# Bald Eagle Baiting



## puttputt (Aug 2, 2005)

Yep. Someone is baiting bald eagles with deer carcasses in the field behind their house. They are hiding in an old camper sitting nearby and are taking photographs of the eagles and printing calendars of the pictures (worse yet, the quality of the photography is almost a crime in itself!).

It doesn't seem to be that they are doing this just once, but quite frequently adding carcasses to the bait pile. This guy has done it so much he is the eagle master baiter. :lol:

Apparently there is no law in Michigan prohibiting baiting eagles. 

Do you think this is unethical, in that is is interfering with the habitat of a protected species?


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## MERGANZER (Aug 24, 2006)

I for one do not see where this guy is doing any harm to the eagles. He is trying to get photos of them and I think that would be a neat experience to be a part of. He is also feeding the eagles at the same time (along with coyotes and other predators). He is not harming the habitat or the animal so if it is legal I have no problem with it.

Ganzer


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## roger23 (Jan 14, 2001)

I don't see how anyone could say he is baiting Eagles..may be turkey buzzards & crows will show up sorta like fishing ..you bait the hook who knows what you will catch


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## Cpt.Chaos (May 28, 2006)

I cannot see any problem with the feeding of wildlife for viewing purposes. The bald eagle is a well-known scavenger. If it's legal. someone enjoys, go for it, no problems here.


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## Radar420 (Oct 7, 2004)

Better to have an eagle scavenging in someone's backyard than to have one scavenging alongside the road where it could be hit by a car.


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## Troutlord1 (Jun 6, 2007)

I dont see a problem either with this but.. where is he getting the deer from?? If roadkill or winterkill no problem but if he is unethically getting the deer then theres a problem!!


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## Michael Wagner (Jul 17, 2007)

A few years ago I helped an old guy drag a road kill deer across Big Bradford lk. for the eagles so they were`nt eating along the road, later the guy came out and ice fished with me and showed me a nice way to increase my perch catch. The nest is still in the trees but I have`nt seen the eagles for 2-3 years. Mike


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## puttputt (Aug 2, 2005)

Alrighty then. I wasn't sure if it was getting a little too close to "making them pets"... But it's not much different from me throwing stale bread out back for the squirrels, I suppose.

Thanks for the replies. I was curious what ya'll thought.

And, the deer carcasses are just left-overs from the processor(s) I'm sure.


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## Brown duck (Dec 16, 2005)

Not sure if it goes on anymore, but at one time Iron Co. (and I think others in that area; might have been funded by some other govt. entity, can't remember) were paying a guy to drag deer off the road - the purpose, to keep eagles from being hit by cars while dining on said roadkill. He would put all the carcases in one pile near a blind he had built, from which he would photograph them. Can't say for sure if the latter part of his master plan was legal (I assume it was), but the initial part certainly was.


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

Up in Greenbush we have several resident eagles and they are on the road and beach all the time. 
I staked a salmon I found on the beach for viewing purposes and it works.


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## kimmy48635 (Jan 30, 2007)

I guess I have been guilty of this. My inlaws have a large dairy farm with hundreds of acres of hay fields. The deer frequently are crossing the road and not all make it . My brother in law has drug deer out in the hay field for me to take pics of. I have a telephoto lens and use it! I love seeing these birds. I see no harm, at least they can be enjoyed by others instead of flying off the side of the road and getting hit.


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