Post by ncboman on Jul 23, 2006 20:31:45 GMT -5
Even though this is from 02, I found it interesting bowhunters are seen as primarily baiters in Wi. 
Opposition grows for ban on deer baiting
Bowhunters, feed mills say an extension would further damage hunting, economy
As thousands of bowhunters eschew the woods and northern Wisconsin feed mills idle employees, the state ban on deer baiting prompted by attempts to contain chronic wasting disease is coming under renewed attack.
Hunters using bow and arrow - who often lure deer to their tree stands with piles of corn - are griping about the ban. So far this year, 35,000 fewer archery licenses have been sold, a 22% drop compared with the same time last year.
Sales have plummeted at feed mills, particularly in the north, where many mills sell bags of corn and mineral blocks to hunters and to people who like to watch deer in their backyards.
"It's killed the North Woods," said Bill Schreiner, owner of Rib Lake Roller Mills, whose gross sales of deer feed have dropped 60% since the ban went into effect.
With the ban on feeding and baiting scheduled to expire Nov. 30, the Department of Natural Resources is expected to request an extension because of concerns about the possible spread of chronic wasting disease when deer congregate over bait piles. The bowhunting season for deer began in September and lasts until early January.
The extension will be up to a legislative committee. A public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday at the Capitol before the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules.
Planning to speak out at the hearing are two hunters who formed Concerned Hunters of Wisconsin, or CHOW, and have collected more than 1,000 signatures on petitions asking that the ban be rescinded.
"The DNR is begging people to get out into the woods and shoot deer," said CHOW co-founder Greg Heyrman. "Now is the time to be giving hunters tools (to hunt), not taking them away."
Response to disease
While the DNR readily admits no one knows how the deadly infectious disease is spread, the agency asked for the ban until more is known about the ailment and whether it has infected any wild white-tailed deer outside the "hot zone" near Mount Horeb.
Wildlife biologists say one possible way the disease is spread is through close contact between animals. They also say dumping large amounts of shelled corn and other feed is an unnatural way for deer to eat.
Critics of the ban, including CHOW co-founder Tom Halverson, say the rest of the state shouldn't be under such restrictions until the DNR knows whether chronic wasting disease exists elsewhere. At a time when the deer herd has soared to 1.6 million, they say, the state should be doing everything it can to encourage hunters to kill deer.
Hunting enthusiast Rep. DuWayne Johnsrud (R-Eastman) has objections to baiting that go beyond the danger of spreading disease. He calls it a lazy way to hunt.
"Heaven forbid that you'd have to go into the woods and spend some time hunting a deer instead of sitting up in a tree and taking your pick of which one has its mouth full of corn. This is not hunting," said Johnsrud, an outspoken opponent of baiting and feeding.
The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules likely will vote at Thursday's meeting on extending the ban, said Rep. Glenn Grothman, committee co-chairman.
Grothman said he didn't know how he or the 10-member committee will vote.
"I'll probably be making up my mind at the hearing. When in doubt, I go with the DNR. I'm aware that CWD is a terrible disease," said Grothman (R-West Bend.) "I've had no problem with taking on the DNR, but when it comes to CWD, it's better to be safe than sorry."
At the request of the DNR, the Natural Resources Board voted in June to ban feeding and baiting. The emergency rule is good for 150 days and can be extended. The issue popped up again at a board meeting last month when some members attempted to overturn the ban, but the move failed on a tie vote.
Archers killing fewer deer
Natural Resources Board Chairman Trygve Solberg said the number of deer killed by bowhunters is down as much as 70% in some areas, which he blames partly on the baiting ban. Solberg voted in favor of amending the baiting ban by allowing less feed to be spread by hunters, but the amendment failed at the June meeting.
"I predicted that the deer kill would be down considerably. There's an awful lot of people, bowhunters especially, who enjoyed baiting, and now they've been taken right out of the sport," Solberg said.
Solberg, president and owner of T.A. Solberg Co., acknowledged that deer feed has been sold at his grocery stores in northern Wisconsin. But he said it was a "minuscule amount of our business" and his votes on the deer feed ban were not driven by his business interests.
Board member James Tiefenthaler Jr., who tried to amend the ban by allowing a limited amount of bait in areas outside the chronic wasting disease zone, said he worried that it would keep hunters out of the woods.
"The northern area of the state really, really has been very handicapped by not allowing baiting," Tiefenthaler said.
Feed mills in particular have taken it on the chin, said John Petty, executive director of the Wisconsin Agri-Service Association, which represents 450 grain, feed and farm supply businesses.
Workers have been laid off, and if the deer feeding ban continues through the gun-deer season, which is likely, six to 10 firms are expected to close by January, Petty said.
"It was basically a high-profit item that is gone - just boom. They've had an entire revenue stream just pulled out from underneath them," Petty said.
At Mix-Rite Feed Mill Inc. in the Price County community of Kennan, one-third of the business has been deer feed, said Vice President Greg Minks. Sales of deer feed and mineral blocks in October 2001 totaled $24,000, while sales this month are less than $5,000. Two of the company's 10 workers have been laid off.
Before the ban, Mix-Rite sold 10-gallon bags of corn - what used to be the legal limit that could be spread on a 40-acre plot - for $4, and $6.95 for mineral blocks.
In Rib Lake, Schreiner sold 48,000 bags of deer feed last year to gas stations, sporting goods shops and feed stores in eight communities including Minocqua, Medford and Tomahawk. Now, nothing.
"All these small towns up here are dead. There's just nobody moving up here anymore, and it should be a beehive," Schreiner said. "Everybody would normally be out (visiting) the tree stands and the hunting shacks, and there's nobody up here."
. web page
would you quit bowhunting if you couldn't use corn???
Opposition grows for ban on deer baiting
Bowhunters, feed mills say an extension would further damage hunting, economy
As thousands of bowhunters eschew the woods and northern Wisconsin feed mills idle employees, the state ban on deer baiting prompted by attempts to contain chronic wasting disease is coming under renewed attack.
Hunters using bow and arrow - who often lure deer to their tree stands with piles of corn - are griping about the ban. So far this year, 35,000 fewer archery licenses have been sold, a 22% drop compared with the same time last year.
Sales have plummeted at feed mills, particularly in the north, where many mills sell bags of corn and mineral blocks to hunters and to people who like to watch deer in their backyards.
"It's killed the North Woods," said Bill Schreiner, owner of Rib Lake Roller Mills, whose gross sales of deer feed have dropped 60% since the ban went into effect.
With the ban on feeding and baiting scheduled to expire Nov. 30, the Department of Natural Resources is expected to request an extension because of concerns about the possible spread of chronic wasting disease when deer congregate over bait piles. The bowhunting season for deer began in September and lasts until early January.
The extension will be up to a legislative committee. A public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday at the Capitol before the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules.
Planning to speak out at the hearing are two hunters who formed Concerned Hunters of Wisconsin, or CHOW, and have collected more than 1,000 signatures on petitions asking that the ban be rescinded.
"The DNR is begging people to get out into the woods and shoot deer," said CHOW co-founder Greg Heyrman. "Now is the time to be giving hunters tools (to hunt), not taking them away."
Response to disease
While the DNR readily admits no one knows how the deadly infectious disease is spread, the agency asked for the ban until more is known about the ailment and whether it has infected any wild white-tailed deer outside the "hot zone" near Mount Horeb.
Wildlife biologists say one possible way the disease is spread is through close contact between animals. They also say dumping large amounts of shelled corn and other feed is an unnatural way for deer to eat.
Critics of the ban, including CHOW co-founder Tom Halverson, say the rest of the state shouldn't be under such restrictions until the DNR knows whether chronic wasting disease exists elsewhere. At a time when the deer herd has soared to 1.6 million, they say, the state should be doing everything it can to encourage hunters to kill deer.
Hunting enthusiast Rep. DuWayne Johnsrud (R-Eastman) has objections to baiting that go beyond the danger of spreading disease. He calls it a lazy way to hunt.
"Heaven forbid that you'd have to go into the woods and spend some time hunting a deer instead of sitting up in a tree and taking your pick of which one has its mouth full of corn. This is not hunting," said Johnsrud, an outspoken opponent of baiting and feeding.
The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules likely will vote at Thursday's meeting on extending the ban, said Rep. Glenn Grothman, committee co-chairman.
Grothman said he didn't know how he or the 10-member committee will vote.
"I'll probably be making up my mind at the hearing. When in doubt, I go with the DNR. I'm aware that CWD is a terrible disease," said Grothman (R-West Bend.) "I've had no problem with taking on the DNR, but when it comes to CWD, it's better to be safe than sorry."
At the request of the DNR, the Natural Resources Board voted in June to ban feeding and baiting. The emergency rule is good for 150 days and can be extended. The issue popped up again at a board meeting last month when some members attempted to overturn the ban, but the move failed on a tie vote.
Archers killing fewer deer
Natural Resources Board Chairman Trygve Solberg said the number of deer killed by bowhunters is down as much as 70% in some areas, which he blames partly on the baiting ban. Solberg voted in favor of amending the baiting ban by allowing less feed to be spread by hunters, but the amendment failed at the June meeting.
"I predicted that the deer kill would be down considerably. There's an awful lot of people, bowhunters especially, who enjoyed baiting, and now they've been taken right out of the sport," Solberg said.
Solberg, president and owner of T.A. Solberg Co., acknowledged that deer feed has been sold at his grocery stores in northern Wisconsin. But he said it was a "minuscule amount of our business" and his votes on the deer feed ban were not driven by his business interests.
Board member James Tiefenthaler Jr., who tried to amend the ban by allowing a limited amount of bait in areas outside the chronic wasting disease zone, said he worried that it would keep hunters out of the woods.
"The northern area of the state really, really has been very handicapped by not allowing baiting," Tiefenthaler said.
Feed mills in particular have taken it on the chin, said John Petty, executive director of the Wisconsin Agri-Service Association, which represents 450 grain, feed and farm supply businesses.
Workers have been laid off, and if the deer feeding ban continues through the gun-deer season, which is likely, six to 10 firms are expected to close by January, Petty said.
"It was basically a high-profit item that is gone - just boom. They've had an entire revenue stream just pulled out from underneath them," Petty said.
At Mix-Rite Feed Mill Inc. in the Price County community of Kennan, one-third of the business has been deer feed, said Vice President Greg Minks. Sales of deer feed and mineral blocks in October 2001 totaled $24,000, while sales this month are less than $5,000. Two of the company's 10 workers have been laid off.
Before the ban, Mix-Rite sold 10-gallon bags of corn - what used to be the legal limit that could be spread on a 40-acre plot - for $4, and $6.95 for mineral blocks.
In Rib Lake, Schreiner sold 48,000 bags of deer feed last year to gas stations, sporting goods shops and feed stores in eight communities including Minocqua, Medford and Tomahawk. Now, nothing.
"All these small towns up here are dead. There's just nobody moving up here anymore, and it should be a beehive," Schreiner said. "Everybody would normally be out (visiting) the tree stands and the hunting shacks, and there's nobody up here."
. web page
would you quit bowhunting if you couldn't use corn???
