VanCoonis, of Traverse City, agreed the use of bait this season isn't worth the risk of fines and a misdemeanor record. But that means the hunt becomes more of a challenge, she said.

"Without baiting, it's harder. It's more of a sport that way. You have to track the deer," VanCoonis said. "I haven't seen anything at all yet this year."

Conservation officers also are taking to the skies to catch illegal baiters, now that the forest canopy is diminished as leaves fall from trees. They've completed eight air patrols so far, primarily in the state's bovine tuberculosis zone in the northeastern Lower Peninsula, records show.

More air patrols are planned across Lower Michigan, Molnar said.

He said anyone who sees or knows about illegal baiting is encouraged to call the state's poaching hotline at 1-800-292-7800.

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