92 



field. We also need to develop strict penalties for landowners who purposefiilly bait a field and then 

 mislead hunters as to the status of that field. Intent should be present, and those who had the intent to 

 bait should be severely punished. 



My other concern with the current regulations is the vagueness of several definitions. This vagueness 

 creates the opportunity for a broad range of individual interpretation by enforcement personnel. For 

 example, most anyone would say that baiting is the act of distributing loose grain in an area in an 

 effort to attract migratory wildlife. However, the law states that bona fide agricultural practices will 

 not result in a baiting violation although such practices may result in loose grain being distributed in a 

 field. This creates a very confusing situation for the landowner, hunter, and enforcement officer. 



Let me lay out a scenario for you Mr. Chairman. On my land back home in Oklahoma, I do all that I 

 can to create better habitat for wildlife. My land is such that 1 have habitat suitable for wildlife 

 ranging from white-tailed deer to waterfowl to dove and quail. In the fall and winter, I put out a 

 mixture of com and commercially produced deer feed to help the deer and wild turkeys build up their 

 stamina for the winter months. Sometimes these efforts overlap with dove or waterfowl seasons. I 

 put this food out by the woods or otherwise in such a way to make it easily accessible to the deer and 

 turkey. In some cases, it's actually in feeders designed for wildlife. Now Mr. Chairman, if I were to 

 hunt dove in an open field of mine on the other side of my property, almost a mile away, would this 

 be baiting. Based upon current regulations. I don't know. I am in no way intentionally trying to 

 attract dove to my open field or any other part of my property. However, I do have loose grain and 

 feed out for other wildlife on the other side of my place. 



Or another concern, if my neighbor up the road were to clean out his grain bin and throw the spoiled 

 grain out in a bar-ditch or the edge of his field, would this act constitute baiting. Or would my 

 hunting of dove on my land a half a mile away be considered illegal although I have no knowledge of 

 what my neighbor has done on his land, and 1 know my land is free of any loose grain or feed. Again 

 Mr. Chairman I do not know. However, based upon previous actions across the country, such as with 

 Mr. demons of the Florida SherifTs case, it would not surprise me to have some enforcement agency 

 make an interpretation saying I had committed a criminal act. 



Mr. Chairman, our nation's wildlife needs the support of our hunters and landowners. However, our 

 federal wildlife management agencies are making it very difficult for them to give that help. The 

 urbanization of this great country has taken much habitat away from wildlife. Our agriculture 

 industry, after years of efforts from sportsmen's groups, is just beginning to realize the importance of 

 maintaining minimal amounts of unspoiled habitat on their property. Through cooperative efforts we 

 have been able to create and maintain programs such as the Crop Reserve Program. We need to 

 protect these efforts and encourage other such efforts to occur. 



Mr. Chairman, our current regulations are threatening to destroy those efforts. I encourage you and 

 your Committee to work to reform our current regulations governing baiting. I encourage you to do 

 so in such a way as to maintain the illegality of baiting while protecting the innocent sportsman or 

 landowner. It will not be an easy job, but it is one which must occur if we are going to protect our 

 nation's wildlife and the sportsman's community which works so hard to protect and fund programs 

 which benefit all species. 



