BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

billythekidrock · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 422 Location: OlyWa

Quote: you are not allowed to bait the bears your self but it is perfectly legal to hunt a feeding area set up by the tree farm, you just gotta find um

You have been give wrong information and if caught you will be fined, unless you are an an employee of said company and it is in your job description to kill bears.

Quote: im surprised no one has heard of the tree farms feeding bears?

They've been doing it for decades in an effort to curb timber damage.

Quote: what if your just there hunting and you shoot a bear around one of these stations? i mean if the thing said "pile of bear food dont shoot the bears" that would be one thing but the tree farm marks them very inconspicuously and the only reason i know what to look for is from some inside info i got, but the average hunter does not know how there marked

That arguement will not fly in court. Ignorance is no excuse. How could someone not know what is going on? You shouldn't need a sign to realize it is a feed station.

Bears may be considered varmints by timber companies, but they are not classified as such. They are big game animals.[/quote]

littlebuf · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 77 Location: leftern washington

That arguement will not fly in court. Ignorance is no excuse. How could someone not know what is going on? You shouldn't need a sign to realize it is a feed station.

well in that case is the entire 180'000 acres of limits because there are feeding stations in th e property? if so why do they give tags for this area?and can you not shoot a bear where it eats? since there alawys eating that would make bear hunting a little difficult, i understand that the terms "baiting" and "feeding station" have been brought up but if i was telling a story about the bear i got hunting in a certain area im sure all i would get would be congrats, and how would i have known the bear was heading to, leaving or just arriving at a feeding station, if the said feeding station is not marked? im going to contact the WSFG and get a strait answer, ill let you guys know what they say

billythekidrock · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 422 Location: OlyWa

Quote: im going to contact the WSFG and get a strait answer, ill let you guys know what they say

Make sure to contact Enforcement at WDF&W.

littlebuf · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 77 Location: leftern washington

just got off the phone with WSF&G and they told me (after doing some checking) that if you see a bear on a feeding station dont shoot it, but they also told me that if the feeding station is not marked and you shoot a bear in it then it would be the individual wardens descretion. i think what im going to do is track these areas and set up outside of them where i know the bears are coming and going, i should be safe then as ill be hunting a trail and not over any sort of bait

billythekidrock · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 422 Location: OlyWa

Read individual wardens descretion.

Sounds like you talked to an Office Assistant or Program Manager, but not anyone from Enforcement? I wouldn't hunt within a 1/4 mile of a feed station.

littlebuf · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 77 Location: leftern washington

i called the enforcement office, what i posted above is what they told me

csumerall · Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Posts: 584 Location: Eatonville, Wa

When I'm out in the woods I usually just try and pick every scenerio apart and just try and imagine if anything Im doing or have done could be construed as breaking the law or being unsportsman like and when it comes right down to it hunting over a feeding station or within sight of it, on the game trail to it dont really pass the test.

littlebuf · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 77 Location: leftern washington

its funny that this would be considered "unsportsmanlike" how bout good tracking? i mean i did find these spots by following signs and tracks of bear, and how come over in the black bear forum when ever some one ask for tips on hunting black bear the first response is " can you bait in your area?" so is it unsportsmanlike because Washington state says so? there are factions of our government here in Washington state that would say all hunting is "unsportsmanlike" think there right?

billythekidrock · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 422 Location: OlyWa

Quote: so is it unsportsmanlike because Washington state says so?

Bingo!

littlebuf · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 77 Location: leftern washington

Bingo![/quote]

not sure i follow, or maybe you didn't, like i said ill be hunting a game trail, wouldn't think this is a new concept or unsportsmanlike

csumerall · Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Posts: 584 Location: Eatonville, Wa

All anyone here is trying to tell you is that if you decide not to do it because of your own personal convictions and morals you should at least not do it because if a warden catches you hunting a game trail going to or anywhere near a feeding station, most likely you will be losing your rights for life not to mention you will lose your truck, gun and any other civil penalties, fines ect. LIke I said I personally wouldnt do it and wouldnt advise anyone to do it. And on an ending note if washington state decides something is unsportsmanlike, in washington it becomes unsportsman like, its just the letter of the law. Im not saying all laws that are in place are correctly implemented, but they are the law so unless thats a risk your willing to take, it sounds like a lot to lose over maybe getting a bear. Not to mention how much fun is it to brag to everyone that you got a bear over a feeding station. Though you did find the unmoving hard to find station in the woods it is a lot more respectful and gratifiying to be able to take an animal after you have worked very hard to get it. Just me though

littlebuf · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 77 Location: leftern washington

well i really didn't expect personal attacks when i posted this but ok :thumbsup1: a;so id kinda like to know how you hunt in a more sportsmanly manner than i, i mean i go out in the woods months ahead of time tracking and scouting and when i find a area where the animals are i consider it good scouting and good hunting. i guess if i just stood in middle of the woods closed my eyes and started pulling the trigger you may consider me more sportsman like

csumerall · Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Posts: 584 Location: Eatonville, Wa

I have found that if you have to question it, you usually are doing something you shouldnt. No one here is attacking your personality they are just trying to point out to you that it is against the law and warn you of the risks involved. Nothing more nothing less.

GBoyd · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:48 pm Post subject:

I agree with csumerall and billythekidrock about the feeding stations, but I have a couple related questions.

In the national forest land that I hunt, there are a couple of unofficial campgrounds. Idiots like to come out camping, and will often leave bags of garbage pinned to trees and on the ground. The bears get into them and spread garbage everywhere.
Would you consider it illegal/unsportsmanlike to call for bear within earshot of those areas?
If I stumble across a naturally dead elk can I hunt the carcass?
What about a gut pile?

csumerall · Joined: 26 Aug 2007 Posts: 584 Location: Eatonville, Wa

I think everyone has to decide for themselves whats right and wrong. As far as your theoreticals the camping question is a tough one I dont thing I would consider it baiting, but I am not a warden. The elk one I dont think I would have a problem with hunting around the carcass looking for sign and more or less using the elk as a tracking marker so to speak. When I think of baiting what really stands out is that the bait was put there for the intention of feeding the animals or drawing them in. But like I said before its every hunters personal responsibility to apply the regulations to where and what they hunt and to be aware of the possible reprocussions.