BC Baiting law ?

cariboo_kid

cariboo_kid

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I know that we can't put anything out as bait when hunting in BC. Is it legal to shoot coyotes that are feeding on livestock which died of natural causes?

I realize that "legal" and "fair chase" might be different in this case, but I'd still like to know the answer.

TIA
 
Baiting for bear is the most productive way to hunt bears in areas where the bush is to thick to walk in. Some people are so good at baiting bears they have become master baiters!
 
Personally I don't give a rip if someone wants to bait bears here in BC. Not that you need to. As long as there not using their old broken down greasy BBQ's and bags of used diaper's and leaving them out there.

It's certainly not an issue of conservation. Probably just some law some bureaucrat came up with to make himself feel important.
 
Gatehouse. A couple of years ago I contacted the B.C. Ministry of Environment reguarding baiting. Not far from one of the spots where I have an archery tree stand located, there is a big old apple tree and thought I should inquire before I 'relocated' some of the apples. The long & short of it, I was told there was nothing on the books against baiting or using an attractant for Deer. The only stipulation on baiting is that you cannot do it for Bears or Migratory birds. I haven't tried it yet but indications are that Bears and Wolves will sometimes come in to a varmint call.
 
Almost everything comes to a predator call. Last year I called in a dozen horses even. Deer seem to come in very often as do all kinds of birds. Twice last year I called in Bald Eagles.

Oh, and coyotes too. I called in over 60 of those last year!
 
boonerbuck said:
Almost everything comes to a predator call. Last year I called in a dozen horses even. Deer seem to come in very often as do all kinds of birds. Twice last year I called in Bald Eagles.

Oh, and coyotes too. I called in over 60 of those last year!
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When I contacted the Ministry, I also inquired about baiting for Wolves. Getting one with a bow from a treestand, an accomplishment to say the least. Bait & a call??? Ever tried either of the two for Wolves? Comments?
 
:)
Johnn Peterson said:
Gatehouse. A couple of years ago I contacted the B.C. Ministry of Environment reguarding baiting. Not far from one of the spots where I have an archery tree stand located, there is a big old apple tree and thought I should inquire before I 'relocated' some of the apples. The long & short of it, I was told there was nothing on the books against baiting or using an attractant for Deer. The only stipulation on baiting is that you cannot do it for Bears or Migratory birds. I haven't tried it yet but indications are that Bears and Wolves will sometimes come in to a varmint call.
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Yup, thatis correct. Alot of peopel think baiting deerin BC is illegal, but it is not.

It's just not done much.:)
 
Johnn Peterson said:
When I contacted the Ministry, I also inquired about baiting for Wolves. Getting one with a bow from a treestand, an accomplishment to say the least. Bait & a call??? Ever tried either of the two for Wolves? Comments?
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I've called in wolves. Last year, 2 with electronic caller and 6 or 7 during a moose bow hunt. I was calling moose though and they just happened to start hunting me!. I never got an arrow off and in the end I had to chase them off.

Wolves are easier to call in than most people think. The biggest obstacle is being within ear range of them. They tend to move through their very large range constantly. They hunt one spot until they game disperses and move on. They will hang out around a kill but it don't take long for the pack to clean up a moose or a head of cattle.
 
walksalot said:
So, what does a bear hunter do with the bruin standing up to it's belly in alphalfa in a ranchers field? Providing the hunter has permission to hunt there.
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The act of baiting means that the hunter has puposely placed a food source in an area for the sole means of attracting prey.

If you are out hunting and come across an animal eating something that was not placed by you, then you would not be guilty of baiting.
 
boonerbuck said:
Almost everything comes to a predator call. Last year I called in a dozen horses even. Deer seem to come in very often as do all kinds of birds. Twice last year I called in Bald Eagles.

Oh, and coyotes too. I called in over 60 of those last year!
Click to expand...

I get hawks and eagles quite often here when using a mouse squeaker through the horn from another call. I get a pelican from time to time that comes to my coyote howls and lands in the nearest tree to scold me. I think he hates yotes, so I keep asking him to help me find more so I can shoot them. :D
 
I saw some wolves chasing white-tails in a cutblock in Alberta so I pulled out a deer call and did some fawn distress calls.

9-04wolvesgood.jpg



These two came a running at me. I put one round in one of them and threw 5 rounds at the other before he dropped. Glad I had my sav. 99 in .300 sav. with six pills in it.

I've never called in a bear or cougar but will be trying it in the future.

Robin down under
 
Icon said:
The act of baiting means that the hunter has puposely placed a food source in an area for the sole means of attracting prey.

If you are out hunting and come across an animal eating something that was not placed by you, then you would not be guilty of baiting.
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Once you know the food source is there you sure are.
 
walksalot said:
Once you know the food source is there you sure are.
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Huh? Are you saying that if I came across a bear eating berries on a bush that is a part of nature and then shoot it, I'm okay. But if I know that bush is there and the berries are ripe and I purposely hunt around that berry bush and find a bear and shoot it while it is eating the berries, then I am guilty of baiting????? Or do you mean that the food source has to be cultivated before it is considered baiting? Or that the food source was purposely cultivated in that spot to attract bears? What about shooting a bear while it drinks from a stream that you know is there? Deer gut pile left by another hunter that morning?

What about ducks and geese? Lots of guys will hunt in a farmer's field after a harvest. Lots of food there, but it was not purposely placed there by the hunter! The hunter is just being an opportunist!

There is too much grey area around what is considered baiting. Some of it has to do with ethics with some guys, but that doesn't mean much in front of a court of law. From what I remember of the BC Regs when I lived there a couple of years ago, you are not allowed to bait bears or Migratory birds. That is pretty much all the regs says.

But just to be sure...If someone could post what the regs actually say that would be great!
 
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The regs are a bit ...confusing.

But basically, if you put out an attractant, and attract abear, it is illegal.

If you hunt a farmers fied or a berry crop, it is legal.

If you kill a moose, and return tot he gutpie and shoot a bear off it, it is baiting.

If there is a dead moose and you don't know about it, and you shoot a bear and then find the dead moose, you are not baiting...

To break any law, you relaly have to have some INTENT.Or at least reasonable knowledge of some sort of INTENT. You may not have INTENDED to attracta bear to your moose gutpile, ut you gotta be a moron if you think that it WI NOT attract a bear. If you didn't INTEND to attract a bear to that berry bush, you are fine. :)

I doubt any CO will charge anyone for shooting a bear in a berry bush or a farmers field. Sitting over a drum of donuts etc, will get you charged.:)
 
Here's some quotes from the BC Hunting Regulations(the real one's, not the synopsis)

"bait" means any thing, including meat, cereal, cultivated crops, a restrained animal or any manufactured product or material, that may attract wildlife, but does not include a decoy;
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17 (1) A person commits an offence where he hunts

(m) bear

(i) by placing bait, or

(ii) by using a dead animal or part of it as bait,
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18 (1) A person commits an offence where he

(c) hunts migratory game birds within 400 m of any place where bait has been deposited unless that place has been free of bait for a minimum period of 7 days,
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