oo_buck Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Okay, I have been hearing rumors that feeding deer in Indiana is illegal. As I understand it, it used to be legal to feed deer outside of the deer hunting season. AND even during the season, so long as you didn't hunt over the "bait". Just wondering now, it the cornpiles for deer to eat this winter are illegal???? Has anyone got any good info on this? I have spent hours searching the Indiana DNR website, and have turned up nothing..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronS Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? I haven't heard of any changes to the regs, but to be 100% sure it might be a good idea to go to hoosierhunting.com and post a question in the "Ask a CO" room. I'll post the question for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? what ever you find, just make sure it's not Jimmy Houston's word you're taking for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo_buck Posted February 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? [ QUOTE ] I haven't heard of any changes to the regs, but to be 100% sure it might be a good idea to go to hoosierhunting.com and post a question in the "Ask a CO" room. I'll post the question for you. [/ QUOTE ] Thanks INBH..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_218 Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? I have been feeding shelled corn to a few "unhuntable" Deer, in the wintertime for years. I have never heard of a law saying it is illegal. I know it is illegal if you hunt an area and place corn, salt, or other consumables around for Deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? I believe it's legal to feed deer all year round as long as they aren't hunted and their travel route to the food isn't hunted. Also I believe all feeding in hunting areas must stop 30 days before the season and also no one may hunt with 1/4 mile of the feed. Now that's not official information but that what I can remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? I'm curious to see what you folks find out. Here in NY we have an outright ban on feeding deer. This was brought about by the threat of CWD. The thinking being the disease may be transmitted by saliva transfer. Perhaps there is merit to this. I don't know. The people making decisions know a lot more than I. I do know there were a lot of upset folks when the regs came out. Our DEC has always frowned on feeding deer, mainly because most people don't understand the make up of a deer is such as you can starve it to death with a full stomach with an improper or sudden change in diet. It seems deer have to change diet gradually to be able to digest different foods. Corn seems to be the biggest problem. I believe they call the disease acetosis, but don't quote me on that. I used to feed deer and thought I was doing them a favor, but I have stopped because I am not really sure, the more I read ,The more I have shyed away from it. If someone comes up with an answer I'd like to know the true reason behind the ban. Let's face it, None of us wants to hurt the deer population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller66 Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? here in IA it is illegal to hunt over bait piles but you can put them up infront of cams or during the winter, no clue about Indiana? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? Not legal to hunt over bait in TN, but you can use bait in front of your cams and out of season. Any bait in an area where a hunter plans to hunt has to be removed 10 days prior to the hunter hunting within visible range of the bait. Minerals are not considered to be bait here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_218 Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? [ QUOTE ] here in IA it is illegal to hunt over bait piles but you can put them up infront of cams or during the winter, no clue about Indiana? [/ QUOTE ] I haven't heard but I don't think it is illegal to photograph Deer on a Cam at feeding areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtBowhunter Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? Different states are starting to outlaw feeding of any animals at any time. This is all due to CWD. Vermont just outlawed it last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkoholic Posted February 19, 2006 Report Share Posted February 19, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? Here in Montana they passed a law making it illegal to feed all wildlife except birds (?) on the assumption that it draws in bears and contributes to the spread of CWD and other diseases. To the best of my knowledge, there has not been a documented case of CWD in wild game in Montana. If you were to ask a FWP representative about said law you would probably get a different answer every time you asked. During the winter, deer tend to "yard up" anyway so I'm not sure if feeding them has much of an affect. On the other hand, feeding the deer may cause an artificially high deer population in relation to the natural carrying capacity of the land. That in itself may not be so bad unless the feeding is stopped or in the case of an unusually severe winter, which could result in a high winter kill and/or increase spread of disease as the animals become malnourished. I have not heard of anyone being prosecuted here for feeding wildlife with the exception of those who continue to put out food that is drawing in bears even after being told to stop. It is best to be sure of the laws in your state before feeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? Here in West Virginia im positive you still can feed just not during the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughboy1956 Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? I guess it is different in most places. Not a good idea to feed them in the places where thay herd up to ride out the winters. They will not leave their herding area and you will leave a trail into it. Their prey can move in on the trails you left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronS Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? oo_buck, here is what a c.o. posted at hoosierhunting. [ QUOTE ] I haven't heard of anything like this, maybe its in a new rule proposal, but it's not a law to the best of my knowledge. [/ QUOTE ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo_buck Posted February 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? Thanks alot INBH... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronS Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? You're welcome. I would have gotten back to you sooner but our firewall here has been blocking me from this site for the last week. For some reason it's now letting me on again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oo_buck Posted February 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? Nice site by the way..... May have to check it out more often.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_218 Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? The other evening, two nice Buck came up to the corn and fed. One was a 6 pointer and the other looked like an 8-point. It was getting a little too dark to look at their racks. However about three weeks ago a 10 or 12 point 18" spread, REALLY NICE buck showed up at the corn pile. I had a pair of Binoculars to see him. It's really interesting to see what Deer are present in the area. I have been placing corn out for them several years now, but do so about a month after the firearm hunting season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 Re: Feeding Deer in Indiana Illegal???? When NY first announced an outright ban on feeding it ,[NY] was criticized badly, mainly because we hadn't seen any documented cases of CWD. Now we have,and it seems the nay sayers have quieted down. I have to go along with what the state DEC is saying because I feel they are more expert than I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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