12 



Again, for an innocent hunter, it creates a great deal of resent- 

 ment against law enforcement. 



The Chairman. The gentleman from California? 



Mr. Miller. No. 



The Chairman. The gentleman from Minnesota? 



Mr. Vento. Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and I thank our former col- 

 league for his testimony and suggestions. I gather that, of course, 

 you are trying to place the responsibility on the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service or the State DNR in terms of making a determination or 

 evaluation whether something has or has not happened with re- 

 gard to the manipulation 



Mr. SCHULZE. No, it would be the individual who did it, Mr. 

 Vento. 



Mr. Vento. Well, would not the appropriate thing be, I mean, for 

 instance, those of us who hunt are well aware of all of the signs 

 we get about not coming here, no hunting in these areas. I go down 

 the by-ways in Minnesota 



Mr. SCHULZE. No, I have never seen a sign at 4:30 in the morn- 

 ing. It is really very difficult. 



Mr. Vento. Well, I understand that you might not see it, but, on 

 the other hand, you know, what I am suggesting is that private 

 property owners are quite capable of putting up signs to direct 

 hunters in a variety of ways. Rather than placing this responsibil- 

 ity on the DNR or someone else, why do we not place the respon- 

 sibility on the landowner? 



Mr. SCHULZE. Well, the responsibility would be the landowner or 

 farm manager, the one who does either supplemental feeding or 

 baiting, because a copy of it then goes to the conservation officer, 

 so he is aware of what is going on. And if he thinks there is some- 

 thing fishy going on in that area, he can go over and talk to the 

 farm manager. He can talk to the 



Mr. Vento. Well, do you think that warning signs should be 

 placed — in other words, where there are incidents or problems, 

 where they have reviewed this? No actual incidence of violation oc- 

 curs until somebody actually hunts, in other words, and that really 

 is one of the problems, because as you said, many agricultural 

 practices may overlap. There is that particular problem as an inci- 

 dence of agriculture. There is also the problem that they may sus- 

 pect that that is going to be used; would it not be advisable to per- 

 mit them to place placards as well? Because a landowner may not 

 agree with the issue. If you want to prevent this and put up some 

 type of — let the DNR or the Fish and Wildlife Service put up a no- 

 tice. 



Mr. Schulze. I do not want to make it too burdensome, but I 

 think that most of our laws are based on the reasonable man test. 

 And if a reasonable man could go into a blind, and he sees some- 

 thing up there that says this area was baited 48 hours ago, if I 

 were the hunter, I would get out of there. 



Mr. Vento. Well, that is right. But, I mean, the courts have 

 ruled that posting baiting notices on private property prior to an 

 actual violation is an illegal taking of property rights without due 

 process of law. So the fact is that if you want to put up a warning 

 as a State DNR person or as a Federal Fish and Wildlife Service 

 ranger, you cannot even do it. 



