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Boo.

I'm not defending anybody but if he had a mineral site on his property and that is what the baiting charge is about I would highly doubt they were hunting over it. I surely wouldn't hunt a mineral site after September 15th if my goal was to kill a trophy buck. I'd bet that Illinois banned mineral sites after CWD was found in the State with the belief that it will slow the spread of the disease (which has been hashed over on this site). I would guess that there have probably been thousands of mineral sites made in this State with the goal of putting inches of antler on bucks and improving the overall health of the herd, not for hunting over. The license charges are confusing because I thought Illinois had basically an over the counter license system because of the number of tags alloted (no excuse for not having appropriate licenses or the previous residency license charge in 2005). Someone from Illinois probably could reply to the legality of mineral sites. I would need to see more info on the "bait" before I throw him under the bus on the baiting charges or question the bucks he has taken. As I get older, I guess I'm getting less righteous concerning people hunting over bait. Maybe Ted Nugent is starting to affect me a little. Even though I can't see myself pouring a bag of swamp donkey or acorn rage out under my stand I have to agree with Uncle Ted on this "baiting issue". Because is that really any different than sitting in a box blind looking over a two acre standing soybean food plot during the late season with a Muzzleloader in your hand? What about a 25 yard x 50 yard green field in front of your bow stand in early October? Isn't that just one big attactant/bait pile? As I have thought about this baiting issue over the years I can see why people do pour attractant/bait out of a bag to attract deer. Not everyone is fortunate enough to own or lease land so leaving standing crops or planting food sources is not an option. So are those that have the land and resources to do the plotting really better or more ethical than the guy that can only afford a tree stand and couple bags of attractant? Just trying to make a point. Many of the members on this site could eat prime rib every night of the year for what they dump into food plots and leave standing after harvest for the purpose of deer hunting. Having said all this I will say that you have to follow the rules of the State your hunting in whether or not you agree with them otherwise your gonna get fined. For the record, I have never meet any of these individuals in this article.
 
iowaqdm said:
As I get older, I guess I'm getting less righteous concerning people hunting over bait. Maybe Ted Nugent is starting to affect me a little. Even though I can't see myself pouring a bag of swamp donkey or acorn rage out under my stand I have to agree with Uncle Ted on this "baiting issue". Because is that really any different than sitting in a box blind looking over a two acre standing soybean food plot during the late season with a Muzzleloader in your hand? What about a 25 yard x 50 yard green field in front of your bow stand in early October? Isn't that just one big attactant/bait pile? As I have thought about this baiting issue over the years I can see why people do pour attractant/bait out of a bag to attract deer. Not everyone is fortunate enough to own or lease land so leaving standing crops or planting food sources is not an option. So are those that have the land and resources to do the plotting really better or more ethical than the guy that can only afford a tree stand and couple bags of attractant?
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I agree, this is EXACTLY how I feel. Well put. Except you forgot the part about how the guy has a camera out and a big buck is feeding every afternoon at 3:00 pm in the "food plot" (baited area), so he moves in at 2:00 and is ready.
 
I am one of those guys that sits in a boxblind overlooking standing crops every year and can see your point to an extent but you also have to consider that those foodplots help get the deer through winter and depending on what you have planted also help the health of the nursing mothers in the spring and summer so I would say it is a little different then putting out a bag of swamp donkey but there are times when it is really brutal cold out and the deer are pouring in that I think it is almost a little like baiting
 
bloodhoundhandler said:
I am one of those guys that sits in a boxblind overlooking standing crops every year and can see your point to an extent but you also have to consider that those foodplots help get the deer through winter and depending on what you have planted also help the health of the nursing mothers in the spring and summer so I would say it is a little different then putting out a bag of swamp donkey but there are times when it is really brutal cold out and the deer are pouring in that I think it is almost a little like baiting
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bloodhoundhandler, I agree that the food plots help improve the health of the herd. That is the primary reason I plant food plots and leave grain standing. I also hunt over standing food plots from a box blind late season because it is an attractant. When the weather gets bad the deer stack onto the plots. There is no doubt in my mind that those plots are the same as bait. Without the easily accessable food the deer would be scattered all over the crop fields searching for food, not standing right in front of my blind. So if we are gonna be righteous about baiting and say we really planting food plots to feed the deer for the "health" of the herd and to help them get through the winter, we better move our stands and box blinds away from that bait/attractant. But with the article in question you could also make the point that maybe these guys had made mineral sites on the farm in question to also improve the health of their deer herd and not to hunt over it. Minerals help with bone growth, milk production and will improve overall health of the herd. So were these guys really baiting or are they just helping improve the health of the herd with the minerals like we do with food plots?



Originally Posted by Hardcorehunter: "Except you forgot the part about how the guy has a camera out and a big buck is feeding every afternoon at 3:00 pm in the "food plot" (baited area), so he moves in at 2:00 and is ready."

I did forget that part Hardcorehunter, but you forgot to put that the guy was actually at home in Arkansas and got the pictures sent directly from his camera on his farm in Iowa to his cell phone, so he drove all night to get into the stand the next day by 2:00!

Poor deer don't stand a chance anymore!
 
I would like to make note that while he obviously has tried to manipulate the law by obtaining an Il drivers licence, it would appear that the offence stems from baiting deer, which is illigal in Il at any time, and not from hunting over bait, which is a seperate and more serious offence. Even the original charge could stem from sketchy Il regs, which differ and conciquently often butt heads so to speak with similar laws of other states, including but not restricted to dual residency. I moved to Iowa recently and had a hard time sorting out getting a fishing licence due to holding an il lifetime hunting licence and differing language regarding that fact in the two states. Neither agency could tell me how to proceed. The other charges regarding his family members are technicalities that are all to often overlooked by nonresidents, and they are being publicized in part because of their names. Although imo given their status in the video world they should know better than not to dot their i's. Not trying to let them off but thought a clarification of differing laws might be warrented. i run into minor differances a lot given the move and talking more with Iowa sportsman.
 
iowaqdm said:
bloodhoundhandler, I agree that the food plots help improve the health of the herd. That is the primary reason I plant food plots and leave grain standing. I also hunt over standing food plots from a box blind late season because it is an attractant. When the weather gets bad the deer stack onto the plots. There is no doubt in my mind that those plots are the same as bait. Without the easily accessable food the deer would be scattered all over the crop fields searching for food, not standing right in front of my blind. So if we are gonna be righteous about baiting and say we really planting food plots to feed the deer for the "health" of the herd and to help them get through the winter, we better move our stands and box blinds away from that bait/attractant. But with the article in question you could also make the point that maybe these guys had made mineral sites on the farm in question to also improve the health of their deer herd and not to hunt over it. Minerals help with bone growth, milk production and will improve overall health of the herd. So were these guys really baiting or are they just helping improve the health of the herd with the minerals like we do with food plots?



Originally Posted by Hardcorehunter: "Except you forgot the part about how the guy has a camera out and a big buck is feeding every afternoon at 3:00 pm in the "food plot" (baited area), so he moves in at 2:00 and is ready."

I did forget that part Hardcorehunter, but you forgot to put that the guy was actually at home in Arkansas and got the pictures sent directly from his camera on his farm in Iowa to his cell phone, so he drove all night to get into the stand the next day by 2:00!

Poor deer don't stand a chance anymore!
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To be honest on this whole thing I have been a hardcore deer hunter since about 1992 and have taken a lot of nice bucks but in the last few years I get more enjoyment out of planting and taking care of foodplots then I do actually hunting never thought I'd say that. It's a good feeling when you do all that work in the growing season and then get to go watch the wildlife use it. The highlight of my year was watching my eight year old son shoot his second buck out of one of our foodplots this fall that he helped me plant
 
bloodhoundhandler said:
To be honest on this whole thing I have been a hardcore deer hunter since about 1992 and have taken a lot of nice bucks but in the last few years I get more enjoyment out of planting and taking care of foodplots then I do actually hunting never thought I'd say that. It's a good feeling when you do all that work in the growing season and then get to go watch the wildlife use it. The highlight of my year was watching my eight year old son shoot his second buck out of one of our foodplots this fall that he helped me plant
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I couldn't agree more and I have the same feelings with all the hard work that I put into my food plots. My highlight last year was when a good friend's son (11 year old) shot a 135" 8 point out of one of my box blinds over a standing bean food plot with a muzzleloader. It was his third deer and his first buck. He helped me plant trees and fertilize/lime some clover plots that summer. So I told him he had earned the opportunity to try to shoot a deer that Fall. He said that he wanted to get a big doe. I told him we would try to get him a buck. Well the first afternoon in the blind he shot his first buck. The excitement and smile in that little guys face is what I feel is most important. Not what got the deer to stand in front of him but that it gave him an opportunity to be successful. He said next year he wants to get his first deer with a bow and arrow. I think he is hooked. Mission accomplished. :way:
 
I hoping you are don't kill any deer. The more people loved them. From what I have heard from others this was a long time coming and well deserved.

Kavin
 
Well I bet those fines don't hold a candle to what they made off the shows. If they are going to fine someome Make It Hurt!!!
 
I keep thinking to myself that we almost need to quit measuring deer and just enjoy the hunt and stop talking about monster bucks. I have also quit watching the outdoor deer hunting shows because I know just as much as they do from spending hundreds of hours in stands. I just don't have hundreds or thousands of acres of property to hunt and if I did I would still share my properties with my cousin and several friends like I do right now. I enjoy the camraderie with them and that is why I didn't post photos of my friends deer that he took out of my stand this year because there is too much jealousy. I wish the deer classic didn't even have mounted heads there. I would never take mine there. We are becoming our own worst enemy.
 
That's all the trouble and fines they got for that??????? No wonder why it happens. Heck why don't we all try our luck hunting Illinois next fall with no license if it's only $205 if we get caught:confused:
 
Guys, from a disease standpoint, such as CWD, the difference between a mineral site and standing crops is huge. You could still argue that leaving crops stand is a form of baiting but the point of the law is to avoid having deer share saliva or other disease-carrying mediums, which will undoubtedly happen at a mineral site or a supplemental feeding site (pile of cracked corn, etc.). So even though standing crops will tend to concentrate deer, it's not even close to the extent that they may be concentrated at a mineral or supp. feeding site.

Think of all the disease issues Michigan has had in the Lower Peninsula with bovine TB when the hunt clubs were still allowed to use supplemental feeding to increase the carrying capacity on their farms. More deer than there should be in a herd that already carries disease, all drawn to a very small area. They've been fighting it for over 15 years and there is still work to do!! The laws are there for a reason...
 
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"In the plea agreement, both subjects pled guilty to hunting without a valid Illinois license and habitat stamp and each was fined a total of $2,068. The remaining charges, including hunting deer by the aid of bait, contribute to unlawful baiting and making salt and mineral available for deer were dismissed."

There are several charges here. Unlawful baiting in IL, is hunting over bait in IL. The other charge, making salt and mineral available is a no no because of the CWD identification around the Lake County and surrounding areas. The original charges include both of these, so obviously there was bait around at the time the arrest were made. Hunting without a license, he definitely knew what he was doing. A NR can walk into any sporting goods, hardware store, etc. in the state and buy a hunting license and habitat stamp. He obviously knew he needed these as he was charged with trying to unlawfully obtaining these before (below). Like I said before that dude is a jack ass and I am glad he finally got caught. Just wish IL and other states would get more strict and eliminate your ability to hunt there for awhile in cases like this.

"In 2005, Andrae D'Acquisto was cited for fraudulently obtaining Illinois resident hunting licenses, resident deer permits and providing false information to obtain an Illinois driver's license in Cass County. D'Acquisto ultimately pled guilty to an amended charge of obstructing a peace officer and was fined a total of $2,000 in Cass County"
 
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